Prince Arima

Japanese: 有間皇子 - ありまのみこ

Year of death: 11/11/658 (11/12/658)
Year of birth: Jomei 12 (640)
A member of the imperial family in the mid-7th century. The son of Emperor Kokutoku and his wife, Oashihime (daughter of Abe no Kurahashimaro). He was named after the fact that he was born while his father was recuperating at Arima-onyu (Kobe City). In 645, Emperor Kokutoku ascended to the throne, and as his only son, he had the possibility of succeeding to the throne. However, Prince Nakano Oe (later Emperor Tenchi) held real political power, and in 646, his maternal grandfather, Minister of the Left Kurahashimaro, died. Prince Arima's position became precarious when he also fell out with Prince Nakano Oe and died in 654. Sensing the danger, in September 657, he feigned insanity and went to Muro-onyu (Yuzaki Onsen, Shirahama Town, Wakayama Prefecture) on the pretext of recuperating, and after returning to Kyoto, he praised the area's scenery and recommended it to Empress Saimei. In October of the fourth year of the same year, the Emperor and his entourage traveled to the same place, and Prince Arima's rebellion occurred during his absence. According to the text of the Nihon Shoki, on November 3rd, Soga no Akae, the caretaker of Kyoto, recommended that the prince revolt by listing three points of the Emperor's misrule. The prince agreed to the uprising, but on the 5th, during the plot, a firearm broke, and he postponed the plan, considering it an omen. That night, Akae surrounded the prince's Ichitsune house and reported the prince's rebellion to the Emperor. On the 9th, the prince and four of his aides were sent to Muro Onsen, and when Prince Naka no Oe asked him the reason for the rebellion, he replied, "Heaven and Akae probably know. I have no idea." On the 11th, the prince was hanged at Fujishirozaka (Fujishiro, Kainan City), and the two aides were executed by beheading. Akae was not punished, and became the Minister of the Left during the reign of Emperor Tenchi (662-671). One book cited in the notes of the Nihon Shoki states that the prince planned a rebellion. However, the Nihon Shoki portrays the incident as a plot by Aka-e. The Manyoshu includes a poem that the prince composed in Iwashiro (Iwashiro, Nanbu-cho, Wakayama Prefecture) on his way to Muro, including one other poem: "I will tie the branches of the pine trees on Iwashiro, and if the situation is truly fortunate, I will return and see them again." During the Nara period, this place became a famous place for poetry, and Nagaoki Yoshimaro, Yamanoue Okura and others composed poems about the knotted pine tree (Manyoshu, Volume 2).

(Takao Imaizumi)

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

Japanese:

没年：斉明4.11.11(658.12.11)
生年：舒明12(640)
7世紀中ごろの皇族。孝徳天皇と妃の小足媛(阿倍倉梯麻呂の娘)の皇子。名は父が有間温湯(神戸市)で療養していたときに生まれたからという。大化1(645)年孝徳天皇が即位し,そのただひとりの皇子として皇位継承の可能性が生まれた。しかし皇太子である中大兄皇子(のちの天智天皇)が政治の実権を握り,同5年外祖父の左大臣倉梯麻呂が死去し,父も中大兄皇子と不和となって白雉5(654)年死去すると,有間皇子の立場は危ういものとなった。危険を察知し,斉明3(657)年9月,狂気を装い療養と称して牟婁温湯(和歌山県白浜町湯崎温泉)へ行き,帰京後この地の風光をほめて斉明天皇に推奨した。同4年10月天皇一行は同所に行幸,その留守中に有間皇子の謀反事件が起こった。『日本書紀』本文によると,11月3日京の留守官の蘇我赤兄が皇子に,天皇の失政3カ条をあげて謀反を勧めた。皇子は挙兵に応じたが,5日謀議の最中に脇息が壊れ,それを不吉として,実行を延期した。その夜赤兄は皇子の市経の家を囲む一方,天皇に皇子の謀反を報告した。9日皇子と4人の側近は牟婁温湯に送られ,中大兄皇子が謀反の理由を問うと,「天と赤兄が知っているだろう。私は全く知らない」と答えた。11日皇子は藤白坂(海南市藤白)で絞首刑に処され,ふたりの側近は斬刑に処せられた。赤兄は処罰されないで,天智天皇時代(662～671)の左大臣となった。『日本書紀』の注に引用されているある書物は,皇子が謀反計画を立てたとする。しかし,『日本書紀』はこの事件を赤兄の謀略として描いている。『万葉集』は皇子が牟婁に護送される途中磐代(和歌山県南部町岩代)で詠んだという「磐代の浜松が枝を引き結び真幸くあらばまた還り見む」ほか1首を載せる。奈良時代この地は歌の名所となり,結び松に寄せて長意吉麻呂,山上憶良らが歌を詠んでいる(『万葉集』巻2)。

(今泉隆雄)

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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