View source for Emperor Ninken

{{Short description|Emperor of Japan from 488 to 498}}
{{Redirect|Ninken|the fictional summoned dogs in Naruto|Ninken (Naruto)}}
{{Infobox royalty
| name         = Emperor Ninken<br>{{nobold|{{lang|ja|仁賢天皇}}}}
| image        = Emperor Ninken.jpg
| succession   = [[Emperor of Japan]]
| reign        = 4 February 488 – 9 September 498 (traditional)<ref>[http://www.kunaicho.go.jp/e-about/genealogy/img/keizu-e.pdf  "Genealogy of the Emperors of Japan" at Kunaicho.go.jp]; retrieved 2013-8-30.</ref>
| coronation   = 
| cor-type     = Japan
| predecessor  = [[Emperor Kenzō|Kenzō]]
| successor    = [[Emperor Buretsu|Buretsu]]
| posthumous name = [[Posthumous name#Chinese-style (Han-style) shigō|Chinese-style ''shigō'']]:<br/>Emperor Ninken ({{lang|ja|仁賢天皇}})<br/><br/>[[Posthumous name#Japanese-style shigō|Japanese-style ''shigō'']]:<br/>Oke no Sumeramikoto ({{lang|ja|億計天皇}})
| spouse       = [[Princess Kasuga no Ōiratsume|Kasuga no Ōiratsume]]
| issue        = [[Emperor Buretsu]]
| issue-link   = #Consorts and children
| issue-pipe   = among others...
| royal house  = [[Imperial House of Japan]]
| father       = [[Ichinobe no Oshiwa]]
| mother       = Wae-hime
| birth_date   = 449
| birth_place  = Japan
| death_date   = 9 September 498 (aged 48–49)
| death_place  = Tenri, Japan
| burial_place = {{Nihongo||埴生坂本陵|''Hanyū no Sakamoto no misasagi''}} (Osaka)|
}}

{{Nihongo|'''Emperor Ninken'''|仁賢天皇|Ninken-tennō}} (449 – 9 September 498) was the 24th [[legend]]ary [[emperor of Japan]],<ref name="kunaicho">[[Imperial Household Agency]] (''Kunaichō''): [http://www.kunaicho.go.jp/ryobo/guide/024/index.html  仁賢天皇 (24)]; retrieved 2013-8-30.</ref> according to the traditional [[List of Emperors of Japan|order of succession]].<ref>[[Isaac Titsingh|Titsingh, Isaac]]. (1834). [https://books.google.com/books?id=18oNAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA30 ''Annales des empereurs du japon,'' p. 30];[[Delmer M. Brown|Brown, Delmer M.]] (1979). [https://books.google.com/books?id=w4f5FrmIJKIC&pg=PA259  ''Gukanshō,'' p. 259–260]; [[H. Paul Varley|Varley, H. Paul]]. (1980). ''Jinnō Shōtōki'', p. 117.</ref> No firm dates can be assigned to this emperor's life or reign, but he is conventionally considered to have reigned from 4 February 488 to 9 September 498.<ref>[[Richard Ponsonby-Fane|Ponsonby-Fane, Richard]]. (1959). ''The Imperial House of Japan,'' p. 42.</ref>

==Legendary narrative==
Ninken is considered to have ruled the country during the late-5th century, but there is a paucity of information about him. There is insufficient material available for further verification and study.

In his youth, he was known as {{Nihongo|Prince Oke|億計}}. Along with his younger brother, [[Emperor Kenzō|Prince Woke]], Oke was raised to greater prominence when [[Emperor Seinei]] died without an heir. The two young princes were said to be grandsons of [[Emperor Richū]]. Each of these brothers would ascend the throne as adopted heirs of Seinei, although it is unclear whether they had been "found" in Seinei's lifetime or only after that.<ref>Titsingh, [https://books.google.com/books?id=18oNAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA29 p. 29].</ref>

Oke's younger brother, who would become posthumously known as [[Emperor Kenzō]], ascended before his elder brother. This unconventional sequence was in accordance with an agreement made by the two brothers.<ref>Titsingh, [https://books.google.com/books?id=18oNAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA29 pp. 29–30].</ref>

==Ninken's reign==
When Emperor Kenzo died without heirs, Prince Oke succeeded him as Emperor Ninken.

Ninken's contemporary title would not have been ''tennō'', as most historians believe this title was not introduced until the reigns of [[Emperor Tenmu]] and [[Empress Jitō]]. Rather, it was presumably {{Nihongo|''Sumeramikoto'' or ''Amenoshita Shiroshimesu Ōkimi''|治天下大王}}, meaning "the great king who rules all under heaven". Alternatively, Ninken might have been referred to as {{Nihongo2|ヤマト大王/大君}} or the "Great King of Yamato".

Ninken married to [[Emperor Yūryaku]]'s daughter Kasuga no Ōiratsume no Himemiko, a second cousin of him. Their daughter Tashiraka was later married to [[Emperor Keitai]], successor or possibly usurper after her brother, and became mother of [[Emperor Kinmei]], a future monarch and lineal ancestor of all future monarchs of Japan. There apparently was also another daughter, Princess Tachibana, who in turn is recorded to have become a wife of [[Senka]] and mother of Princess Iwahime, who herself became a consort of Kimmei and bore [[Emperor Bidatsu]], a future monarch and lineal ancestor of current monarchs of Japan.

Ninken was succeeded by his son, who would accede as [[Emperor Buretsu]].<ref>[[William George Aston|Aston, William George]]. (1998). ''Nihongi,'' Vol. 1, pp. 393–398.</ref>

The actual site of Ninken's [[grave (burial)|grave]] is not known.<ref name="kunaicho"/> The Emperor is traditionally venerated at a [[memorial]] [[Shinto]] [[shrine]] (''misasagi'') at [[Osaka]].

The [[Imperial Household Agency]] designates this location as Ninken's [[mausoleum]]. It is formally named ''Hanyū no Sakamoto no misasagi''.<ref>Ponsonby-Fane, p. 419.</ref>

==Consorts and children==
*Empress (''[[Kōkyū|Kōgō]]'') : {{Nihongo|[[Princess Kasuga no Ōiratsume]]|春日大娘皇女}}, [[Emperor Yūryaku]]'s daughter
**{{Nihongo|Princess Takarashi-no-Oiratsume-Hime|高橋大娘皇女}}
**{{Nihongo|Princess Asazuma-Hime|朝嬬皇女}}
**{{Nihongo|[[Princess Tashiraka]]|手白香皇女|extra=b. 489}}, married to [[Emperor Keitai]] 
**{{Nihongo|Princess Kusuhi|樟氷皇女}}
**{{Nihongo|[[Princess Tachibana no Nakatsu]]|橘仲皇女}}, married to [[Emperor Senka]]
**{{Nihongo|Prince Ohatsuse no Wakasazaki|小泊瀬稚鷦鷯尊}}, later [[Emperor Buretsu]]
**{{Nihongo|Princess Mawaka|真稚皇女}}
*Consort (''[[Kōkyū|Hi]]'') : {{Nihongo|Nukakimi-no-Iratsume|糠君娘}}, Wani Nitsume's daughter
**{{Nihongo|[[Princess Kasuga no Yamada]]|春日山田皇女|extra=d.539}}, married to [[Emperor Ankan]]

==See also==
* [[Emperor of Japan]]
* [[List of Emperors of Japan]]
* [[Imperial cult]]

==Notes==
[[File:Imperial Seal of Japan.svg|thumb|right|120px|[[Imperial Seal of Japan|Japanese Imperial kamon]] — a stylized [[chrysanthemum]] blossom]]
{{reflist|1}}

==References==
* [[William George Aston|Aston, William George.]] (1896). [https://books.google.com/books?id=_oEfAAAAYAAJ  ''Nihongi: Chronicles of Japan from the Earliest Times to A.D. 697.''] London: Kegan Paul, Trench, Trubner.  {{OCLC|448337491}}
* [[Delmer Brown|Brown, Delmer M.]] and Ichirō Ishida, eds. (1979). [https://books.google.com/books?id=w4f5FrmIJKIC&q=Gukansho  ''Gukanshō: The Future and the Past.''] Berkeley: University of California Press. {{ISBN|978-0-520-03460-0}};  {{OCLC|251325323}}
* [[Richard Ponsonby-Fane|Ponsonby-Fane, Richard Arthur Brabazon]]. (1959). [https://books.google.com/books?id=SLAeAAAAMAAJ&q=The+Imperial+House+of+Japan  ''The Imperial House of Japan.''] Kyoto: Ponsonby Memorial Society. {{OCLC|194887}}
* [[Isaac Titsingh|Titsingh, Isaac.]] (1834). ''[[Nihon Ōdai Ichiran]]''; ou, [https://books.google.com/books?id=18oNAAAAIAAJ&q=nipon+o+dai+itsi+ran  ''Annales des empereurs du Japon.'']  Paris: Royal Asiatic Society, Oriental Translation Fund of Great Britain and Ireland.  {{OCLC|5850691}}
* [[H. Paul Varley|Varley, H. Paul.]] (1980). [https://books.google.com/books?id=tVv6OAAACAAJ ''Jinnō Shōtōki: A Chronicle of Gods and Sovereigns.''] New York: Columbia University Press. {{ISBN|978-0-231-04940-5}};  {{OCLC|59145842}}

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{{s-bef|before=[[Emperor Kenzō]]}} 
{{s-ttl|title=[[List of Emperors of Japan|Emperor of Japan]]:<br>Ninken|years=4 February 488 – 9 September 498<br>''(traditional dates)''}} 
{{s-aft|after=[[Emperor Buretsu]]}}
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{{Emperors of Japan}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ninken}}
[[Category:Emperors of Japan]]
[[Category:5th-century births]]
[[Category:People of the Kofun period]]
[[Category:5th-century Japanese monarchs]]
[[Category:498 deaths]]