was a Japanese aristocrat (kuge), courtier, and statesman of the Nara period.[1] He was the son of sadaijin Tachibana no Moroe and the second head of the Tachibana clan. He attained the court rank of and the position of sangi, and posthumously of and daijō-daijin.
He was the leader of a plot to replace Fujiwara no Nakamaro and to overthrow Empress Kōken (Tachibana no Naramaro's Conspiracy). It was not successful.[2]
Naramaro's father Moroe was trusted by Emperor Shōmu to govern, and by 743 was promoted as far as and sadaijin.
In 740, Naramaro was conferred the rank of and then promoted to . In 741 he was promoted to Daigaku-no-kami, in 743 to, in 745 to, in 746 to, and in 747 to .
In 749, Emperor Shōmu retired, and Empress Kōken assumed the throne. Fujiwara no Nakamaro, who had both the favor of Kōken and the confidence of Shōmu's wife Empress Kōmyō, rapidly rose to power, and came into conflict with Moroe. In the same year, Naramaro rose to, and was appointed as chamberlain and Sangi.
In 755, Moroe was reported to have slandered the court at a banquet. He resigned in the next year, and died disappointed in 757.
In 756, ex-Emperor Shōmu died, and based on his will was made crown prince. In 757, though, Kōken removed him from the position on the grounds of immorality, and two months later replaced him with Nakamaro's preferred candidate Prince Ōi, the future Emperor Junnin.
Another month later, Naramaro was made within the Daijō-kan. Naramaro was extremely unhappy with Nakamaro's monopolization of power, and together with a group including and Ono no Azumabito, plotted to remove Nakamaro. Naramaro held meetings and secretly tried to recruit sympathizers, but the plot was leaked. informed Nakamaro that Naramaro and company were preparing weapons.
On July 26, 757, revealed that Ono no Azumabito had approached him to request his participation in Naramaro's plot, and Azumabito was arrested and interrogated. Tortured by caning, Azumabito confessed everything. The plan had been for Naramaro to raise troops and kill Nakamaro, then make the crown prince resign. Stealing the emperor's seal and station bells, they would leave Fujiwara no Toyonari in power over the country, make the Emperor resign, and choose a more sympathetic prince as the new emperor. The candidates for this were Prince Funado,,, and .
Those named by Azumabito, including Naramaro, Funado,,, and, were simultaneously arrested early the next year. Interrogated by Fujiwara no Nagate, Naramaro said that because the government was wicked, he planned to raise troops and make a petition. When Nagate asked why the government was wicked, Naramaro responded that the government was constructing temples like Tōdai-ji while the people suffered. Nagate replied that Tōdai-ji was constructed in the time of Naramaro's own father, and Naramaro had no answer to that. According to 's confession, Naramaro first began to plot a rebellion when Emperor Shōmu made an imperial visit to Namba in 745, and invited Matanari to participate at that time. After his interrogation, Matanari committed suicide.
Although the punishment for the conspirators would normally have been death, Empress Kōken decreed that they should be spared this highest punishment and exiled instead. However, Nakamaro wanted to establish the firm rule of law, and did not relent. The next day, those implicated in the conspiracy, including Prince Funado, Prince Kibumi, Komaro, and Kōshikai, were relentlessly beaten with canes all over their bodies, under the supervision of a group including Nagate,, and . Azumabito, who had already confessed, was treated the same. After hours of this torture, the victims died in prison. Naramaro's fate is not recorded in the Shoku Nihongi, but he is assumed to have died in the same way. The record may have been erased when Naramaro's granddaughter Tachibana no Kachiko became the of Emperor Saga. However, Naramaro's name continues to appear in the Shoku Nihongi after the conspiracy's exposure, so this theory is also problematic.
Ironically, after Naramaro's death, his son Kiyotomo was born, and Kiyotomo's daughter Kachiko bore Emperor Saga the future Emperor Ninmyō. Meanwhile, Naramaro's opponent Nakamaro himself rebelled and was defeated. In 847, Naramaro was posthumously granted the ranks his old enemy had been stripped of: and daijō-daijin.