was the 61st

emperor of Japan The Emperor of Japan is the monarch and the head of the Imperial House of Japan, Imperial Family of Japan. Under the Constitution of Japan, he is defined as the symbol of the Japanese state and the unity of the Japanese people, and his positio ...

Imperial Household Agency The (IHA) is an agency of the government of Japan in charge of state matters concerning the Imperial Family, and also the keeping of the Privy Seal and State Seal of Japan. From around the 8th century AD, up until the Second World War, it ...

(''Kunaichō'')
朱雀天皇 (61)
/ref> according to the traditional order of succession. Suzaku's reign spanned the years from 930 through 946.

Biography

Before he ascended the Chrysanthemum Throne, his personal name ('' imina'') was Hiroakira''-shinnō''.Titsingh
p. 134
Varley, p. 181. He was also known as .Brown, p. 294. Hiroakira''-shinnō'' was the 11th son of Emperor Daigo and Empress Consort Onshi, a daughter of the regent and great minister of the council of state, Fujiwara no Mototsune. Suzaku had two Empresses or consorts and one Imperial daughter.Brown, p. 295

Events of Suzaku's life

Suzaku's older brother died unexpectedly young, as did his brother's son. These untimely deaths opened the way for Suzaku to accede to the throne. * October 16, 930 (''

Enchō was a after ''Engi'' and before ''Jōhei.'' This period spanned the years from April 923 through April 931. The reigning emperors were and . Change of era * January 20, 923 : The new era name was created to mark an event or series of events. ...

8, 22nd day of the 9th month''): In the 33rd year of the reign of Daigo-tennō (醍醐天皇三十三年), the emperor abdicated; and the succession (the ''senso'') was received by his eleventh son, Hiroakira''-shinnō'' (also known as Yutaakira''-shinnō''). * December 14, 930 (''Enchō 8, 22nd day of the 11th month''): Emperor Suzaku, who was only eight years old, acceded to the throne (the ''sokui''). * May 16, 931 (''Enchō 9, 26th day of the 4th month''): The era name was changed to mark the beginning of the new emperor's reign. * August 5, 931 (''

Jōhei , also romanized as Shōhei, was a after ''Enchō'' and before ''Tengyō.'' This period spanned the years from April 931 through May 938. The reigning emperor was . Change of era * January 22, 931 : The new era name was created to mark an event ...

1, 19th day of the 7th month''): The former-

Emperor Uda was the 59th emperor of Japan, Imperial Household Agency (''Kunaichō'') 宇多天皇 (59)/ref> according to the traditional order of succession. Uda's reign spanned the years from 887 through 897. Traditional narrative Name and legacy Befo ...

(867–931) died at the age of 65. * 932 (''Jōhei 2, 8th month''): The '' udaijin'' (Minister of the Right)

Fujiwara no Sadakata , also known as the , was a Japanese poet and courtier. The poet Fujiwara no Kanesuke was his cousin and son-in-law and his son Asatada was also a poet. He was appointed as Udajin of the Third Ward and we see him in storied from the Tales of Ya ...

(873–932) died at the age of 65.Titsingh
p. 135.
/ref> * 933 (''Jōhei 3, 8th month''): The '' dainagon'' (Counselor) Fujiwara no Nakahira is named ''udaijin.'' Nakahira is the brother of '' sesshō'' (regent) Fujiwara Tadahira.Titsingh
p. 135
Brown, p. 294. * 933 (''Jōhei 3, 12th month''): Ten of the chief dignitaries of the empire went falcon-hunting together in

Owari Province was a province of Japan in the area that today forms the western half of Aichi Prefecture, including the modern city of Nagoya. The province was created in 646. Owari bordered on Mikawa, Mino, and Ise Provinces. Owari and Mino provinces were ...

. Each of them was magnificent in his formal hunting attire. * 935 (''Jōhei 5''): The Great Fundamental Central Hall (''kompon chūdō'') on

Mt. Hiei is a mountain to the northeast of Kyoto, lying on the border between the Kyoto and Shiga Prefectures, Japan. The temple of Enryaku-ji, the first outpost of the Japanese Tendai (Chin. Tiantai) sect of Buddhism, was founded atop Mount Hiei by ...

burned down. * September 7, 936 (''Jōhei 6, 19th day of the 8th month''):

Fujiwara no Tadahira was a Japanese statesman, courtier and politician during the Heian period.Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005). "Fujiwara no Tadahira" in ; Brinkley, Frank ''et al.'' (1915). He is also known as ''Teishin-Kō'' (貞信公) or ''Ko-ichijō Dono'' ( ...

was named ''daijō-daijin'' (Prime Minister); and in this same period,

Fujiwara no Nakahira , also known as ''Biwa no daijin'', was a Japanese statesman, courtier and politician during the Heian period.Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005). "Fujiwara no Nakahira" in ; Brinkley, Frank ''et al.'' (1915). In 945 he took tonsure as a Buddhi ...

was named ''sadaijin'' (Minister of the Left), and

Fujiwara no Tsunesuke Fujiwara (, written: 藤原 lit. "''Wisteria'' field") is a Japanese surname. (In English conversation it is likely to be rendered as .) Notable people with the surname include: ; Families * The Fujiwara clan and its members ** Fujiwara no Kamatari ...

was named ''udaijin''. * 937 (''Jōhei 7, 12th month''): The former- Emperor Yōzei celebrated his 70th birthday. * 938 (''Jōhei 8, 4th month''): Serial intermittent ground-tremors were felt in

Heian-kyō Heian-kyō was one of several former names for the city now known as Kyoto. It was the official capital of Japan for over one thousand years, from 794 to 1868 with an interruption in 1180. Emperor Kanmu established it as the capital in 794, mov ...

from the 10th through the 29th days of this month. * 940 (''

Tengyō was a after ''Jōhei'' and before ''Tenryaku.'' This period spanned the years from May 938 through April 947. The reigning emperors were and . Change of era * February 2, 938 : The new era name was created to mark an event or series of events. ...

3''): During his reign, Taira no Masakado raised a great insurrection in the

Kantō region The is a geographical area of Honshu, the largest island of Japan. In a common definition, the region includes the Greater Tokyo Area and encompasses seven prefectures: Gunma, Tochigi, Ibaraki, Saitama, Tokyo, Chiba and Kanagawa. Slight ...

and declared himself the "New Emperor" (新皇). Still, his forces were defeated by

Fujiwara no Hidesato , was a '' kuge'' (court noble) of tenth century Heian period Japan. He is famous for his military exploits and courage and is regarded as the common ancestor of numerous clans, including the Ōshū branch of the Fujiwara clan. Hidesato served u ...

and

Taira no Sadamori Taira no Sadamori (平貞盛)(10th century) was a samurai of the Taira clan who was involved in suppressing the revolt of Taira no Masakado in the 930s-940. He was the son of Taira no Kunika and grandson of Taira no Takamochi, the founder of the ...

, and he was decapitated. * 941 (''Tengyō 4''): Fujiwara no Sumitomo staged a rebellion, having made a secret agreement with Taira no Masakado, but his army was defeated by Tachibana Tōyasu. * May 23, 946 (''Tengyō 9, 20th day of the 4th month''): Suzaku abdicates, having ruled for 16 years.Brown, p. 295; Varley, p. 130. The emperor was succeeded by his younger brother, who would become

Emperor Murakami was the 62nd emperor of Japan, Imperial Household Agency (''Kunaichō'') 村上天皇 (62)/ref> according to the traditional order of succession. Murakami's reign spanned the years from 946 to his death in 967. Biography Before he ascended to ...

. * 952 ('' Tenryaku 6''): Suzaku took ordination as a Buddhist monk at Ninna-ji. * September 6, 952 ('' Tenryaku 6, 15th day of the 8th month''): Suzaku died at the age of 30. The actual site of Suzaku's

grave A grave is a location where a dead body (typically that of a human, although sometimes that of an animal) is buried or interred after a funeral. Graves are usually located in special areas set aside for the purpose of burial, such as grave ...

is known. This emperor is traditionally venerated at a

memorial A memorial is an object or place which serves as a focus for the memory or the commemoration of something, usually an influential, deceased person or a historical, tragic event. Popular forms of memorials include landmark objects or works of a ...

Shinto Shinto () is a religion from Japan. Classified as an East Asian religion by scholars of religion, its practitioners often regard it as Japan's indigenous religion and as a nature religion. Scholars sometimes call its practitioners ''Shintois ...

shrine A shrine ( la, scrinium "case or chest for books or papers"; Old French: ''escrin'' "box or case") is a sacred or holy sacred space, space dedicated to a specific deity, ancestor worship, ancestor, hero, martyr, saint, Daemon (mythology), daem ...

(''misasagi'') at Kyoto. The

designates this location as Suzaku's

mausoleum A mausoleum is an external free-standing building constructed as a monument enclosing the interment space or burial chamber of a deceased person or people. A mausoleum without the person's remains is called a cenotaph. A mausoleum may be consid ...

. It is formally named ''Daigo no misasagi'' in

Fushimi-ku, Kyoto is one of the eleven Wards of Kyoto, wards in the Municipalities of Japan, city of Kyoto, in Kyoto Prefecture, Japan. Famous places in Fushimi include the Fushimi Inari Jinja (shrine), Shrine, with thousands of torii lining the paths up and down ...

near the Buddhist temple, Daigo-ji.

Kugyō

is a collective term for the very few most powerful men attached to the court of the

Emperor of Japan The Emperor of Japan is the monarch and the head of the Imperial House of Japan, Imperial Family of Japan. Under the Constitution of Japan, he is defined as the symbol of the Japanese state and the unity of the Japanese people, and his positio ...

in pre- Meiji eras. This elite group generally included only three to four men at a time. These were hereditary courtiers whose experience and background had brought them to the pinnacle of a life's career. During Suzaku's reign, this apex of the ''

Daijō-kan The , also known as the Great Council of State, was (i) (''Daijō-kan'') the highest organ of Japan's premodern Imperial government under the Ritsuryō legal system during and after the Nara period or (ii) (''Dajō-kan'') the highest organ of Jap ...

'' included: * '' Sesshō'',

, 880–949. * '' Kampaku'', Fujiwara no Tadahira. * ''

Daijō-daijin The was the head of the ''Daijō-kan'' (Great Council of State) during and after the Nara period and briefly under the Meiji Constitution. Equivalent to the Chinese (Grand Preceptor). History Emperor Tenji's favorite son, Prince Ōtomo, w ...

'', Fujiwara no Tadahira. * ''

Sadaijin The ''Kenkyusha's New Japanese-English Dictionary'', Kenkyusha Limited, was a government position in Japan in the late Nara and Heian periods. The position was consolidated in the Taihō Code of 702. The Asuka Kiyomihara Code of 689 marks the ini ...

'', Fujiwara no Tadahira . * ''Sadaijin'',

. * '' Udaijin'', Fujiwara no Sadakata　 (藤原定方). * ''Udaijin'', Fujiwara no Nakahira. * ''Udaijin'', Fujiwara no Tsunesuke 　(藤原恒佐). * ''Udaijin'', Fujiwara no Saneyori, 900–970. * ''

Naidaijin The , literally meaning "Inner Minister", was an ancient office in the Japanese imperial court, Japanese Imperial Court. Its role, rank and authority varied throughout the pre-Meiji period, Meiji period of Japanese history, but in general remain ...

'' * '' Dainagon'', Fujiwara no Nakahira.

Eras of Suzaku's reign

The years of Suzaku's reign are more specifically identified by more than one era name or '' nengō''.Titsingh
p. 134.
/ref> * ''

'' (923–931) * ''

'' (931–938) * ''

'' (938–947)

Ancestry

Notes

References

* Brown, Delmer M. and Ichirō Ishida, eds. (1979)
''Gukanshō: The Future and the Past''.
Berkeley: University of California Press.
OCLC 251325323
* Ponsonby-Fane, Richard Arthur Brabazon. (1959)
''The Imperial House of Japan''.
Kyoto: Ponsonby Memorial Society
OCLC 194887
* Titsingh, Isaac. (1834). ''

Nihon Ōdai Ichiran , ', is a 17th-century chronicle of the serial reigns of Japanese emperors with brief notes about some of the noteworthy events or other happenings. According to the 1871 edition of the ''American Cyclopaedia'', the 1834 French translation of ...

''; ou
''Annales des empereurs du Japon''.
Paris: Royal Asiatic Society, Oriental Translation Fund of Great Britain and Ireland
OCLC 5850691
* Varley, H. Paul. (1980)
''Jinnō Shōtōki: A Chronicle of Gods and Sovereigns.''
New York: Columbia University Press.
OCLC 59145842