Empress Go-Sakuramachi

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Empress Go-Sakuramachi (後桜町天皇 Go-Sakuramachi-tennō) (23 September 1740 - 24 December 1813), was the 117th Emperor of Japan according to the traditional count. She reigned as Empress from 15 September 1762, until she abdicated the throne, in favour of her younger brother's son, the Emperor Go-Momozono, who had come of age, on 9 January 1771.

She was the eighth Empress to sit upon the Chrysanthemum Throne and most likely the last, as Japan's current constitution only allows a male heir to ascend to the throne.

The Empress' Name

During the Empress' life, in accordance with Japanese custom, her personal name would never have been used. She would have been referred to only as "Her Majesty the Empress" (天皇陛下 Tennō Heika), but the title could be shortened to Heika (陛下 "Your Majesty").

After her abdication, she assumed her definitive post-reign (and subsequent posthumous) name, Go-Sakuramachi Tennō (後桜町天皇 Emperor Go-Sakuramachi) and in keeping with the correct naming convention, this article will refer to her as Empress Go-Sakuramachi, where appropriate.

The Empress is named after her father, the Emperor Sakuramachi (桜町天皇), and to differentiate between them, had go- (後) added to her title. "Go-" literally means "later" and thus the Empress' name means "The Later Sakuramachi".

Early life

Empress Go-Sakuramachi was born Princess Toshiko (智子), on 23 September 1740, the second child of Emperor Sakuramachi (桜町天皇) and the Dowager Empress Nijō Ieko (二条舎子). Her elder sister, Princess Moriko (盛子) died whilst still young, and her younger brother, Prince Toohito (遐仁), would go on to become the Emperor Momozono (桃園天皇).

Her Reign

In 1762, as a result of a decree by her dying brother, Emperor Momozono, she ascended the throne. This was a temporary measure, as the Emperor's son, Prince Hidehito (later Emperor Go-Momozono) was only 5 years old at the time of his father's death. Her enthronement made her the first Empress in her own right in 119 years, since the days of Empress Meishō. However, as soon as Momozono's infant son Go-Momozono was ready to take the throne, Go-Sakuramachi was induced to abdicate in his favour, which she did on 9 January 1771.

However, with the looming death of Go-Momozono without an heir, Empress Go-Sakuramachi, in her role as the "Retired Emperor" (上皇 Jōkō ), was instrumental in the selection, and adoption, of Prince Morohito, who became Emperor Kōkaku.

Following her death in 1813, her remains were interred at Tsukinowa no misasagi (月輪陵) in the Higashiyama section of Kyōto.

Eras of the Emperor's Reign

Empress Go-Sakuramachi's reign spanned two different eras (年号 nengō). It was only with the commencement of Emperor Meiji's reign that the system of "one reign, one era" (一世一元 issei-ichigen) came into use, meaning that era names would only change with Imperial succession.

Hōreki

Hōreki nengō (宝暦年号) spanned the years from 1751 through 1764, with Hōreki gannen (宝暦元年, "first year of Hōreki") being declared on 27 October 1751 to commemorate the death of the abdicated Emperor Sakuramachi, as well as the death of the former Shōgun Tokugawa Yoshimune. The name means ""Valuable Calendar".

Events during the Era

  • Hōreki 8 (1758): The Hōreki Incident, when the Shintō scholar Takenouchi Shikibu was banished from Kyoto. This followed the rise of the sonnō (尊王, "reverence for the Emperor"), and kinnō (勤王 "loyalty to the Emperor") movements. This type of imperial loyalty arose from the Zhu Xi Neo-Confucian idea of "obligations or duty according to one's status". The Tokugawa Shogunate suppressed this movement at the time of this incident.[1]
  • Hōreki 10 (1760): Shōgun Ieshige resigns and his son, Ieharu, becomes the 10th shogun of the Tokugawa shogunate.

Meiwa

Meiwa nengō (明和年号) spanned the years from 1764 through 1772, with Meiwa gannen (明和元年, "first year of Meiwa") being declared on 2 June 1764 to commemorate the coronation of Empress Go-Sakuramachi. The name means "Bright Harmony".

Events during the Era

  • Meiwa 3 (1766) - A attempt by Imperial loyalists to overthrow the Shōgun was foiled.[2]
  • Meiwa 7 (1770) - The newly built Imperial Palace in Kyoto is destroyed by a typhoon.[3]
  • Meiwa 7 (1770) - A great comet, possibly Lexell's comet, lights up summer and autumn skies.[4]
  • Meiwa 7 (1770) - The start of 15 straight drought years in Japan, that would culminate in the Great Tenmei Famine.
  • Meiwa 7 (1771) - the Empress Go-Sakuramachi empress abdicates in favor of her nephew, the Emperor Go-Momozono, during the ninth year of her reign.
  • Meiwa 9 (29 February 1772): "The Great Meiwa Fire" is one of three fires to gut Edo. 75 square miles and almost 10,000 temples, shrines and houses are destroyed, with some 6,000 deaths.[5]
  • Meiwa 9 (2 & 17 August 1772) - Heavy storms result in flooding and the destruction of crops and dwellings in the Kantō region and Edo.[6]
  • Meiwa 9 (1772) - People start referring to Meiwa 9 as the "Year of Trouble", using a pun on Meiwa-ku (Meiwa 9 明和九), which has the homophone meiwaku (迷惑), meaning "trouble", "bother" or "annoyance".[7]
  • Meiwa 9 (11th month of 1772) - In an attempt to improve the nation's fortunes, Meiwa nengō was changed to Anei nengō.


References

  1. ↑ Hall, John Whitney. The Cambridge History of Japan, v4: "Early Modern Japan." Cambridge University Press, 1988
  2. ↑ Screech, Timon. Secret Memoirs of the Shoguns: Isaac Titsingh and Japan, 1779-1822. 2006. RoutledgeCurzon
  3. ↑ Hall, JW. Tanuma Okitsugu, 1719-1788: Forerunner of Modern Japan. Harvard University Press. 1955.
  4. ↑ Hall, JW. Tanuma Okitsugu, 1719-1788: Forerunner of Modern Japan. Harvard University Press. 1955.
  5. ↑ Screech, Timon. Secret Memoirs of the Shoguns: Isaac Titsingh and Japan, 1779-1822. 2006. RoutledgeCurzon
  6. ↑ Hall, JW. Tanuma Okitsugu, 1719-1788: Forerunner of Modern Japan. Harvard University Press. 1955.
  7. ↑ Screech, Timon. Secret Memoirs of the Shoguns: Isaac Titsingh and Japan, 1779-1822. 2006. RoutledgeCurzon
  • The Imperial Household Ministry Book: The Annals of Emperor Sakuramachi Volumes 1 to 4, 2006 ISBN 4-8433-2036-6 (宮内省図書寮 編『後桜町天皇実録』1～4巻（ ゆまに書房 、2006年)
  • Kiyoko Tokoro "The Biography of Empress Go-Sakuramachi", p116 - p92 Gifu Shotoku Gakuen University's College of Foreign Languages Bulletin No. 40, Vol Edition March 2001(所 京子「後桜町上皇年譜稿」『岐阜聖徳学園大学紀要外国語学部編 』第40集 2001年3月)
  • Gen Nomura, "Empress Go-Sakuramachi", The history of Japan October 2006 issue No.701 p69 - p84 (野村 玄「女帝後桜町天皇の践祚とその目的」 吉川弘文館 『日本歴史』2006年10月号)
  • Screech, Timon. Secret Memoirs of the Shoguns: Isaac Titsingh and Japan, 1779-1822. 2006. RoutledgeCurzon
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