, also known as , was a consort of
Emperor Sushun, the 32nd
Emperor of Japan
The emperor of Japan is the hereditary monarch and head of state of Japan. The emperor is defined by the Constitution of Japan as the symbol of the Japanese state and the unity of the Japanese people, his position deriving from "the will of ...
who reigned from 587 to 592.
Koteko was the mother of Sushun's only recorded son (
Prince Hachiko) and daughter (Princess Nishikite).
According to the ''
Nihongi
The or , sometimes translated as ''The Chronicles of Japan'', is the second-oldest book of classical Japanese history. It is more elaborate and detailed than the , the oldest, and has proven to be an important tool for historians and archaeol ...
'', Koteko participated indirectly in her husband's assassination.
: "The Imperial concubine Ohotomo no Koteko, incensed at her declining favour, sent a man to Soga no Mumako no Sukune with a message, saying:— "Recently a wild boar was presented to the Emperor. He pointed to it and said :—'When shall the man We think of be cut off as this wild boar's throat has been cut?' Besides weapons are being made in abundance in the Palace." Now Mumako no Sukune, hearing this, was alarmed."
The details of this historical narrative are incoherent without more specific information. Historians tend to question or to discredit this alleged incident in the traditional narrative because it seems incongruent with what else is known about the Imperial Court in the year of Sushun's death.
''Monumenta Nipponica,'' Vol. 44, p. 456
- Snippet view.
Notes
References
* Aston, William George. (1896).
Nihongi: Chronicles of Japan from the Earliest Times to A.D. 697
'. London: Kegan Paul, Trench, Trubner.
* Jochi Daigaku. (1989).
Monumenta Nipponica
', Vol. 44. Tokyo: Sophia University Press
OCLC 1640509
* Tsunoda, Ryūsaku and William Theodore De Bary. (1958). ''Sources of Japanese Tradition.'' New York: Columbia Univ. Press. ;
Japanese princesses
Year of birth unknown
Year of death unknown
6th-century Japanese women
6th-century Japanese people
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