Emperor Ninmyō Explained

Emperor Ninmyō
Succession:	Emperor of Japan
Reign:	22 March 833 – 4 May 850
Coronation:	30 March 833
Cor-Type:	japan
Predecessor:	Junna
Successor:	Montoku
Posthumous Name:	Chinese-style shigō Emperor Ninmyō (Japanese: 仁明天皇) Japanese-style shigō: Yamato-neko-amatsumishirushi-toyosato no Mikoto (Japanese: 日本根子天璽豊聡慧尊)
Issue:	Emperor Montoku Emperor Kōkō
Issue-Link:	Consorts and children
Issue-Pipe:	more...
Royal House:	Imperial House of Japan
Father:	Emperor Saga
Mother:	Tachibana no Kachiko
Birth Date:	27 September 808
Death Place:	Heian Kyō (Kyōto)
Burial Place:	Fukakusa no misasagi (深草陵) (Kyoto)

^[1] was the 54th emperor of Japan,^[2] according to the traditional order of succession.^[3] Ninmyō's reign lasted from 833 to 850, during the Heian period.^[4]

Traditional narrative

Ninmyō was the second son of Emperor Saga and the Empress Tachibana no Kachiko. His personal name (imina) was .^[5] After his death, he was given the title .

Ninmyō had nine Empresses, Imperial consorts, and concubines (kōi); and the emperor had 24 Imperial sons and daughters.^[6]

Emperor Ninmyō is traditionally venerated at his tomb; the Imperial Household Agency designates, in Fushimi-ku, Kyoto, as the location of Ninmyō's mausoleum.

Events of Ninmyō's life

Ninmyō ascended to the throne following the abdication of his uncle, Emperor Junna.

• 6 January 823^[7] : Received the title of Crown Prince at the age of 14.
• 22 March 833 : In the 10th year of Emperor Junna's reign, the emperor abdicated; and the succession (senso) was received by his adopted son. Masara-shinnō was the natural son of Emperor Saga, and therefore would have been Junna's nephew.^[6] Shortly thereafter, Emperor Ninmyo is said to have acceded to the throne (sokui).^[8]

Shortly after Ninmyo was enthroned, he designated an heir. He named Prince Tsunesada, a son of former Emperor Junna, as the crown prince.^[9]

• 835 : Kūkai (known posthumously as Kōbō-Daishi) died. This monk, scholar, poet, and artist had been the founder of the Shingon or "True Word" school of Buddhism.^[9]
• 838-839 (Jōwa 5-6): Diplomatic mission to Tang China headed by Fujiwara no Tsunetsugu.^[10]
• 842: Following a coup d'état called the Jōwa Incident, Tsunesada the crown prince was replaced with Ninmyō's first son, Prince Michiyasu (later Emperor Montoku) whose mother was the Empress Fujiwara no Junshi, a daughter of sadaijin Fujiwara no Fuyutsugu. It is supposed that this was the result of political intrigue planned by Ninmyō and Fujiwara no Yoshifusa.^[11] The first of what would become a powerful line of Fujiwara regents,^[12] Yoshifusa had numerous family ties to the imperial court; he was Ninmyō's brother in law (by virtue of his sister who became Ninmyō's consort), the second son of sadaijin Fuyutsugu, and uncle to the new crown prince.^[11]

In his lifetime, Ninmyō could not have anticipated that his third son, Prince Tokiyasu, would eventually ascend the throne in 884 as Emperor Kōkō.^[13]

• 6 May 850 (): Emperor Ninmyō died at the age of 41.^{[14] [15]} He was sometimes posthumously referred to as "the Emperor of Fukakusa", because that was the name given to his tomb.^[16]

Eras of Ninmyō's reign

The years of Ninmyō's reign are more specifically identified by more than one era name (nengō).^[17]

• Tenchō (824–834)
• Jōwa (834–848)
• Kashō (848–851)

Kugyō

is a collective term for the very few most powerful men attached to the court of the Emperor of Japan in pre-Meiji eras.^[18]

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 Ninmyō's reign, this apex of the Daijō-kan included:

• Sadaijin, Fujiwara no Otsugu (藤原緒嗣), 773–843.^[19]
• Sadaijin, Minamoto no Tokiwa (源常), 812–854.^[6]
• Udaijin, Kiyohara no Natsuno (清原夏野), 782–837.^[6]
• Udaijin, Fujiwara no Mimori (藤原三守), d. 840.^[6]
• Udaijin, Minamoto no Tokiwa (源常)
• Udaijin, Tachibana no Ujikimi (橘氏公), 783–847.^[6]
• Udaijin, Fujiwara no Yoshifusa (藤原良房), 804–872.^[9]
• Udaijin, Fujiwara no Otsugu, 825–832^[19]
• Naidaijin (not appointed)
• Dainagon, Fujiwara no Otsugu, ?–825.^[20]

Consorts and children

Consort (Nyōgo) later Empress Dowager (Tai-Kōtaigō): Fujiwara no Junshi (藤原順子; 809–871), Fujiwara no Fuyutsugu’s daughter

• First Son: Imperial Prince Michiyasu (道康親王) later Emperor Montoku

Consort (Nyōgo): Fujiwara no Takushi/Sawako (藤原沢子; d.839), Fujiwara no Fusatsugu’s daughter

• Second Son: Imperial Prince Muneyasu (宗康親王; 828–868)
• Third Son: Imperial Prince Tokiyasu (時康親王) later Emperor Kōkō
• Fourth Son: Imperial Prince Saneyasu (人康親王; 831–872)
• Imperial Princess Shinshi (新子内親王; d.897)

Consort (Nyōgo): Fujiwara no Teishi/Sadako (藤原貞子; d.864), Fujiwara no Tadamori’s daughter

• Eighth Son: Imperial Prince Nariyasu (成康親王; 836–853)
• Imperial Princess Shinshi (親子内親王; d. 851)
• Imperial Princess Heishi (平子内親王; d. 877)

Court lady: Shigeno no Tsunako (滋野縄子), Shigeno no Sadanushi’s daughter

• fifth Son: Imperial Prince Motoyasu (本康親王; d. 902)
• Ninth Daughter: Imperial Princess Tokiko (時子内親王; d. 847), 2nd Saiin in Kamo Shrine 831–833
• Imperial Princess Jūshi (柔子内親王; d. 869)

Consort (Nyōgo): Tachibana no Kageko (橘影子; d. 864), Tachibana no Ujikimi’s daughter

Consort (Nyōgo): Fujiwara Musuko (藤原息子)

Court Attendant (Koui): Ki no Taneko (紀種子; d. 869), Ki no Natora’s daughter

• Seventh Prince: Imperial Prince Tsuneyasu (常康親王; d. 869)
• Imperial Princess Shinshi/Saneko (真子内親王; d. 870)

Court Attendant (Koui) (deposed in 845): Mikuni-machi (三国町), daughter of Mikuni clan

• Sada no Noboru (貞登), given the family name "Sada" from Emperor (Shisei Kōka, 賜姓降下) in 866

Court lady: Fujiwara no Katoko (藤原賀登子), Fujiwara no Fukutomaro's daughter

• Sixth Son: Imperial Prince Kuniyasu (国康親王; d. 898)

Court lady: Fujiwara no Warawako (藤原小童子), Fujiwara no Michitō's daughter

• Imperial Princess Shigeko (重子内親王; d. 865)

Court lady: Princess Takamune (高宗女王), Prince Okaya's daughter

• Seventh/eighth Daughter: Imperial Princess Hisako (久子内親王; d. 876), 18th Saiō in Ise Shrine 833–850.^[21]

Court lady: daughter of Yamaguchi clan (山口氏の娘)

• Minamoto no Satoru (源覚; 849–879)

Nyoju: Kudaraō Toyofuku's daughter

• Minamoto no Masaru (源多; 831–888), Udaijin 882–888
• Minamoto no Hikaru (源光; 846–913), Udaijin 901–913

Court lady (Nyoju): Kudara no Yōkyō (百済永慶), Kudara no Kyōfuku's daughter

• Twelfth Daughter: Imperial Princess Takaiko (高子内親王; d. 866), 3rd Saiin in Kamo Shrine 833–850

(from unknown women)

• Minamoto no Suzushi (源冷; 835–890), Sangi 882–890
• Minamoto no Itaru (源効)

Ancestry

^[22]

See also

• Emperor Go-Fukakusa, a later emperor named in honor of Emperor Ninmyō
• Imperial cult
• List of Emperors of Japan
• Shoku Nihon Kōki, a Japanese national history covering Emperor Ninmyō's reign.

References

• Adolphson, Mikael S., Edward Kamens and Stacie Matsumoto. (2007). Heian Japan, centers and peripheries. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press.
• Book: Brown, Delmer M.. Ishida, Ichirō. 1979. The Future and the Past. Berkeley: University of California Press.. a translation and study of the Gukanshō, an interpretive history of Japan written in 1219. 978-0-520-03460-0. 251325323. Brown-Ishida.
• Web site: http://www.kunaicho.go.jp/ryobo/guide/054/index.html . ja:仁明天皇 深草陵 . 2011-02-04 . Imperial Household Agency . ja . Emperor Ninmyō, Fukakusa Imperial Mausoleum . 2004 . Kunaichō.
• Book: A History of Japan . Mason, R.H.P. . Caiger, J.G. . 1997 . 2nd (revised). Charles E. Tuttle Company . North Clarendon, VT . 0-8048-2097-X . Mason-Caiger.
• Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric and Käthe Roth. (2005). Japan encyclopedia. Cambridge: Harvard University Press. ;
• Ponsonby-Fane, Richard Arthur Brabazon. (1959). The Imperial House of Japan. Kyoto: Ponsonby Memorial Society.
• Titsingh, Isaac. (1834). Nihon Ōdai Ichiran; ou, Annales des empereurs du Japon. Paris: Royal Asiatic Society, Oriental Translation Fund of Great Britain and Ireland.
• Varley, H. Paul. (1980). Jinnō Shōtōki: A Chronicle of Gods and Sovereigns. New York: Columbia University Press. ;

External links

• Hokusai: Poem #12, image of ceremonial event in Ninmyō's court

Notes and References

1. Spelling note: A modified Hepburn romanization system for Japanese words is used throughout Western publications in a range of languages including English. Unlike the standard system, the "n" is maintained even when followed by "homorganic consonants" (e.g., shinbun, not shimbun).
2. [#Kunaichō|Emperor Ninmyō, Fukakusa Imperial Mausoleum]
3. Ponsonby-Fane, Richard. (1959). The Imperial House of Japan, pp. 64–65.
4. [#Brown-Ishida|Brown and Ishida]
5. [#Brown-Ishida|Brown and Ishida]
6. [#Brown-Ishida|Brown and Ishida]
7. Julian dates derived from NengoCalc
8. Titsingh, p. 106; Brown and Ishida, pp. 283; Varley, p. 44; a distinct act of senso is unrecognized prior to Emperor Tenji; and all sovereigns except Jitō, Yōzei, Go-Toba, and Fushimi have senso and sokui in the same year until the reign of Emperor Go-Murakami.
9. [#Brown-Ishida|Brown and Ishida]
10. [George Sansom|Sansom, George Bailey]
11. [#Mason-Caiger|Mason and Caiger]
12. [#Mason-Caiger|Mason and Caiger]
13. Titsingh, p. 124; Brown and Ishida, p. 289; Varley, pp. 171–175.
14. [#Brown-Ishida|Brown and Ishida]
15. Adolphson, Mikael et al. (2007). Heian Japan, centers and peripheries, p. 23.
16. [#Brown-Ishida|Brown and Ishida]
17. Titsingh, p. 106.
18. Heian period Imperial courts: – kugyō of Ninmyō-tennō (in French)
19. Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005). "Fujiwara no Otsugu" in .
20. Titsingh,
21. Saikū Historical Museum, Meiwa, Mie: wall-display information table.
22. Web site: Genealogy. Reichsarchiv. 30 April 2010 . 28 January 2018. ja.