Takano no Niigasa

Takano no Niigasa (高野新笠) (?–790) was a concubine of Emperor Kōnin and the mother of Emperor Kammu. Her full name was "Takano no Asomi Niigasa".

Life

Niigasa was a daughter of Yamato no Ototsugu (和乙継). She became a concubine of Prince Shirakabe (白壁王), a grandson of Emperor Tenji, and bore Prince Yamabe (山部王) in 737 and Prince Sawara (早良王) in 750. Prince Shirakabe also married with Princess Inoe (井上内親王), a daughter of Emperor Shōmu (聖武天皇) in 744. When Empress Shotoku died in 770, Prince Shirakabe was appointed her successor and acceded to the throne as Emperor Kōnin. Princess Inoe and her son, Prince Osabe (他戸親王), were nominated as the Empress and the crown prince respectively because of her noble birth.

Sons of Niigasa had not been considered to be successors but in 772, the Empress was suddenly stripped of the rank with accused of cursing the Emperor. The crown prince, her son, was also disinherited. They were dead two years later. Although Niigasa did not became the Empress, Prince Yamabe, her son, was appointed as the crown prince and acceded to the throne as Emperor Kammu.

Yamato clan

Yamato no Ototsugu, Niigasa's father, was a Baekje-originated noble. The Title of Yamato clan had been "Yamato no Fubito" (和史, lit. "Scribe of Yamato") and later given a new title, "Takano no Asomi" (高野朝臣). Shoku Nihongi describes that the Yamato clan was a distant descendant of an exiled prince of Baekje, son of King Muryeong of Baekje. Nihon Shoki mentions that the prince was dead in Japan in 513. The Yamato clan had continued for 200 years long until Niigasa's birth and relatively longer than other aristocratic clans of foreign origin, such as the Kudara no Konikishi clan.

External links

* [http://www.myj7000.jp-biz.net/clan/03/03013.htm#003 Yamato (和) and Takano (高野) clans : the descendant of prince Junda, son of Muryeong of Paekche]