View source for Empress Meishō

{{Short description|Emperor of Japan from 1629 to 1643}}
{{Infobox monarch
| name         = Empress Meishō<br>{{nobold|{{lang|ja|明正天皇}}}}
| succession   = [[Emperor of Japan|Empress of Japan]]
| image        = Meisho of Japan.jpg
| caption      = 
| reign        = December 22, 1629 – November 14, 1643
| coronation   = October 17, 1630
| cor-type     = Japan
| predecessor  = [[Emperor Go-Mizunoo|Go-Mizunoo]]
| successor    = [[Emperor Go-Kōmyō|Go-Kōmyō]]
| posthumous name = [[Posthumous name#Tsuigō|''Tsuigō'']]:<br/>Empress Meishō ({{lang|ja|明正院}} or {{lang|ja|明正天皇}})
| reg-type     = ''[[Shōgun]]s''
| regent       = [[Tokugawa Iemitsu]]
| royal house  = [[Imperial House of Japan]]
| father       = [[Emperor Go-Mizunoo]]
| mother       = [[Tokugawa Masako]]
| signature    = File:明正天皇署名.png
| birth_date   = January 9, 1624
| birth_place  = [[Kyoto City|Kyoto]], [[Kyoto Prefecture]], [[Tokugawa shogunate]]
| death_date   = {{death date and age|1696|12|4|1624|1|9|mf=yes}}
| death_place  = Kyoto, Kyoto Prefecture, Tokugawa shogunate
| place of burial = ''[[Tsuki no wa no misasagi]]'', [[Kyoto]]
| birth_name   = {{nihongo|Okiko|興子}}|
}}

{{nihongo|'''Okiko'''|lead=yes|興子}}, posthumously honored as {{nihongo|'''Empress Meishō'''|明正天皇|Meishō-[[tennō]]|January 9, 1624 – December 4, 1696}}, was the 109th [[Emperor of Japan|monarch of Japan]],<ref name="kunaicho">[[Imperial Household Agency]] (''Kunaichō''): [http://www.kunaicho.go.jp/ryobo/guide/109/index.html 明正天皇 (108)]</ref> according to the traditional [[List of Emperors of Japan|order of succession]].<ref name="ponsonby115">Ponsonby-Fane, Richard. (1959). ''The Imperial House of Japan'', p. 115.</ref> Her reign lasted from [[Edo period|1629 to 1643]].<ref>Titsingh, pp. 411–412.</ref> Her reign officially began when she was five years old and continued for fifteen years. It is believed that Meishō's father actually ruled in her name until she abdicated in favor of her younger half-brother.<ref name="ponsonby115"/>

In the [[history of Japan]], Meishō was the seventh of eight women to become [[Josei Tennō|empress regnant]]. The six who reigned before her were [[Empress Suiko|Suiko]], [[Empress Kōgyoku|Kōgyoku/Saimei]], [[Empress Jitō|Jitō]], [[Empress Genmei|Genmei]], [[Empress Genshō|Genshō]], and [[Empress Kōken|Kōken/Shōtoku]]. Her sole female successor was [[Empress Go-Sakuramachi|Go-Sakuramachi]].<ref>[https://www.britannica.com/topic/Emperors-and-Empresses-Regnant-of-Japan-1812634 Emperors and Empresses Regnant of Japan on Britannica]</ref>

==Genealogy==
Before Meishō's accession to the [[Chrysanthemum Throne]], her personal name (her ''[[imina]]'') was {{nihongo|Okiko|興子}};<ref>Ponsonby-Fane, p. 9.</ref> and her pre-accession title was {{nihongo|''Onna-Ichi-no-miya''|女一宮}}. She was the second daughter of [[Emperor Go-Mizunoo]]. Her mother was [[Tokugawa Masako]], daughter of the second [[Tokugawa shogunate|Tokugawa]] ''[[shōgun]]'', [[Tokugawa Hidetada]] and his wife [[Oeyo]].<ref>[[NHK]] announced that its 2011 [[Taiga drama]] would be  ''[[Gō: Himetachi no Sengoku]]'', based on the life of [[Oeyo]], the mother of Tokugwa Masako.</ref><ref name="j-dorama">[http://www.j-dorama.de/ent-news-1885.html ''"Atsuhime" - Autorin für NHKs 2011er Taiga-Drama gewählt''] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110506071339/http://www.j-dorama.de/ent-news-1885.html |date=2011-05-06 }}, j-dorama.de; accessed 13 July 2015.{{in lang|de}}</ref> Hidetada was the son of [[Tokugawa Ieyasu]] and his consort, [[Saigō-no-Tsubone|Oai]].<ref>Kobayashi and Makino (1994), p. 392.</ref>

Meishō lived within the [[Heian Palace#Inner Palace (Dairi)|Inner Apartments]] of the [[Heian Palace]], as opposed to the section reserved for the women of the Imperial Court.  She had no children of her own, and was succeeded by her younger paternal half-brother, [[Emperor Go-Kōmyō|Go-Kōmyō]]. Her name was derived by combining the names of two previous empresses, [[Empress Genmei]] (707–715) and her daughter [[Empress Genshō]] (715–724).

==Events of Meishō's life==
Okiko''-naishinnō'' became empress following the abdication of her father.   The succession (''senso'') was considered to have been received by the new monarch; and shortly thereafter, Empress Meishō is said to have acceded (''sokui'').<ref>Titsingh, [https://books.google.com/books?id=Cg8oAAAAMAAJ&q=editions:OCLC63259938   p. 411]; A distinct act of ''senso'' is unrecognized prior to [[Emperor Tenji]]; and all sovereigns except [[Empress Jitō|Jitō]], [[Emperor Yōzei|Yōzei]], [[Emperor Go-Toba|Go-Toba]], and [[Emperor Fushimi|Fushimi]] have ''senso'' and ''sokui'' in the same year until the reign of [[Emperor Go-Murakami]]</ref><ref>Varley, H. Paul (1980). ''Jinnō Shōtōki'' p. 44.<!-- publishing info; ISSN/ISBN needed --></ref> The events during her lifetime shed some light on her reign. The years of Meishō's reign correspond with the development and growth of the [[Tokugawa shogunate]] under the leadership of  [[Tokugawa Iemitsu]].{{citation needed|date=July 2015}}

* '''January 9, 1624''': The birth of an Imperial princess who will become known by the posthumous name of Empress Meishō.<ref name="meyer186">Meyer, Eva-Maria. (1999). [https://books.google.com/books?id=6wEvo4wBojcC&pg=PA186 ''Japans Kaiserhof in der Edo-Zeit'' p. 186], books.google.com; accessed July 13, 2015.</ref>
* '''1627''' (''[[Kan'ei]] 6''): The {{nihongo|"[[Purple Robe Incident]]"|紫衣事件|shi-e jiken}}: Emperor Go-Mizunoo was accused of having bestowed honorific purple garments to more than ten priests despite the ''shogun''{{'}}s edict which banned them for two years (probably in order to break the bond between the Emperor and religious circles). The shogunate intervened and invalidated the bestowal of the garments.{{citation needed|date=July 2015}}
* '''December 22, 1629''' (''Kan'ei 6, 8th day of the 11th month''): The emperor renounced the throne in favor of his daughter.<ref name="titsingh411">Titsingh, [https://books.google.com/books?id=Cg8oAAAAMAAJ&q=editions:OCLC63259938    p. 411]</ref> The reign of the new empress was understood to have begun.<ref name="meyer186"/> She was aged 5; and she was the first woman to occupy the throne since [[Empress Shōtoku]], the 48th sovereign who died in 770.<ref name="ponsonby115"/>
* '''1632''' (''Kan'ei 9, 24th day of the 1st month''): Former ''shōgun'' [[Tokugawa Hidetada]] died.<ref name="titsingh411"/>
* '''1633''' (''Kan'ei 10, 20th day of the 1st month''): Earthquake in Odawara in [[Sagami Province]].<ref name="titsingh411"/>
* '''1634''' (''Kanei 11''): Shogun [[Tokugawa Iemitsu]] visited [[Kyoto|Miyako]].<ref name="titsingh411"/>
* '''1635''' (''Kanei 12''): An ambassador from [[Injo of Joseon|King Injo]] of [[Joseon Dynasty|Korea]] is received in Miyako.<ref name="titsingh411"/>
* '''1637''' (''Kanei 14''): A major rebellion occurs in the [[Arima clan|Arima]] and [[Shimabara Rebellion|Shimabara]] with many Christians involved; shogunal forces are sent to quell the disturbance.<ref name="titsingh411"/>
* '''1638''' (''Kanei 15''): The Arima and Shimabara revolt is crushed; and 37,000 of the rebels are killed. The Christian religion is banned in Japan under pain of death.<ref name="titsingh411"/>
* '''1640''' (''Kanei 17''): A Spanish ship from [[Macau]] brought a delegation of 61 people to [[Nagasaki, Nagasaki|Nagasaki]]. They arrived on July 6, 1640; and on August 9, all of them were decapitated and their heads were stuck on poles.<ref name="titsingh411"/>
* '''1641''' (''Kanei 18''): Meishō's half brother, Prince Tsuguhito, was named Crown Prince.<ref name="ponsonby115"/>
* '''1643''' (''Kanei 20''): An ambassador from the King of Korea arrived in Japan.<ref name="titsingh412_varley44"/>
* '''November 14, 1643''' (''Kanei 20', 29th day of the 9th month''): In the {{nihongo|15th year of Meishō'' - tennō''{{'}}s reign|明正天皇15年}}, the empress abdicated;<ref name="meyer186"/> and the succession (''senso'') was received by her brother.<ref name="titsingh412_varley44">Titsingh, [https://books.google.com/books?id=Cg8oAAAAMAAJ&q=editions:OCLC63259938   p. 412]; Varley, p. 44.</ref>
* '''1643''' (''Kanei 20, 23rd day of the 4th month''): [[Emperor Go-Kōmyō]] is said to have acceded to the throne (''sokui'').<ref name="titsingh412_varley44"/>

Empress Meishō reigned for fifteen years. Although there were seven other reigning empresses, their successors were most often selected from amongst the males of the paternal Imperial bloodline, which is why some conservative scholars argue that the women's reigns were temporary and that male-only succession tradition must be maintained in the 21st century.<ref name="jt2007">[http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/nn20070327i1.html "Life in the Cloudy Imperial Fishbowl"], JapanTimes.co.uk, March 27, 2007.</ref> Empress Gemmei, who was followed on the throne by her daughter, Empress Gensho, remains the sole exception to this conventional argument.{{citation needed|date=July 2015}}

* '''December 4, 1696''': The former empress died at age 72.<ref name="meyer186"/>
The ''[[kami]]'' of this empress is venerated in the imperial mausoleum at ''[[Tsuki no wa no misasagi]]'', which is located at [[Sennyū-ji]] in [[Higashiyama-ku, Kyoto]]. Also enshrined is her father, [[Emperor Go-Mizunoo]] and her immediate Imperial successors – [[Emperor Go-Kōmyō|Go-Kōmyō]], [[Emperor Go-Sai|Go-Sai]], [[Emperor Reigen|Reigen]], [[Emperor Higashiyama|Higashiyama]], [[Emperor Nakamikado|Nakamikado]], [[Emperor Sakuramachi|Sakuramachi]], [[Emperor Momozono|Momozono]], [[Empress Go-Sakuramachi|Go-Sakuramachi]] and [[Emperor Go-Momozono|Go-Momozono]].<ref>Ponsonby-Fane, p. 423.</ref>
[[File:Enthronement_of_Empress_Meishō2.png|alt=Painting of Empress Meishō's Enthronement ceremony.|center|thumb|300x300px|Painting of Empress Meishō's Enthronement ceremony.]]
===Kugyō===
{{nihongo|''[[Kugyō]]''|公卿}} is a collective term for the very few most powerful men attached to the court of the [[Emperor of Japan]] in pre-[[Meiji period|Meiji]] eras. Even during those years in which the court's actual influence outside the palace walls was minimal, the hierarchic organization persisted.{{citation needed|date=July 2015}}

In general, this elite group included only three to four men at a time. These were hereditary courtiers whose experience and background would have brought them to the pinnacle of a life's career. During Meishō's reign, this apex of the ''[[Daijō-kan]]'' included:
* ''[[Sesshō]]'', [[Ichijō Akiyoshi]], 1629–1635
* ''Sesshō'', [[Nijō Yasumichi]], 1635–1647
* ''[[Sadaijin]]''
* ''[[Udaijin]]''
* ''[[Naidaijin]]''
* ''[[Dainagon]]''

==Era of Meishō's reign==
The years of Meishō's reign are encompassed within one [[Japanese era names|era name]] or ''[[nengō]]''.<ref name="titsingh411"/>
* ''[[Kan'ei]]'' (1624–1644)

==Ancestry==
<ref name=descent>{{cite web|url=https://reichsarchiv.jp/%e5%ae%b6%e7%b3%bb%e3%83%aa%e3%82%b9%e3%83%88/%e5%a4%a9%e7%9a%87%e5%ae%b6#emp109|title=Genealogy|website=Reichsarchiv|date=30 April 2010 |access-date=21 January 2018|language=ja}}</ref>
{{ahnentafel
|collapsed=yes |align=center
|boxstyle_1=background-color: #fcc;
|boxstyle_2=background-color: #fb9;
|boxstyle_3=background-color: #ffc;
|boxstyle_4=background-color: #bfc;
|boxstyle_5=background-color: #9fe;
|1= 1. '''Empress Meishō'''
|2= 2.  [[Emperor Go-Mizunoo]] (1596–1680) 
|3= 3.  [[Tokugawa Masako]] (1607–1678)
|4= 4. [[Emperor Go-Yōzei]] (1571–1617) 
|5= 5.[[:ja:近衛前子|Konoe Sakiko]] (1575–1630)
|6= 6. [[Tokugawa Hidetada]], 2nd [[Tokugawa shogunate|Tokugawa ''shōgun'']] (1579–1632)
|7= 7. [[Oeyo]] (1573–1626)
|8= 8. [[Prince Masahito]] (1552–1586)
|9= 9. [[:ja:勧修寺晴子|Kanshūji Haruko]] (1553–1620)
|10= 10.[[Konoe Sakihisa]] (1536–1612)
|11= 11. Takeda
|12=12. [[Tokugawa Ieyasu]], 1st [[Tokugawa shogunate|Tokugawa ''shōgun'']] (1543–1616) 
|13=13. [[Lady Saigō]] (1552–1589)
|14=14. [[Azai Nagamasa]] (1545–1573) 
|15=15. [[Oichi]] (1547–1583)
}}

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Sources==
* {{Cite book|last1=Kobayashi|first1=Sadayoshi|last2=Makino|first2=Noboru|script-title=ja:西郷氏興亡全史|language=Japanese|trans-title=Complete History of the Rise and Fall of the Saigo Clan|year=1994|publisher=Rekishi Chosakenkyu-jo|place=Tokyo, Japan}}
* Meyer, Eva-Maria (1999). [https://books.google.com/books?id=6wEvo4wBojcC&q=nakamikado  ''Japans Kaiserhof in der Edo-Zeit: unter besonderer Berücksichtigung der Jahre 1846 bis 1867''], Münster: LIT Verlag; {{ISBN|3-8258-3939-7}}/{{ISBN|978-3-8258-3939-0}}<br>[https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/42041594 ''Japans Kaiserhof in der Edo-Zeit: unter besonderer Berücksichtigung der Jahre 1846 bis 1867''; OCLC 42041594]
* [[Richard Ponsonby-Fane|Ponsonby-Fane, Richard]] (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<br>[http://www.worldcat.org/wcpa/oclc/194887 ''The Imperial House of Japan'']; OCLC 194887
* [[Isaac Titsingh|Titsingh, Isaac]] (1834). ''[[Nihon Ōdai Ichiran]]'' [https://books.google.com/books?id=18oNAAAAIAAJ&q=nipon+o+dai+itsi+ran  ''Annales des empereurs du Japon''] pp.&nbsp;411–412, Paris: Royal Asiatic Society, Oriental Translation Fund of Great Britain and Ireland.
* [[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|0-231-04940-4}}/{{ISBN|978-0-231-04940-5}}

{{S-start}}
{{s-reg}}
{{succession box | before=[[Emperor Go-Mizunoo]] | title=[[List of Emperors of Japan|Empress of Japan]]:<br>Meishō | after=[[Emperor Go-Kōmyō]] | years=1629–1643}}
{{S-end}}

{{Emperors of Japan}}
{{Authority control}}


{{DEFAULTSORT:Meisho}}
[[Category:1624 births]]
[[Category:1696 deaths]]
[[Category:People of the Edo period|Empress Meisho]]
[[Category:1620s in Japan|Empress Meisho]]
[[Category:1630s in Japan|Empress Meisho]]
[[Category:1640s in Japan|Empress Meisho]]
[[Category:17th-century women monarchs]]
[[Category:17th-century Japanese monarchs]]
[[Category:Japanese empresses regnant]]
[[Category:Japanese Buddhist nuns]]
[[Category:17th-century Buddhist nuns]]
[[Category:Japanese Buddhist monarchs]]
[[Category:Japanese emperors who abdicated]]
[[Category:Child monarchs from Asia]]
[[Category:Daughters of Japanese emperors]]