Tsuchimikado's reign spanned the years from 1198 through 1210.[3]
Genealogy
Before Tsuchimikado's accession to the
Chrysanthemum Throne, his personal name (imina) was Tamehito-shinnō (為仁親王).[4] He was the firstborn son of
Emperor Go-Toba. His mother was Ariko (在子) (1171–1257), daughter of
Minamoto no Michichika (源通親).
Tsuchimikado's Imperial family lived with him in the
Dairi of the
Heian Palace. His family included three sons by three different consorts:[2]
1198 (Kenkyū 9, 11th day of the 1st month): In the 15th year of Go-Toba-tennō's reign (後鳥羽天皇十五年), the emperor abdicated; and the succession (senso) was received by his eldest son.[6]
1198 (Kenkyū 9, 3rd month): Emperor Tsuchimikado is said to have acceded to the throne (sokui).[7]
1203: Yoritomo's successor as head of the
Kamakura shogunate,
Minamoto no Yoriie, was assassinated; and former emperor Go-Toba was responsible for good relations with the shogunate when it was headed by
Minamoto no Sanetomo from 1203 through 1219.[8]
1210: Go-Toba persuaded Tsuchimikado to abdicate in favor of his younger brother, who would become known as
Emperor Juntoku.
In
Kyōto, Minamoto no Michichika took power as steward, and in
Kamakura, in 1199, upon the death of
Minamoto no Yoritomo, Hōjō Tokimasa began to rule as
Gokenin.
Tsuchimikado's official Imperial tomb is in Kyoto. The emperor is venerated at a
memorialShintoshrine (misasagi). This
mausoleum shrine is formally named Kanegahara no misasagi.[10]
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 Tsuchimikado's reign, this apex of the Daijō-kan included:
^
abPonsonby-Fane, Richard. (1959). The Imperial House of Japan, pp. 86–87.
^Titsingh, Isaac. (1834).
Annales des empereurs du Japon, pp. 221–230; Brown, Delmer et al. (1979). Gukanshō, pp. 3339–341; Varley, H. Paul. (1980). Jinnō Shōtōki. pp. 220–221.
^Ponsonby-Fane, p. 9; Titsingh,
p. 221; Brown, p. 339; Varley, p. 220.
^
abmother of Emperor Go-Saga – see Ponsonby-Fane, p. 20.
^Brown, p.339; Varley, p. 44; n.b., a distinct act of senso is unrecognized prior to
Emperor Tenji; and all sovereigns except
Jitō,
Yōzei,
Go-Toba, and
Fushimi have senso and sokui in the same year until the reign of
Emperor Go-Murakami.