Emperor Keikō

The 12th Emperor according to the Imperial genealogy. According to the "Nihon Shoki," his posthumous name was Otarashihikooshirowake no Mikoto. He was the third son of Emperor Suinin, and his mother was Hibasuhime no Mikoto. He ascended to the throne in the first year of the reign of Emperor Keikō, and took Harima no Inabi no Oiratsume (according to the Kojiki, his father was Wakatake Kibitsuhiko, the ancestor of the Kibi no Omi clan) as his empress, and gave birth to Emperor Yamato Takeru. However, in 52, the empress died, and he made one of his wives, Yasakairihime, the daughter of Prince Yasakairihiko, the mother of Crown Prince Wakatarashihiko no Mikoto (Emperor Seimu), into his own empress. During this time, in the fourth year of the same era, he established his capital at Hishironomiya Palace in Makimuku (Anashi, Sakurai City, Nara Prefecture), and from the twelfth year to the nineteenth year of the same era, he conducted an expedition to Kyushu, subjugating the Kumaso people. He then ordered Emperor Yamato Takeru to subjugate the Kumaso again in the twenty-seventh year of the same era, and the Emishi people in the east in the fortieth year of the same era. Furthermore, in the fifty-sixth year of the same era, he succeeded in conquering the eastern provinces using Prince Mimorowake, the son of Prince Hikosashima. In the same year, in the same year, he moved to Takaanaho Palace in Shiga, Omi Province (Otsu City, Shiga County, Shiga Prefecture), where he reigned for 60 years, died at the age of 106 (one theory says it was 143, but according to the Kojiki it was 137), and was buried in Yamanobe no Michi no Kami no Misazaki. He also had many sons and daughters, and the Kojiki states that he gave fiefs to 77 children in various provinces, but this, along with the legends of his subjugation of the Kumaso and Emishi, is seen as a legendary memory of the domestic conquests at the time of the establishment of the Yamato kingdom.

[Ryosaku Hoshino]

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

皇室系譜に第12代と伝える天皇。『日本書紀』によれば、国風諡号(しごう)は大足彦忍代別尊(おおたらしひこおしろわけのみこと)。垂仁(すいにん)天皇の第3子で、母は日葉酢媛命(ひばすひめのみこと)である。景行天皇元年に即位して播磨稲日大郎姫(はりまのいなびのおおいらつめ)（『古事記』は父を吉備臣(きびのおみ)らの祖若建吉備津日子(わかたけきびつひこ)とする）を皇后とし、日本武尊(やまとたけるのみこと)をもうけたが、同52年に皇后が没したため、妃の一人で皇太子稚足彦尊(わかたらしひこのみこと)（成務(せいむ)天皇）の生母八坂入彦皇子(やさかいりひこのみこ)の女(むすめ)八坂入媛(やさかいりひめ)を皇后にたてた。この間、同4年に纏向(まきむく)（奈良県桜井市穴師(あなし)）の日代宮(ひしろのみや)に都を営み、同12年より19年まで九州に遠征して熊襲(くまそ)を平定し、日本武尊に命じて同27年にふたたび熊襲を、同40年に東方の蝦夷(えみし)を討伐させた。さらに同56年には彦狭嶋王(ひこさしまのみこ)の子御諸別(みもろわけ)王を用いて東国経略に成功した。そして同58年、近江(おうみ)国の志賀(しが)（滋賀県滋賀郡・大津市）の高穴穂宮(たかあなほのみや)に移り、在位60年、106歳（一説に143歳、『古事記』では137歳）で没し、山辺道上陵(やまのべのみちのかみのみさざき)に葬られたという。また皇子女多く、『古事記』は77子を諸国に封じたと伝えるが、これは熊襲・蝦夷征討の伝承とともに、大和(やまと)王権成立期の国内征服の記憶が伝説化されたものとみなされる。

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