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Emperor Mommu (文武天皇 Monmu-tennō) (683-707) was the 42nd imperial ruler of Japan, according to the traditional order of succession. His reign spanned the years from 697 through 707.

Genealogy

Before his ascension to the Chrysanthemum Throne, his personal name (his imina) was Karu-shinnō.

He was a grandson of Emperor Temmu and Empress Jitō. He was the second son of Prince Kusakabe. Mommu's mother was Princess Abe, a daughter of Emperor Tenji. Mommu's mother would later accede to the throne herself, and she would be known as Empress Gemmei.

Events of Mommu's life

Karu-shinnō was only six years old when his father, Crown Prince Kusakabe, died.

• 697: In the 10th year of Jitō-tennō's reign (持統天皇10年), the empress abdicated; and the succession (‘‘senso’’) was received by a grandson of Emperor Temmu. Shortly thereafter, Emperor Mommu is said to have acceded to the throne (‘‘sokui’’).

Emperor Mommu ruled until his death in 707, at which point he was succeeded by his mother, Empress Gemmei, who was also his first cousin once removed and his first cousin twice removed. He left a young son by Fujiwara no Miyako, a daughter of Fujiwara no Fuhito: Obito no miko (Prince Obito), who eventually became Emperor Shōmu.

Emperor Mommu's reign lasted 10 years. He died at the age of 25.

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 Mommu's reign, this apex of the Daijō-kan included:

• Daijō-Daijin, Osakabe-shinnō.
• Sadaijin
• Udaijin
• Nadaijin, Nakatomi Kamako no Muraji.
• Dainagon, Fujiwara Fuhito.

Eras of Mommu's reign

Conventional modern scholarship seems to have determined that the years of Mommu's reign are encompassed within more than one era name or nengō.

• Taihō (era) (701-704)
• Keiun (704-708)

Non-nengō period

The initial years of Mommu's reign are not linked by scholars to any era or nengō. The Taika era innovation of naming time periods -- nengō -- languished until Mommu reasserted an imperial right by proclaiming the commencement of Taihō in 701.

• See Japanese era name -- "Non-nengo periods"
• See Mommu (period) (697-701).

In this context, Brown and Ishida's translation of Gukanshō offers an explanation about the years of Empress Jitō's reign which muddies a sense of easy clarity in the pre-Taiho time-frame:

"The eras that fell in this reign were: (1) the remaining seven years of Shuchō ; and (2) Taika, which was four years long . (The first year of this era was kinoto-hitsuji .) ...In the third year of the Taka era , Empress Jitō yielded the throne to the Crown Prince."

Consorts and Children

Bunin: Fujiwara no Miyako (藤原宮子) (?-754), daughter of Fujiwara no Fuhito

• Prince Obito (首皇子) (Emperor Shōmu) (701-756)

Hin: Ki no Kamado-no-iratsume (紀竃門娘)

Hin: Ishikawa no Tone-no-iratsume (石川刀子娘)

• Prince Hironari (広成皇子)
• Prince Hiroyo (広世皇子)

Notes

1. Spelling note: A modified Hepburn romanization system for Japanese words is used throughout Western publications in a range of languages including English. Unlike the standard system, the "n" is maintained even when followed by "homorganic consonants" (e.g., shinbun, not shimbun). In the same way that Misplaced Pages has not yet adopted a consensus policy to address spelling variations in English (e.g., humour, not humor), variant spellings based on place of articulation are unresolved, perhaps unresolvable -- as in Emperor Mommu vs. Emperor Monmu, which are each construed as technically correct.
2. Titsingh, Isaac. (1834). Annales des empereurs du Japon, pp. 60-63; Brown, Delmer et al. (1979). Gukanshō, pp. 270-271; Varley, H. Paul. (1980). Jinnō Shōtōki. pp. 137-140.
3. Brown, pp. 264.
4. ^ Brown, p. 270. Cite error: The named reference "b270" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
5. Varley, p. 138.
6. Titsingh, p. 60; Brown, p. 270; Varley, pp. 44, 137-138.
7. Varley, p. 140.
8. Brown, p. 266.
9. Brown, p. 271.
10. Titsingh, pp. 60-63; Brown, p. 271.
11. Titsingh, p. 60.

References

• Brown, Delmer and Ichiro Ishida, eds. (1979). , Gukanshō; "The Future and the Past: a translation and study of the 'Gukanshō,' an interpretive history of Japan written in 1219" translated from the Japanese and edited by Delmer M. Brown & Ichirō Ishida. Berkeley: University of California Press. ISBN 0-520-03460-0
• Titsingh, Isaac, ed. (1834). , Nipon o daï itsi ran; ou, Annales des empereurs du Japon. Paris: Oriental Translation Fund of Great Britain and Ireland.
• Varley, H. Paul , ed. (1980). ], 1359], Jinnō Shōtōki ("A Chronicle of Gods and Sovereigns: Jinnō Shōtōki of Kitabatake Chikafusa" translated by H. Paul Varley). New York: Columbia University Press. ISBN 0-231-04940-4

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

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