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Emperor Mommu (???? Monmu-tenno) (683-707) was the 42nd imperial ruler
Emperor of Japan

The of Japan is the symbol of the state and of the unity of the Japanese people. He is the head of the Imperial House of Japan. Under Japan's present constitution, the Emperor is the "symbol of the state and the unity of the people," and is a ceremonial figurehead in a constitutional monarchy ....
 of Japan
Japan

Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, People's Republic of China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south....
, according to the traditional order of succession. His reign spanned the years from 697 through 707.

re his ascension to the Chrysanthemum Throne
Chrysanthemum Throne

File:Emperor Tenji.jpgThe Chrysanthemum Throne is the English language term used to identify the throne of the Emperor of Japan. The term can refer to very specific seating, as in the raised thrones constructed in the Shishin-den for Emperor Showa and Empress Kojun on November 10, 1928 ....
, his personal name (his imina) was Karu-shinno.

He was a grandson of Emperor Temmu
Emperor Temmu

was the 40th emperor of Japan, according to the traditional order of succession. He ruled from 672 until his death in 686....
 and Empress Jito
Empress Jito

was the 41st Emperors of Japan of Japan, according to the traditional order of succession. She was the fourth woman to ascend the Chrysanthemum Throne....
. He was the second son of Prince Kusakabe. Mommu's mother was Princess Abe, a daughter of Emperor Tenji.






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Emperor Mommu (???? Monmu-tenno) (683-707) was the 42nd imperial ruler
Emperor of Japan

The of Japan is the symbol of the state and of the unity of the Japanese people. He is the head of the Imperial House of Japan. Under Japan's present constitution, the Emperor is the "symbol of the state and the unity of the people," and is a ceremonial figurehead in a constitutional monarchy ....
 of Japan
Japan

Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, People's Republic of China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south....
, according to the traditional order of succession. His reign spanned the years from 697 through 707.

Genealogy

Before his ascension to the Chrysanthemum Throne
Chrysanthemum Throne

File:Emperor Tenji.jpgThe Chrysanthemum Throne is the English language term used to identify the throne of the Emperor of Japan. The term can refer to very specific seating, as in the raised thrones constructed in the Shishin-den for Emperor Showa and Empress Kojun on November 10, 1928 ....
, his personal name (his imina) was Karu-shinno.

He was a grandson of Emperor Temmu
Emperor Temmu

was the 40th emperor of Japan, according to the traditional order of succession. He ruled from 672 until his death in 686....
 and Empress Jito
Empress Jito

was the 41st Emperors of Japan of Japan, according to the traditional order of succession. She was the fourth woman to ascend the Chrysanthemum Throne....
. He was the second son of Prince Kusakabe. Mommu's mother was Princess Abe, a daughter of Emperor Tenji. Mommu's mother would later accede to the throne herself, and she would be known as Empress Gemmei.

Events of Mommu's life

Karu-shinno was only six years old when his father, Crown Prince Kusakabe, died.

  • 697: In the 10th year of Jito-tennos reign (????10?), the empress abdicated; and the succession (‘‘senso’’) was received by a grandson of Emperor Temmu
    Emperor Temmu

    was the 40th emperor of Japan, according to the traditional order of succession. He ruled from 672 until his death in 686....
    . Shortly thereafter, Emperor Mommu is said to have acceded to the throne (‘‘sokui’’).


Emperor Mommu ruled until his death in 707, at which point he was succeeded by his mother, Empress Gemmei
Empress Gemmei

was the 43rd Emperor of Japan of Japan, according to the traditional order of succession. This sovereign is sometimes identified as Empress Genmyo....
, who was also his first cousin once removed and his first cousin twice removed. He left a young son by Fujiwara no Miyako, a daughter of Fujiwara no Fuhito
Fujiwara no Fuhito

Fujiwara no Fuhito was a powerful member of the imperial court of Japan during the Asuka period and Nara periods. Second son of Fujiwara no Kamatari , he had sons by two women, and those sons were the founders of the four principal lineages of the Fujiwara clan: the South, North, Ceremonial, and Capital lineages....
: Obito no miko (Prince Obito), who eventually became Emperor Shomu
Emperor Shomu

Emperor Shomu was the 45th Emperor of Japan of Japan, according to the traditional order of succession. His reign spanned the years 724 through 749....
.

Emperor Mommu's reign lasted 10 years. He died at the age of 25.

Kugyo
Kugyo is a collective term for the very few most powerful men attached to the court of the Emperor of Japan
Emperor of Japan

The of Japan is the symbol of the state and of the unity of the Japanese people. He is the head of the Imperial House of Japan. Under Japan's present constitution, the Emperor is the "symbol of the state and the unity of the people," and is a ceremonial figurehead in a constitutional monarchy ....
 in pre-Meiji
Meiji period

The , or Meiji era, denotes the 45-year reign of the Meiji Emperor, running, in the Gregorian calendar, from 23 October 1868 to 30 July 1912. During this time, Japan started its modernization and rose to world power status....
 eras.

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 Mommu's reign, this apex of the Daijo-kan included:
  • Daijo-Daijin, Osakabe-shinno.
  • Sadaijin
    Sadaijin

    Sadaijin , most commonly translated as "Minister of the Left", was a government position in Japan in the late Nara period and Heian periods....
  • Udaijin
    Udaijin

    Udaijin , most commonly translated as the "Minister of the Right", was a government position in Japan in the late Nara period and Heian periods....
  • Nadaijin, Nakatomi Kamako no Muraji.
  • Dainagon
    Dainagon

    , often translated as "Great Councillor," was a government post of the Japanese ritsuryo governmental system, which was in place for much of the classical and feudal periods....
    , Fujiwara Fuhito.


Eras of Mommu's reign

Conventional modern scholarship seems to have determined that the years of Mommu's reign are encompassed within more than one era name or nengo.
  • Taiho (era)
    Taiho (era)

    was a after a late 7th century interruption in the sequence of nengo after Shucho and before Keiun. This period spanned the years from 701 through 704....
     (701-704)
  • Keiun
    Keiun

    , also known as Kyoun, is a Japanese era name following Taiho and preceding Wado . The period spanned the years from 704 through 708. The reigning sovereigns were Emperor Mommu and Empress Gemmei....
     (704-708)


Non-nengo period

The initial years of Mommu's reign are not linked by scholars to any era or nengo. The Taika era innovation of naming time periods -- nengo -- languished until Mommu reasserted an imperial right by proclaiming the commencement of Taiho in 701.
  • See Japanese era name -- "Non-nengo periods"
    Japanese era name

    The Japanese era calendar scheme is a common calendar scheme used in Japan, which identifies a year by the combination of the and the year number within the era....
  • See Mommu (period)
    Mommu (period)

    The years of Emperor Mommu's reign or the Mommu period should not be misunderstood as a Japanese era . The nengo system which was introduced in reign of Emperor Kotoku was abandoned at the end of his reign, and the era name was not updated for a quite some time, except for very brief re-occurrence near the close of Emperor Temmu's...
     (697-701).


In this context, Brown and Ishida's translation of Gukansho offers an explanation about the years of Empress Jito's reign which muddies a sense of easy clarity in the pre-Taiho time-frame: "The eras that fell in this reign were: (1) the remaining seven years of Shucho [(686+7=692?)]; and (2) Taika, which was four years long [695-698]. (The first year of this era was kinoto-hitsuji [695].) ...In the third year of the Taka era [697], Empress Jito yielded the throne to the Crown Prince."

Consorts and Children

Bunin: Fujiwara no Miyako (?-754), daughter of Fujiwara no Fuhito
Fujiwara no Fuhito

Fujiwara no Fuhito was a powerful member of the imperial court of Japan during the Asuka period and Nara periods. Second son of Fujiwara no Kamatari , he had sons by two women, and those sons were the founders of the four principal lineages of the Fujiwara clan: the South, North, Ceremonial, and Capital lineages....
  • Prince Obito (Emperor Shomu
    Emperor Shomu

    Emperor Shomu was the 45th Emperor of Japan of Japan, according to the traditional order of succession. His reign spanned the years 724 through 749....
    ) (701-756)


Hin: Ki no Kamado-no-iratsume

Hin: Ishikawa no Tone-no-iratsume
  • Prince Hironari
  • Prince Hiroyo


See also

  • Emperor of Japan
    Emperor of Japan

    The of Japan is the symbol of the state and of the unity of the Japanese people. He is the head of the Imperial House of Japan. Under Japan's present constitution, the Emperor is the "symbol of the state and the unity of the people," and is a ceremonial figurehead in a constitutional monarchy ....
  • List of Emperors of Japan
    List of Emperors of Japan

    The following is a traditional list of Emperor of Japan. Dates for the first 28 emperors, and especially the first 16, are based on the Japanese era name system....
  • Imperial cult
    Imperial cult

    An Imperial cult is a form of state religion in which an emperor, or a dynasty of emperors , are worshiped as messiahs, demigods or deity. "Cult " here is used to mean "worship," not in the modern pejorative sense....