• Reign: 507-531AD
• Period: Kofun Period
• Family: Emperor Ankan (son) Emperor Senka (son) Emperor Kinmei (son) Emperor Ojin (ancestor)
• Burial Place: –
• Order of Succession: Predecessor Emperor Buretsu * Successor Emperor Ankan

Emperor Keitai

Emperor Keitai (継体天皇) was the twenty-sixth Emperor of Japan. If the records are true he had his son Ankan when he was only 13 years old.

Reluctantly he accepted the throne as a middle-aged man, however, it is said:

he loved the people and was courteous to men of worth. He was of a generous disposition.

He married a daughter of Emperor Ninken and took eight concubines. He is also the first Emperor to abdicate, though he was 82 and on his deathbed at the time.¹

Footnotes

1. Martin, P. (1997) ”The Chrysanthemum Throne”. Gloucestershire: Sutton Publishing Limited.

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• Reign: 498-507AD
• Period: Kofun Period
• Family:
• Burial Place: –
• Order of Succession: Predecessor Emperor Ninken * Successor Emperor Keitai

Emperor Buretsu

Emperor Buretsu (武烈天皇) was the twenty-fifth Emperor of Japan.

During his reign he became well versed in law and enjoyed physical punishment known to have:

Ripped up the belly of a pregnant woman and inspected the pregnant womb… and plucked out men’s nails, and made them dig up yams… he made men climb up trees and then shot them down with a bow, upon which he laughed.

Due to his character being so similar to Emperor Yuryaku some think they are the same person, with the three Emperors between them being fictitious or temporary successful rebels.

The Soga Clan, branching off from the Imperial line, came to political power during his reign possibly by agreeing to a political bargain.¹

Footnotes

1. Martin, P. (1997) ”The Chrysanthemum Throne”. Gloucestershire: Sutton Publishing Limited.

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• Reign: 488-498AD
• Period: Kofun Period
• Family: Emperor Richu (grandfather) Emperor Kenzo (brother) Oshinumi (sister)
• Burial Place: –
• Order of Succession: Predecessor Emperor Kenzo * Successor Emperor Buretsu

Emperor Ninken

Emperor Ninken (仁賢天皇) was the twenty-fourth Emperor of Japan. After the death of Emperor Seinei, there was a succession crisis due to a lack of suitable heirs for the throne as Emperor Yuryaku had killed all heirs to succeed to the throne himself.

However, two grandsons of Emperor Richu were found as rural farmers. Though they both spent a year declining the throne, offering it to the other, meaning their sister Oshinumi acted as Regent until one agreed to take the throne.

Ninken ascended the throne after his brother Emperor Kenzo, however, Kenzo’s widow had never like the man and so committed suicide after he took the throne.

When Ninken was still Crown-Prince he was asked to demolish the tomb of Yuryaku due to his brother’s hatred at killing all of their family. However, Ninken only caused token damage, most likely as he had taken as a wife one of Yuryaku’s daughter who bore him one son and six daughters.

During his reign the country is described as prosperous with the people being content.¹

Footnotes

1. Martin, P. (1997) ”The Chrysanthemum Throne”. Gloucestershire: Sutton Publishing Limited.

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• Period: Kofun Period
• Occupation: Regent
• Family: Emperor Richu (grandfather) Emperor Kenzo (brother) Emperor Ninken (brother)

Oshinumi-no-iitoyo-no-ao

Oshinumi-no-iitoyo-no-ao is known to have been a granddaughter of the Emperor Richu. After the death of the previous Emperor Seinei, there was a succession crisis due to the lack of heirs.

Two grandsons of Emperor Richu were eventually found. However, both spent a year declining the throne offering it to the other and so Oshinumi acted as Regent until one agreed to take the throne.¹

Footnotes

1. Martin, P. (1997) ”The Chrysanthemum Throne”. Gloucestershire: Sutton Publishing Limited.

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• Reign: 485-488AD
• Period: Kofun Period
• Family: Emperor Richu (grandfather) Emperor Ninken (brother) Oshinumi (sister)
• Burial Place: –
• Order of Succession: Predecessor Emperor Seinei * Successor Emperor Ninken

Emperor Kenzō

Emperor Kenzō (顕宗天皇) was the twenty-third Emperor of Japan. After the death of Emperor Seinei, there was a succession crisis due to a lack of suitable heirs for the throne after Emperor Yuryaku had killed all heirs to succeed to the throne.

However, two grandsons of Emperor Richu were found as rural farmers. Though they both spent a year declining the throne, offering it to the other, meaning their sister Oshinumi acted as Regent until one agreed to take the throne.

He only ruled for two years, dying childless. Known during his reign as a kind, compassionate and just ruler due to his poor background as a farmer.

During his reign, he asked the then Crown Prince Ninken to demolish the tomb of Yuryaku due his hatred at killing all of his family.¹

Footnotes

1. Martin, P. (1997) ”The Chrysanthemum Throne”. Gloucestershire: Sutton Publishing Limited.

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• Reign: 456-479AD
• Period: Kofun Period
• Family: Emperor Anko (brother) Emperor Seinei (son) Prince Mayowa (nephew)
• Burial Place: –
• Order of Succession: Predecessor Emperor Anko * Successor Emperor Seinei

Emperor Yūryaku

Emperor Yūryaku (雄略天皇) is the twenty-first Emperor of Japan.

He is recorded by his court chroniclers to have been a ‘wicked man’ who came to the throne after killing all other eligible heirs, which after the reign of his son Emperor Seinei caused difficulty with succession.

Later during the reign of Emperor Kenzo, Kenzo sent the then Crown-Prince Emperor Ninken to destroy Yuyaku’s tomb due to his hatred towards him for killing all his family. However, only minimum damage was done to the tomb.¹

He is said in the Nihongi to have given a speech as he died. However, this is most likely false as the speech is known to have been taken from a Chinese Emperor from the Sui Dynasty who died 125 years later.²

During his reign a man known as Ake (a part of the Haji Clan) presented to court ‘private Be members.’ Some people take this as evidence that Be members were actually slaves, though others feel they were merely subordinates.³

The Folktale Princess Glory is set during his reign.⁴

Footnotes

1. Martin, P. (1997) ”The Chrysanthemum Throne”. Gloucestershire: Sutton Publishing Limited.
2. Aston. W.G. (1896) “Nihongi Volume 1: Chronicles of Japan from the Earliest Times to AD697”. Tuttle Publishing.
3. Borgen, R. (1975) “The Origins of the Sugawara. A History of the Haji Family”. Monumenta Nipponica. Vol.30 No.4 pp.405-422
4. Tyler, R. (1987) “Japanese Tales.” New York: Pantheon Books.

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• Reign: 400-406AD
• Period: Kofun Period
• Family: Emperor Hanzei (brother) Emperor Kenzo (grand-son) Emperor Ninken (grandson) Oshinumi (granddaughter)
• Burial Place: –
• Order of Succession: Predecessor Emperor Nintoku  * Successor Emperor Hanzei

Emperor Richū

Emperor Richū (履中天皇) is the seventeenth Emperor of Japan, claiming the throne after a dispute with a rival candidate. After his death, his grandsons Emperor Kenzo and Emperor Ninken would become the twenty-third and fourth Emperors of Japan due to a lack of suitable succession candidates.¹

It appears Chinese was become more widespread in Japan as in the 4th year of his reign it is noted that:

”local Recorders were appointed for the first time in the various provinces, who noted down statements, and communicated the writings of the four quarters.”¹²

The Imperial Treasury was also formally established during his reign whose accountants had control of:

”gold and silver, jewels, precious utensils, brocade and satin, sarsnet, rugs and mattresses, and the rare objects sent as tribute by the various barbarians.”

It is said he died from a lack of harmony in the ‘elements of water and earth’ within him. Showing Chinese Ying and Yang theories had reached Japan by his reign.¹

Footnotes

1. Martin, P. (1997) ”The Chrysanthemum Throne”. Gloucestershire: Sutton Publishing Limited.
2. Aston. W.G. (1896) “Nihongi Volume 1: Chronicles of Japan from the Earliest Times to AD697”. Tuttle Publishing.

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