Emperor Meisho

Japanese: 明正天皇 - めいしょうてんのう

Year of death: November 10, 9th year of Genroku (December 4, 1696)
Year of birth: November 19, 1624 (January 9, 1624)
An emperor in the early Edo period. The second daughter of Emperor Gomizunoo. Her mother was Shogun Tokugawa Hidetada's daughter Kazuko (Tofukumon'in). Her given name was Okishi. She was proclaimed an Imperial Princess on October 29, 1629 (Kan'ei 6), and when Emperor Gomizunoo suddenly abdicated on November 8 of the same year, she ascended to the throne on September 12 of the following year. She was the first female emperor since Emperor Shotoku of the Nara period. Okishi was the first legitimate child of the Empress, who had two princes but both died young. The fifth child of the Empress, born in 1629, was also an Imperial Princess, so the throne was abdicated to the Empress. This was unexpected for the shogunate, which wanted the Tokugawa bloodline to be inherited by the imperial line by making a prince born to the Empress the Emperor. However, this secured the position of the Emperor's maternal relatives, and the era of the Emperor under the protection of the powerful shogunate began. The Emperor was seven years old at the time, and this was essentially the beginning of Gomizunoo's cloistered government. The Emperor reigned for 15 years, but his accomplishments and character during that time are hidden by the achievements of Gomizunoo. When the Emperor abdicated, Nakanoin Michimura, a trusted aide to the Emperor, who was forced to resign from his position as the military messenger, wrote a poem about the First Princess (Koko), commonly known as Tsugihashinomiya, saying, "Look at the people who go through life, and how Tsugihashi is as she pleases." Perhaps his selfish side became more prominent under the protection of the shogunate. From the surviving imperial letters written after his abdication, we can see that he was a nervous and fond of fortune-telling. On October 3, 1627, he abdicated in favor of his younger brother, Prince Shohito (Emperor Gokomyo). He spent the next 54 years living in the Sento Imperial Palace, and died at the age of 74. He was buried in Tsukinowa Mausoleum at Sennyuji Temple in Kyoto. He was posthumously named Myoshoin, taking one character from each of the posthumous names of the female empresses Genmei and Gensho from the Nara period. <References> Isao Kumakura “Gomizuo-in”

(Mother Miwa)

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

Japanese:

没年：元禄9.11.10(1696.12.4)
生年：元和9.11.19(1624.1.9)
江戸前期の天皇。後水尾天皇の第2皇女。母は将軍徳川秀忠の娘和子(東福門院)。諱は興子。寛永6(1629)年10月29日内親王宣下,同年11月8日後水尾天皇の突然の譲位により受禅,翌7年9月12日即位。奈良時代の称徳天皇以来の女帝。興子は中宮嫡出の第1子で,中宮には皇子が2人いたがいずれも早世。寛永6年に生まれた中宮の第5子も皇女であったため内親王へ譲位となった。中宮所生の皇子を天皇として,徳川氏の血統が皇統に継承されることを望んだ幕府には意外なことであった。しかし幕府はこれにより外戚の地位を確保し,強大な幕府庇護による天皇の時代が始まった。当時天皇は7歳であり,実質的には後水尾院政の始まりである。天皇の在位は15年にわたるが,後水尾の事績の陰に隠れ在位期の業績や実像は表に現れない。譲位により武家伝奏を辞任させられた院の近臣中院通村は,通称継橋宮と呼ばれた女一宮(興子)について「世を渡る人の上にもかけて見よいかに心のままの継橋」と詠んだという。幕府の庇護のもと,わがままな一面が目立ったのであろうか。現存する退位以後の宸翰からは,神経質そうな占い好きな性格がうかがえる。寛永20年10月3日,皇弟紹仁親王(後光明天皇)に譲位。以後54年間を仙洞御所で暮らし,74歳で没。京都泉涌寺内の月輪陵に葬られる。奈良時代の女帝元明,元正天皇の諡号の各一字をとり明正院と追号された。<参考文献>熊倉功夫『後水尾院』

(母利美和)

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