Imperial Consorts III

Empress Fujiwara (Miyako)

¶The Fujiwara Empress of Emperor Monmu was named Miyako-no-Iratsume. She was a daughter of Fujiwara-no-Fuhito, Duke of Tankai. When Emperor Monmu ascended the throne, she was installed as bunin, Lady of the Court, and bore Emperor Shōmu. In the seventh year of Yōrō (723) she was granted Junior Second Rank, and soon afterward was raised to Senior First Rank. When Emperor Shōmu took the throne, she was honored with the title Kōtaifujin, Grand Lady Dowager. In the seventh year of Tenpyō (735), the Grand Lady Dowager's mother, Kamo-no-Hime, of Senior Fourth Rank Upper, died, and was buried with the ceremony due to a holder of rank without office. In the twelfth month of the ninth year of Tenpyō (737), the Grand Lady Dowager went to the Empress's Palace and met the monk Genbō; Emperor Shōmu went to the same place as well. Since giving birth to Emperor Shōmu she had not seen him for a long time, and had fallen into such deep melancholy that she had abandoned all public affairs; but on this day, once she had met him, her mind was opened and she was enlightened, and she was able at last to meet the emperor as well. The whole realm rejoiced at it. Genbō was given gifts of ashiginu (coarse silk), floss, thread, and cloth, and the officials of the Chūgūshiki, the Office of the Empress's Household, were granted rank (Note: the meaning of the old history regarding the Empress's meeting with Genbō is unclear. The Genkō Shakusho also reports that the monk Zenju was a natural son of the Fujiwara Grand Empress Dowager Miyako). After Empress Kōken took the throne, she was styled Ōkōtaigō, Great Empress Dowager. In the seventh month of the sixth year of Tenpyō Shōhō (754), her illness grew grave. An edict stated: "Of late the Great Empress Dowager has lain in her sickbed without rest, and a full month has now nearly passed. Every means of treatment has been tried, yet she has not recovered. We have heard that Heaven aids the virtuous, and that virtue overcomes ill fortune. It is Our wish to issue an order of mercy to aid her person, so that she may sleep and eat as usual and rest in comfort. A general amnesty shall be proclaimed throughout the realm." On that day, one hundred monks and seven nuns were admitted to the priesthood. A few days later she died in the Chūgū, and was given the posthumous name Chihiro-no-Kuzukagami-Takashiru-Amatsumiyahime-no-Mikoto. She was cremated at Sahoyama. In the fourth year of Tenpyō Hōji (760), her tomb was designated a sanryō, imperial mausoleum, and a kokki, death-day observance, was established for her (Note: following the Shoku Nihongi).

Kamado-no-Iratsume

¶The hin, junior consort, Ki-no-Kamado-no-Iratsume became a hin when Emperor Monmu took the throne (Note: following the Shoku Nihongi).

Ishikawa-no-Tone-no-Iratsume

¶The hin Ishikawa-no-Tone-no-Iratsume became a hin on the same day as Kamado-no-Iratsume, when Emperor Monmu took the throne. In the eleventh month of the sixth year of Wadō (713), her title was degraded together with Kamado-no-Iratsume's, and she could no longer be styled hin (Note: following the Shoku Nihongi. On the present work's examination, the record states that in the year of Emperor Monmu's accession, Fujiwara-no-Miyako-no-Iratsume was made bunin, and Ki-no-Kamado-no-Iratsume and Ishikawa-no-Tone-no-Iratsume were made hi, consorts; but by the order of rank, a hi could never be listed below a bunin. Accordingly, on the basis of the entry for the sixth year of Wadō, they are here established as hin).

¶【Emperor Shōmu】

Empress Fujiwara (Kōmyōshi)

¶The Fujiwara Empress of Emperor Shōmu was named Kōmyōshi. She was the third daughter of Fujiwara-no-Fuhito, Duke of Tankai (Note: the Keizu gives her as the second daughter, but here the vow-text in Kōmyōshi's own hand is followed). It is said that she was given this name because her figure and countenance were so beautiful that she seemed to shine with light (Note: following the Kōsōden and the Genkō Shakusho). She was intelligent from childhood. When Emperor Shōmu was still Crown Prince, she was taken in as his consort, at the age of sixteen. By nature she was deeply compassionate, and set her will on helping others. Even when she gathered the palace ladies about her, she won the goodwill of every one of them. She was versed in the teachings of ritual and propriety, and revered the Buddhist Way with great devotion. When the emperor took the throne, she was granted Junior Third Rank and became bunin (Note: examining the Haitei-ki, under the entry for the death of the Empress in the fourth year of Tenpyō Hōji, it says: "In the first year of Jinki, she was granted Senior First Rank and became Tai-fujin." Yet in the Shōmu-ki, although there is a record of the emperor honoring his birth mother, Miyako-no-Iratsume, as Tai-fujin at his accession, there is no record that Kōmyōshi was made bunin. This is probably a lacuna in the text. Moreover, the "Senior First Rank" in the death entry is surely an error for "Junior Third Rank," and "Tai-fujin" a miswriting for "fujin." They are corrected here). Kōmyōshi bore Empress Kōken and the Crown Prince. In the fourth year of Jinki (727), because of the birth of the Crown Prince, she was granted a fief of one thousand households, and was soon raised to Senior Third Rank. In the eighth month of the first year of Tenpyō (729), she was installed as Empress and given a further thousand households. On the sixteenth day of the first month of the second year of Tenpyō (730), the emperor appeared at the Daianden and invited those of Fifth Rank and above to a banquet. In the evening he proceeded to the Empress's Palace, where the officials of all ranks from sakan (fourth-grade clerk) upward followed, singing and stepping in the tōka procession dance, and were led into the palace and given wine and food. The five characters "Benevolence, Righteousness, Propriety, Wisdom, and Fidelity" were written on slips and drawn as lots, and gifts were bestowed according to the character drawn: those who drew "Benevolence" received ashiginu, "Righteousness" thread, "Propriety" floss, "Wisdom" cloth, and "Fidelity" common cloth, and the banquet ended in full enjoyment. Afterward the Empress fell ill, and did not recover even after the year turned. In the fifth month of the fifth year of Tenpyō (733), an edict stated: "The Empress lies in her sickbed without rest, and months and years have already passed. Every means has been tried to no avail, and it is not known whether she will recover. When We think of her suffering, We forget even to sleep and eat. A general amnesty shall be proclaimed throughout the realm, to save her from this sickness." Earlier, the Empress's mother, the Naimyōbu (Senior Court Lady) of Senior Third Rank, Agatainukai-no-Tachibana-no-Michiyo, had died, and Prince Takayasu, of Junior Fourth Rank Lower, and others had been sent to oversee the funeral rites, which were conducted according to the ceremony for a holder of First Rank without office. In the twelfth month, Prince Toneri of the First Order and the Major Counsellor Fujiwara-no-Muchimaro and others were sent in addition to proclaim an edict at Michiyo's residence, conferring posthumously Junior First Rank on her and ordering by special decree that her stipend households and attendants not be confiscated (Note: following the Shoku Nihongi). In the sixth year of Tenpyō (734), the Empress, for the sake of her late mother, built the West Golden Hall at Yamashinadera (Note: following the Mizukagami and the Genkō Shakusho), and installed in it images of the Ten Great Disciples of Shaka (Note: following the Genkō Shakusho). The Empress once urged the emperor to build Tōdaiji and to found provincial temples, kokubunji, in every province. She also established the Hiden-in and the Seyaku-in, two institutions to tend the hungry and the sick of the realm. In the second month of the eleventh year of Tenpyō (739), the Empress again fell ill, and an edict proclaimed a general amnesty throughout the realm. When Empress Kōken received the abdication and took the throne, the Empress became Kōtaigō, Empress Dowager. In the fourth month of the fifth year of Tenpyō Shōhō (753), she again fell ill. An edict stated: "Of late the Empress Dowager has had no peace in sleeping or eating, and a full month has now nearly passed. Though medicine has been given, she has still not recovered. We think it must be that there are failings in Our government and that many have fallen into crime. Heaven has sent down this punishment to admonish Us. The love between mother and child is the same whether one's station be high or low. Even those who have committed crimes, how could they have no parents? Let all their offenses be washed away and their sorrows relieved. A general amnesty shall be proclaimed throughout the realm." In the seventh month of the second year of Tenpyō Hōji (758), she again fell ill. An edict stated: "The Empress Dowager has no peace in sleeping or eating. We consider that nothing surpasses a heart of benevolence and compassion for prolonging life and curing illness. We command all the provinces of the realm that, from this day until the thirtieth day of the twelfth month of this year, the taking of life be forbidden, and no boars, deer, or the like be presented as tribute." In the eighth month, the hundred officials and the Sōgō (Office of Monastic Affairs) submitted a memorial offering her an honorific title, styling her Chūdai Tenpyō Ōshin Ninshō Kōtaigō. In the third month of the fourth year of Tenpyō Hōji (760), when the Empress Dowager took to her bed, an edict ordered sacrifices to the deities of heaven and earth. The hafuribe, shrine priests, of the various shrines were made to pray each to his own ancestral deity, and from the negi (priests), uchindo (attendants), and monoimi (ritual abstainers) of the Grand Shrine of Ise to the hafuribe of all the shrines, each was granted one grade of rank. The Empress Dowager herself also sent envoys to the Five Great Temples with alms. In the sixth month she died, at the age of sixty. She was buried at Sahoyama in Soenokami district of Yamato province. The funeral followed the precedent of the Grand Empress Dowager, the Fujiwara lady (Miyako). The realm wore mourning for three days in token of grief, and the period of mourning was fixed at three days. The emperor held memorial services of forty-nine days at Tōdaiji and at the various temples of the capital, and had pictures of the Pure Land of Amida made in every province of the realm. Monks and nuns were made to copy the Shōsan Jōdo Sutra, and to venerate and make offerings to it at the Konkōmyōji of each province. In the twelfth month an edict was issued: "Her tomb shall be designated a sanryō, and a kokki observance shall be established" (Note: following the Shoku Nihongi).

¶When the Empress was still living in her father's house, she asked her father's leave to go out to the marketplace, and there taught the various merchants, and spread abroad, the use of the scales and measuring rods obtained from Tang. Her father said of this, "You are aiding and spreading good customs for the sake of the country," and these scales and measures soon spread throughout the realm (Note: following the Kōsōden). As she grew up, she also excelled in calligraphy and composition, and composed an inscription for a folding screen, which reads as follows: "If one chooses good fields and sows the seed, grain is easily had; if the sovereign is wise and the ministers loyal, the country is easily enriched. Flattering words often please the feelings of men, while honest words go against the heart and offend the ear. If one keeps an honest heart, one receives the protection of the divine; fortune and misfortune do not enter through any particular gate, but are simply what men themselves invite. Parents do not love an unfilial child, and a wise sovereign does not employ a useless minister. Pure poverty brings lasting joy, while tainted wealth brings constant sorrow. In practicing filial piety one should spend one's strength; in practicing loyalty one should spend one's life. If there is no trust between sovereign and minister, the government will not be at peace; if there is no trust between father and son, the household will not be harmonious." Further, to pray for the repose of her late father and mother, she herself copied, in gold characters, the whole Buddhist canon of sutras, vinaya, and treatises, and composed a vow-text which she set at the end of each scroll (Note: the screen inscription and the vow-text are in the treasury of Tōdaiji; the inscription was made by weaving in the feathers of the kamo, wild duck, and survives to this day). She also herself composed a vow-text on the emperor's behalf, and dedicated to Tōdaiji, as offerings, rare treasures and playthings, girdles, ivory scepters, bows and arrows, swords, musical instruments, and the like (Note: following the Tōdaiji Yōroku). In the early Tenpyō years, when the monk Genbō returned from Tang, the emperor bestowed on him a purple surplice, made him Sōjō, Prelate, and had him installed in the Naidōjō, the inner chapel. The Empress favored Genbō with exceptional affection, and considerable scandal arose (Note: following the Konjaku Monogatari and the Genpei Seisuiki. The Ryaku Nendaiki preserved at Kōfukuji states, under the record of the Empress's death, "The Sōjō Genbō secretly had relations with the Empress." The Genkō Shakusho also records that the Empress built an onjitsu, bathhouse, and vowed "to wash the grime from a thousand people with her own hands," and that, hearing that the monk Jitchū was of handsome appearance, she summoned him to see him, and in a dream lay with him. Weighing the various books together, the scandal concerning the Empress cannot be concealed. According to the old history, as Genbō's glory grew greater day by day, he gradually departed from the conduct proper to a monk, and the people of the time hated him for it. This presumably alludes covertly to these circumstances, but the old history avoids saying so outright out of delicacy).

Agatainukai-no-Hirotoji

¶The bunin Agatainukai-no-Hirotoji was a daughter of Agatainukai-no-Morokoshi, Governor of Sanuki (Note: the Ichidai Yōki writes "Morokoshi" as "Maro," but this is mistaken). When Emperor Shōmu was still Crown Prince, she was taken in as bunin. She bore Prince Asaka, Princess Inoe, and Princess Fuwa. She was raised to Senior Third Rank. In the fifth year of Tenpyō Hōji (761), when the capital was moved to Hora, she was given forty thousand bundles of rice. In the tenth month of the following year, she died (Note: following the Shoku Nihongi).

Lady Fujiwara

¶The bunin of the Fujiwara clan was a daughter of Fujiwara-no-Muchimaro, Minister of the Left. In the ninth year of Tenpyō (737), she was raised to Senior Third Rank. In the sixth month of the twentieth year of Tenpyō (748), she died (Note: following the Shoku Nihongi).

Lady Fujiwara

¶The bunin of the Fujiwara clan was a daughter of Fujiwara-no-Fusasaki, Commander of the Middle Guards. In the ninth year of Tenpyō (737), she was raised to Senior Third Rank, and later advanced to Junior Second Rank. In the first month of the fourth year of Tenpyō Hōji (760), she died (Note: following the Shoku Nihongi).

Hirooka-no-Konakachi

¶The bunin Hirooka-no-Konakachi was a daughter of Tachibana-no-Sai, of Senior Fourth Rank Upper (Note: the Ichidai Yōki gives her as a daughter of Tachibana-no-Moroe, but this is mistaken). In the ninth year of Tenpyō (737), she was raised to Junior Third Rank, and later advanced to Senior Second Rank. In the first year of Tenpyō Hōji (757), her surname was changed from Tachibana-no-Sukune, and she was granted the surname Hirooka-no-Ason. In the seventh month of the third year of Tenpyō Hōji (759), she died (Note: following the Shoku Nihongi).

¶【Emperor Junnin】

Awata-no-Moroane

¶Awata-no-Moroane, a consort of the Deposed Emperor (Emperor Junnin), had first been married to Mayori, a son of Fujiwara-no-Nakamaro. When Mayori died, she lived as a widow. When the emperor was still a mere prince, Nakamaro had Moroane marry him, and she lived in Nakamaro's private residence. When the emperor took the throne, she was granted Junior Fifth Rank Lower (Note: following the Shoku Nihongi).

¶【Emperor Kōnin】

Princess Inoe

¶Princess Inoe, Empress of Emperor Kōnin, was a daughter of Emperor Shōmu. In the ninth month of the fifth year of Yōrō (721), she became Ise Saiō, High Priestess of Ise. In the ninth month of the fourth year of Jinki (727), she took up service at the Grand Shrine of Ise. One hundred and twenty-one officials were appointed to the Saigūryō, the Bureau of the Ise Priestess's Palace (Note: the year and month in which she left the post of Saiō have not been transmitted). In the nineteenth year of Tenpyō (747), she was granted Second Order. In the fifth year of Tenpyō Hōji (761), when the capital was moved to Hora, she was given one hundred thousand bundles of rice. In the second year of Jingo Keiun (768), she was given ten thousand ton of floss from the Dazaifu. When Emperor Kōnin was still a mere prince, she was taken as his consort and bore Prince Osabe, later the deposed Crown Prince (Note: according to Uraki's examination, Princess Sakahito was also born of Princess Inoe, but the text of the Dainihonshi gives her as a daughter of Takano-no-Niigasa). Once there was a children's song. It sang of a pair of temples, Katsuragi-dera and Toyura-dera, and of a white jewel sinking in a well at Sakurai, a fine jewel sinking there, with a refrain in which the country is said to flourish and "our own house" to flourish as well. Those who understood such things took it to mean that the character "well" referred to the Princess's name, and that "white jewel" referred to the emperor's personal name, and that it was an omen that he would ascend the throne (Note: according to Uraki's examination, the song says "white jewel," while Emperor Kōnin's personal name was Prince Shirakabe, the two being close in both written form and sound). When Empress Shōtoku died, the ministers advanced Emperor Kōnin and placed him on the throne, and installed the Princess as Empress, and the prophecy was fulfilled exactly. In the third month of the third year of Hōki (772), the Empress was deposed for the crime of fuko, sorcery and cursing, and soon afterward the Crown Prince (Prince Osabe) was deposed as well. The Empress was further accused of cursing Princess Naniwa; when Princess Naniwa died in the tenth month of the fourth year of Hōki (773), the emperor issued an edict confining the Empress and the deposed Crown Prince in a confiscated residence in Uchi district of Yamato province. In the fourth month of the sixth year of Hōki (775), the Empress and the deposed Crown Prince died on the same day (Note: the Mizukagami reports that Fujiwara-no-Momokawa used a stratagem to entrap and depose the Empress and the Crown Prince, but its account is extremely lewd and is not adopted here. The Gukanshō reports that when Momokawa tried to shut the Empress in an earthen prison, she turned into a dragon and kicked him to death. The Mizukagami further reports that in the ninth month of the seventh year of Hōki (776), tiles and stones were thrown onto the roofs of the capital almost every night, and that in the winter of the eighth year of Hōki (777), no rain fell and the wells ran entirely dry, all of which were attributed to the Empress's curse). In the first month of the ninth year of Hōki (778), Prince Ishino, of Junior Fourth Rank Lower, and Ishikawa-no-Kakimori and others were sent to rebury the Empress; her tomb was called a "mihaka" and one household of grave-keepers was assigned (Note: following the Shoku Nihongi. According to the Engishiki, the Empress's mausoleum is in Uchi district). In the nineteenth year of Enryaku (800), an edict restored the Empress's rank and designated her tomb a sanryō (Note: following the Ruijū Kokushi and the Nihon Kiryaku. According to Uraki's examination, the title then bestowed was Yoshino Kōtaigō. The text of the Dainihonshi does not adopt this, and there is a risk of confusing the Yoshino Kōtaigō with the Takano Kōtaigō, but the details are not known).

¶Earlier, there was a man named Tsukimoto-no-Oyu, Assistant Captain of the Right Gate Guards, a former retainer of Emperor Kōnin. Prince Osabe, in the Eastern Palace, was arrogant and treated Emperor Kanmu with discourtesy. Oyu served Emperor Kanmu with his whole heart, and secretly harbored the intention of aiding him. When the Empress and Prince Osabe heard that Oyu served the emperor closely, they repeatedly rebuked him sharply. When the case of sorcery arose, Oyu examined the prisoners and brought to light many wrongs. In the twenty-second year of Enryaku (803), rank was granted to Oyu's three sons, in recompense for his former service (Note: following the Ruijū Kokushi).

Empress Takano

¶Empress Takano was named Niigasa; her original surname was Yamato, and she was a daughter of Yamato-no-Otsugu (Note: Otsugu's official post is not recorded). Her ancestry is said to descend from Crown Prince Junda, a son of King Muryong of Baekje. She was excellent in both appearance and virtue. Before Emperor Kōnin ascended the throne, she was taken in marriage and bore Emperor Kanmu, Prince Sawara (the Emperor Sudō), Princess Noto (Note: following the Shoku Nihongi), and Princess Sakahito (Note: following the Nihon Kōki as quoted in the Tōdaiji Yōroku. According to Uraki's examination, the Tōdaiji Yōroku gives Princess Sakahito as the Yoshino Empress. Since Princess Inoe had her imperial rank restored by the edict of the nineteenth year of Enryaku and became the Yoshino Empress, Princess Sakahito should properly have been born of Princess Inoe. If so, the text of the Dainihonshi is probably mistaken). In the Hōki years, her surname was changed to Takano-no-Ason, she was granted Junior Third Rank, and soon became bunin. When Emperor Kanmu took the throne, she was honored as Kōtaifujin, and a Chūgūshiki was established. In the twelfth month of the eighth year of Enryaku (789), her illness grew grave. An edict ordered the temples of the Kinai and the Seven Circuits to recite the Great Perfection of Wisdom Sutra for seven days to pray for her recovery, but a few days later she died. The emperor put on shakucho, mourning robes, avoided the main hall, appeared in the west wing, and led the Crown Prince and the ministers in mourning. The hundred officials and the people of the Kinai observed thirty days of mourning, and each led the commoners under his jurisdiction in lamentation; the shingun (shrine districts), however, were excepted. Memorial services of forty-nine days were also held, and the two provincial temples of the realm (the kokubunji and kokubunniji) were ordered to recite sutras. Every seventh day, envoys were sent to the various temples to have sutras recited. In the first month of the following year, she was posthumously honored as Kōtaigō, Empress Dowager, with the posthumous name Ame-takashiru-hikohime-no-Mikoto. The distant ancestor of Baekje, King Tomo, is said to have been the son of a daughter of the River God conceived through the influence of the sun's essence. As the Empress Dowager was his descendant, this posthumous name was offered to her. She was buried at the Ōe Mausoleum. In the eleventh month, an edict stated: "The first anniversary of the Chūgū's death falls on the twenty-eighth day of next month. The rites of mourning are about to end abruptly, and the New Year is soon to come. With the death-day suddenly upon Us and Our endless grief all the more acute, how could We accept new joys simply because the first month has begun? Thinking of this, Our sorrow is deep and We cannot restrain ourselves. The ceremony of New Year felicitations shall be suspended." In the twelfth month a further edict stated: "To her maternal grandfather Takano-no-Ason (Otsugu) and her maternal grandmother Haji-no-Sukune, Senior First Rank shall be granted posthumously together, and the Haji clan shall be renamed Ōe-no-Ason" (Note: following the Shoku Nihongi). In the first year of Daidō (806), she was posthumously honored as Taikōtaigō, Grand Empress Dowager (Note: following the Nihon Kiryaku). Her niece Yamato-no-Iemaro served in Emperor Kanmu's reign, held important posts both inner and outer, and rose to Junior Third Rank and Chūnagon, Middle Counsellor (Note: following the Kugyō Bunin). Further, Kudara-no-Genkyō, Ninjō, and Kyōnin and others, as maternal relatives of the imperial house, were granted additional titles by edict during the Enryaku years (Note: following the Shoku Nihongi).

Fujiwara-no-Sōshi

¶The bunin Fujiwara-no-Sōshi (Note: "Sōshi" is also written "Tsukasa") was a daughter of Fujiwara-no-Nagate, Minister of the Left, and was very fond of literary composition (Note: following the Ichidai Yōki and the Keizu). Entering the palace, she was granted Junior Third Rank. In the eighth month of the eighth year of Hōki (777), she became bunin. In the second year of Enryaku (783), she became Senior Third Rank (Note: following the Shoku Nihongi. The Ichidai Yōki contains an entry for "bunin of Junior Third Rank Ki-no-Miyako," but reading through the Nihongi, Miyako was granted Junior Fourth Rank Lower in the Hōki years and only in the fifth year of Enki (Note: the era name as it stands in the source is anachronistic here and probably a slip for Enryaku) became Junior Third Rank; since it does not state that she became bunin, this is not adopted here). In the eleventh month of the twelfth year of Enryaku (793), she died (Note: following the Ichidai Yōki).

Princess Owari

¶Princess Owari was a daughter of Prince Yuhara, and was granted Junior Fourth Rank Lower (Note: following the Ichidai Yōki). She bore Prince Hieda (Note: following the Ichidai Yōki and the Kōin Shōunroku).

Agatainukai-no-Omimi

¶Agatainukai-no-Omimi was originally a nyoju, palace maid, and was granted Junior Fifth Rank Lower. She was summoned before Emperor Kōnin ascended the throne and bore Hirone-no-Morokatsu (Note: following the Seishiroku).

Shimahime

¶Shimahime was a daughter of Agatanushi-no-Emishi, and bore Princess Minuma (Note: following the Kōin Shōunroku).

¶【Emperor Kanmu】

Empress Fujiwara (Otomuro)

¶The Fujiwara Empress of Emperor Kanmu, Otomuro, was a daughter of Fujiwara-no-Yoshitsugu, Naidaijin (Minister of the Interior). While Emperor Kanmu was still in the Eastern Palace, she was taken in as his consort. In the second year of Enryaku (783), she was granted Senior Third Rank and became bunin, and in the fourth month was installed as Empress. She bore Emperor Heizei, Emperor Saga, and Princess Takashi. The Empress was gentle by nature and beautiful in appearance, versed in the norms proper to a woman, and endowed with the virtue fitting a mother. In the tenth month of the third year of Enryaku (784), when the Empress's mother, Abe-no-Komina, died, the emperor sent envoys to oversee the funeral rites. In the eleventh month, the capital was moved to Nagaoka, but the Empress, being in mourning, did not follow, and the Kōtaifujin (Takano-no-Niigasa) likewise remained at Heijō. When the emperor sent envoys to fetch them, the Empress in the end followed the Kōtaifujin and moved from Heijō. In the summer of the following fourth year of Enryaku (785), a red sparrow appeared at the Empress's Palace; the emperor took this as an auspicious sign, and conferred rank on those throughout the realm who held it, and advanced the rank of the officials of the Empress's household from sakan upward. In the intercalary third month of the ninth year of Enryaku (790), the Empress's illness grew grave. An edict admitted two hundred monks to the priesthood, and relief, shinjutsu, was extended throughout the capital region to the aged, to widowers and widows, to orphans, and to the solitary sick who could not support themselves. The Empress died at the age of thirty-one. The emperor moved his seat to the Konoefu, the Palace Guards' headquarters, and ordered the Kinai and the Seven Circuits to put on plain mourning dress and express their grief from the eighteenth day of that month until its end. She was given the posthumous name Ame-no-Takafuji-Hiromune-Teruhime-no-Mikoto (Note: the Kōsōden styles the Empress "Izui Ōshō Kōgō," but since this does not appear in the old history, it is not recorded here). She was buried at the Nagaoka Mausoleum (Note: following the Shoku Nihongi). When Emperor Heizei took the throne, she was posthumously honored as Kōtaigō, Empress Dowager, and her mother Komina was posthumously granted Senior First Rank (Note: following the Nihon Kiryaku). In the second year of Tenan (858), an edict ordered the presentation of nosaki offerings, the first-fruits tribute (Note: following the Sandai Jitsuroku. The Seiwa-ki of this work has an entry for the sending of an offering to the Nagaoka Mausoleum of the Grand Empress Dowager Fujiwara, but the year and month in which the title of Grand Empress Dowager was posthumously conferred are not recorded. According to the Ruijū Kokushi and the Nihon Kiryaku, when Emperor Junna took the throne he honored the Empress Dowager as Grand Empress Dowager; but at that time there was no living Empress Dowager, so the so-called "granting the title of Grand Empress Dowager" probably refers to this).

Empress Fujiwara (Tabiko)

¶The Fujiwara Empress, named Tabiko, was a daughter of Fujiwara-no-Momokawa, Shikibu-kyō (Minister of Ceremonial). In the fourth year of Enryaku (785) she was granted Junior Third Rank, and in the first month of the following fifth year (786) she became bunin. She bore Emperor Junna. In the fifth month of the seventh year of Enryaku (788) she died, at the age of thirty. The Middle Counsellor Fujiwara-no-Oguromaro and the Councillor Prince Ishino and others were sent to oversee the funeral rites, and the Middle Counsellor Ishikawa-no-Natari and the Councillor Ki-no-Kosami proclaimed an edict at her residence conferring Senior First Rank on the consort posthumously (Note: following the Shoku Nihongi). When Emperor Junna took the throne, he issued an edict: "Our late mother lived but a short span and ascended to Heaven early. In Our infancy We were already deprived of her tenderness. We hereby offer her a posthumous honorific, and style her Kōtaigō" (Note: following the Nihon Kiryaku). In the first year of Tenchō (824), because it was the Empress Dowager's death-month, an edict suspended the banquet of the fifth month (Note: following the Ruijū Kokushi).

Princess Sakahito

¶The hi, consort, Princess Sakahito (Note: the Ichidai Yōki states that the Princess became Saiō in the eleventh month of the third year of Hōji, and also, quoting the Jingiki, that in the fourth month of the second year of Hōji the Princess moved to the Kasuga Palace but did not go to the Grand Shrine. Neither, however, appears in the old history, so they are not adopted here) was advanced to Third Order in the first year of Hōki (770). In the third year of Hōki (772) she became Ise Saiō, and in the ninth month of the fifth year of Hōki (774) she arrived at Ise (Note: following the Shoku Nihongi). After some years she returned to the capital. Because she was beautiful in appearance, the emperor took her into the rear palace. She bore Princess Asahara. Her conduct was lacking in restraint, but the emperor did not forbid it (Note: according to Uraki's examination, the text of the Dainihonshi lists Princess Sakahito as a daughter of Empress Takano, but she was in fact a daughter of Princess Inoe and a full younger sister of Prince Osabe. Further, according to the Kugyō Bunin, Fujiwara-no-Momokawa slandered Princess Inoe and helped Emperor Kanmu ascend the throne. If so, Emperor Kanmu probably felt himself in the Princess's debt over this affair, and for that reason did not forbid Princess Sakahito's conduct). In the Kōnin years (810-824) she was granted Second Order, and she regularly held the Mantō-e, Ten Thousand Lamps rite, at Tōdaiji. In the eighth month of the sixth year of Tenchō (829) she died, at the age of seventy-six (Note: following the Nihon Kōki as quoted in the Tōdaiji Yōroku).

Fujiwara-no-Yoshiko

¶The bunin Fujiwara-no-Yoshiko was a daughter of Fujiwara-no-Korekimi, Minister of the Right (Note: following the Keizu). In the second year of Enryaku (783) she was granted Junior Third Rank and became bunin (Note: following the Shoku Nihongi). She bore Prince Iyo. In the second year of Daidō (807), implicated in the affair of Prince Iyo, she was confined at Kawaradera and died by taking poison (Note: following the Nihon Kiryaku). In the ninth month of the sixth year of Jōwa (839), she was posthumously granted Junior Third Rank. An edict stated: "The late Fujiwara-no-Ason Yoshiko, who held no rank, met with an unfortunate fate and lost her titles. Now that time has passed and circumstances have changed, We wish to mourn her and console her spirit. Let her former rank be restored, to shed light upon the place of her tomb." In the tenth month, because of a curse, she was posthumously granted Junior Second Rank (Note: following the Shoku Nihon Kōki).

Tajihi-no-Mamune

¶The bunin Tajihi-no-Mamune was a daughter of Tajihi-no-Nagano, Councillor. She bore four imperial princes, Prince Kazurawara, Prince Sami, Prince Kaya, and Prince Daitoku, and two imperial princesses, Princess Inaba and Princess Ano (Note: Prince Kazurawara follows the Nihon Kiryaku and the Montoku Jitsuroku; the three princes Sami, Kaya, and Daitoku and Princess Inaba follow the Kōin Shōunroku and the Teiō Hennenki; Princess Ano follows the Shoku Nihon Kōki and the Kōin Shōunroku). She was advanced to Senior Third Rank and became bunin. In the sixth month of the fourteenth year of Kōnin (823) she died, at the age of fifty-five. Emperor Junna issued an edict granting her Senior Second Rank. For the funeral, officials in charge were appointed: two of Fourth Rank, five of Fifth Rank, and eleven of Sixth Rank and below (Note: following the Nihon Kiryaku).

Fujiwara-no-Oguso

¶The bunin Fujiwara-no-Oguso was a daughter of Fujiwara-no-Washitori, Nakatsukasa no Taifu (Senior Assistant Minister of Central Affairs). She bore Prince Manda (Note: following the Kōin Shōunroku and the Teiō Hennenki).

Ki-no-Otoo

¶The nyogo, Imperial Consort, Ki-no-Otoo was granted Senior Fifth Rank Upper. In the third year of Jōwa (836) she was granted Junior Fourth Rank Lower, and in the fifth month of the seventh year of Jōwa (840) she died (Note: following the Shoku Nihon Kōki).

Kudara-no-Kyōhō

¶The nyogo Kudara-no-Kyōhō was granted Junior Fourth Rank Lower. In the eleventh month of the seventh year of Jōwa (840) she died (Note: following the Shoku Nihon Kōki. The Ichidai Yōki states that Fujiwara-no-Nakako, a daughter of Fujiwara-no-Ieyori, Councillor, became a nyogo of Emperor Kanmu; and the Fujiwara Keizu states that Masako, a grandchild of Fujiwara-no-Umakai, Shikibu-kyō, and a daughter of Kiyonari, became a nyogo of Emperor Kanmu and was posthumously granted the title of Empress. Neither appears in any other book, and so they are not adopted here).

Tachibana-no-Tsuneko

¶Tachibana-no-Tsuneko was a daughter of Tachibana-no-Shimadamaro, Hyōbu no Taifu (Senior Assistant Minister of War). She entered the palace and received the emperor's favor, and bore Princess Ōyake. She was granted Junior Third Rank. When Emperor Kanmu died, she took Buddhist vows and became a nun (Note: following the Nihon Kiryaku). When Emperor Saga took the throne, she was given one hundred kan of new coin (Note: following the Ruijū Kokushi). In the eighth month of the eighth year of Kōnin (817), she died, at the age of thirty (Note: following the Nihon Kiryaku).

Tachibana-no-Miiko

¶Tachibana-no-Miiko was a daughter of Tachibana-no-Irii, Sachūben (Middle Controller of the Left). She bore Princess Kaga and Princess Sugawara (Note: following the Kōin Shōunroku, the Ichidai Yōki, and the Teiō Hennenki. That Irii was Sachūben follows the Tachibana-shi Keizu). She was granted Junior Fourth Rank Lower, and in the second year of Kashō (849) she was advanced to Junior Third Rank (Note: following the Shoku Nihon Kōki).

Sakanoue-no-Haruko

¶Sakanoue-no-Haruko was a daughter of Sakanoue-no-Tamuramaro, Dainagon (Major Counsellor). She was granted Junior Fourth Rank Lower, and bore Prince Kadoi and Princess Kasuga (Note: following the Montoku Jitsuroku; for Princess Kasuga, the Kōin Shōunroku).

Ki-no-Wakako

¶Ki-no-Wakako (Note: the character "waka" is also written "chi") was a daughter of Ki-no-Funamori, Dainagon (Note: following the Ichidai Yōki and the Kōin Shōunroku). In the eighth year of Enryaku (789) she was granted Junior Fifth Rank Upper, and in the tenth year (791) she was advanced to Junior Fourth Rank Lower (Note: following the Shoku Nihongi). She bore Prince Asuka (Note: following the Kōin Shōunroku and the Teiō Hennenki).

Sakanoue-no-Matako

¶Sakanoue-no-Matako (Note: in the Shoku Nihon Kōki and the Sandai Jitsuroku, "mata" is written with the character "zen," probably because the two are close in their native readings) was a daughter of Sakanoue-no-Karitamaro, Sakyō no Daibu (Master of the Left Capital Office). When Emperor Kanmu was still in the Eastern Palace, she was chosen to enter the palace and was granted Senior Fifth Rank Upper. She bore Princess Takatsu. In the seventh month of the ninth year of Enryaku (790), she died (Note: following the Shoku Nihongi).

Fujiwara-no-Jōshi

¶Fujiwara-no-Jōshi was a daughter of Fujiwara-no-Oguromaro, Dainagon. She was granted Senior Fifth Rank Lower, and bore Princess Shigeno (Note: following the Montoku Jitsuroku).

Fujiwara-no-Kawako

¶Fujiwara-no-Kawako was a daughter of Fujiwara-no-Ōtsugu, of Junior Fourth Rank Upper. She was chosen to enter the palace and was granted Junior Fifth Rank Upper (Note: following the Montoku Jitsuroku and the Sandai Jitsuroku). She bore Prince Nakano, Princess Anchoku, Princess Ōi, Princess Ki, and Princess Yoshihara (Note: following the Sandai Jitsuroku; Princess Anchoku follows the Montoku Jitsuroku). In the eighth year of Kōnin (817) she was advanced to Junior Fourth Rank Lower (Note: following the Nihon Kiryaku). In the first month of the fifth year of Jōwa (838), she died (Note: following the Shoku Nihon Kōki).

Kawakami-no-Yoshi

¶Kawakami-no-Yoshi (Note: the Kōin Shōunroku writes the name as Kawakami-no-Sadayakko) was a daughter of Nishigori-no-Haruhito, of Outer Junior Fifth Rank Lower. She was granted Junior Fifth Rank Upper, and bore Prince Sakamoto (Note: following the Ichidai Yōki).

Kudara-no-Kyōnin

¶Kudara-no-Kyōnin was a daughter of Kudara-no-Takekagami, of Junior Fifth Rank Upper (Note: following the Ichidai Yōki. The text of the Dainihonshi gives "Junior Fifth Rank Lower," but it is corrected here according to the Shoku Nihongi). She was granted Junior Fifth Rank Lower. She bore Prince Ōta (Note: following the Ichidai Yōki and the Teiō Hennenki).

Kudara-no-Sadaka

¶Kudara-no-Sadaka was a daughter of Kudara-no-Kyōtoku, who had been granted Fourth Rank Lower. She was granted Junior Fifth Rank Lower (Note: following the Ichidai Yōki. The text of the Dainihonshi writes "Kyōtoku" as "Kyōhō," but here the Kōin Shōunroku is followed). She bore Princess Suruga (Note: following the Ichidai Yōki and the Kōin Shōunroku).

Fujiwara-no-Tōshi

¶Fujiwara-no-Tōshi was a daughter of Fujiwara-no-Tanetsugu, Middle Counsellor. She bore Princess Kannami (Note: following the Nihon Kiryaku and the Kōin Shōunroku. The writing "Tōshi" follows the Shōunroku).

Fujiwara-no-Nanshi

¶Fujiwara-no-Nanshi was a daughter of Fujiwara-no-Otoei, Middle Counsellor. She bore Princess Ito (Note: following the Sandai Jitsuroku and the Kōin Shōunroku. The writing "Nanshi" follows the Shōunroku).

Nakatomi-no-Toyoko

¶Nakatomi-no-Toyoko was a daughter of Nakatomi-no-Ōuo, of Senior Sixth Rank Upper. She bore Princess Fuse (Note: following the Kōin Shōunroku and the Ichidai Yōki. That Ōuo was of Senior Sixth Rank Upper follows the Yōki).

Tachibana-no-Tamurako

¶Tachibana-no-Tamurako was a daughter of Tachibana-no-Irii. She bore Princess Ikegami (Note: following the Kōin Keizu, the Ichidai Yōki, and the Teiō Hennenki. The Kōin Shōunroku states that Princess Ikegami's mother was the same as the mother of Princess Kaga, that is, Tachibana-no-Miiko. If so, might Tamurako be the same person as Miiko? The Tachibana-shi Keizu lists only Miiko and has no Tamurako. Here the Yōki and the Hennenki are followed. Moreover, according to the Sandai Jitsuroku, the wife of Fujiwara-no-Yoshitada was a daughter of Tachibana-no-Irii named Tamurako. Probably Tamurako was first a palace woman of Emperor Kanmu, and afterward married Yoshitada).

Tajihi-no-Toyotsugu

¶Tajihi-no-Toyotsugu was originally a nyoju, junior palace maid. She bore Nagaoka-no-Okanari (Note: following the Ichidai Yōki. The Kōin Shōunroku gives him as a child of Tajihi-no-Toyotsugu's daughter, but here the Seishiroku is followed).

Kudara-no-Eikei

¶Kudara-no-Eikei was a daughter of Asukabe-no-Natomaro, of Senior Fifth Rank Upper (Note: following the Kugyō Bunin). She first married Fujiwara-no-Uchimaro, and bore Manatsu and Fuyutsugu (Note: following the Kugyō Bunin and the Sonpi Bunmyaku). Afterward she entered the palace as a nyoju, and bore Yoshimine-no-Yasuyo. She was granted Junior Seventh Rank Lower (Note: following the Seishiroku and the Kugyō Bunin. The Sonpi Bunmyaku writes Junior Fifth Rank Upper, or Junior Fifth Rank Lower).