Emperor Kinmei


Emperor Kinmei was the 29th emperor of Japan, according to the traditional order of succession. His reign is said to have spanned the years from 539 to 571. Most historians support either the view that Kinmei is the first historically verifiable Japanese emperor or the view that Yuryaku is.

Traditional narrative

Kinmei's contemporary title would not have been tennō, as most historians believe this title was not introduced until the reigns of Emperor Tenmu and Empress Jitō. Rather, it was presumably Sumeramikoto or Amenoshita Shiroshimesu Ōkimi, meaning "the great king who rules all under heaven". Alternatively, Kinmei might have been referred to as or the "Great King of Yamato".

Events of Kinmei's life

Because of several chronological discrepancies in the account of Emperor Kinmei in the Nihon Shoki, some believe that he was actually ruling a rival court to that of Emperors Ankan and Senka. Nevertheless, according to the traditional account, it was not until the death of Emperor Kinmei's older brother Emperor Senka that he gained the throne.
Before he came to the throne he was hesitant and refused to wield power stating:
The Empress, Kasuga no Yamada, refused this believing Kinmei was compassionate and smart enough to rule. However, historians such as William George Aston have questioned this with Aston himself noting that:
According to this account, Emperor Senka died in 539 at the age of 73; and succession passed to the third son of Emperor Keitai. This Imperial Prince was the next youngest brother of Emperor Senka. He would come to be known as Emperor Kinmei. He established his court at Shikishima no Kanazashi Palace in Yamato.
The Emperor's chief counselors were:
Although the imperial court was not moved to the Asuka region of Japan until 592, Emperor Kinmei's rule is considered by some to be the beginning of the Asuka period of Yamato Japan, particularly by those who associate the Asuka period primarily with the introduction of Buddhism to Japan from Baekje.
According to the Nihon Shoki, Emperor Kinmei received a bronze statue of Gautama Buddha as a gift from King Song Myong of Baekje, alongside a significant envoy of artisans, monks, and other artifacts in 552. Though some regard this event as the official introduction of Buddhism to Japan, texts such as the Jōgū Shōtoku Hōō Teisetsu indicate Buddhism may have been introduced as early as 538.
The advent of Buddhism across the Japanese Archipelago contributed to a deep rift between the Mononobe clan, whose members supported the worship of Japan's traditional deities, and the Soga clan, whose members supported the adoption of Buddhism.
According to the Nihon Shoki, Emperor Kinmei ruled until his death in 571. Although the text states that Emperor Kinmei was buried in the Hinokuma no Sakai Burial Mound, the current scholarly consensus instead holds that he is more likely to have been buried in the Misemaruyama Tumulus, located in Kashihara City.
The Emperor is traditionally venerated at a memorial Shinto shrine at Nara. The Imperial Household Agency designates the Nara location as Kinmei's mausoleum, and is formally named Hinokuma no saki Ai no misasagi. Its status as the emperor's actual resting place, alongside other graves of the early Emperors, are held in dispute by some historians and archaeologists.

Genealogy

Emperor Kinmei's father was Emperor Keitai and his mother was Emperor Ninken's daughter, Princess Tashiraka. In his lifetime, he was known by the name Amekuni Oshiharaki Hironiwa.
Kinmei had six Consorts and 25 Imperial children. According to Nihongi, he had six wives, but the Kojiki gives only five wives; identifying the third consort to be the same as the sixth one. The first three were his nieces, daughters of his half-brother Emperor Senka; two others were sisters, daughters of the Omi Soga no Iname.
  • Empress: Ishi-hime, Emperor Senka's daughter
  • *First son: Prince Yata no Tamakatsu no Ōe
  • *Second son: Prince Nunakura Futotama-Shiki, later Emperor Bidatsu
  • *Princess Kasanui
  • Consort: Princess Wayaka-Hime, Emperor Senka's daughter
  • *Prince Iso no Kami
  • Consort: Princess Hikage, Emperor Senka's daughter
  • *Prince Kura, in the Kojiki as Soga no Kura
  • Consort: Soga no Kitashihime, Soga no Iname's daughter
  • *Fourth Son: Imperial Prince Ogetaroinogushiwamikoto, later Prince Shōtoken, adoptive father of Prince Shōtoku
  • *Imperial Princess Iwakuma-hime, Saiō; had to resign her charge after being convicted of intrigue with her half-brother Imperial Prince Mubaragi
  • *Prince Atori, also
  • *Princess Ishiroi-Hime, later Empress Dowager Kitano-Hime, married to Emperor Bidatsu
  • *Prince Maroko, also
  • *Princess Ohoyake
  • *
  • *Prince Yamashiro, also
  • *Princess Ohotomo, married to her nephew, Prince Oshisako no Hikohito no Oe, Emperor Bidatsu's son
  • *Sixth Son: Prince Sakurai, also
  • *Princess Katano, also
  • *Prince Tachibana Moto no Wakugo
  • *Princess Toneri, also, married to her nephew, Prince Maroko, Emperor Yōmei's son
  • *Emperor Yōmei
  • Consort: Soga no Oane, Soga no Iname's daughter
  • *Prince Umaraki, also
  • *Prince Kazuraki
  • *Third daughter: Princess Hasetsukabe-no-Anahobe-no-Hashihito, married to her half brother, Emperor Yōmei, later married to her nephew and stepson, Prince Tame
  • *Prince Amatsukabe Anahobe
  • *Prince Kōshiko, later Kimiyori no Kimitsuhi
  • *Prince Yakabe, speculated as Emperor Senka's son
  • Consort: Nukako, Kasuga no Hifuri no Omi's daughter
  • *Princess Kasuga no Yamada
  • *Prince Tachibana no Maro, also