Emperor Gonara - Gonaratennou

Japanese: 後奈良天皇 - ごならてんのう

Year of death: September 5, 1557 (September 27, 1557)
Year of birth: December 23, 5th year of Meiō (January 26, 1497)
An emperor during the Warring States period (reigned 1526-57). The second son of Emperor Go-Kashiwabara. His mother was the daughter of Kanshuji Norihide (Horakumon-in). His given name was Tomohito. He was proclaimed prince in April 1512, and then came of age. In April 1526, he ascended to the throne upon the death of his father, Emperor Go-Kashiwabara. However, shortly afterwards, an internal dispute in the Hosokawa family led to a rebellion by Yanagimoto Kenji of Tanba and others, which was responded to by Hosokawa Harumoto and others, plunging the Kinai region into a civil war with all sorts of rivalries, and the enthronement ceremony was naturally shelved. The shogunate and regent Hosokawa Takakuni were so busy dealing with the civil war that the imperial family had no choice but to find the financial resources for the enthronement ceremony themselves. The emperor then sent imperial envoys to request donations from Hojo Ujitsuna of Odawara, Imagawa Ujichika of Suruga, and the Asakura clan of Echizen, but most of the expenses were still insufficient. At the time, Ouchi Yoshitaka of Suo tried to draw on the Emperor's authority in order to counter the Shoni and Otomo clans, making huge donations in exchange for the imperial permission of Suo no Suke and Chikuzen no Kami, and also contributing 2,000 kan of coins to the grand ceremony expenses. As a result, in February 1536 (Tenbun 5), 10 years after his accession to the throne, Yoshitaka was appointed Dazai Daini as a reward for his efforts, and gained the key to subjugating the Shoni clan. In the same year, he famously copied out the Heart Sutra in prayer for the elimination of epidemics, and donated copies of the Heart Sutra written by the Emperor to Ichinomiya shrines in 24 provinces. While the Shogun fled Kyoto and went into exile in the provinces, the Emperor sought to promote his own imperial authority by bestowing official ranks on the Sengoku daimyo and issuing imperial edicts to the Nagao and Uesugi clans to pursue and punish their private enemies, which marked the beginning of the "restoration of the dynasty" during the Azuchi-Momoyama period. Therefore, it is a mistake to see this period as one in which the power of the Imperial Court was simply declining. The handwritten diary "Tenchoshu" is a fundamental historical source for the Sengoku period. <References> Imaya Akira, "Sengoku Daimyo and the Emperor"

(Akira Imaya)

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

Japanese:

没年：弘治3.9.5(1557.9.27)
生年：明応5.12.23(1497.1.26)
戦国時代の天皇(在位1526～57)。後柏原天皇の第2皇子。母は勧修寺教秀の娘(豊楽門院)。諱は知仁。永正9(1512)年4月親王宣下,次いで元服。大永6(1526)年4月父帝後柏原の死去を受けて践祚。しかしその直後細川家の内訌で丹波の柳本賢治らが反乱を起こし,これに細川晴元らが呼応して畿内は鼎の沸くような内戦に突入,即位礼は自然沙汰止みとなった。幕府や執政細川高国は内乱への対応に忙殺され,即位礼費の財源は天皇家が自前で講じざるを得なくなった。そこで天皇は勅使を派遣して小田原の北条氏綱や駿河の今川氏親,越前の朝倉氏らに献金を要請したがなお大半の経費が不足した。折から周防の大内義隆は少弐氏,大友氏らに対抗するため天皇権威の引き出しを図り,周防介,筑前守の勅許と引き換えに巨額の献金をなし,さらに大礼費に銭2000貫の拠出を行った。これにより践祚後10年の天文5(1536)年2月,即位が挙行され,義隆はその功として大宰大弐に任官,少弐氏圧服の手掛かりを得た。同9年疫病退散を祈って『般若心経』を書写し,24カ国の一宮社に宸筆の心経が奉納されたことは有名。将軍が京都を逃脱し地方へ流竄するなかで天皇は戦国大名に官位を叙任し,長尾・上杉氏らには私敵追討綸旨を発給するなど,独自の天皇権威の振興を図り,これは安土桃山時代の「王朝回復」の先駆けをなした。したがって単にこの時期を朝廷権力の衰退一辺倒とみるのは誤りである。自筆日記『天聴集』は戦国期の基本史料。<参考文献>今谷明『戦国大名と天皇』

(今谷明)

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