was a Japanese poet and the son of

Emperor Tenmu was the 40th Emperor of Japan,Imperial Household Agency (''Kunaichō'') 天武天皇 (40) retrieved 2013-8-22. according to the traditional order of succession. Ponsonby-Fane, Richard. (1959). ''The Imperial House of Japan'', p. 53. He ascended ...

. Viewed as the emperor's likely heir, Imperial Prince Ōtsu began attending to matters of state in 683, but was demoted in 685 when the court rank system was revised. Soon after Emperor Tenmu's death, Ōtsu was accused of conspiracy and was swiftly executed in 686. The last days of his life are described in the ''

Nihon Shoki 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 ...

'' and ''

Man'yōshū The is the oldest extant collection of Japanese (poetry in Classical Japanese), compiled sometime after AD 759 during the Nara period. The anthology is one of the most revered of Japan's poetic compilations. The compiler, or the last in ...

''; his personality emerges through poetry anthologies including the '' Kaifūsō.''

Life

His mother was

Princess Ōta (644?–668?) was royalty in Japan during the Asuka Period. She was the eldest daughter of Emperor Tenji , known first as and later as until his accession, was the 38th emperor of Japan who reigned from 668 to 671. He was the son of Em ...

whose father was

Emperor Tenji , known first as and later as until his accession, was the 38th emperor of Japan who reigned from 668 to 671. He was the son of Emperor Jomei and Empress Kōgyoku (Empress Saimei), and his children included Empress Jitō, Empress Genmei, an ...

. He was therefore the younger full-blood brother of

Princess Ōku Ōku (Japanese: or ) (February 12, 661 – January 29, 702) was a Japanese princess during the Asuka period in Japanese history. She was the daughter of Emperor Tenmu and sister of Prince Ōtsu. As a young girl, she witnessed the Jinshin War. ...

. His consort was Princess Yamanobe, daughter of Emperor Tenji, thus his aunt. A popular and highly capable figure, Prince Ōtsu was positioned as the likely successor to the imperial throne, but was executed after false charges were laid against him by

Empress Jitō was the 41st emperor of Japan, monarch of Japan,Imperial Household Agency (''Kunaichō'') 持統天皇 (41)/ref> according to the traditional List of Emperors of Japan, order of succession. Jitō's reign spanned the years from Jitō period, 68 ...

in order to promote her own son,

Prince Kusakabe was a Japanese imperial crown prince from 681 until his death. He was the second son of Emperor Tenmu. His mother was the empress Unonosarara, today known as Empress Jitō. Kusakabe was the sole child of his mother. According to ''Nihon Shok ...

, to the position of crown prince. Kusakabe himself died suddenly in 689.

Poems

Two examples of his work are below, including the

death poem The death poem is a genre of poetry that developed in the literary traditions of the Sinosphere—most prominently in Culture of Japan, Japan as well as certain periods of Chinese history, Joseon Korea, and Vietnam. They tend to offer a reflectio ...

— Poem sent by Prince Ōtsu to Lady Ishikawa Gentle foothills, and
in the dew drops of the mountains
soaked, I waited for you –
grew wet from standing there
in the dew drops of the mountains. Farewell poem Momozutau / iware no ike ni / naku kamo wo / kyō nomi mite ya / Kumokakuri nan. Today, taking my last sight of the mallards Crying on the pond of Iware, Must I vanish into the clouds!

In popular culture

Japanese poet and scholar Shinobu Orikuchi featured a fictionalised version of Prince Ōtsu in his novel ''Sisha no Sho'' (''The Book of the Dead'', also made into a

film A film, also known as a movie or motion picture, is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, emotions, or atmosphere through the use of moving images that are generally, sinc ...

by Kihachirō Kawamoto) as a

restless ghost In mythology and folklore, a vengeful ghost or vengeful spirit is said to be the spirit of a dead person who returns from the afterlife to seek revenge for a cruel, unnatural or unjust death. In certain cultures where funeral and burial or crem ...

kept on Earth by the memory of a young woman whose gaze he connected with just prior to his death.

References

663 births 686 deaths Japanese rebels Japanese male poets 7th-century Japanese poets Man'yō poets People from Fukuoka Prefecture Sons of Japanese emperors {{Japan-royal-stub