, posthumously honored as , was the 109th monarch of Japan, according to the traditional order of succession. Her reign lasted from 1629 to 1643. 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.

Genealogy

Before Meishō's accession to the Chrysanthemum Throne, her personal name (her imina) was ; and her pre-accession title was . She was the second daughter of Emperor Go-Mizunoo. Her mother was Tokugawa Masako, daughter of the second Tokugawa shōgun, Tokugawa Hidetada and his wife Oeyo. Hidetada was the son of Tokugawa Ieyasu and his consort, Oai.

Meishō lived within the Inner Apartments of the Heian Palace, as opposed to the section reserved for the women of the Imperial Court. She had no children of her own, and was succeeded by her younger paternal half-brother, Go-Kōmyō. Her name was derived by combining the names of two previous empresses, Empress Genmei (707–715) and her daughter Empress Genshō (715–724).

Events of Meishō's life

Okiko-naishinnō became empress following the abdication of her father. The succession (senso) was considered to have been received by the new monarch; and shortly thereafter, Empress Meishō is said to have acceded (sokui). The events during her lifetime shed some light on her reign. The years of Meishō's reign correspond with the development and growth of the Tokugawa shogunate under the leadership of Tokugawa Iemitsu.

  • January 9, 1624: The birth of an Imperial princess who will become known by the posthumous name of Empress Meishō.
  • 1627 (Kan'ei 6): The : Emperor Go-Mizunoo was accused of having bestowed honorific purple garments to more than ten priests despite the shoguns edict which banned them for two years (probably in order to break the bond between the Emperor and religious circles). The shogunate intervened and invalidated the bestowal of the garments.
  • December 22, 1629 (Kan'ei 6, 8th day of the 11th month): The emperor renounced the throne in favor of his daughter. The reign of the new empress was understood to have begun.
  • 1643 (Kanei 20, 23rd day of the 4th month): Emperor Go-Kōmyō is said to have acceded to the throne (sokui). Empress Gemmei, who was followed on the throne by her daughter, Empress Gensho, remains the sole exception to this conventional argument.
  • December 4, 1696: The former empress died at age 72.

alt=Painting of Empress Meishō's Enthronement ceremony.|center|thumb|300x300px|Painting of Empress Meishō's Enthronement ceremony.

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. 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:

  • Sesshō, Ichijō Akiyoshi, 1629–1635
  • Sesshō, Nijō Yasumichi, 1635–1647
  • Sadaijin
  • Udaijin
  • Naidaijin
  • Dainagon

Era of Meishō's reign

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

References

Sources

  • Meyer, Eva-Maria (1999). Japans Kaiserhof in der Edo-Zeit: unter besonderer Berücksichtigung der Jahre 1846 bis 1867, Münster: LIT Verlag; /<br>Japans Kaiserhof in der Edo-Zeit: unter besonderer Berücksichtigung der Jahre 1846 bis 1867; OCLC 42041594
  • Ponsonby-Fane, Richard (1959). The Imperial House of Japan, Kyoto: Ponsonby Memorial Society; OCLC 194887<br>The Imperial House of Japan; OCLC 194887
  • Titsingh, Isaac (1834). Nihon Ōdai Ichiran Annales des empereurs du Japon pp.&nbsp;411–412, 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. /