Takano no Niikasa - Takano no Niikasa

Japanese: 高野新笠 - たかののにいかさ

Year of death: December 28, 8th year of the Enryaku period (January 17, 790)
Year of birth: Unknown. Empress of Emperor Kōnin during the Nara period. Mother of Emperor Kanmu. Daughter of Wa no Otsutsugu and Hase no Mamo. Her father's family was a clan of immigrants, and a descendant of King Murei of Baekje. She married around 729, and gave birth to Princess Noto in 729, Prince Yamabe (Emperor Kanmu) in 729, and Prince Sawara in 750. When Emperor Kōnin ascended to the throne, she changed her surname to Takano no Ason, and in 778 she became Junior Third Rank. When Emperor Kanmu ascended to the throne, she became Crown Princess and Senior Third Rank. She was bedridden for about two weeks, and died at the end of Enryaku 8. The following year she was posthumously awarded the title of Empress Dowager, given the posthumous name Ame no Takachi no Hinokohime, and buried in Oedo no Miya (presumably Ise-kōzan, Oedakutsukake-cho, Nishikō-ku, Kyoto). A place named after her mother's side. The posthumous name was given to her because she was the descendant of a king born to the daughter of a river goddess, Nissho. Although the family had produced an emperor named Kanmu from a clan of immigrant origins, their power did not last long, and only Niigasa and her father, Otsutsugu, had the surname Takano Ason. She is presumed to have lived a long life, but losing Prince Sawara before her due to her involvement in the assassination of Fujiwara no Tanetsugu must have been a pain in her later years. She became the Grand Empress Dowager when her grandson, Emperor Heizei, ascended to the throne. In the 10th year of Kanmu's reign, her mother, Shinmei, was posthumously awarded the rank of Shoichii as her maternal grandmother and given the surname Oeda Ason, which left an impact on the status of Niigasa for posterity. In other words, she is the ancestor of the Oe clan, famous for being a family of writers. <References> Hayashi Rikuro, "Regarding Takano Niigasa" (Bulletin of the Orikuchi Memorial Institute of Ancient Studies, No. 3)

(Kyoko Kojima)

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

Japanese:

没年：延暦8.12.28(790.1.17)
生年：生年不詳
奈良時代,光仁天皇の妃。桓武天皇の母。和乙継と土師真妹の娘。父方は渡来系氏族で,百済武寧王の子孫。天平1(729)年ごろ結婚し,同5年能登女王,同9年山部王(桓武天皇),天平勝宝2(750)年早良王を出産。光仁天皇が即位すると姓を高野朝臣に改められ,宝亀9(778)年従三位となる。桓武即位により皇太夫人,正三位となる。2週間ほど病床につき,延暦8年末に死去。翌年皇太后を追贈され,天高知日之子姫尊と諡されて大枝陵(京都市西京区大枝沓掛町字伊勢講山とされている)に葬られた。母方にちなむ場所である。諡号は,河伯の娘が日精に感じて生まれた王の子孫ということで付けられたという。渡来系氏族出身の一族から桓武という天皇を出しながら権勢は長くは続かず,高野朝臣という姓は新笠と父乙継のみである。長命であったと推定されるが,藤原種継暗殺事件へのかかわりから早良親王に先立たれたことは晩年の痛みであったろう。孫の平城天皇即位により太皇太后。桓武即位10年に当たり,母真妹が外祖母として正一位を追贈され大枝朝臣姓を賜ったことは,新笠の地位の影響を後世まで残した。すなわち,文人の家系として有名な大江氏の祖である。<参考文献>林陸朗「高野新笠をめぐって」(『折口博士記念古代研究所紀要』3号)

(児島恭子)

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