Empress Gemmei (元明天皇 Genmei-tennō) (661 – December 7, 721^[1]) was the 43rd imperial ruler of Japan, according to the traditional order of succession. This sovereign is sometimes identified as Empress Genmyō. She was the fifth woman to ascend to the Chrysanthemum Throne.^[2] Her reign spanned the years from 707 through 710.^[3]

Genealogy

Before her ascension to the Chrysanthemum Throne, her personal name (his imina)^[4] was Abe-hime.^[5]

Empress Genmei was the fourth daughter of Emperor Tenji;^[6] and she was a younger sister of Empress Jitō by a different mother. Her mother, Mei-no-Iratsume (also known as Soga-hime), was a daughter of Udaijin Soga-no-Kura-no-Yamada-no-Ishikawa-no-Maro (also known as Soga Yamada-no Ō-omi).^[7]

Empress Gemmei's personal name before her accession was Abe.^[8]

Events of Gemmei's life

Gemmei became the consort (nyōgo) of Crown Prince Kusakabe no Miko, who was the son of Emperor Temmu and Empress Jitō.^[9] After the death of their son Emperor Mommu in 707, she acceded to the throne. At least one account suggests that she accepted the role of empress because Emperor Mommu felt his young son, her grandson, was still too young to withstand the pressures which attend becoming emperor.^[10]

• Keiun 4, on the 15th day of the 6th month (707): In the 11th year of Mommu-tennō's reign (文武天皇211年), the emperor died; and the succession (‘‘senso’’) was received by the emperor's mother, who held the throne in trust for her young grandson. Shortly thereafter, Empress Gemmei is said to have acceded to the throne (‘‘sokui’’).^[11]
• Keiun 4 (707): Deposits of copper was reported to have been found in Musashi province in the region which includes modern day Tokyo.^[12]
• Keiun 5 (708):, The era name was about to be changed to mark the accession of Empress Gemmei; but the choice of Wadō as the new nengō for this new reign became a way to mark the welcome discovery of copper in the Chichibu District of what is now Saitama Prefecture.^[13]The Japanese word for copper is dō (銅); and since this was indigenous copper, the "wa" (the ancient Chinese term for Japan) could be combined with the "dō" (copper) to create a new composite term -- "wadō" -- meaning "Japanese copper."
• Wadō 1, on the 11th day of the 4th month (708): A sample of the newly discovered Musashi copper from was presented in Gemmei's Court where it was formally acknowledged as Japanese copper.^[14]-- see image of Wado Kaichin from Japan Mint Museum
• Wadō 1, in the 3rd month (708): Fuijwara no Fuhito was named Minister of the Right (Udaijin) . Iso-kami Marō was Minister of the Left (Sadaijin).^[15]
• Wadō 2, in the 3rd month (709): There was an uprising against governmental authority in Mutsu province and in Echigo province. Troops were promptly dispatched to subdue the revolt.^[16]
• Wadō 2, in the 5th month (709): An ambassador arived from Slla; and he brought an offer of tribute. He visited Fujiwara no Fuhito to prepare the way for further visits.^[17]
• Wadō 3, in the 3rd month (710): Empress Gemmei established her official residence in Nara. In the last years of the Mommu's reign, the extensive preparations for this projected move had begun; but the work could not be completed before the late-emperor's untimely death.^[18] Shortly after the nengō was changed to Wadō, an Imperial Rescript was issued concerning the establishment of a new capital at the Heijō-kyō at Nara in Yamato province. It had been customary since ancient times for the capital to be moved with the beginning of each new reign. However, Emperor Mommu decided not to move the capital, preferring instead to say at the Fujiwara Palace which had been established by Empress Jitō.^[19] Empress Gemmei's palace was named Nara-no-miya.^[20]
• Wadō 4, in the 3rd month (711): The Kojiki was published in three volumes. This work presented a history of Japan from a mythological period of god-rulers up through the 28th day of the 1st month of the fifth year of Empress Suiko's reign (597).^[21] Emperor Temmu failed to bring the work to completion before his death in 686. Empress Gemmei, along with other court officials, deserve credit for continuing to patronize and encourage the mammoth project.
• Wadō 5 (712): The Mutsu province was separated from Dewa province.^[22]
• Wadō 6, in the 3rd month (713): Tamba province was separated from Tango province; Mimasaka province was divided from Bizen province; and Hyūga province was divided from Osumi province.^[23]
• Wadō 6 (713): The compilation of Fudoki was begun with the imprimatur of an Imperial decree: This work was intended to described of all provinces, cities, mountains, rivers, valleys and plains. It is intended to become a catalog of the plants, trees, birds, and mammals of Japan. It also intended to contain information about all of the remarkable events which, from ancient times to the present, have happened in the country.^[24]
• Wadō 6 (713): The road which traverses Mino province and Shinano province was widened to accommodate travelers; and the road was widened in the Kiso District of modern Nagano Prefecture.^[25]

After Empress Gemmei transferred the seat of her government to Nara, this mountain location remained the capital throughout the succeeding seven reigns.^[26] In a sense, the years of the Nara period developed into one of the more significant consequences of her comparatively short reign.

Gemmei had initially planned to remain on the throne until her grandson might reach maturity. However, in 715, Gemmei did abdicate in favor of Mommu's older sister who then became known as Empress Genshō. Genshō was eventually succeeded by her younger brother, who then became known as Emperor Shōmu.

• Wadō 8 (715): Gemmei resigns as empress in favor of her daughter, who will be known as Empress Genshō.^[27]

The Empress reigned for eight years. After abdicating, she was known as Daijō-tennō; and she was only the second woman after Empress Jitō to claim this title. Gemmei lived in retirement until her death at the age of 61.^[28]

Poetry

The Man'yōshū includes a poem written said to be composed by Empress Gemmei in the first year of Wadō (708) -- and this anthology also includes a reply created by one of the ladies of her court::

::Listen to the sounds of the warriors' elbow-guards;^[29]

:::Our captain must be ranging the shields to drill the troops.^[30]

::::: -- Gemmei-tennō^[31]

::Reply:

::Be not concerned, O my Sovereign;

:::Am I not here,

::I, whom the ancestral gods endowed with life,

::Next of kin to yourself?

::::: -- Minabé-hime^[32]

Kugyō

Kugyō (公卿) is a collective term for the very few most powerful men attached to the court of the Emperor of Japan in pre-Meiji 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 Gemmei's reign, this apex of the Daijō-kan included:

• Daijō-daijin, Hozumi-shinnō ^[33]
• Sadaijin, Iso Kami Marō ^[34]
• Udaijin, Fujiwara Fuhito ^[35]
• Nadaijin
• Dainagon

Eras of Gemmei's reign

The years of Genmei's reign are more specifically identified by more than one era name or nengō.^[36]

• Keiun (704-708)
• Wadō (708-715)
• Reiki (715-717)

References

• Brown, Delmer and Ichiro Ishida, eds. (1979). [ Jien (1221)], Gukanshō; "The Future and the Past: a translation and study of the 'Gukanshō,' an interpretive history of Japan written in 1219" translated from the Japanese and edited by Delmer M. Brown & Ichirō Ishida. Berkeley: University of California Press. ISBN 0-520-03460-0
• Titsingh, Isaac, ed. (1834). [Siyun-sai Rin-siyo/Hayashi Gahō (1652)], Nipon o daï itsi ran; ou, Annales des empereurs du Japon, tr. par M. Isaac Titsingh avec l'aide de plusieurs interprètes attachés au comptoir hollandais de Nangasaki; ouvrage re., complété et cor. sur l'original japonais-chinois, accompagné de notes et précédé d'un Aperçu d'histoire mythologique du Japon, par M. J. Klaproth. Paris: Oriental Translation Fund of Great Britain and Ireland.--Two copies of this rare book have now been made available online: (1) from the library of the University of Michigan, digitized January 30, 2007; and (2) from the library of Stanford University, digitized June 23, 2006. Click here to read the original text in French.
• Varley, H. Paul , ed. (1980). [ Kitabatake Chikafusa (1359)], Jinnō Shōtōki ("A Chronicle of Gods and Sovereigns: Jinnō Shōtōki of Kitabatake Chikafusa" translated by H. Paul Varley). New York: Columbia University Press. ISBN 0-231-04940-4

See also

• Japanese empresses

Preceded by Emperor Mommu	Empress of Japan: Gemmei 707-715	Succeeded by Empress Genshō