Emperor Gokogon

Japanese: 後光厳天皇 - ごこうごんてんのう

Year of death: Oan 7/Bunchu 3.1.29 (1374.3.12)
Year of birth: Rekio 1/Engen 3.3.2 (1338.3.23)
Emperor of the Northern and Southern Courts period (reigned 1352-71). Fourth Emperor of the Northern Court. Second son of Emperor Kogon and younger brother of Emperor Suko. His given name was Yanohito. In March 1352, during the final stage of the Kan'o Disturbance, Go-Murakami of the Southern Court was defeated in his attempt to retake Kyoto and abducted the three retired emperors Kogon, Komyo, and Suko, as well as Imperial Prince Naohito, and fled to Kanao, Yamato. The Muromachi Shogunate dispatched the monk Sodon to negotiate for the retired emperor's return to Kyoto, but failed, so they promoted 15-year-old Prince Yanohito, who was hiding among the people and was planning to enter the Buddhist priesthood, to the throne. However, since it was an irregular succession without the sacred treasures or a person to abdicate (retired emperor), they appointed Empress Go-Fushimi Kogimon'in (Saionji Yasuko) as Chiten no Kimi and forcibly succeeded to the throne, claiming it was the example of Emperor Keitai's accession to the throne. The shogunate went to the extent of appointing a female regent to force the accession to the throne in order to adhere to the pretense of cloistered rule, which was the governing principle of the Northern Court. Later, in 1371 (Oan 4/Kentoku 2), when the shogunate finally stabilized, he overcame the obstruction of the retired Emperor Suko and, with the cooperation of regent Hosokawa Yoriyuki, abdicated to Emperor Go-En'yu. He played a major role in restoring the imperial line amidst turmoil, but the fact that he appointed his grandmother Yasushi, who had no prior experience as emperor, as regent provided a precedent and a pretext for Ashikaga Yoshimitsu's later plot to usurp the throne. <References> Imaya Akira, "Royalty in the Muromachi Period"

(Akira Imaya)

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

Japanese:

没年：応安7/文中3.1.29(1374.3.12)
生年：暦応1/延元3.3.2(1338.3.23)
南北朝時代の天皇(在位1352～71)。北朝第4代天皇。光厳天皇の第2皇子,崇光天皇の弟。諱は弥仁。観応の擾乱の最終局面である文和1/正平7(1352)年3月,京都奪回を策して敗れた南朝後村上は光厳・光明・崇光の3上皇と直仁親王を拉致して大和賀名生に逃亡,室町幕府は僧祖曇を派遣して上皇還京を交渉したが果たさず,仏門に入る予定で民間に匿われていた15歳の弥仁王を皇位に推した。しかし神器も譲国者(上皇)も欠く変則の践祚であったため,後伏見中宮広義門院(西園寺寧子)を治天の君に立て,継体天皇践祚の例と称して強引に皇位継承を行った。女性の治天を立ててまで幕府が践祚を強行したのは,北朝の統治理念である院政の建前を固守するためである。その後幕政がようやく安定した応安4/建徳2(1371)年,崇光上皇の妨害を排し執政細川頼之の協力を得て後円融天皇に譲位した。擾乱のなか皇統再建に果たした役割は大きいが,皇位経験のない祖母寧子を治天とした事実は,後年足利義満の皇位簒奪計画に先例と口実を与えることとなった。<参考文献>今谷明『室町の王権』

(今谷明)

出典　朝日日本歴史人物事典：（株）朝日新聞出版朝日日本歴史人物事典について　情報

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