Emperor Go-Hanazono

(July 10, 1419 – January 18, 1471) was the 102nd emperor of Japan, according to the traditional order of succession. His reign spanned the years from 1428 through] 1464. [Titsingh, Isaac. (1834). "Annales des empereurs du japon," pp. 331-351.]

This 15th century sovereign was named after the 14th century Emperor Hanazono and "go-" (後), translates literally as "later;" and thus, he could be called the "Later Emperor Hanazono". The Japanese word "go" has also been translated to mean the "second one;" and in some older sources, this emperor may be identified as "Hanazono, the second," or as "Hanazono II."

Genealogy

Before his ascension to the Chrysanthemum Throne, his personal name (his "imina") [Brown, pp. 264. [Up until the time of Emperor Jomei, the personal names of the emperors (their "imina") were very long and people did not generally use them. The number of characters in each name diminished after Jomei's reign.] ] was nihongo| Hikohito"-shinnō" |彦仁親王.Titsingh, p. 331.]

He was the eldest son of Imperial Prince Fushimi-no-miya Sadafusa (伏見宮貞成親王) (1372 - 1456). His mother was Sachiko (幸子) (1390 - 1448), daughter of Niwata ?? (庭田経有).

His father was the 3rd of the Fushimi-no-miya line and grandson of the Northern Pretender Emperor Sukō, making Go-Hanazono the great-grandson of Sukō and 3rd cousin to his predecessor, Emperor Shōkō. He was also the great-great-great grandson of Emperor Go-Fushimi. This is the second most remote relationship between an emperor and his successor after that between Emperor Go-Komatsu (both the sixth Northern Pretender and the 100th in the main line) and his predecessor in the official line, Emperor Go-Kameyama, who was his fourth cousin twice removed.
*Consort: Ōinomikado (Fujiwara) Nobuko ?? (大炊御門（藤原）信子)
**First daughter: Princess Kanshin (観心女王)
**First son: Imperial Prince Naruhito (成仁親王) (Emperor Go-Tsuchimikado)

Events of Go-Hanazono's life

Because the previous emperor, Emperor Shōkō had no son, retired Emperor Go-Komatsu needed to secure the Jimyōin inheritance against the Daikakuji line, before Emperor Shōkō died, he adopted a son out of the Fushimi-no-miya house, who became Emperor Go-Hanazono after Shōkō's death.

* "Shōchō 1", on the 20th day of the 7th month (正長元年; 1428): In the 17th year of Shōkō"-tennō"'s reign (称光天皇17年), the emperor died at age 27; and the succession (‘‘senso’’) was received by his adopted son. [Titsingh, p. 330; Varley, H. Paul. (1980). "Jinnō Shōtōki", p. 44. [A distinct act of "senso" is unrecognized prior to Emperor Tenji; and all sovereigns except Jitō, Yōzei, Go-Toba, and Fushimi have "senso" and "sokui" in the same year until the reign of Go-Murakami.] ]
* "Shōchō 1", on the 29th day of the 7th month (1428): Emperor Go-Hanazono is said to have acceded to the throne (‘‘sokui’’). The new emperor is age 10. [Titsingh, p. 332; Varley, p. 44.]

* "Eikyō 1", on the 9th day of the 3rd month (永享元年; 1429): Minamoto-no Yoshinobu is honored in court; and thereafter, he is known as Shogun Ashikaga Yoshinori. [Titsingh, p. 333.]
* "Eikyō 5", in the 6th month (1433): The Emperor of China addressed a letter to Yoshinori in which the Chinese gives the Shogun the title, "King of Japan." [Titsingh, p. 335]

* "Kakitsu 1", on the 24th day of the 6th month ((嘉吉元年; 1441): Shogun Yoshinori is murdered at age 48 by Akamatsu Mitsusuke; and shortly thereafter, his 8-year-old son, Ashikaga Yoshikatsu, is proclaimed as the new Shogun. [Titsingh, p. 339.]
* "Kakitsu 1", in the 9th month (1441): The murders of Yoshinori kill themselves. [Titsingh, p. 341.]
* "Kakitsu 3", on the 21 day of the 7th month (1443): Shogun Yoshikatsu died at the age of 10. He very much like riding horses; but he was gravely injured in a fall from a horse. This was the cause of his death. He had been shogun for only three years. His 8-year-old brother, Yoshinari, was then named shogun. [Titsingh, P. 342.]
* "Kakitsu 3", on the 23rd day of the 9th month (1443): An armed group of rebels penetrated the palace defenses. A fire was started and one of the men sought to kill Go-Hanazono, but the emperor escaped. However, the intruders managed to steal the Three Sacred Treasures – the mirror, the sword and the jewel. Later, a guard found the mirror and a priest found the sword, but the location of jewel was not known until the 8th month of "Bun'an gannen." [Titsingh, pp. 344-345.]

* "Hōtoku 3", in the 7th month (1451): A delegation from the Ryukyu Islands arrives for the first time in Japan. [Titsingh, p. 347.]

* "Kyōtoku 2", in the 6th month (1453): The name of Shogun Minamoto-no Yoshinari was changed to Ashikaga Yoshimasa. [Titsingh, p. 346.]

* "Chōroku 2", in the 8th month (1458): The Sacred Jewel is retrieved from the former Southern Court. It is returned to Miyako to join the other Sacred Treasures. [Titsingh, p. 349.]

* "Kanshō 5", in the 7th month (1464): Go-Hanazono resigned his throne in favor of his son, would be known as Emperor Go-Tsuchimikado. [Titsingh, p. 351.]

Until former-Emperor Go-Komatsu died in 1433, Emperor Go-Hanazono held the title of formal head of the "Daïri", the real power in the court was wielded by his uncle, who continued a practice known as cloistered rule. After this, Go-Hanazono enjoyed 30 years of direct imperial rule, until his abdication on August 21, 1464, when the conventional pattern of indirect government by cloistered emperors was again resumed.

* "Bunmei 3", in the 12th month (January 18, 1471): Former Emperor Go-Hanazono died at age 52. [Titsingh, P. 356.]

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 Go-Hanazono's reign, this apex of the "Daijō-kan included:
* "Sadaijin"
* "Udaijin"
* "Nadaijin"
* "Dainagon"

Eras of Go-Hanazono's reign

The years of Go-Hanozono's reign are more specifically identified by more than one era name or "nengō". Go-Hanazono's reign is almost unique because of its eight successive eras; and only the turbulent years of Emperor Go-Daigo's reign included as many eras. [see above] .]
* "Shōchō" (1428-1429)
* "Eikyō" (1429-1441)
* "Kakitsu" (1441-1444)
* "Bun'an" (1444-1449)
* "Hōtoku" (1449-1452)
* "Kyōtoku" (1452-1455)
* " Kōshō" (1455-1457)
* "Chōroku" (1457-1460)
* "Kanshō" (1460-1466)

References

* Brown, Delmer M. and Ichirō Ishida, eds. (1979). [ Jien, 1221] , "Gukanshō (The Future and the Past, a translation and study of the Gukanshō, an interpretative history of Japan written in 1219)." Berkeley: University of California Press. ISBN 0-520-03460-0
* Titsingh, Isaac, ed. (1834). [Siyun-sai Rin-siyo/Hayashi Gahō, 1652] , "Nipon o daï itsi ran; ou, Annales des empereurs du Japon, tr. par M. Isaac Titsingh avec l'aide de plusieurs interprètes attachés au comptoir hollandais de Nangasaki; ouvrage re., complété et cor. sur l'original japonais-chinois, accompagné de notes et précédé d'un Aperçu d'histoire mythologique du Japon, par M. J. Klaproth." Paris: Oriental Translation Fund of Great Britain and Ireland. [http://books.google.com/books?id=18oNAAAAIAAJ&dq=nipon+o+dai+itsi+ran ...Click link for digitized, full-text copy of this book (in French)]
* Varley, H. Paul, ed. (1980). [ Kitabatake Chikafusa, 1359] , "Jinnō Shōtōki ("A Chronicle of Gods and Sovereigns: Jinnō Shōtōki of Kitabatake Chikafusa" translated by H. Paul Varley)." New York: Columbia University Press. ISBN 0-231-04940-4