, also known as was an empress consort of

Emperor Go-Reizei was the 70th emperor of Japan,Imperial Household Agency (''Kunaichō'') 後冷泉天皇 (70)/ref> according to the traditional order of succession. Go-Reizei's reign spanned the years 1045–1068. This 11th century sovereign was named after the ...

of Japan. Her given name can also be read ''Yoshiko''.

Life

She was the third daughter of

Fujiwara no Norimichi , fifth son of Michinaga, was a kugyo of the Heian period. His mother was Minamoto no ''Rinshi'' (源倫子), daughter of Minamoto no Masanobu. Regent Yorimichi, Empress ''Shōshi'' (consort of Emperor Ichijō), Empress ''Kenshi'' (consort ...

. Her mother was the eldest daughter of

Fujiwara no Kintō , also known as Shijō-dainagon, was a Japanese poet, admired by his contemporaries "... Fujiwara no Kinto (966–1008), the most admired poet of the day." pg 283 of Donald Keene's '' Seeds in the Heart''. and a court bureaucrat of the Heian p ...

. In 1024, when Kanshi was only four years old, her mother died.

Consort

In 1047, after the enthronement of Emperor Go-Reizei, Kanshi entered his court. In 1049, she bore him a son, but he was either stillborn or died shortly after birth. After

Fujiwara no Hiroko , also known as , was an empress consort of Emperor Go-Reizei. She was the eldest daughter of Fujiwara no Yorimichi and Fujiwara no Gishi. Fujiwara no Morozane was her brother by the same mother. Life At the time, the matrilineal bloodline w ...

entered the court in 1050, Hiroko was proclaimed empress consort in spite of Kanshi's seniority, and Kanshi began to seclude herself in her estate. From 1051 onward, she lived with her brother Jōen, a monk, in Ono at the base of

Mount 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 b ...

, spending her days in Buddhist prayer. According to the

Eiga Monogatari is a Japanese ''monogatari'' which relates events in the life of courtier Fujiwara no Michinaga. It is believed to have been written by a number of authors, over the course of roughly a century, from 1028 to 1107. It is notable for giving high c ...

, Kanshi was known as a small and graceful beauty, proficient with the biwa and at painting, particularly in the Tang style. Although she was the only one of Go-Reizei's wives who ever bore him a child, Princess Shōshi was protected by the emperor's grandmother Jōtōmon-in, and Fujiwara no Hiroko was the daughter of the long-established regent Fujiwara no Yorimichi, and so those two dominated the harem. Fortune never favored her until right before the death of her husband. In 1068, with the Emperor on his deathbed, Kanshi was finally named kōgō. This came on top of the investitures of

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 ...

as grand empress dowager, and of the Emperor's other wives Princess Shōshi and Fujiwara no Hiroko as kōtaigō and chūgū respectively. This meant that, for the first time, the Emperor now had three empresses consort at once: Shōshi, Hiroko, and Kanshi. On the same day,

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 ...

yielded the position of kampaku to his younger brother Norimichi, Kanshi's father. Just two days later, Emperor Go-Reizei died, and with the opposition of his successor

Emperor Go-Sanjō was the 71st emperor of Japan, Imperial Household Agency (''Kunaichō'') 陽成天皇 (71)/ref> according to the traditional order of succession. Go-Sanjō's reign spanned the years from 1068 through 1073. This 11th century sovereign was named ...

, the regent family went into decline.

Later life

In 1074, Kanshi gained the title of empress dowager, and in 1077 she became a nun. In 1102 she became sick, and died three months later in her mountain retreat in Ono at the age of 82. A famous anecdote states that in 1091, late in Kanshi's life, as she was living out her remaining days at her retreat in Ono, the retired

Emperor Shirakawa was the 72nd emperor of Japan,Imperial Household Agency (''Kunaichō'') 白河天皇 (72)/ref> according to the traditional order of succession. Shirakawa's reign lasted from 1073 to 1087. Genealogy Before his ascension to the Chrysanthemum Thr ...

suddenly resolved to go snow-viewing and came by to visit. Hearing of this from an attendant, Kanshi stated that it would not do to make one who came for a snow-viewing come indoors, and attractively arranged some seats in the garden. Admiring her resourcefulness and the grace of her entertainment, the ex-emperor is said to have awarded her an estate in

Mino province was a province of Japan in the area of Japan that is today southern Gifu Prefecture. Mino was bordered by Ōmi to the west, Echizen and Hida to the north, and Shinano to the east, and Ise, Mikawa, and Owari to the south. Its abbreviat ...

References

*角川書店出版の『平安時代史事典』で採られた角田文衞の説 *『大日本史料』2編902冊～3編6冊 Fujiwara clan Japanese empresses Japanese Buddhist nuns 11th-century Buddhist nuns 12th-century Buddhist nuns 1021 births 1102 deaths {{Japan-royal-stub