Empress Jitō

An emperor of the Hakuho period. The 41st emperor (established 686-689, reigned 690-697). Her name was Princess Uno no Sarara, and her posthumous name was Takama-no-hara Hirono-hime or Yamatoneko-ama no Hirono-hime. Her father was Emperor Tenchi, and her mother was Ochi no Iratsume, the daughter of Soga no Kurayamada Ishikawamaro. She became the wife of her father's younger brother, Prince Oama. Oama became the crown prince of Emperor Tenchi, but in the latter years of Tenchi's life, there was a lack of communication, so in 671 (the 10th year of Emperor Tenchi's reign), she left the Imperial Court and went to Mount Yoshino, and Jitō followed her. After Tenchi's death, Jitō's half-brother Prince Otomo succeeded him, but Oama started the Jinshin Rebellion in 672, overthrew Otomo (Emperor Kōbun) and ascended to the throne as Emperor Tenmu, established the capital at Asuka Kiyomihara, and made Jitō his empress. Jitō assisted Tenmu in his politics, and after Tenmu's death in 686, assisted Crown Prince Kusakabe, and after Kusakabe's death in 689 (the 3rd year of Jitō's reign), she enacted the Asuka Kiyomihara Code, and formally ascended to the throne in 690. She established various systems and worked to establish a ritsuryo state, building Fujiwara-kyō and moving the capital there in 694. In 697, he handed over the throne to his grandson Emperor Monmu, but as the retired emperor, he assisted Emperor Monmu in governing. He died the year after the Taiho Code was enacted in 701 (the 1st year of the Taiho era) and was buried together with Emperor Tenmu in the Hinokuma no Ouchi mausoleum (established in Asuka village, Nara prefecture). There are six poems about him in the Manyoshu.

[Naoki Kojiro]

"Emperor Jito" by Naoki Kojiro (1960, Yoshikawa Kobunkan)

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

白鳳(はくほう)時代の天皇。第41代に数えられる（称制686～689、在位690～697）。鸕野讃良(うののさらら)皇女といい、諡(おくりな)は高天原広野姫(たかまのはらひろのひめ)または大倭根子天之広野日女(やまとねこあまのひろのひめ)という。父は天智(てんじ)天皇、母は蘇我倉山田石川麻呂(そがのくらやまだいしかわまろ)の女(むすめ)遠智娘(おちのいらつめ)。父の弟大海人(おおあま)皇子の妃となる。大海人は天智天皇の皇太子の地位についたが、天智の晩年に意思の疎通を欠き、671年（天智天皇10）朝廷を去って吉野山に入り、持統もこれに従った。天智の没後、持統の異母弟の大友皇子が天智の後を継いだが、大海人は672年壬申(じんしん)の乱を起こし、大友（弘文(こうぶん)天皇）を倒して皇位につき、天武(てんむ)天皇となり、飛鳥浄御原(あすかきよみはら)に都を定め持統を皇后とした。持統は天武の政治を補佐し、686年の天武の死後は皇太子草壁(くさかべ)皇子を助け、689年（持統天皇3）に草壁が没したのち、飛鳥浄御原令(りょう)を施行、ついで690年正式に即位し、諸制度を整備して、律令国家の確立に努め、藤原京を建設して694年に遷都した。697年に皇位を孫の文武(もんむ)天皇に譲るが、太上(だいじょう)天皇として文武の政治を助け、大宝律令の成った701年（大宝1）の翌年に没し、天武の檜隈大内(ひのくまのおおうち)陵（奈良県明日香(あすか)村に治定）に合葬された。『万葉集』に歌6首がある。

［直木孝次郎］

『直木孝次郎著『持統天皇』（1960・吉川弘文館）』

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