Emperor Go-Nara

Emperor Go-Nara (後奈良天皇 Go-Nara-tennō) (January 26, 1497 - September 27, 1557) was the 105th emperor of Japan, according to the traditional order of succession. He reigned from June 9 1526 until September 27 1557, at the end of the Sengoku period. His personal name was Tomohito (知仁).

Genealogy

He was the second son of Emperor Go-Kashiwabara. His mother was Fujiwara Fujiko (藤原藤子)

• Court Lady?: Madenokōji (Fujiwara) Eiko (万里小路（藤原）栄子)
  • First daughter: ?
  • First son: Imperial Prince Michihito (方仁親王) (Emperor Ōgimachi)
  • Second daughter: Princess Eiju? (永寿女王)
• Lady-in-waiting: Takakura (Fujiwara) Kazuko? (高倉（藤原）量子)
  • Fifth daughter: Princess Fukō? (普光女王)
• Lady-in-waiting: Hirohashi (Fujiwara) Kuniko? (広橋(藤原)国子)
  • Seventh daughter: Princess Seishū (聖秀女王)
• Consort: Daughter of Mibu (Fujiwara) Harutomi (壬生（藤原）晴富)
  • Second son: kakujyo (覚恕)
  • Third son: ??

Events of Go-Nara's life

• Daiei 6, in the 4th month (June 9, 1526: Go-Nara was proclaimed emperor upon the death of his father, Emperor Go-Kashiwabara. He began his reign at age 31.
• Daiei 6, in the 7th month (1526}: An army from Awa province marched towards Miyako. Fusokawa Takakuni attached these forces at the Karsouragawa River, but his forces were unsucceful. Fusokawa Takakage came to the aid of Takakuni, and their combined forces were successful in stoping the advancing army.
• Daiei 6, in the 12th month (1526): Shogun Ashikaga Yoshiharu invited archers from neighboring provinces to come to the capital for an archery contest.

• Kyōroku gannen or Kyōroku 1 (1528): Former Kampuku Konoe Tanye becomes Sadaijin. The former Nadijin Minamoto-no Mitsikoto becomes Udaijin. Former Dianagon Kiusho Tanemitsi becomes Nadaijin.

• Tenbun 5, on the 26th day of the 2nd month (1536}: Go-Nara is formally installed as emperor.

The Imperial Court was so impoverished, that a nation-wide appeal for contributions went out. Contributions from the Hōjō clan, the Ōuchi clan, the Imagawa clan, and other great daimyō clans of the Sengoku period allowed the Emperor to carry out the formal coronation ceremonies ten years later.

The Imperial Court's poverty was so extreme, that the Emperor was forced to sell his calligraphy.

• Kōji 3, on the 5th day of the 9th month (1557): Emperor Go-Nara died at age 62.

Kugyō

Kugyō (公卿) is a collective term for the very few most powerful men attached to the court of the Emperor of Japan in pre-Meiji eras. Even during those years in which the court's actual influence outside the palace walls was minimal, the hierarchic organization persisted.

In general, this elite group included only three to four men at a time. These were hereditary courtiers whose experience and background would have brought them to the pinnacle of a life's career. During Go-Nara's reign, this apex of the Daijō-kan included:

• Sadaijin
• Udaijin
• Nadaijin
• Dainagon

Eras of Go-Nara's reign

The years of Go-Nara's reign are more specifically identified by more than one era name or nengō.

• Daiei (1521-1528)
• Kyōroku (1528-1532)
• Tenbun (1532-1555)
• Kōji (1555-1558)

References

• Titsingh, Isaac, ed. (1834). [Siyun-sai Rin-siyo/Hayashi Gahō, 1652]. Nipon o daï itsi ran; ou, Annales des empereurs du Japon, tr. par M. Isaac Titsingh avec l'aide de plusieurs interprètes attachés au comptoir hollandais de Nangasaki; ouvrage re., complété et cor. sur l'original japonais-chinois, accompagné de notes et précédé d'un Aperçu d'histoire mythologique du Japon, par M. J. Klaproth. Paris: Oriental Translation Fund of Great Britain and Ireland.--Two copies of this rare book have now been made available online: (1) from the library of the University of Michigan, digitized January 30, 2007; and (2) from the library of Stanford University, digitized June 23, 2006. Click here to read the original text in French.