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Emperor Sutoku 崇徳天皇
Portrait of Emperor Sutoku by Fujiwara Tamenobu, 14th century
Emperor of Japan
Reign	February 25, 1123 – January 5, 1142
Enthronement	March 18, 1123
Predecessor	Toba
Successor	Konoe
Born	July 7, 1119
Died	September 14, 1164(1164-09-14) (aged 45)
Burial	Shiramine no misasagi (白峯陵) (Kagawa)
Spouse	Fujiwara no Kiyoko
Issue	Prince Shigehito
Posthumous name Tsuigō: Emperor Sutoku (崇徳院 or 崇徳天皇)
House	Imperial House of Japan
Father	Emperor Toba
Mother	Fujiwara no Tamako

Emperor Sutoku (崇徳天皇, Sutoku-tennō, July 7, 1119 – September 14, 1164) was the 75th emperor of Japan, according to the traditional order of succession.

Sutoku's reign spanned the years from 1123 through 1142.

Genealogy

Before his ascension to the Chrysanthemum Throne, his personal name (his imina) was Akihito (顕仁). Sutoku was the eldest son of Emperor Toba. Some old texts say he was instead the son of Toba's grandfather, Emperor Shirakawa.

• Chūgū: Fujiwara no Kiyoko (藤原 聖子) later Kōkamon'in (皇嘉門院), Fujiwara no Tadamichi's daughter
• Hyounosuke-no-Tsubone (兵衛佐局), Minamoto no Masamune's adopted daughter
  • First son: Imperial Prince Shigehito (重仁親王) (1140–1162).
• Mikawa-dono (三河), Minamoto no Morotsune's daughter
  • Fifth Son: Kakue (覚恵; 1151–1184)
• Karasuma-no-Tsubone (烏丸局)

Events of Sutoku's life

• February 25, 1123 (Hōan 4, 28th day of the 1st month): In the 16th year of Emperor Toba's reign (鳥羽天皇二十五年), he abdicated; and the succession (‘‘senso’’) was received by his son, aged 3.
• Hōan 4, in the 2nd month (1123): Emperor Sutoku is said to have acceded to the throne (‘‘sokui’’).
• 1124 (Tenji 1, 2nd month): Former-Emperor Shirakawa and former-Emperor Toba went in carriages to outside the city where they could all together enjoy contemplating the flowers. Taiken-mon'in (? – August 26, 1145) (formerly Fujiwara no Shōshi), who was Toba's empress and Sutoku's mother, joined the procession along with many other women of the court. Their cortege was brilliant and colorful. A great many men of the court in hunting clothes followed the ladies in this parade. Fujiwara no Tadamichi then followed in a carriage, accompanied by bands of musicians and women who were to sing for the emperors.
• 1124 (Tenji 1, 10th month): Shirakawa visited Mount Kōya.
• 1125 (Tenji 2, 10th month): The emperor visited Iwashimizu Shrine and the Kamo Shrines; and afterwards, he also visited the shrines Hirano, Ōharano, Mutsunoo, Kitano, Gion and several others.
• 1128 (Daiji 3, 3rd month): Taiken-mon'in ordered the construction of Enshō-ji in fulfillment of a sacred vow. This was one in a series of "sacred vow temples" (gogan-ji) built by imperial command following a precedent established by Emperor Shirakawa's Hosshō-ji.
• 1128 (Daiji 3, 6th month): Fujiwara no Tadamichi is relieved of his responsibilities and duties as sesshō (regent); and simultaneously, Tadamichi is named kampaku.
• August 17, 1135 (Hōen 1, 7th day of the 7th month): Former-Emperor Shirakawa died at the age of 77.
• 1141 (Eiji 1, 3rd month): The former emperor Toba accepted the tonsure in becoming a monk at the age of 39.

In 1151, Sutoku ordered Waka imperial anthology Shika Wakashū.

In 1156, after being defeated by forces loyal to Emperor Go-Shirakawa in the Hōgen Rebellion, he was exiled to Sanuki Province (modern-day Kagawa prefecture on the island of Shikoku). Emperor Sutoku's reign lasted for 19 years: 2 years in the nengō Tenji, 5 years in Daiji, 1 year in 'Tenshō, 3 years in Chōshō, 6 years in Hōen, and 1 year in Eiji.

The site of Sutoku's grave is settled. This emperor is traditionally venerated at a memorial Shinto shrine (misasagi) in Sakaide, Kagawa. He was also enshrined (or sealed away ... ) in Shiramine Shrine in Kyoto and Kotohira-gū in Kagawa Prefecture. The former is also associated with the god of football, worshipped by Kuge clan Asukai in times of yore, while the latter enshrined Ō-mono-nushi-no-mikoto, a god known to have restored harmony in Yamato (or blackmailed Emperor Sujin ... ) in exchange for worship and nepotism.

The Imperial Household Agency designates this location as Sutoku's mausoleum. It is formally named Shiramine no misasagi.

Kugyō

Kugyō (公卿) is a collective term for the very few most powerful men attached to the court of the Emperor of Japan in pre-Meiji eras.

In general, this elite group included only three to four men at a time. These were hereditary courtiers whose experience and background would have brought them to the pinnacle of a life's career. During Sutoku's reign, this apex of the Daijō-kan included:

• Sesshō, Fujiwara no Tadamichi, 1097–1164.
• Daijō-daijin, Fujiwara no Tadamichi.
• Sadaijin
• Udaijin
• Nadaijin, Fujiwara no Yorinaga, 1120–1156.
• Dainagon

Eras of Sutoku's reign

The years of Sutoku's reign are more specifically identified by more than one era name or nengō.

• Hōan (1120–1124)
• Tenji (1124–1126)
• Daiji (1126–1131)
• Tenshō (1131–1132)
• Chōshō (1132–1135)
• Hōen (1135–1141)
• Eiji (1141–1142)

Legends

After Sutoku's abdication and exile, he devoted himself to monastic life. He copied numerous scriptures and offered them to the court. Fearing that the scriptures were cursed, the court refused to accept them. Snubbed, Sutoku was said to have resented the court and, upon his death, became an onryō (怨霊, vengeful spirit). Everything from the subsequent fall in fortune of the Imperial court, the rise of the samurai powers, droughts and internal unrests were blamed on his haunting.

Along with Sugawara no Michizane and Taira no Masakado, he is often called one of the “Three Great Onryō of Japan [ja]”.

Literary works from the Edo period such as Ugetsu Monogatari and Chinsetsu Yumiharizuki (椿説弓張月) and ukiyo-e paintings by Utagawa Yoshitsuya depict Emperor Sutoku as an onryō.

In 2023, the heavy metal band Onmyo-Za produced the song Shiramine (白峯), about Emperor Sutoku as a onryō.

Ancestry

See also

• Emperor of Japan
• Goryō
• Imperial cult
• List of Emperors of Japan
• Shin Heike Monogatari, (Taiga Drama), Masakazu Tamura played Emperor Sutoku.

Notes

1. ^ Imperial Household Agency (Kunaichō): 崇徳天皇 (75)
2. Ponsonby-Fane, Richard. (1959). The Imperial House of Japan, pp. 80.
3. Titsingh, Isaac. (1834). Annales des empereurs du japon, pp. 181-185; Brown, Delmer et al. (1979). Gukanshō, pp. 322–324; Varley, H. Paul. (1980). Jinnō Shōtōki. pp. 204–205.
4. Brown, pp. 264.
5. Titsingh, p. 181; Brown, p. 322; Varley, p. 204.
6. Brown, p. 322; Varley, p. 44.
7. Titsingh, p. 182; Varley, p. 44.
8. Titsingh, p. 182; Varley, p. 204.
9. ^ Titsingh, p. 182.
10. ^ Titsigh, p. 185.
11. Varley, p. 200. (The six gogan-ji) "superiority" temples were: 1. Hosshō-ji (Superiority of Buddhist Law); 2. Sonshō-ji (Superiority of Worship); 3. Saishō-ji (Most Superior); 4. Enshō-ji (Superiority of Perfection); 5. Jōshō-ji (Superiority of Becoming); 6. Enshō-ji (Superiority of Duration).]
12. ^ Brown, p. 323.
13. "崇徳上皇" (in Japanese). Sakaide city official. Retrieved 25 July 2019.
14. Ponsonby-Fane, p. 419.
15. Titsingh, pp. 181-185; Brown, p. 323.
16. "Utagawa Yoshitsuya: Princess Shirinui Fights off the Evil Sotoku-in - The Art of Japan". ukiyo-e.org. Retrieved 18 April 2018.
17. Ponsonby-Fane, Richard. (1963). Vicissitudes of Shinto, p. 99.
18. 山田雄司 (2014). 妖怪とは何か 菅原道真・平将門・崇徳院 [What is a youkai? Sugawara no Michizane, Taira no Masakado, Sutokuin]. 中公新書. 中央公論新社. pp. i–iii頁. ISBN 978-4-12-102281-3.
19. E2-1 崇徳院説話の展開. (in Japanese). Ritsumeikan University. 25 October 2016. Archived from the original on 1 March 2022. Retrieved 24 February 2023.
20. ＜インタビュー＞陰陽座、有りのままを形にした快作『龍凰童子』に迫る (in Japanese). Billboard Japan. Archived from the original on 24 February 2023. Retrieved 24 February 2023.
21. "Genealogy". Reichsarchiv (in Japanese). 30 April 2010. Retrieved 27 October 2018.

References

• Brown, Delmer M. and Ichirō Ishida, eds. (1979). Gukanshō: The Future and the Past. Berkeley: University of California Press. ISBN 978-0-520-03460-0; OCLC 251325323
• Ponsonby-Fane, Richard Arthur Brabazon. (1959). The Imperial House of Japan. Kyoto: Ponsonby Memorial Society. OCLC 194887
• _____________. (1963). Vicissitudes of Shinto. Kyoto: Ponsonby Memorial Society. OCLC 36655
• Titsingh, Isaac. (1834). Nihon Odai Ichiran; ou, Annales des empereurs du Japon. Paris: Royal Asiatic Society, Oriental Translation Fund of Great Britain and Ireland. OCLC 5850691
• Varley, H. Paul. (1980). Jinnō Shōtōki: A Chronicle of Gods and Sovereigns. New York: Columbia University Press. ISBN 978-0-231-04940-5; OCLC 59145842

v t e Emperors of Japan (list)
Legendary	Jōmon 660 BC–291 BC Jimmu Suizei Annei Itoku Kōshō Kōan Yayoi 290 BC–269 AD Kōrei Kōgen Kaika Sujin Suinin Keikō Seimu Chūai Jingū
Yamato	Kofun 269–539 Ōjin Nintoku Richū Hanzei Ingyō Ankō Yūryaku Seinei Kenzō Ninken Buretsu Keitai Ankan Senka Asuka 539–710 Kinmei Bidatsu Yōmei Sushun Suiko Jomei Kōgyoku Kōtoku Saimei Tenji Kōbun Tenmu Jitō Monmu Genmei
Nara	710–794 Genmei Genshō Shōmu Kōken Junnin Shōtoku Kōnin Kanmu
Heian	794–1185 Kanmu Heizei Saga Junna Ninmyō Montoku Seiwa Yōzei Kōkō Uda Daigo Suzaku Murakami Reizei En'yū Kazan Ichijō Sanjō Go-Ichijō Go-Suzaku Go-Reizei Go-Sanjō Shirakawa Horikawa Toba Sutoku Konoe Go-Shirakawa Nijō Rokujō Takakura Antoku Go-Toba
Kamakura	1185–1333 Go-Toba Tsuchimikado Juntoku Chūkyō Go-Horikawa Shijō Go-Saga Go-Fukakusa Kameyama Go-Uda Fushimi Go-Fushimi Go-Nijō Hanazono Go-Daigo
Northern Court	1333–1392 Kōgon Kōmyō Sukō Go-Kōgon Go-En'yū Go-Komatsu
Muromachi	1333–1573 Go-Murakami Chōkei Go-Kameyama Go-Komatsu Shōkō Go-Hanazono Go-Tsuchimikado Go-Kashiwabara Go-Nara Ōgimachi
Azuchi-Momoyama	1573–1603 Ōgimachi Go-Yōzei
Edo	1603–1868 Go-Yōzei Go-Mizunoo Meishō Go-Kōmyō Go-Sai Reigen Higashiyama Nakamikado Sakuramachi Momozono Go-Sakuramachi Go-Momozono Kōkaku Ninkō Kōmei Meiji
Empire of Japan	1868–1947 Meiji Taishō Shōwa
Japan	1947–present Shōwa Akihito Naruhito
Unless otherwise noted (as BC), years are in CE / AD  Imperial Consort and Regent Empress Jingū is not traditionally listed. Imperial family tree Imperial House Order of succession Imperial tombs Category

• Emperor Sutoku
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• 1164 deaths
• 12th-century Japanese monarchs
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