Emperor Go-Yōzei
Emperor Go-Yōzei was the 107th Emperor of Japan, according to the traditional order of succession. Go-Yōzei's reign spanned the years 1586 through to his abdication in 1611, corresponding to the transition between the Azuchi–Momoyama period and the Edo period.
This 16th-century sovereign was named after the 9th-century Emperor Yōzei, and go-, translates as later, and thus, he could be called the "Later Emperor Yōzei". The Japanese word go has also been translated to mean the second one, and in some older sources, this emperor may be identified as "Yōzei, the second", or as "Yōzei II".
Genealogy
Before Go-Yōzei's ascension to the Chrysanthemum Throne, his personal name was Katahito or Kazuhito.He was the eldest son of Prince Masahito, also known as Prince Sanehito and posthumously named Yōkwōin daijō-tennō, who was the eldest son of Emperor Ōgimachi. His mother was a lady-in-waiting.
Go-Yōzei's Imperial family lived with him in the Dairi of the Heian Palace. The family included at least 35 children:
- Nyōgo: Konoe Sakiko later Chūwamon’in, Konoe Sakihisa’s daughter and Toyotomi Hideyoshi’s adopted daughter
- * First daughter: Princess Shōkō
- * Second daughter: Princess Ryūtōin
- * Third daughter: Imperial Princess Seishi married Takatsukasa Nobuhisa
- * Fourth daughter: Princess Bunkō
- * Third son: Imperial Prince Kotohito later Emperor Go-Mizunoo
- * Fifth daughter: Princess Son'ei
- * Fourth son: Konoe Nobuhiro
- * Seventh son: :ja:高松宮好仁親王|Imperial Prince Takamatsu-no-miya Yoshihito, First Takamatsu-no-miya
- * Ninth son: Ichijō Akiyoshi
- * Sixth daughter: Imperial Princess Teishi married Nijō Yasumichi
- * Tenth son: Imperial Prince Morochika later Imperial Prince Priest Sonkaku
- * Twelfth daughter: Princess Son'ren
- Lady-in-waiting: Nakayama Chikako, Nakayama Chikatsuna's daughter
- * First son: Imperial Prince Katahito later :ja:覚深法親王|Imperial Prince Priest Kakushin
- * Second son: Imperial Prince Priest Shōkai
- Lady-in-waiting: Hino Teruko, Hino Terusuke's daughter
- * Fifth son: Imperial Prince Toshiatsu later :ja:尊性法親王|Imperial Prince Priest Sonsei
- Lady-in-waiting: Jimyōin Motoko, Jimyōin Motonori's daughter
- * Sixth son: Imperial Prince Tsuneyoshi later :ja:尭然法親王|Imperial Prince Priest Gyōnen
- Lady-in-waiting: Niwata Tomoko, Niwata Shigetomo's daughter
- * Eighth son: :ja:良純入道親王|Imperial Prince Priest Ryōjun
- Lady-in-waiting: Hamuro Nobuko, Hamuro Yorinobu's daughter
- * Eleventh daughter: Princess Sonsei
- Handmaid: Nishinotōin Tokiko, Nishinotōin Tokiyoshi's daughter
- * Seventh daughter: Princess Eishū
- * Eighth daughter: Princess Kō'un'in
- Consort: Furuichi Taneko, Furuichi Tanehide's daughter
- * Ninth daughter: Princess Rei'un'in
- * Eleventh son: Imperial Prince Priest Dōkō
- * Tenth daughter: Princess Kūkain
- Consort: Daughter of Chūtō Tokohiro
- * Twelfth son: Imperial Prince Priest Dōshū
- * Thirteenth son: Imperial Prince Priest Ji'in
Events of Go-Yōzei's life
- December 31, 1571: The birth of an Imperial prince who will become known by the posthumous name of Go-Yōzei-tennō.
- November 5, 1586: Prince Katahito was given the title Crown Prince and heir.
- December 17, 1586 : Ogimachi gave over the reins of government to his grandson, who would become Emperor Go-Yōzei. There had been no such Imperial transition since Emperor Go-Hanazono abdicated in 1464. The dearth of abdications is attributable to the disturbed state of the country and because there was neither any dwelling for an ex-emperor nor excess funds in the treasury to support him.
- 1586 : A marriage is arranged between Lady Asahi, the youngest sister of Toyotomi Hideyoshi, and Tokugawa Ieyasu.
- 1586 : The kampaku, Toyotomi Hideyoshi, was nominated to be Daijō-daijin.
- 1588 : Emperor Go-Yōzei and his father visit Toyotomi Hideyoshi's mansion in Kyoto. This was the first time that an emperor appeared in public since 1521.
- 1590 : Hideyoshi led an army to the Kantō where he lay siege to Odawara Castle. When the fortress fell, Hōjō Ujimasa died and his brother, Hōjō Ujinao submitted to Hideyoshi's power, thus ending a period of serial internal warfare which had continued uninterrupted since the Ōnin War.
- 1592 : Keichō expedition to Korea en route to invade China.
- September 18, 1598 : Toyotomi Hideyoshi, the Taiko died in his Fushimi Castle at the age of 63.
- October 21, 1600 : Battle of Sekigahara. The Tokugawa clan and its allies decisively vanquish all opposition.
- 1602 : The Kyōto Daibutsu is destroyed by fire.
- March 24, 1603 : Tokugawa Ieyasu became shōgun, which effectively begins what will be known as the Edo bakufu. Toyotomi Hideyori was elevated to Naidaijin in the Imperial court.
- January 23, 1605 : A new volcanic island, Hachijōko-jima, arose from the sea at the side of Hachijō Island in the Izu Islands which stretch south and east from the Izu Peninsula.
- 1606 : Construction began on Edo Castle.
- 1607 : Construction began on Sunpu Castle; and an ambassador from China arrived with greetings for the emperor of Japan.
- 1609 : Invasion of Ryukyu by Shimazu daimyō of Satsuma.
- 1610 : Reconstruction of the Daibutsu hall in Kyōto is begun.
- May 20, 1610 : Toyotomi Hideyori came to Kyoto to visit the former-Shogun Tokugawa Ieyasu; and the same day, the emperor announces his intention to resign in favor of his son Masahito.
- May 9, 1611 : Go-Yōzei abdicates; and his son Prince Masahito receives the succession ; and shortly thereafter, Go-Mizunoo formally accedes to the throne.
Legacy
This Emperor gave Toyotomi Hideyoshi the rank of Taikō, originally a title given to the father of the emperor's chief advisor, or a retired Kampaku, which was essential to increase his status and effectively stabilize his power.
When Tokugawa Ieyasu was given the title of Sei-i Taishōgun, the future of any anticipated Tokugawa shogunate was by no means assured, nor was his relationship to the emperor at all settled. He gradually began to interfere in the affairs of the Imperial Court. The right to grant ranks of court nobility and change the era became a concern of the bakufu. However, the Imperial Court's poverty during the Warring States Era seemed likely to become a thing of the past, as the bakufu provided steadily for its financial needs.
Go-Yōzei did abdicate in favor of his third son; but he wanted to be succeeded by his younger brother, Imperial Prince Hachijō-no-miya Toshihito , who built the Katsura Imperial Villa.
Go-Yōzei loved literature and art. He published the Kobun Kokyo and part of Nihon Shoki with movable type dedicated to the emperor by Toyotomi Hideyoshi.
After abdication, Go-Yōzei lived for six years in the Sentō Imperial Palace; and thereafter, it became the usual place to which abdicated emperors would retire. The name of this palace and its gardens was Sentō-goshō; and emperors who had abdicated were sometimes called Sentō-goshō.
- September 25, 1617: Go-Yōzei died.
Kugyō
Kugyō 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-Yōzei's reign, this apex of the Daijō-kan included:
Eras of Go-Yōzei's reign
The years of Go-Yōzei's reign are more specifically identified by more than one era name or nengō.- Tenshō
- Bunroku
- Keichō
Ancestry