Emperor Gomurakami

Japanese: 後村上天皇 - ごむらかみてんのう

Year of death: Oan 1/Shohei 23.3.11 (1368.3.29)
Year of birth: 1328
The second emperor of the Southern Court. His father was Emperor Godaigo and his mother was Ano Reiko (Shintaikemon'in). He was originally called Norinaga and later changed his name to Yoshiyoshi. He is also known as Norinaga. When Emperor Godaigo began the Kenmu Restoration (1333), he went to Mutsu with Kitabatake Akiie, the governor of Mutsu, who was in charge of managing Mutsu. In 1335, after Ashikaga Takauji defected, Prince Yoshiyoshi went west with Akiie and his father, Fusao, and entered Mount Hiei where his father was, and had his coming-of-age ceremony there. In March of the following year, he was appointed governor of Mutsu and went down again to Taga Kokufu (Miyagi Prefecture) in Mutsu. As the war situation worsened in Hitachi (Ibaraki Prefecture) and Shimotsuke (Tochigi Prefecture), he set off on his journey west in August of 1337. He joined his father, who had traveled to Yoshino at the end of the previous year. In an attempt to turn the tide in the Southern Court, which had lost Nitta Yoshisada and Akiie, in 1338 he set sail from Ominato in Ise Province (Mie Prefecture) with his younger brother Prince Muneyoshi, Chikafusa, Yuki Munehiro and others, heading for Mutsu for the third time. However, the fleet encountered a storm on the way, and the ship carrying Prince Yoshiyoshi was blown back and landed in Ise, while the ship carrying Chikafusa and others docked at Tojoura in Hitachi Province. After returning to Yoshino, Prince Yoshiyoshi became the crown prince, and on August 15 of the following year, he ascended to the throne after his father, the Emperor, abdicated. In January 1348, the Yoshino Imperial Palace was burned down by the troops of Takanoshina Moronao, who was on the Ashikaga side, and the Emperor fled from Kii to Kanao in Yamato (Nara Prefecture). Meanwhile, on the Ashikaga side, the conflict between Takauji and his younger brother Tadayoshi intensified, and Tadayoshi and then Takauji temporarily surrendered (made peace) to the Southern Court, which resulted in Emperor Suko of the Northern Court being dethroned in 1351 (Kan'o 2/Shohei 6). In February of the following year, the Emperor advanced from Kanao to Kawachi (Osaka Prefecture) and then to Otokoyama Hachiman (Kyoto Prefecture) in order to return to Kyoto, but the Ashikaga side (Takauji's son Yoshiakira) launched an attack against the Southern Court. The Emperor fled to Kanao in a full-scale attack by the Shogunate forces, and was ultimately unable to hold Kyoto. He then moved his temporary palace to Kongo-ji Temple and Kanshin-ji Temple in Yano, Kawachi, and passed away in Sumiyoshi. He was buried in the rear mountain of Kanshin-ji Temple and is called Hinoo-ryo. He tried to carry out his father's wishes throughout his life, but was unable to do so. Although he lived in the midst of war, he had a deep knowledge of waka poetry and music, and was an excellent calligrapher.

(Masaaki Komori)

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

Japanese:

没年：応安1/正平23.3.11(1368.3.29)
生年：嘉暦3(1328)
南朝第2代の天皇。父は後醍醐天皇,母は阿野廉子(新待賢門院)。初め憲良と名乗り,のち義良と改める。「のりなが」ともいう。後醍醐天皇による建武新政(1333)が開始されると,陸奥の経営に当たる陸奥守北畠顕家と共に陸奥に赴いた。建武2(1335)年,足利尊氏の離反によって,義良親王は顕家とその父親房らと西上,父のいる比叡山に入り,同地で元服する。翌年3月,陸奥太守に任じられ再び陸奥の多賀国府(宮城県)に下向。常陸(茨城県),下野(栃木県)での戦況悪化で,建武4/延元2(1337)年8月,西上の途についた。前年暮れ吉野に遷幸していた父のもとに入る。新田義貞,顕家らを失った南朝において形勢を一変しようと,暦応1/延元3(1338)年,弟の宗良親王,親房,結城宗広らと共に伊勢国(三重県)大湊を出帆,三たび陸奥に向かった。しかし船団は途中嵐に遭い,義良親王の乗った船は吹き戻されて伊勢に上陸し,親房らの船は常陸国東条浦に着岸した。吉野に戻った義良親王は皇太子となり,翌年8月15日,父天皇から譲位され践祚した。貞和4/正平3(1348)年1月,足利方の高師直の軍によって吉野行宮が焼き払われ,天皇は紀伊から大和(奈良県)賀名生に逃れた。一方,足利方では尊氏と弟の直義との対立が激しくなり,直義,次いで尊氏が南朝に一時降伏(和睦),これによって観応2/正平6(1351)年,北朝の崇光天皇は廃位された。翌年2月,京都への帰還のため天皇は賀名生から河内(大阪府),そして男山八幡(京都府)まで進んだが,足利方(尊氏の子・義詮)は南朝に反して攻撃を開始した。幕府軍の総攻撃で,天皇は賀名生に逃れ,ついに京都を保つことはできなかった。その後,河内矢野の金剛寺,観心寺に行宮を移し,住吉で崩じた。観心寺の後山に葬られ檜尾陵と称される。父の遺志を継承しようとした生涯であったが,それを果たすことはできなかった。戦乱のなかではあったが,和歌,音楽への造詣も深く,書にもすぐれていた。

(小森正明)

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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