Emperor Genmei

Japanese: 元明天皇 - げんめいてんのう

Year of death: Yoro 5.12.7 (721.12.29)
Year of birth: 7th year of the reign of Emperor Saimei (661)
She was an empress during the Hakuho and early Nara periods. She reigned from July 707 to September 715. Her name was Princess Abe. She was the fourth daughter of Emperor Tenchi, and her mother was the niece of Soga no Kurayamada Ishikawamaro. Her older sister was Princess Minabe, the mother of Prince Nagaya. She was probably born in Kyushu, where the Imperial Court had been relocated to rescue Baekje, and spent her childhood in Omi. In 675, after the Jinshin War, she went to Ise Grand Shrine with Princess Toichi, but a few years later she married Tenmu's Crown Prince Kusakabe, and gave birth to Emperors Gensho and Mommu, and Princess Kibi. In 689, her husband Prince Kusakabe died, and her half-sister and Kusakabe's mother, Empress Jito, ascended to the throne, but in 697, she abdicated to 15-year-old Mommu. Genmei held great power as the emperor's mother (empress dowager). The sickly Monmu died at the age of 25 in 707, and Genmei ascended to the throne herself to ensure the accession of the young Prince Magozu (Shomu), becoming the first female empress without an empress as a predecessor. In her accession speech, the phrase "unchanging the ordinances" regarding the succession to the throne appears for the first time. Immediately after her accession to the throne, she established the sword-granting chamberlain, and her anxious mood at the time can be seen in the poems she exchanged with her sister. During her reign, Fujiwara no Fuhito took charge of the government, and with the presentation of copper as an opportunity, she changed the era name to Wadō (708), minted full-scale coins (Wadō kaichin), and in 711, she attempted to circulate them through the Order for the Investiture of Coins. She also built Heijō-kyō as the capital to replace Fujiwara-kyō, and moved the capital there in 713. Meanwhile, there were plans to expand the territory, including a plan to conquer Mutsu. However, the large-scale forced labor led to vagrants and escapees, and the establishment and revision of the Ritsuryo administration also became an issue. To this end, inspectors were appointed, and in the sixth year, orders were given to advance the selection of the Fudoki. Meanwhile, in the fifth year, O no Yasumaro completed the Kojiki. In the first year of Reiki (715), he abdicated to Emperor Gensho. He served as his guardian as retired emperor, but died in the fifth year of Yoro (721). In his will, he ordered a simple funeral to Nagaya no Oe and Fujiwara no Fusasaki. He was buried in Saho.

(Yukiko Nishino)

Source: Asahi Japanese Historical Biography: Asahi Shimbun Publications Inc. About Asahi Japanese Historical Biography

Japanese:

没年：養老5.12.7(721.12.29)
生年：斉明7(661)
白鳳・奈良前期の女帝。在位は慶雲4(707)年7月から霊亀1(715)年9月。名前は阿閇(阿陪)皇女。天智天皇4女,母は蘇我倉山田石川麻呂の娘姪娘。同母姉に長屋王の母御名部皇女がいる。おそらく百済救援のため朝廷が移っていた九州で誕生,幼少時を近江ですごす。壬申の乱後天武4(675)年十市皇女と伊勢神宮に赴くが,数年後には天武の皇太子草壁と結婚,元正・文武両天皇と吉備内親王を生む。持統3(689)年夫草壁皇子が死去,異母姉で草壁の母持統天皇が即位するが,文武1(697)年15歳の文武に譲位。元明は天皇の母(皇太妃)として権力を持った。病弱な文武は慶雲4(707)年25歳で死去し,元明は幼少の孫首皇子(聖武)の即位を保障するため自ら即位,皇后を経ない初の女帝となる。その即位の言葉には皇位継承に関する「不改常典」の語が初めてみえる。即位直後授刀舎人を新設,当時の彼女の不安な気分は姉との贈答歌にうかがわれる。その在位中藤原不比等が政権を担当し,銅の献上を契機に和銅と改元(708),本格的な貨幣(和銅開珎)を鋳造し,和銅4(711)年には蓄銭叙位令により流通を計った。また藤原京に代わる都として平城京を造り3年に遷都。一方,陸奥征討計画など領域拡大も計られた。しかし大規模な労働徴発は浮浪逃亡を引き起こし,また律令行政の定着・修正も課題となった。そのため巡察使がおかれ,また6年には風土記の選進を命令。一方5年には太安万侶が『古事記』を完成する。霊亀1(715)年元正天皇に譲位。太上天皇として後見するが,養老5(721)年に死去。長屋王と藤原房前に遺言し薄葬を命じる。佐保に埋葬。

(西野悠紀子)

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