Empress Meishō

Empress Meishō
明正天皇
Empress of Japan
ReignDecember 22, 1629 – November 14, 1643
EnthronementOctober 17, 1630
PredecessorGo-Mizunoo
SuccessorGo-Kōmyō
ShōgunsTokugawa Iemitsu
BornOkiko (興子)
January 9, 1624
Kyoto, Kyoto Prefecture, Tokugawa shogunate
DiedDecember 4, 1696(1696-12-04) (aged 72)
Kyoto, Kyoto Prefecture, Tokugawa shogunate
Burial
Tsuki no wa no misasagi, Kyoto
Posthumous name
Tsuigō:
Empress Meishō (明正院 or 明正天皇)
HouseImperial House of Japan
FatherEmperor Go-Mizunoo
MotherTokugawa Masako
Signature

Okiko (Japanese: 興子), posthumously honored as Empress Meishō (明正天皇, Meishō-tennō; January 9, 1624 – December 4, 1696), was the 109th monarch of Japan,[1] according to the traditional order of succession.[2] Her reign lasted from 1629 to 1643.[3] Her reign officially began when she was five years old and continued for fifteen years. It is believed that Meishō's father actually ruled in her name until she abdicated in favor of her younger half-brother.[2]

Following her ascension to the throne, Empress Meishō became Japan's first female emperor in over 900 years, since Empress Shōtoku.[2]

Pre-birth and context

Empress Meishō's father was Emperor Go-Mizunoo.[4] The emperor's consort and lady-in-waiting before the empress's birth was Yotsutsuji Yotsuko.[5]

The Shōgun, Tokugawa Hidetada was eager for his daughter, Tokugawa Masako to join the imperial court. This was something that retired-shōgun Tokugawa Ieyasu, her grandfather, also tried push for under the reign of Go-Mizunoo's father, Emperor Go-Yōzei.[6] However, Yotsuko was pregnant and thus it would be taboo to accept a new consort.[6][7] Yotsuko gave birth to a boy, Prince Kamo, however soon after Yotsuko fell pregnant again, this time giving birth to a girl, Princess Bunchi.[5][7]

Hidetada ordered the expulsion of Yotsuko from court and in 1620 Masako joined the court.[7][8] The Emperor, however, was dissatisfied with the Shōgun's involvement in imperial affairs.[8][9] Masako's placement in court furthermore was another way for the Shōgun to control the Emperor.[10]

Pre-ascension

Empress Meishō was born in 1624 as Princess Okiko to Emperor Go-Mizunoo and his wife Tokugawa Masako.[11]

Following her birth Masako was promoted to the rank of empress consort.[6]

In 1626 a son, Prince Sukehito, was born.[12] Sukehito was quickly made crown prince but died in 1628.[12]

The Emperor was sick of the Shōgun undermining his authority, such as in the Purple Robe Incident in which the Emperor bestowed ranks and titles to 10 Buddhist monks, only for the Shōgun to strip them.[13]

Tokugawa Masako would have one more son, however, in order to prevent the Emperor from having any male heirs and thus abdicating, the Shōgun ditched his desire of a Tokugawa emperor and forced Masako to give up her child to Prince Hachijō Toshihito.[14] The boy would die soon after,[14] and Toshihito himself would die soon after in 1629.[15] Thus, the Emperor sought to abdicate in secret, and with no male heirs, did so in 1629 resorting to abdicating in favour of his daughter.[13][14]

Reign

Depiction of Empress Meishō's enthronement.
Depiction of Empress Meishō's enthronement.

Empress Meishō came to the throne in 1629 following the abdication of her father.[13] The Shōgun was not notified.[13]

Ten leading court nobles were notified, and it was agreed that a female emperor would be acceptable, with it declared:

The rites for a female emperor should not be a cause for difficulty; if it is to be so, the throne should be entrusted to the First Princess, and upon the birth of a prince, the throne should be abdicated.

[a][16]

The Empress's reign was uneventful, with her father handling matters of state.[2] The former emperor continued having children in his retirement, with Lady Sono Mitsuko giving him a son, Prince Tsuguhito (later Emperor Go-Kōmyō).[17]

Tokugawa Masako, who had given birth to her last surviving child, Princess Yoshiko, in 1632,[18] adopted Prince Tsuguhito and he was declared Crown Prince.[19] The following year in 1643, Empress Meishō abdicated.[19]

Before her abdication, the Shōgun issued 4 articles of directives for the Empress, which included: The Empress was to be barred from all matters of court, such as the bestowing of titles (Article 1), that members of her family could visit her only during new years, and that other people were barred from visiting her (Article 2), if any court nobles needed to visit her, they had to speak to a messenger (Article 3), and finally that the she was permitted to visit her sister, Princess Ninomiya[b][21], and half-brother Emperor Go-Kōmyō[17], with either one of her parents in attendance, but she was barred from visiting the new emperor alone, needing two servants with her at all time (Article 4).[22]

Post-reign and death

明正院七十賀月次絵屏風_円照寺_左
Congratulating Empress Meishō on her 70th Birthday, Enshōji, Nara, Nara, Japan

Upon her abdication she received the title Daijō Tennō.[23] In 1692 her 70th birthday saw many celebrations with two paintings made, now considered important cultural properties.[24]

Empress Meishō died aged 72 in 1694.[11]

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

Era of Meishō's reign

The years of Meishō's reign are encompassed within one era name or nengō.[25]

Ancestry

[26]

Ancestors of Empress Meishō
8. Prince Masahito (1552–1586)
4. Emperor Go-Yōzei (1571–1617)
9. Kanshūji Haruko (1553–1620)
2. Emperor Go-Mizunoo (1596–1680)
10.Konoe Sakihisa (1536–1612)
5.Konoe Sakiko (1575–1630)
11. Takeda
1. Empress Meishō
12. Tokugawa Ieyasu, 1st Tokugawa shōgun (1543–1616)
6. Tokugawa Hidetada, 2nd Tokugawa shōgun (1579–1632)
13. Lady Saigō (1552–1589)
3. Tokugawa Masako (1607–1678)
14. Azai Nagamasa (1545–1573)
7. Oeyo (1573–1626)
15. Oichi (1547–1583)

Notes

  1. ↑ 女帝の儀は苦しかるまじき、左様にも候わば、女一宮に御位預けられ、若宮御誕生の上、御譲位あるべき事
  2. ↑ Ninomiya, or 女二宮 (Onna Ninomiya, Second Princess) is a title.[20] Her personal name is unknown.

References

  1. ↑ Imperial Household Agency (Kunaichō): 明正天皇 (108)
  2. 1 2 3 4 Ponsonby-Fane, Richard (1959). The Imperial House of Japan.
  3. ↑ Titsingh, pp. 411–412.
  4. ↑ Kuitert, Wybe (2002-01-01). Themes in the History of Japanese Garden Art. University of Hawaii Press. ISBN 978-0-8248-2312-2.
  5. 1 2 日本人名大辞典+Plus, デジタル版. "御与津御寮人(およつごりょうにん)とは？ 意味や使い方". コトバンク (in Japanese). Retrieved 2026-08-18.
  6. 1 2 3 "徳川和子(とくがわかずこ)とは？ 意味や使い方". コトバンク (in Japanese). Retrieved 2026-08-18.
  7. 1 2 3 "日本歴史大事典 3 | NDLサーチ | 国立国会図書館". 国立国会図書館サーチ（NDLサーチ） (in Japanese). Retrieved 2026-08-18.
  8. 1 2 熊倉功夫 (2010). 後水尾天皇 (in Japanese). 中央公論新社. ISBN 978-4-12-205404-2.
  9. ↑ "後水尾天皇(ゴミズノオテンノウ)とは？ 意味や使い方". コトバンク (in Japanese). Retrieved 2026-08-18.
  10. ↑ "東福門院(トウフクモンイン)とは？ 意味や使い方". コトバンク (in Japanese). Retrieved 2026-08-18.
  11. 1 2 "明正天皇(メイショウテンノウ)とは？ 意味や使い方". コトバンク (in Japanese). Retrieved 2026-08-18.
  12. 1 2 日本人名大辞典+Plus, デジタル版. "高仁親王(すけひとしんのう)とは？ 意味や使い方". コトバンク (in Japanese). Retrieved 2026-08-18.
  13. 1 2 3 4 "近世日本政治史と朝廷 | NDLサーチ | 国立国会図書館". 国立国会図書館サーチ（NDLサーチ） (in Japanese). Retrieved 2026-08-18.
  14. 1 2 3 野村玄 (2006). 日本近世国家の確立と天皇 (in Japanese). 清文堂出版. ISBN 978-4-7924-0610-3.
  15. ↑ "八条宮智仁親王(はちじょうのみやとしひとしんのう)とは？ 意味や使い方". コトバンク (in Japanese). Retrieved 2026-08-18.
  16. ↑ Imatani, Akira (June 21, 1993). 武家と天皇: 王権をめぐる相剋 [Samurai and the Emperor: The Struggle for Royal Authority] (in Japanese). ISBN 978-4004302865.
  17. 1 2 "後光明天皇(ゴコウミョウテンノウ)とは？ 意味や使い方". コトバンク (in Japanese). Retrieved 2026-08-18.
  18. ↑ 日本人名大辞典+Plus,367日誕生日大事典, デジタル版. "賀子内親王(よしこないしんのう)とは？ 意味や使い方". コトバンク (in Japanese). Retrieved 2026-08-18.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  19. 1 2 野村, 玄 (2006). 日本近世国家の確立と天皇 (in Japanese). ISBN 978-4792406103.
  20. ↑ "女二宮". コトバンク (in Japanese). Retrieved 2026-08-18.
  21. ↑ 久保貴子 (2008). トクガワマサコ (in Japanese). 吉川弘文館. ISBN 978-4-642-05245-0.
  22. ↑ 近世の朝廷制度と朝幕関係 - 東京大学出版会 (in Japanese). 2013. ISBN 978-4-13-026233-0.
  23. ↑ "国立国会図書館デジタルコレクション". dl.ndl.go.jp. Retrieved 2026-08-18.
  24. ↑ "奈良市指定文化財一覧". 奈良市ホームページ (in Japanese). Retrieved 2026-08-18.
  25. ↑ Titsingh, p. 411
  26. ↑ "Genealogy". Reichsarchiv (in Japanese). 30 April 2010. Retrieved 21 January 2018.

Sources


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