Empress Jitō

Empress Jitō 持統天皇
Portrait of Empress Jitō by Katsukawa Shunshō, 18th century
Empress of Japan
Reign	686–697
Predecessor	Tenmu
Successor	Monmu
Empress consort of Japan
Tenure	673–686
Born	Uno-no-sarara (鸕野讚良) 645 Japan
Died	13 January 703 (aged 57–58) Fujiwara-kyō, Japan
Burial	Hinokuma-no-Ōuchi no misasagi (檜隈大内陵) (Nara)
Spouse	Emperor Tenmu
Issue	Prince Kusakabe
Posthumous name Chinese-style shigō: Empress Jitō (持統天皇) Japanese-style shigō: Takamanoharahiro-no-hime no Sumeramikoto (高天原広野姫天皇)
House	Imperial House of Japan
Father	Emperor Tenji
Mother	Soga no Ochi-no-iratsume

Empress Jitō (持統天皇, Jitō-tennō, 645 – 13 January 703) was the 41st monarch of Japan, according to the traditional order of succession.

Jitō's reign spanned the years from 686 through 697.

In the history of Japan, Jitō was the third of eight women to take on the role of empress regnant. The two female monarchs before Jitō were Suiko and Kōgyoku/Saimei. The five women sovereigns reigning after Jitō were Genmei, Genshō, Kōken/Shōtoku, Meishō, and Go-Sakuramachi.

Traditional narrative

Poem by Empress Jitō

Empress Jitō was the daughter of Emperor Tenji. Her mother was Ochi-no-Iratsume, the daughter of Minister Ō-omi Soga no Yamada-no Ishikawa Maro. She was the wife of Tenji's full brother Emperor Tenmu, whom she succeeded on the throne.

Empress Jitō's given name was Unonosarara or Unonosasara (鸕野讚良), or alternately Uno.

Events of Jitō's reign

Jitō took responsibility for court administration after the death of her husband, Emperor Tenmu, who was also her uncle. She acceded to the throne in 687 in order to ensure the eventual succession of her son, Kusakabe-shinnō. Throughout this period, Empress Jitō ruled from the Fujiwara Palace in Yamato. In 689, Jitō prohibited Sugoroku, in 690 at enthronement she performed special ritual then gave pardon and in 692 she travelled to Ise against the counsel of minister Miwa-no-Asono-Takechimaro.

Prince Kusakabe was named as crown prince to succeed Jitō, but he died at a young age. Kusakabe's son, Karu-no-o, was then named as Jitō's successor. He eventually would become known as Emperor Monmu.

Empress Jitō reigned for eleven 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. Empress Genmei, who was followed on the throne by her daughter, Empress Genshō, remains the sole exception to this conventional argument.

In 697, Jitō abdicated in Monmu's favor; and as a retired sovereign, she took the post-reign title daijō-tennō. After this, her imperial successors who retired took the same title after abdication.

Jitō continued to hold power as a cloistered ruler, which became a persistent trend in Japanese politics.

Memorial Shinto shrine and mausoleum honoring Empress Jitō

The actual site of Jitō's grave is known. This empress is traditionally venerated at a memorial Shinto shrine (misasagi) at Nara.

The Imperial Household Agency designates this location as Jitō's mausoleum. It is formally named Ochi-no-Okanoe no misasagi.

Kugyō

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 eras.

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 Jitō's reign, this apex of the Daijō-kan included:

• Daijō-daijin, Takechi-shinnō (the 3rd son of Emperor Tenmu)
• Sadaijin
• Udaijin
• Naidaijin

Non-nengō period

Jitō's reign is not linked by scholars to any era or nengō. The Taika era innovation of naming time periods – nengō – languished until Mommu reasserted an imperial right by proclaiming the commencement of Taihō in 701.

• See Japanese era name – "Non-nengo periods"
• See Jitō period (687–697).

However, Brown and Ishida's translation of Gukanshō offers an explanation which muddies a sense of easy clarity:

"The eras that fell in this reign were: (1) the remaining seven years of Shuchō [(686 7=692?)]; and (2) Taika, which was four years long [695–698]. (The first year of this era was kinoto-hitsuji [695].) ... In the third year of the Taka era [697], Empress Jitō yielded the throne to the Crown Prince."

Family

Empress Jitō, known as Princess Uno-no-sarara (鸕野讃良皇女) in her early days, was born to Emperor Tenji and his concubine, who held of Beauty (Hin).She had two full siblings: Princess Ōta and Prince Takeru. Empress Jitō and her younger sister, Princess Ōta, shared the same husband, Emperor Tenmu, with whom both would have children.

• Husband: Emperor Tenmu (天武天皇, Tenmu tennō, c. 631 – October 1, 686), son of Emperor Jomei and Empress Kōgyoku
  • Son: Crown Prince Kusakabe (草壁皇子, 662 – May 10, 689)

Poetry

The Man'yōshū includes poems said to have been composed by Jitō. This one was composed after the death of the Emperor Tenmu:

Japanese	Rōmaji	English
やすみしし 我が大君の 夕されば 見したまふらし 明け来れば 問ひたまふらし 神岳の 山の黄葉を 今日もかも 問ひたまはまし 明日もかも 見したまはまし その山を 振り放け見つつ 夕されば あやに悲しみ 明け来れば うらさび暮らし 荒栲の 衣の袖は 干る時もなし	Yasumishishi waga ōkimi no Yū sareba meshita furashi Akekureba toita furashi Kamuoka no yama no momichi to Kyō mo ka mo toita mawamashi Asu mo ka mo meshita mawamashi Sono yama o furisakemitsutsu Yū sareba aya ni kanashimi Akekureba Urasabikurashi Aratae no Koromo no sode wa Furu toki mo nashi	Oh, the autumn foliage Of the hill of Kamioka! My good Lord and Sovereign Would see it in the evening And ask of it in the morning. On that very hill from afar I gaze, wondering If he sees it to-day, Or asks of it to-morrow. Sadness I feel at eve, And heart-rending grief at morn— The sleeves of my coarse-cloth robe Are never for a moment dry.

One of the poems attributed to Empress Jitō was selected by Fujiwara no Teika for inclusion in the very popular anthology Hyakunin Isshu:

Japanese	Rōmaji	English
春過ぎて 夏来にけらし 白妙の 衣干すてふ 天の香具山	Haru sugite Natsu kinikerashi Shirotae no Koromo hosu chō Ama no Kaguyama	The spring has passed And the summer come again For the silk-white robes So they say, are spread to dry On Mount Kaguyama

See also

• Empress of Japan
• Emperor of Japan
  • List of emperors of Japan
• Imperial cult

Notes

Japanese Imperial kamon — a stylized chrysanthemum blossom

References

• Aston, William George. (1896). Nihongi: Chronicles of Japan from the Earliest Times to A.D. 697. London: Kegan Paul, Trench, Trubner. OCLC 448337491
• Brown, Delmer M. and Ichirō Ishida, eds. (1979). Gukanshō: The Future and the Past. Berkeley: University of California Press. ISBN 978-0-520-03460-0; OCLC 251325323
• MacCauley, Clay. (1900). "Hyakunin-Isshu: Single Songs of a Hundred Poets" in Transactions of the Asia Society of Japan. Tokyo: Asia Society of Japan. ...Click link for digitized, full-text copy (in English)
• __________. (1901). Kokka taikan. Tokyo: Teikoku Toshokan, Meiji 30–34 [1897–1901]. [reprinted Shinten kokka taikan (新編国歌大観), 10 vols. 10 index vols., Kadokawa Shoten, Tokyo, 1983–1992. ISBN 978-4-04-020142-9
• Nippon Gakujutsu Shinkōkai. (1940). Man'yōshū. Tokyo: Iwanami shoten. [reprinted by Columbia University Press, New York, 1965. ISBN 0-231-08620-2. Rprinted by Dover Publications, New York, 2005. ISBN 978-0-486-43959-4
• Ponsonby-Fane, Richard Arthur Brabazon. (1959). The Imperial House of Japan. Kyoto: Ponsonby Memorial Society. OCLC 194887
• Titsingh, Isaac. (1834). Nihon Ōdai Ichiran; ou, Annales des empereurs du Japon. Paris: Royal Asiatic Society, Oriental Translation Fund of Great Britain and Ireland. OCLC 5850691
• Varley, H. Paul. (1980). Jinnō Shōtōki: A Chronicle of Gods and Sovereigns. New York: Columbia University Press. ISBN 978-0-231-04940-5; OCLC 59145842

External links

• Asuka Historical National Government Park: image of Mausoleum Emperor Tenmu and Empress Jitō Archived February 25, 2012, at the Wayback Machine, exterior view