Emperor Kogon

Japanese: 光厳天皇 - こうごんてんのう

Year of death: Joji 3/Shohei 19.7.7 (1364.8.5)
Year of birth: 2nd year of Masakazu 7th year of the 9th month (1313.8.1)
The first emperor of the Northern Court. The first son of Emperor Go-Fushimi. His mother was Yasushi (Kougimon-in), the daughter of Minister of the Left, Saionji Kinhira. His name was Kazuhito. Prince Kuniyoshi was appointed crown prince to Emperor Go-Daigo, but when he died, Prince Kazuhito was made crown prince with the support of the Kamakura shogunate. When Emperor Go-Daigo moved to Kasagi following the Genkō Incident (1331), Prince Kazuhito ascended to the throne and his father, Emperor Go-Fushimi, ruled as a cloistered emperor. When Emperor Go-Daigo ascended to the throne, he took the sacred treasures with him to Kasagi, making it an unusual ascension to the throne in which he was later given the sacred treasures. Amidst upheaval, including Emperor Go-Daigo's exile to Oki Island (1332) and the fall of the Kamakura Shogunate (1333), Emperor Go-Daigo was restored to the throne, and Emperor Kogon was deposed by imperial decree and made Retired Emperor. However, Emperor Go-Daigo's Kenmu Restoration failed, and Ashikaga Takauji defected in 1335, the second year of Kenmu, but when he recaptured Kyoto the following year, he received an imperial decree from Retired Emperor Kogon and avoided becoming an enemy of the court. With Takauji's power regained, in August of that year Retired Emperor Kogon had his younger brother Prince Toyohito (Emperor Komyo) ascend the throne and he himself took charge of the cloistered government. Meanwhile, Emperor Go-Daigo moved to Yoshino, and the country was split into the Northern and Southern Courts. The retired emperor's cloistered rule continued under the successor Emperor Suko (son of the retired Emperor Kogon), but as the power of the Southern Court recovered, Emperor Gomurakami (son of Emperor Go-Daigo) of the Southern Court deposed Emperor Suko in Kan'o 2/Shohei 6 (1351). From the following year, the three retired emperors of the Northern Court, Kogon, Komyo, and Suko, were moved to various locations, including Tojo in Kawachi (Osaka Prefecture) and Kanao in Yamato (Nara Prefecture), which were strongholds of the Southern Court. Retired Emperor Kogon later converted to the Zen monk Muso Soseki and became a monk in Nenkanao in Bunwa 1/Shohei 7 (1352). His Buddhist name was Katsumitsu. After moving to Kongoji Temple in Kawachi, he converted to Koho Kakumyo and changed his Buddhist name to Kochi. After returning to Kyoto, he converted to Zen and spent the rest of his life as a Zen monk at Josho-koji Temple in Yamakuni, Tanba Province (Keihoku-cho, Kita-kuwada-gun, Kyoto Prefecture). He passed away here and was buried in the Yamakuni mausoleum in the same place. His diary includes the "Kōgon Tenno Shinki." <References> "Kōgon Tenno Ihō" and "Nihonshi Kohyakke Tenno"

(Masaaki Komori)

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

Japanese:

没年：貞治3/正平19.7.7(1364.8.5)
生年：正和2.7.9(1313.8.1)
北朝初代の天皇。後伏見天皇の第1皇子。母は左大臣西園寺公衡の娘寧子(広義門院)。名は量仁。後醍醐天皇の皇太子には邦良親王がたてられていたが,親王が没すると鎌倉幕府の支持によって量仁親王が皇太子とされた。元弘の変(1331)によって後醍醐天皇が笠置に遷幸すると量仁親王が践祚し,父後伏見天皇が院政を行った。践祚に当たっては後醍醐天皇が神器を笠置に持っていったため,のちに神器を渡されるという異例の即位となった。後醍醐天皇の隠岐島配流(1332),鎌倉幕府の滅亡(1333)と激動のなかにあって,後醍醐天皇が再び皇位に復すると,詔によって光厳天皇は廃され上皇となった。しかし,後醍醐天皇の建武新政が失敗,建武2(1335)年離反した足利尊氏は,翌年の京都奪回に際して,光厳上皇の院宣を得て朝敵となることを免れた。尊氏の勢力回復に伴い,この年8月,光厳上皇は弟の豊仁親王(光明天皇)を践祚させ,自ら院政に当たった。一方,後醍醐天皇は吉野に遷幸,南北朝に分裂したのである。上皇の院政は次の崇光天皇(光厳上皇の皇子)にもおよんだが,南朝勢力の回復により,南朝の後村上天皇(後醍醐天皇の皇子)は観応2/正平6(1351)年,崇光天皇を廃した。光厳はじめ光明,崇光の北朝3代の上皇は,翌年から,南朝の拠点・河内(大阪府)東条,大和(奈良県)賀名生など点々と移された。その後,光厳上皇は禅僧夢窓疎石に帰依し,文和1/正平7(1352)年賀名生で出家した。法名を勝光智という。河内の金剛寺に移ってからは孤峰覚明に帰依,法名も光智と改めた。帰京後も禅に帰依し,晩年には丹波国山国(京都府北桑田郡京北町)の常照皇寺で禅僧としての余生を送り,この地で崩じ,同所の山国陵に葬られた。日記に「光厳天皇宸記」がある。<参考文献>『光厳天皇遺芳』『日本史小百科天皇』

(小森正明)

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