, born , was an empress consort ('' chūgū'') of

Emperor Go-Suzaku was the 69th emperor of Japan,Imperial Household Agency (''Kunaichō'') 後朱雀天皇 (69)/ref> according to the traditional order of succession. Go-Suzaku's reign spanned the years from 1036 through 1045. This 11th-century sovereign was name ...

of Japan. She was the adopted daughter of

Fujiwara no Yorimichi (992–1071) was a Japanese court noble. He succeeded his father Michinaga to the position of Sesshō in 1017, and then went on to become Kampaku from 1020 until 1068. In both these positions, he acted as Regent to the Emperor, as many of his ...

, and biological daughter of .

Life

Genshi's father Atsuyasu died in 1018. Her mother was the younger sister of

's official wife, Princess Takahime, and so the daughterless Yorimichi adopted her. In 1036, she acted as a substitute court lady in the purification ceremony at

's first ''niiname-sai'' harvest festival. The next year, she entered his court as a court lady, and received the

rank Rank is the relative position, value, worth, complexity, power, importance, authority, level, etc. of a person or object within a ranking, such as: Level or position in a hierarchical organization * Academic rank * Diplomatic rank * Hierarchy * H ...

of . Two months later she was made ''chūgū'', displacing the existing empress consort

Princess Teishi , also known as , was an empress consort of Emperor Go-Suzaku of Japan. She was the second cousin of her husband. Life She was the third daughter of Emperor Sanjō and the mother of Emperor Go-Sanjō. In 1023, she had her coming of age ceremo ...

to '' kōgō'' and souring relations between Teishi and Yorimichi. Favored by the Emperor, Genshi bore him two girls, but died in childbirth at the age of 23 without giving birth to a prince. According to the , when Genshi was bathing ten days after giving birth, there was a great storm. Amidst the lightning and thunder and heavy rain, Genshi died on the spot. At the time, there was a rumor that the Fujiwara family god of

Kasuga-taisha is a Shinto shrine in Nara, Nara Prefecture, Japan. It is the shrine of the Fujiwara family, established in 768 CE and rebuilt several times over the centuries. The interior is famous for its many bronze lanterns, as well as the many stone lan ...

was angered that Genshi had been made Empress through adoption into the

Fujiwara clan was a powerful family of imperial regents in Japan, descending from the Nakatomi clan and, as legend held, through them their ancestral god Ame-no-Koyane. The Fujiwara prospered since the ancient times and dominated the imperial court until th ...

, despite blood ties to the

Minamoto clan was one of the surnames bestowed by the Emperors of Japan upon members of the imperial family who were excluded from the line of succession and demoted into the ranks of the nobility from 1192 to 1333. The practice was most prevalent during the ...

Issue

* Imperial Princess ''Yūshi''/Sukeko (祐子内親王) (1038–1105) - (Sanpon-Jusangū, 三品准三宮) * Imperial Princess ''Baishi'' (禖子内親王) (Rokujō Saiin, 六条斎院) (1039–1096) - Saiin at Kamo Shrine 1046–1058

Notes

Fujiwara clan Japanese empresses 1016 births 1039 deaths Deaths in childbirth {{Japan-royal-stub