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was a Japanese imperial princess during the
Asuka period The was a period in the history of Japan lasting from 538 to 710, although its beginning could be said to overlap with the preceding Kofun period. The Yamato period, Yamato polity evolved greatly during the Asuka period, which is named after the ...
who was Empress of Japan as the wife of her cousin Emperor Kōbun. Her name Tōchi is derived from the Tōchi district, a neighbourhood located a few miles north of Asuka. Princess Tōchi was daughter 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 ...
and Princess Nukata. She married Prince Ōtomo, who became Emperor Kōbun. They lived in the capital of Ōtsu in the
Ōmi Province was a Provinces of Japan, province of Japan, which today comprises Shiga Prefecture. It was one of the provinces that made up the Tōsandō Circuit (subnational entity), circuit. Its nickname is . Under the ''Engishiki'' classification system, ...
(currently
Ōtsu 270px, Ōtsu City Hall is the capital city of Shiga Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 343,991 in 153,458 households and a population density of 740 persons per km2. The total area of the city is . History Ōtsu is ...
, Shiga). He succeeded after his father, Emperor Tenji, died. She subsequently was consort until Emperor Kōbun was killed by her father in the Jinshin War. After the war, she returned to Asuka and lived with her mother and her son in the Asuka Kiyomihara palace. In 675 she visited the
Ise Grand Shrine The , located in Ise, Mie Prefecture of Japan, is a Shinto shrine dedicated to the solar goddess Amaterasu Ōmikami and the grain goddess Toyouke-hime (Toyouke Omikami). Also known simply as , Ise Shrine is a shrine complex composed of many Shi ...
with Princess Abe. In 678, she was appointed a Saiō by
divination Divination () is the attempt to gain insight into a question or situation by way of an occultic ritual or practice. Using various methods throughout history, diviners ascertain their interpretations of how a should proceed by reading signs, ...
and was supposed to leave her residence to stay in in the 7th day of the 4th month, when she suddenly died in the residence. Upon her death, Prince Takechi composed three verses of lamentation in her honour (from his verses collected in
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 ...
). She was buried at a place mentioned as ''Akō'' in the Nihonshoki.


Early years

Tōchi was the only daughter of Prince Ōama, later
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 ...
, and one of his wives, Princess Nukata, daughter of Prince Kagami and known as a renowned court poet. Prince Ōama was a younger brother of Prince Naka-no-Ōe, who killed his political enemies,
Soga no Iruka (died July 10, 645) was the son of Soga no Emishi, a statesman in the Asuka Period of Japan. He was assassinated at court in a coup d'état involving Nakatomi no Kamatari and Prince Naka-no-Ōe (see: Isshi Incident), who accused him of tryi ...
and
Soga no Emishi was a statesman of the Yamato imperial court. His alternative names include Emishi () and Toyora no Ōomi (). After the death of his father Soga no Umako, Emishi took over '' Ōomi '', the Minister of State, from his father. According to th ...
, with one of his servants,
Nakatomi no Kamatari , also known as , was a Japanese politician and aristocrat who, together with Prince Naka no Ōe (later Emperor Tenji), carried out the Taika Reform. He was the founder of the Fujiwara clan, the most powerful aristocratic family in Japan durin ...
, and set up the Taika Reform in 645. Prince Ōama divorced Nukata to let her be a wife of Naka-no-Ōe, who liked and wished to marry her. As Prince Naka-no-Ōe gained political power, Ōama could not refuse what his brother wanted to do. Tōchi grew up at a house where her mother lived. It was not a typical manner for Imperial children of this era to spend their childhood with their mothers. Normally, they were supposed to be raised by nursing ladies at different places from where their mothers were. It is said that she was getting along well with Prince Takechi, one of her near-in-age half-brothers with different mothers, and some historians even say that she was in love with him.


At the court of Ōtsukyo: 667–672

In 665, Tōchi was arranged to marry her father's nephew, Prince Ōtomo, a young man who was several years older than she. His father, Prince Naka-no-Ōe, removed the capital of Japan from Asuka to Ōtsukyo in the Ōmi Province (today in Otsu, Shiga Prefecture) on 17 April (the 19th day, the 3rd month) 667 and acceded to the Imperial throne (Emperor Tenji) in 668, wishing him to be the next Emperor. However, he was not qualified for succession as his mother was not an Imperial origin. On the other hand, Tōchi's father continued his political career under Emperor Tenji. Prince Ōama's political skills attracted many supporters. Tōchi gave birth to a son, named Prince Kadono, in 669. Soon after Prince Ōtomo was appointed to Daijō-daijin in 671, Emperor Tenji was ill in bed. When he was dying, he called Prince Ōama to his death bed and asked him to become the next Emperor. As Prince Ōama feared to risk his life threatened by Ōtomo's supporters if he accepts it, he refused his brother's proposal. He got his head shaved, became a Buddhist monk and moved to a temple in Yoshino to show that he did no longer have an intention to stick to any political position. Emperor Tenji died on the third day, 12th month of 671, without appointing anyone to his successor. After Emperor's death, Tōchi's husband acceded to the throne and became the next Emperor (Emperor Kōbun), although there's no record of his enthronement ceremony. She followed him as the Empress. Maybe that was the most successful time in her life.


The Jinshin War: 672

During this time, Tōchi's father, Prince Ōama, lived in retirement as a monk in Yoshino. Still, he secretly collected weapons so that he could take his revenge on Emperor Kōbun and his administration when he was ready. The administration took action to send the troops to Yoshino to assassinate him. As Tōchi was worried that her father might be killed, she secretly informed it of him by writing a letter in small piece of paper and pushing it into the belly of a grilled crucian sent to him as gift. In the sixth month of 672, Prince Ōama left Yoshino with his supporters and proceeded eastwards to collect soldiers. He summoned two of his sons, Prince Takechi and Prince Ōtsu, to join him. He took up his position at Wazamigahara, and raised his army against the government in the first day, the seventh month. Prince Takechi, Tōchi's ex-boyfriend, played a leading role in attacking the government's troops. She was confused of the situation where her husband and her beloved man were fighting each other. The war lasted about a month. His army finally burnt the palace down. Emperor Kōbun was driven away from the palace and escaped with few retainers to Mount Nagara near the palace to look for the place of committing suicide as it was considered as a shame that the noble man was killed by somebody who was in lower position in the battlefield. Emperor ceremonially hanged himself in the mountain before being killed by the enemy. Tōchi and her family were captured and sent to Asuka, where her father acceded to the throne and built a new palace.


Life under Emperor Tenmu: 672–678

Although Tōchi was the consort of the enemy of the new Japan's leader, she wasn't punished at all. Instead, she and her family were protected within the palace her father built. Many historians and novelists say that she met her beloved ex-boyfriend Prince Takechi again and they both had a happy romantic time during this time. At the same time, she felt guilty for her late husband. People blamed her for her unfaithfulness to him. Her father, being a new leader, was afraid that his family member's misconduct might have given a negative impact to his new administration and his country. He told the two to break up. They didn't want to do it, but disobeying the Emperor's words meant treason. Seeing, dating and loving of the two had to be kept secret after that.


Visit to Ise

According to Nihonshoki, she followed Princess Abe to Ise Grand Shrine in the second month of 675. Mistress Fufuki, one of her lady's maids, found that Tōchi sometimes felt blue on her way to Ise. She composed a tanka to console her: The tanka means Fufuki's wish to stand by Tōchi with sorrow as a faithful servant till the end of time. She prayed for her to be an eternal pure-and-young girl without any sorrow or agony.


Appointment to Saiō

In spite of her supporters' wishes, Emperor tried to keep her away from her boyfriend. In 678, he issued an edict to tell her to be in a Shinto convent as a Saiō, who is considered as a servant for the god so marrying a man and meeting male people were strictly forbidden. That meant that she had no chances to meet Takechi any longer.


Death and burial

On the 7th day, 4th month of 678, the very day when she was supposed to be in the convent, she suddenly came down with a disease and died in the palace. Emperor felt guilty and grieved very much. Some historians insist that she was murdered for some reason, and others say that she committed suicide because of mental illness. Her body was buried at Ako, not precisely known where it is. One of expected burial places is Himezuka (Princess' Tomb) in
Nara The National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) is an independent agency of the United States government within the executive branch, charged with the preservation and documentation of government and historical records. It is also task ...
, where Himegamisha Shrine was built in 1981. Prince Takechi left his lament in his poems, which were collected in Manyoshu.


Legends

Some legends and stories about Princess Tōchi have survived throughout Japan. One is that she was pregnant in the time of the Jinshin War, escaped to the east with Prince Ōtomo who was not killed at Otsu, and arrived together in the Kazusa province, where her husband was killed by a party of pursuers and she went deep into the mountains to the Tsutsumori neighbourhood where she died after miscarriage. Local people of the neighbourhood felt pity for her, built a shrine and enshrined her spirit. The shrine is Tsutsumori Shrine, located in Ōtaki,
Chiba Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located in the Kantō region of Honshu. Chiba Prefecture has a population of 6,278,060 (1 June 2019) and has a geographic area of . Chiba Prefecture borders Ibaraki Prefecture to the north, Saitama ...
.Nozomu Kawamura, ''Kazusa no Asuka'', Ningen no Kagakusha, , December 1994. Shingū Shrine in Nankoku,
Kōchi Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located on the island of Shikoku. Kōchi Prefecture has a population of 669,516 (1 April 2023) and has a geographic area of 7,103 km2 (2,742 sq mi). Kōchi Prefecture borders Ehime Prefecture to the northwest and Tok ...
also has a legend about her, which has never been disclosed to public.


Genealogy

Princess Tochi was born in the imperial family of Japan to Emperor Tenmu and his concubine, Princess Nukata.She married Emperor Kōbun, Emperor Tenji's son, and become his legal wife.The couple had only one son who died at the age of 7.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tochi 7th-century births 678 deaths Year of birth uncertain People from Nara Prefecture Daughters of Japanese emperors