(450 — 2 June 487) was the 23rd legendary

Emperor of Japan The Emperor of Japan is the monarch and the head of the 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 position is derived from "the wi ...

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 wa ...

(''Kunaichō'')
顕宗天皇 (23)
retrieved 2013-8-29. according to the traditional order of succession. No firm dates can be assigned to this Emperor's life or reign, but he is conventionally considered to have reigned from 1 February 485 to 2 June 487.

Legendary narrative

, later to become Emperor Kenzō, is said to have been the grandson of

Emperor Richū , also known as was the 17th legendary Emperor of Japan,Imperial Household Agency (''Kunaichō'') 履中天皇 (17) retrieved 2013-8-28. according to the traditional order of succession. No firm dates can be assigned to this Emperor's life or ...

, and the son of Ichinobe-no Oshiwa. He would have been quite young when

Emperor Yūryaku (418 - 8 September 479) was the 21st legendary Emperor of Japan,Imperial Household Agency (''Kunaichō'') 雄略天皇 (21) retrieved 2013-8-28. according to the traditional order of succession. He is remembered as a patron of sericulture.Nippon ...

shot the arrow which killed his father during a hunting expedition; and this caused both Prince Woke and his older brother, Prince Oke, to flee for their lives. They found refuge at Akashi in Harima Province where they hid by living in obscurity. Histories from that period explained that the two brothers sought to blend into this rural community by posing as common herdsmen.Titsingh, p. 29. It is said that the Oke came by chance to Akashi; and at that time, Prince Oke revealed his true identity. This intermediary re-introduced the lost cousins to

Emperor Seinei (444 — 27 February 484) was the 22nd legendary Emperor of Japan,Imperial Household Agency (''Kunaichō'') 清寧天皇 (22) retrieved 2013-8-28. according to the traditional order of succession. No firm dates can be assigned to this Emperor's ...

, who had by this time ascended to the throne after the death of his father, the former Emperor Yūryaku. Seinei invited both brothers to return the court; and he adopted both of them as sons and heirs. At Seinei's death, he had no other heirs than Prince Oke and Prince Woke, whose father had been killed by Yūraku. At this point, Woke wanted his elder brother to become Emperor; but Oke refused. The two could not reach an agreement. The great men of the court insisted that one or the other of the brothers must accept the throne; but in the end, Woke proved to be more adamant. Prince Woke agreed to accept the throne; and Kenzō was ultimately proclaimed as the new Emperor—which created a sense of relief for all the people who had endured this period of uncertainty. Kenzō is considered to have ruled the country during the late-5th century, but there is a paucity of information about him. There is insufficient material available for further verification and study. Kenzō'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 , meaning "the great king who rules all under heaven". Alternatively, Kenzō might have been referred to as or the "Great King of Yamato".

Kenzō's reign

It is recorded that his capital was at in

Yamato Province was a province of Japan, located in Kinai, corresponding to present-day Nara Prefecture in Honshū. Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric (2005). "Yamato" in . It was also called . Yamato consists of two characters, 大 "great", and 和 " Wa". At first, the ...

.Titsingh, p. 30. The location of the palace is thought to have been in present-day

Osaka Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located in the Kansai region of Honshu. Osaka Prefecture has a population of 8,778,035 () and has a geographic area of . Osaka Prefecture borders Hyōgo Prefecture to the northwest, Kyoto Prefecture to the north, Nara ...

Nara Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located in the Kansai region of Honshu. Nara Prefecture has a population of 1,321,805 and has a geographic area of . Nara Prefecture borders Kyoto Prefecture to the north, Osaka Prefecture to the northwest, Wakayama ...

. Murray reports that the only event of major consequence during Kenzō's reign had to do with the filial respect he showed for his murdered father. Kenzō arranged to have his father's remains retrieved and re-interred in a mausoleum appropriate for the son of an Emperor and the father of another. Kenzō died at age 37, reigning only three years. He too had no other heirs; so his brother would follow him on the throne. His Empress was , Prince Oka-no-Wakugo's daughter (also Prince Iwaki's granddaughter and Emperor Yuryaku's great granddaughter). The actual site of Kenzō'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 gravey ...

is not known. The 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, Tragedy (event), tragic event. Popular forms of memorials include landmark objec ...

Shinto shrine (''misasagi'') at Osaka. The

designates this location as Kenzō'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 consi ...

. It is formally named ''Kataoka no Iwatsuki no oka no kita no misasagi''.Ponsonby-Fane, p. 419.

Consorts and children

Empress ('' Kōgō'') : , Prince Oka-no-Wakugo's daughter (also Prince Iwaki's granddaughter and Emperor Yuryaku's great granddaughter)

Ancestry

Notes

References