Prince Hisahito, September 6th 2025
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| Emperor Naruhito and Empress Masako of Japan |
He then changed into the black robes of adulthood and set off to the next ceremonial event in a horse-drawn carriage.
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| Princess Aiko, December 23 2022 |
Prince Hisahito is the nephew of the Emperor of Japan; his father is the emperor’s younger brother. His cousin Princess Aiko is the only child of the Emperor and Empress and, at 23, is older than him. So how does Prince Hisahito come to be second in line to the throne?
Princess Aiko can’t accede to the chrysanthemum throne for one simple reason: she is a woman.
This is not ancient tradition. Until the passing of Japan’s first constitution in 1889 there was no such rule. The aim of the constitution was to make Japan appear similar to western nations, on the surface at least, so as to end the unequal treaties which forced Japan to kowtow to the west - though ironically at the time Queen Victoria was firmly on the throne in Britain.
After the war the American occupying forces drew up a new constitution which set in stone the law that only men could accede to the throne. Empress Masako, the present Empress, was under great pressure to produce a son and didn’t succeed, though she did have a daughter, Princess Aiko.
But before that first constitution things were different. Female emperors were not common but there were some who played major roles in the development of Japan. And in ancient times there were plenty.
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| The Sun Goddess Amaterasu Ōmikami by Utagawa Kunisada 1856 |
In fact the claim to legitimacy of the imperial family is - again, ironically - that they are descended in an unbroken line from the female Sun Goddess, Amaterasu.
Queens and Empresses part I
Shaman Queen
The very first named person in Japanese history is a woman - Queen Himiko, who ruled from about 190 to 248 AD, just over a hundred years after Boudicca. At the time the kings who ruled the various kingdoms that made up Japan were always fighting and in order to maintain the peace decided to set a woman on the throne.
Himiko, who came from a line of queens, maintained peace for 60 years. She was not only a temporal ruler but a shaman who could intervene with the gods to ensure the food supply and protect her people from earthquakes and volcanic eruptions. After her death a king took the throne and fighting started again. Peace was only restored when Himiko’s 13 year old niece Iyo, who was also a shaman, became queen.
In the years that followed there was a succession of empresses, six in all.
Suiko: Long reigning empress who established Buddhism
Empress Suiko (554 - 628) came to the throne in 593, succeeding her husband, Emperor Bidatsu, and ruled for 35 years. Like Himiko she was installed on the throne in order to establish peace among warring factions, the Soga and the Mononobe clans. Her father, Emperor Kinmei, had been given a statue of the Buddha by the King of Baekje, now part of Korea, who urged him to adopt this ‘most excellent’ religion.
Under Suiko’s rule Buddhism was recognised as the official religion of the country and the country absorbed a great deal of Chinese culture - politics, poetry, laws, religion, food, clothing, architecture and music. Chinese and Korean craftsmen came to Japan. Her government sent its first official embassy to the glorious Chinese court, introduced the Chinese calendar, replaced the Japanese system of hereditary ranks with the Chinese bureaucratic system and established the supremacy of the emperor, laying the foundations for Japan as a unified country rather than a collection of warring states.
Empress Kōgyoku witnesses a spectacular coup d’état.
Empress Kōgyoku (594 - 661) had a rather dramatic story. She was the widow of the previous emperor, Suiko’s great-nephew. She came to the throne in 642 and had a new palace built, the Itabuki no Miya. In those days people founded a new capital every time a new emperor came to the throne so as to avoid being jinxed by the ghost of the previous incumbent. She then brought an end to a drought by praying.
But she’d barely settled into her new palace when there was an upheaval. Her son Prince Naka was tired of the Soga clan controlling power. He started meeting with a nobleman called Nakatomi no Kamatari in a wisteria grove where they claimed to be studying Chinese texts but in fact were plotting a coup d’état.
On July 13 645 there was a grand meeting at the new palace. Prince Naka ordered all the gates to be locked, smuggled in a sword and in full view of everyone lopped off the head of the young leader of the Soga clan, Soga no Iruka, thus ejecting the Soga from power. Empress Kōgyoku abdicated immediately because she was polluted by being in the presence of death.
Empress Kōgyoku’s brother took over but everyone understood that the real power in the land was now Prince Naka and that power was now in the hands of the imperial family again.
After her brother died Kōgyoku came back to the throne with a new, unpolluted name - Empress Saimei. She then set off to lead an armada to attack the Chinese and Sillan (Korean) ships that were threatening Japan but on the way she died. Prince Naka finally took power as the great Emperor Tenji.
The empresses who were to follow played a major part and varied roles in shaping the country Japan was to become. For their stories, watch out for my next riveting instalment!
All images are courtesy of Wikimedia Commons
Lesley Downer is a lover of all things Asian and in particular all things Japanese. She had two books out last year: The Shortest History of Japan (Old Street Publications) - 16,500 years of Japanese history in 50,000 words, full of stories and colourful characters - and her first ‘real’ book, On the Narrow Road to the Deep North, reissued by Eland under her new pen name to acknowledge her Chinese roots - Lesley Chan Downer. For more see www.lesleydowner.com
Himiko, who came from a line of queens, maintained peace for 60 years. She was not only a temporal ruler but a shaman who could intervene with the gods to ensure the food supply and protect her people from earthquakes and volcanic eruptions. After her death a king took the throne and fighting started again. Peace was only restored when Himiko’s 13 year old niece Iyo, who was also a shaman, became queen.
In the years that followed there was a succession of empresses, six in all.
Suiko: Long reigning empress who established Buddhism
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| Empress Suiko: imaginary picture by Tosa Mitsuyoshi (1700 - 1772) |
Under Suiko’s rule Buddhism was recognised as the official religion of the country and the country absorbed a great deal of Chinese culture - politics, poetry, laws, religion, food, clothing, architecture and music. Chinese and Korean craftsmen came to Japan. Her government sent its first official embassy to the glorious Chinese court, introduced the Chinese calendar, replaced the Japanese system of hereditary ranks with the Chinese bureaucratic system and established the supremacy of the emperor, laying the foundations for Japan as a unified country rather than a collection of warring states.
Empress Kōgyoku witnesses a spectacular coup d’état.
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| Empress Kōgyoku |
But she’d barely settled into her new palace when there was an upheaval. Her son Prince Naka was tired of the Soga clan controlling power. He started meeting with a nobleman called Nakatomi no Kamatari in a wisteria grove where they claimed to be studying Chinese texts but in fact were plotting a coup d’état.
On July 13 645 there was a grand meeting at the new palace. Prince Naka ordered all the gates to be locked, smuggled in a sword and in full view of everyone lopped off the head of the young leader of the Soga clan, Soga no Iruka, thus ejecting the Soga from power. Empress Kōgyoku abdicated immediately because she was polluted by being in the presence of death.
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| Prince Naka killing Soga no Iruka from the Tōnomine Engi scroll, Edo period |
After her brother died Kōgyoku came back to the throne with a new, unpolluted name - Empress Saimei. She then set off to lead an armada to attack the Chinese and Sillan (Korean) ships that were threatening Japan but on the way she died. Prince Naka finally took power as the great Emperor Tenji.
The empresses who were to follow played a major part and varied roles in shaping the country Japan was to become. For their stories, watch out for my next riveting instalment!
All images are courtesy of Wikimedia Commons
Lesley Downer is a lover of all things Asian and in particular all things Japanese. She had two books out last year: The Shortest History of Japan (Old Street Publications) - 16,500 years of Japanese history in 50,000 words, full of stories and colourful characters - and her first ‘real’ book, On the Narrow Road to the Deep North, reissued by Eland under her new pen name to acknowledge her Chinese roots - Lesley Chan Downer. For more see www.lesleydowner.com