Emperor Ninkō

Ninkō
Emperor of Japan
Ninkō
Reign	31 October 1817 - 21 February 1846 (&1000000000000002800000028 years, &10000000000000113000000113 days)
Born	16 March 1800(1800-03-16)
Died	21 February 1846(1846-02-21) (aged 45)
Buried	Nochi no Taukinowa no Misasagi (Kyoto)
Predecessor	Kōkaku
Successor	Kōmei
Consort	Fujiwara no Tsunako
Royal House	Imperial House of Japan
Father	Kōkaku
Mother	Kajyūji Tadako

Emperor Ninkō (仁孝天皇, Ninkō-tennō^?, March 16, 1800 – February 21, 1846) was the 120th emperor of Japan,^[1] according to the traditional order of succession.^[2]

Ninkō's reign spanned the years from 1817 through 1846.^[3]

Genealogy

Before Ninkō's ascension to the Chrysanthemum Throne, his personal name (imina) was Ayahito (恵仁^?).^[4]

Ninkō was the fourth son of Emperor Kōkaku.

Ninkō's Imperial family lived with him in the Dairi of the Heian Palace. This family included 7 sons and 8 daughters from various concubines, but only the future Emperor Komei (Komei-tennō), Princess Sumiko (Sumiko-naishinnō) and Princess Chikako (Chikako-hime) survived beyond childhood.^[5]

Events of Ninkō's life

He reigned from October 31, 1817 to February 21, 1846.

Ninkō was named as crown prince in 1809, being adopted by the chief wife (chūgū), of his father, the Emperor, Imperial Princess Yoshiko (?, 欣子内親王), also known as Shin-Seiwa-in (?, 新清和院). Ninkō was enthroned as Emperor in 1817 after his father retired from the throne. Following his father the Retired Emperor's wishes, he attempted to revive certain court rituals and practices. For example, Ninkō and all other emperors after his father have been identified as tennō.

His reign saw some deterioration of bakufu power. The bakufu encountered yet more problems during the reign of his son, Emperor Kōmei (Komei-tennō). The bakufu collapsed in the beginning of the reign of his grandson, Emperor Meiji (Meiji-tennō).

Among Ninkō's innovations was the establishment of the Gakushūsho (the predecessor of the Gakushūin for the Court Nobility just outside of the Imperial Palace.

After Ninkō's death in 1846, he was enshrined in the Imperial mausoleum, Nochi no Tsukinowa no Higashiyama no misasagi ( 後月輪東山陵^?), which is at Sennyū-ji in Higashiyama-ku, Kyoto. Also enshrined in Tsukinowa no misasagi, at Sennyū-ji are this emperor's immediate Imperial predecessors since Emperor Go-Mizunoo -- Meishō, Go-Kōmyō, Go-Sai, Reigen, Higashiyama, Nakamikado, Sakuramachi, Momozono, Go-Sakuramachi, Go-Momozono and Kōkaku. The shrine complex also encompasses the misasagi of Ninkō's immediate successor -- Kōmei.^[6] Empress Dowager Yoshikō is also entombed at this Imperial mausoleum complex.^[7]

Kugyō

Following the abdication of his father, Emperor Ninkō ascended to the Chrysanthemum Throne on 31 October 1817.

His reign coincided with what is referred to as "the late Tokugawa Shogunate" period and in particular the beginnings of the decline of the shōgun, or bakufu (幕府). Although the final fall of the Tokugawa shogunate only came about during the Meiji Restoration and as a result of the opening of Edo-era Japan to the Western world, it was not simply their inability to cope with the situation that was their undoing.

In the mid-19th century a complex political struggle was already forming between the bakufu and its critics. From the outset, the Tokugawa attempted to restrict the accumulation of wealth by families and had promoted a "back to the soil" policy, making the farmer, as the ultimate producer, the ideal person within society.

However, as a result of a combination of a long period of peace; better crop production, transport, housing; and in increase in entertainment and leisure time, the standard of living of the average rural dweller rose, despite efforts to restrict wealth. A high rate of literacy, resulted in cultural values being redefined and infused amongst both the samurai and chōnin (merchant-class). Although the government tried to restrict the merchants, seeing them as unproductive members of society, the samurai relied on the chōnin for supplies and were thus converted to the chōnin's cause.

This resulted in a struggle between the shōgun and the merchant class, as a result of the political limitations that the shōgun imposed. The cumbersome government bureaucracy could not adapt to the new emerging social order, which was compounded by rapid population growth during the same period. (The 1721 census listed 26 million commoners and about 4 million members of samurai families). Droughts, peasant unrest and mass protests over taxes and food shortages became common occurrences. Previously wealthy families, now landless, were forced to become tenant farmers, whilst the cities' populations grew as rural poor moved into them. A new, wealthy farming class emerged and many samurai who had fallen on tough times were forced to work for merchants.

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

• Kampaku, Ichijō Tadayoshi, 1814–1823
• Kampaku, Takatsukasa Masamichi, 1823–1856
• Sadaijin
• Udaijin
• Nadaijin
• Dainagon

Eras of Ninkō's reign

The years of Ninkō's reign are more specifically identified by more than one era name or nengō.^[3]

• Bunka (1804–1818)
• Bunsei (1818–1830)
• Tempō (1830–1844)
• Kōka (1844–1848)

Notes

Japanese Imperial kamon — a stylized chrysanthemum blossom

1. ^ Imperial Household Agency (Kunaichō): 仁孝天皇 (120)
2. ^ Ponsonby-Fane, Richard. (1959). The Imperial House of Japan, pp. 122-123.
3. ^ ^{a b} Titsingh, Isaac. (1834). Annales des empereurs du japon, p. 421.
4. ^ Ponsonby-Fane, p. 10; Titsingh, p. 421.
5. ^ Ponsonby-Fane, p. 123.
6. ^ Ponsonby-Fane, p. 423.
7. ^ Ponsonby-Fane, pp. 333-334.

See also

• Emperor of Japan
• List of Emperors of Japan
• Imperial cult
• Modern system of ranked Shinto Shrines

References

• Meyer, Eva-Maria. (1999). Japans Kaiserhof in der Edo-Zeit: unter besonderer Berücksichtigung der Jahre 1846 bis 1867. Münster: LIT Verlag. 10-ISBN 3825839397, 13-ISBN 9783825839390; OCLC 42041594
• Ponsonby-Fane, Richard Arthur Brabazon. (1959). The Imperial House of Japan. Kyoto: Ponsonby Memorial Society. OCLC 194887
• Titsingh, Isaac. (1834). Nihon Odai Ichiran; ou, Annales des empereurs du Japon. Paris: Royal Asiatic Society, Oriental Translation Fund of Great Britain and Ireland. OCLC 5850691
• Varley, H. Paul. (1980). Jinnō Shōtōki: A Chronicle of Gods and Sovereigns. New York: Columbia University Press. 10-ISBN 0-231-04940-4; 13-ISBN 978-0-231-04940-5; OCLC 59145842

External links

• Kazu-No-Miya Chikako

Regnal titles
Preceded by Emperor Kōkaku	Emperor of Japan: Ninkō 1817-1846	Succeeded by Emperor Kōmei

Persondata
Name	Ninko
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	16 March 1800
Place of birth
Date of death	21 February 1846
Place of death