Ako Incident

The Ako Incident (Akō Jiken – 阿衡事件 / Akō no Fungi – 阿衡の紛議) occured in 887 and was a conflict between Fujiwara no Mototsune and Emperor Uda concerning his ascension in 887.

During this time Mototsune expected to be reconfirmed in his position of kampuku however a drafted edict named him as Akō (the title of an ancient chinese regent).

He insisted that this was an attempt to deprive him of his power, and as he was so powerful at the time the Emperor was forced to rescind the edict and again make him kampaku.

It was only after the death of Mototsune that Emperor Uda could free himself from the Fujiwara Regency Government that had been ongoing for some time.¹

Footnotes

1. Kodansha. (1993) ”Japan: An Illustrated Encyclopedia”. Tokyo: Kodansha Ltd.

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• • Period: Heian Period
  • Occupation: –
  • Family: Fujiwara no Mototsune (father) Fujiwara no Tokihira (brother) Fujiwara no Tadahira (brother) Fujiwara no Nakahira (brother) Fujiwara no Kanehira (brother) Fujiwara no Baishi (sister) Fujiwara no Onshi I (sister) Fujiwara no Onshi II (sister)
  • Birth: –
  • Death: –

Fujiwara no Raishi

Fujiwara no Raishi was a member of the Fujiwara Clan, more specifically the Hokke Branch of the clan. She was the daughter of Fujiwara no Mototsune.¹

Footnotes

1. Kodansha. (1993) ”Japan: An Illustrated Encyclopedia”. Tokyo: Kodansha Ltd.

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• • Period: Heian Period
  • Occupation: –
  • Family: Fujiwara no Mototsune (father) Fujiwara no Tokihira (brother) Fujiwara no Tadahira (brother) Fujiwara no Nakahira (brother) Fujiwara no Kanehira (brother) Fujiwara no Raishi (sister) Fujiwara no Onshi I (sister) Fujiwara no Onshi II (sister)
  • Birth: –
  • Death: –

Fujiwara no Baishi

Fujiwara no Baishi was a member of the Fujiwara Clan, more specifically the Hokke Branch of the clan. She was the daughter of Fujiwara no Mototsune.¹

Footnotes

1. Kodansha. (1993) ”Japan: An Illustrated Encyclopedia”. Tokyo: Kodansha Ltd.

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• • Period: –
  • Occupation: –
  • Family: Fujiwara no Nagara (father) Fujiwara no Tadataka (son) Fujiwara no Mototsune (brother) Fujiwara no Tōtsune (brother) Fujiwara no Kunitsune (brother) Fujiwara no Kōshi (sister)
  • Birth: –
  • Death: –

Fujiwara no Takatsune

Fujiwara no Takatsune (藤原 高経) as a member of the Fujiwara Clan, more specifically the Hokke Branch of the family.

He was the son of Fujiwara no Nagara and father of Fujiwara no Tadataka.¹

Footnotes

1. Kodansha. (1993) ”Japan: An Illustrated Encyclopedia”. Tokyo: Kodansha Ltd.

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• • Period: –
  • Occupation: –
  • Family: Fujiwara no Nagara (father) Fujiwara no Yoshinori (son) Fujiwara no Mototsune (brother) Fujiwara no Kunitsune (brother) Fujiwara no Takatsune (brother) Fujiwara no Kōshi (sister)
  • Birth: –
  • Death: –

Fujiwara no Tōtsune

Fujiwara no Tōtsune (藤原 遠経) as a member of the Fujiwara Clan, more specifically the Hokke Branch of the family.

He was the son of Fujiwara no Nagara and father of Fujiwara no Yoshinori.¹

Footnotes

1. Kodansha. (1993) ”Japan: An Illustrated Encyclopedia”. Tokyo: Kodansha Ltd.

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• • Period: Heian Period
  • Occupation: –
  • Family: Fujiwara no Nagara (father) Fujiwara no Mototsune (brother) Fujiwara no Tōtsune (brother) Fujiwara no Takatsune (brother) Fujiwara no Kunitsune (brother)
  • Birth: 842AD
  • Death: 910AD

Fujiwara no Takako

Fujiwara no Takako (藤原 高子) (also called Fujiwara no Kōshi?) was a member of the Fujiwara Clan, more specifically the Hokke Branch of the family.

Living from 842-910AD she was the daughter of Fujiwara no Nagara.¹

Footnotes

1. Kodansha. (1993) ”Japan: An Illustrated Encyclopedia”. Tokyo: Kodansha Ltd.

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• • Period: –
  • Occupation: –
  • Family: Fujiwara no Nagara (father) Fujiwara no Mototsune (brother) Fujiwara no Tōtsune (brother) Fujiwara no Takatsune (brother) Fujiwara no Kōshi (sister)
  • Birth: –
  • Death: –

Fujiwara no Kunitsune

Fujiwara no Kunitsune (藤原 国経) was a member of the Fujiwara Clan, more specifically the Hokke Branch of the family.

He was the son of Fujiwara no Nagara.¹

Footnotes

1. Kodansha. (1993) ”Japan: An Illustrated Encyclopedia”. Tokyo: Kodansha Ltd.

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• Reign: 884-887AD
• Born: 830AD
• Period: Heian Period
• Family: Emperor Ninmyō (father) Minamoto no Muneyuki (grandson)
• Order of Succession: Predecessor Emperor Yōzei * Successor Emperor Uda

Emperor Kōkō

Emperor Kōkō (光孝天皇) was the 58th Emperor of Japan living from 830-871AD and reigning from 884-887AD.¹

Family

Kōkō was the third son of Emperor Ninmyō¹ and grandfather of the poet Minamoto no Muneyuki.¹

Reign

He was the protégé of Fujiwara no Mototsune and was placed on the throne (aged 54¹) after Mototsune had Emperor Yōzei deposed. Mototsune would then see Kōkō deposed for Emperor Uda.²

Contemporary sources give him the name Emperor of the Ninna Era.¹

Poetry

In total for him we can find 14 poems in Imperial Anthologies, in addition to a personal collection called the Ninna Gyoshū.

One of his poems (No.15) can be found in the Ogura Hyakunin Isshu and goes as follows:¹

Japanese text3	Romanized Japanese1	English translation1
君がため 春の野に出でて 若菜つむ わが衣手に 雪はふりつつ	Kimi ga tame haru no no ni idete wakana tsumu waga koromode ni yuki wa furitsutsu	For you, I came out to the fields to pick the first spring greens. All the while, on my sleeves a light snow falling.

Footnotes

1. MacMillan, P. (2018) ”One Hundred Poets, One Poem Each: A Treasury of Classical Japanese Verse”. St. Ives: Penguin Classics.
2. Louis Frederic, translated by Kathe Roth (2002) “Japan Encyclopedia”. London: Harvard University Press.
3. Suzuki, H. et al. (1997) ”Genshoku: Ogura Hyakunin Isshu”. Tokyo: Bun’eidō.

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• Reign: 876-884AD
• Born: 868AD
• Period: Heian Period
• Family: Emperor Seiwa (father) Prince Motoyoshi (son) Fujiwara no Mototsune (uncle)
• Order of Succession: Predecessor Emperor Seiwa * Successor Emperor Kōkō

Emperor Yōzei

Emperor Yōzei (陽成天皇) was the 57th Emperor of Japan living from 868-949AD and reigning from 876-884AD.¹

Family

He was the eldest son of the previous Emperor Seiwa and was nephew to Fujiwara no Mototsune. He had a son known as Prince Motoyoshi who was a famous poet and lover.¹

Reign

He is known to have been an extravagant ruler and lived in excess. He is also known to have murdered a courtier with his own hands. He was later forced to abdicate in 884 by his uncle Mototsune in favor of Emperor Kōkō.¹

Poetry

After his ‘retirement’ he was host to many poetry competitions and took a very keen interest in waka.¹

In total we only find one of his poems in the Imperial Anthologies as well as a poem (No.13) in the Ogura Hyakunin Isshu which goes as follows¹:

Footnotes

1. MacMillan, P. (2018) ”One Hundred Poets, One Poem Each: A Treasury of Classical Japanese Verse”. St. Ives: Penguin Classics.
2. Suzuki, H. et al. (1997) ”Genshoku: Ogura Hyakunin Isshu”. Tokyo: Bun’eidō.

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• • Period: Heian Period
  • Occupation: –
  • Family: Emperor Daigo (husband) Emperor Suzaku (son) Emperor Murakami (son) Fujiwara no Mototsune (father) Fujiwara no Tokihira (brother) Fujiwara no Tadahira (brother) Fujiwara no Nakahira (brother) Fujiwara no Kanehira (brother) Fujiwara no Raishi (sister) Fujiwara no Baishi (sister) Fujiwara no Onshi I (sister)
  • Birth: 885AD
  • Death: 954AD

Fujiwara no Onshi II

Fujiwara no Onshi II (藤原 穏子) was a member of the Fujiwara Clan, more specifically the Hokke Branch of this clan, living from 885-954AD.

She was the daughter of Fujiwara no Mototsune and would go on to marry Emperor Daigo. Together she would give birth to the future Emperors Suzaku and Murakami.¹

Lady Ukon served as one of her ladies-in-waiting.²

Footnotes

1. Louis Frederic, translated by Kathe Roth (2002) “Japan Encyclopedia”. London: Harvard University Press.
2. MacMillan, P. (2018) ”One Hundred Poets, One Poem Each: A Treasury of Classical Japanese Verse”. St. Ives: Penguin Classics.

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