- Princess Tōchi
was a Japanese princess during the
Asuka period of Japanese history. She was a daughter of EmperorTemmu and the Empress-consort ofEmperor Kōbun .Genealogy
Princess Tōchi was a daughter of Emperor Temmu. Her mother was
Princess Nukata , who was known as a renowned court poet.She married Prince Ōtomo, today known as
Emperor Kōbun , and gave birth to a son,Prince Kadono . She and her son followed Prince Ōtomo and lived in the capital of Omikyō inŌmi Province (today in Ōtsu,Shiga ). Prince Ōtomo acceded the Imperial dignity after his father,Emperor Tenji , had died, and then she accordingly became the Empress-consort.In 672, Prince Ōtomo was killed in the
Jinshin War . Lost her husband, she moved with her son to the palace of Asuka Kiyomihara (today it is in Asuka, Nara), where Emperor Temmu built a new capital after he won the war.After the Jinshin War
No activities regarding her are recorded after the war, except the event that in the second month of 675 she visited the
Ise Jingu shrine with Princess Abe to see Princess Ōku, who was staying there as aSaiō (斎王) to serve the goddess of the shrine.In 678, Princess Tōchi was appointed a Saiō by divination and was supposed to leave her residence to stay in the abstinence palace (斎宮, "Saikū") in the 7th day of the 4th month, when she suddenly died in the residence. According to "
Nihonshoki ", it is recorded that she died from sudden illness, but quite a few historians insist that she killed herself.Her love affairs
When she died,
Prince Takechi composed for her three verses of lament, which are all of his verses that were collected in "Man'yōshū ". Not a few people believe that he secretly loved her, not only because these poems contain strong feelings of love to her, but because the people hope that, since she probably had to be in a very tough situation after the Jinshin War as "enemy's wife," she would've been happier than reality.Where was she buried?
According to "Nihonshoki", she was buried at a place named "Akō". Today the location of Akō is not known exactly, though some historians are giving proposals of the estimation.
hrines related to her
* Himegamisha Shrine – built in 1981 and located in Nara, enshrining her, propitious for good marriage.
*Tsutsumori Shrine – located in Ōtaki,Chiba Prefecture , enshrining her, propitious for an easy delivery.
*Shingū Shrine – located inNankoku ,Kōchi Prefecture , having some secret traditions on her.External links
* [http://www.himemiko.info/temmu/towochi_no_himemiko.html HIMEMIKO*WEB: Towochi no Himemiko 十市皇女]
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