Emperor Hanazono (original) (raw)

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Emperor of Japan from 1308 to 1318

Emperor Hanazono花園天皇
Emperor of Japan
Reign 11 September 1308 – 29 March 1318
Enthronement 29 November 1308
Predecessor Go-Nijō
Successor Go-Daigo
Shōgun Prince Morikuni
Born 14 August 1297
Died 2 December 1348(1348-12-02) (aged 51)Heian-kyō, Ashikaga shogunate
Burial Jirakūu-in no ue no Misasagi (十樂院上陵) (Kyoto)
Issue See below
Posthumous nameTsuigō:Emperor Hanazono (花園院 or 花園天皇)
House Imperial House of Japan
Father Emperor Fushimi
Mother Tōin Fujiwara [ja]
Signature

Emperor Hanazono (花園天皇, _Hanazono-tennō, 14 August 1297 – 2 December 1348) was the 95th emperor of Japan, according to the traditional order of succession. His reign spanned the years from 1308 through 1318.[1]

Before his ascension to the Chrysanthemum Throne, his personal name (his imina) was Tomihito_-shinnō_ (富仁親王).[2]

He was the fourth son of the 92nd Emperor, Fushimi. He belonged to the Jimyōin-tō branch of the Imperial Family.

Events of Hanazono's life

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Tomihito_-shinnō_ became emperor upon the death of his second cousin, the Daikakuji-tō Emperor Go-Nijō.

Hanazono's father, the retired-Emperor Fushimi, and Hanazono's brother, the retired-Emperor Go-Fushimi, both exerted influence as cloistered emperors during this reign.

In these years, negotiations between the Kamakura Bakufu and the two imperial lines resulted in an agreement to alternate the throne between the two lines every 10 years (the Bumpō Agreement). This agreement was not long-lasting. The negotiated provisions would soon be broken by Hanazono's successor.

In 1318, he abdicated to his second cousin, the Daikakuji-tō Emperor Go-Daigo, who was Nijō's brother.

After his abdication, he raised his nephew, the future Northern Pretender Emperor Kōgon.

Emperor Hanazono after taking the tonsure.

In 1335, he became a Buddhist monk of the Zen sect, and under his sponsorship, his palace became the temple of Myōshin-ji, now the largest network in Rinzai Buddhism. Many places and institutions in the area are named for him, including Hanazono University (the Rinzai university) and Hanazono Station.

He died in 1348. Hanazono's imperial tomb is known as Jurakuin no ue no misasagi; it is located in Higashiyama-ku, Kyoto.[5]

He excelled at waka composition, and was an important member of the Kyōgoku School. He also left behind a diary, called Hanazono-in-Minki (Imperial Chronicles of the Flower Garden Temple or Hanazono-in) (花園院宸記). He was a very religious and literate person, never missing his prayers to the Amitabha Buddha.

Kugyō (公卿) is a collective term for the very few most powerful noble men attached to the imperial 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 Hanazono's reign, this apex of the Daijō-kan included:

Eras of Hanazono's reign

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The years of Hanazono's reign are more specifically identified by more than one era name or nengō.[6]

Japanese Imperial kamon – a stylized chrysanthemum blossom

  1. ^ Titsingh, Isaac. (1834). Annales des empereurs du Japon, pp. 278–281; Varley, H. Paul. (1980). Jinnō Shōtōki. pp. 239–241.
  2. ^ Titsingh, p. 278; Varley, p. 240.
  3. ^ Titsingh, p. 278; Varley, p. 44; n.b., 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 Emperor Go-Murakami.
  4. ^ Varley, p. 240.
  5. ^ Ponsonby-Fane, Richard. (1959). The Imperial House of Japan, p. 422.
  6. ^ Titsingh, p. 278.
Regnal titles
Preceded byEmperor Go-Nijō Emperor of Japan:Hanazono 1308–1318 Succeeded byEmperor Go-Daigo