Tachibana Naramaro - Tachibana no Nara Maro

Japanese: 橘奈良麻呂 - たちばなのならまろ

Year of death: Tenpyo Shoho 9.7? (757)
Year of birth: Yoro 5 (721)
A nobleman in the Nara period. Son of Tachibana Moroe and Fujiwara no Fuhito's daughter. Father of Yasumaro and Kiyotomo. In November 736, he was given the surname Tachibana at the same time as his father. In May 749, he was promoted to Junior Fifth Rank. After serving as Daigaku no Kami and Taibu no Daifu, he became a councilor in 749. In November 750, he became Tajima Inaba Aseisashi, and from this time his surname changed from Sukune to Ason. He had connections with literary figures and was also close to Otomo no Yakamochi, leaving poems in volumes 6 and 8 of the Manyoshu. He was both a book collector and a literary man. He rose to the ranks of Minister of War and Right Minister, and in July 760, he was arrested when plans for a rebellion (the Tachibana Naramaro Rebellion) were discovered, and he died in prison. Going back to the 9th year of Tenpyo, after the death of the four Fujiwara brothers, under the government of Tachibana Moroe, Naramaro's rival Fujiwara no Nakamaro gradually expanded his power with the backing of Empress Kōmyō. Feeling a sense of crisis, Naramaro made plans to overthrow Nakamaro in the 17th year of the Tenpyō era, when the issue of succession to Emperor Shōmu, who had fallen seriously ill, was a problem. Nakamaro then took real power as the head of the Shibichudai (an office established for Empress Kōmyō in 749), and in 757, when his father Moroe was driven from power, Nakamaro deposed Prince Doso and made Prince Ōi Crown Prince, and proceeded with a coup d'état. In July of that year, he raised an army, killed Nakamaro, deposed Prince Ōi, seized the Imperial Seal and the Eki-no-Sen from Empress Kōmyō, and then tried to force Empress Kōken to abdicate and place the Imperial throne among the Princes Yasuyado, Obun, Shioyaki, and Dōmyō. In addition to Naramaro and the four kings mentioned above, the secret council also included clans other than the Fujiwara clan, such as Otomo no Komaro and his family, the Tajihi family including Tajihi no Kayo, Saeki Minomaro, and Ono no Azumahito, who all had an enmity towards Nakamaro. However, the plan was leaked in advance by a tip-off from Kamimichi Hitato, an official of the Chueifu who had been invited to join the rebellion, and they were all arrested in one fell swoop. During the interrogation, Naramaro criticized Nakamaro's politics, saying that the construction of Todaiji Temple was causing suffering to the people. This incident established the Nakamaro government. Naramaro's honor was restored around the time his granddaughter, Kachiko, became the empress of Emperor Saga, and in October 847, he was awarded the rank of Shoichii, the rank of Grand Minister of State.

(Terasaki Yasuhiro)

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

Japanese:

没年：天平勝宝9.7?(757)
生年：養老5(721)
奈良時代の公卿。橘諸兄と藤原不比等の娘の子。安麻呂,清友らの父。天平8(736)年11月,父と同じときに橘姓を賜った。12年5月従五位下。大学頭,民部大輔などを経て天平勝宝1(749)年に参議。4年11月に但馬因幡按察使となるが,このときから姓が宿禰から朝臣へ変わる。文人たちと交流し,大伴家持との関係も密接で『万葉集』巻6,8に歌を残す。蔵書家でもあり文人としての一面もあった。兵部卿,右大弁に進み,9年7月反乱計画(橘奈良麻呂の乱)が発覚して捕らえられ,獄中で死去。さかのぼると,天平9年の藤原4兄弟の死後,橘諸兄政権下で奈良麻呂のライバル藤原仲麻呂は光明皇后を後ろ盾として次第に勢力を拡大してきた。奈良麻呂は危機感を持ち,17年に重病となった聖武天皇の後継者問題から仲麻呂打倒計画を立てていた。その後仲麻呂は紫微中台(749年,光明皇太后のために設置された官庁)の長官として実権を握り,天平勝宝9(757)年父諸兄が政権の座を追われ,仲麻呂による道祖王の廃太子,大炊王の立太子におよんで,クーデタ計画を進めた。それは同年7月に挙兵して,仲麻呂を殺害して大炊王を廃太子し,光明皇太后のもとから天皇の印と駅鈴を奪い,次いで孝謙天皇を退位させて,安宿,黄文,塩焼,道祖の王から皇位を定めようとするものであった。密議には奈良麻呂や前記4王のほかに,仲麻呂に反感を持った大伴古麻呂ら大伴氏,多治比犢養ら多治比氏,佐伯美濃麻呂,小野東人など藤原氏以外の氏族が結集した。しかし計画は反乱の仲間に加わることを誘われた中衛府の役人上道斐太都らの密告で事前に漏れ,一網打尽に逮捕された。取り調べを受けた奈良麻呂は,東大寺造営が人民を苦しめていると,仲麻呂の政治を指弾した。この事件により仲麻呂政権は確立することとなった。孫の嘉智子が嵯峨天皇の皇后となったころから奈良麻呂の名誉が回復し,承和14(847)年10月には,太政大臣正一位を贈られた。

(寺崎保広)

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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