Empress Kōgyoku
Empress Kōgyoku (皇極天皇 Kōgyoku Tennō), also Empress Saimei (斉明天皇 Saimei Tennō) (594–August 24, 661
Administrator note) was the 35th and 37th imperial ruler of Japan, according to the traditional order of succession. From February 18, 642 Administrator note she ruled as Kōgyoku, but abdicated after the assassination of Soga no Iruka and gave up the throne to her brother Emperor Kōtoku on July 12, 645 Administrator note. After Kōtoku died on November 24, 654 Administrator note, she reacceded to the throne as Empress Saimei on February 14, 655 Administrator note, and ruled under that name until her death in 661. She was a great-granddaughter of Emperor Bidatsu. Her birth name was Princess Takara.
She was the wife and Empress Consort of Emperor Jomei. They had three children: Prince Naka no Ōe (Emperor Tenji), Prince Ōama (Emperor Temmu), and Princess Hashihito.
During her first reign the Soga clan seized power. Her son Naka no Ōe planned a coup d'etat and slew Soga no Iruka at the court in front of her throne. The Empress, shocked by this incident, abdicated the throne.
After Emperor Kōtoku died, though Naka no Ōe was the crown prince, he had his mother reascend the throne, and remained as the crown prince under his mother. He, and not his mother, however, led the politics of Japan. In the fifth year of her second reign, Paekche in Korea was destroyed in 660. Japan assisted Paekche loyals to the attempt of retrieving former Paekche territory. Early in 661, Saimei started from the capital in Yamato province in Honshu with both an army and a navy and crossed the Inland Sea of Japan from east to west. The empress stayed in Ishiyu Temporary Palace in Iyo province, today Dōgo spa. In May she arrived at Asakura Palace in the north part of Tsukushi province in Kyushu, today a part of Fukuoka prefecture. The allied army of Japan and Paekche was prepared the war against Silla but on July 24 (Japanese calendar), 661 she died in the Asakura Palace before the army departed to Korea. In October her body was brought from Kyushu by sea to Port Naniwa-zu (today Osaka city). Her funeral ceremony was held in early November.
After her death, her son Naka no Ōe ascended to the throne in 663, after the battle against Silla and the Sui Dynasty.
Notes
- August 24, 661 corresponds to the Twenty-fourth Day of the Seventh Month of 661 (shinyū) of the traditional lunisolar calendar used in Japan until 1873.
- February 18, 642 corresponds to the Fifteenth Day of the First Month of 642 (jin'in).
- July 12, 645 corresponds to the Fourteenth Day of the Sixth Month of 645 (isshi).
- November 24, 654 corresponds to the Tenth Day of the Tenth Month of 654 (kōin).
- February 14, 655 corresponds to the Third Day of the First Month of 655 (itsubō).