Emperor Go-Nara (後奈良天皇,Go-Nara-tennō; January 26, 1495 – September 27, 1557)[1] was the 105thEmperor of Japan, according to the traditional order of succession. He reigned from June 9, 1526, until his death in 1557, during theSengoku period of theMuromachi Bakufu.[1] His personal name wasTomohito (知仁).[2]
Daiei 6, in the 4th month (June 9, 1526): Go-Nara was proclaimed emperor upon the death of his father,Emperor Go-Kashiwabara. He began his reign at age 31.[3]
Daiei 6, 7th month (1526): An army fromAwa Province marched towardsMiyako.Hosokawa Takakuni attacked these forces at theKatsura River, but his forces were unsuccessful. Hosokawa Takakage came to the aid of Takakuni, and their combined forces were successful in stopping the advancing army.[4]
Daiei 6, 12th month (1526):ShōgunAshikaga Yoshiharu invited archers from neighboring provinces to come to the capital for an archery contest.[4]
Tenbun 4, 26th day of 2nd month (March 29, 1535): Go-Nara was formally installed as emperor.[5] TheImperial Court was so impoverished, that a nationwide appeal for contributions went out. Contributions from theHōjō clan, theŌuchi clan, theImagawa clan, and other greatdaimyō clans of theSengoku period allowed the Emperor to carry out the formal coronation ceremonies ten years later. The Imperial Court's poverty was so extreme that the Emperor was forced to sell hiscalligraphy.
Tenbun 11, 25th day of the 8th month (1543):Portuguese ship drifts ashore atTanegashima, and Europeanguns are introduced into Japan.
Tenbun 20, 8th to 9th month (1551): Courtiers in preparation to move the emperor from war-torn Kyoto to the Ōuchi city ofYamaguchi were caught in theTainei-ji incident, a coup within the Ōuchi clan. The massacre of the courtiers in Yamaguchi resulted in a widespread loss of court records along with knowledge of court rituals and imperial calendar-making.[6] The emperor remained in Kyoto.
Kōji 3, 5th day of 9th month (1557): Emperor Go-Nara died at age 62.[7] He was unburied for 70 days.[8]
Go-Nara is enshrined with other emperors at the imperial tomb calledFukakusa no kita no misasagi (深草北陵) inFushimi-ku, Kyoto.[9]
Kugyō (公卿) is a collective term for the very few most powerful men attached to the court of theEmperor of Japan in pre-Meiji eras. Even during those years in which the court's actual influence outside the palace walls was minimal, the hierarchic organization persisted.
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 Go-Nara's reign, this apex of theDaijō-kan included:
^ab後奈良天皇 [Emperor Go-Nara].Kotobank.Archived from the original on September 26, 2023. RetrievedSeptember 26, 2023.
^Titsingh, Isaac. (1834).Annales des empereurs du japon, pp. 372–382.
^Titsingh, p. 372; Varley, H. Paul. (1980).Jinnō Shōtōki, p. 44; n.b., a distinct act ofsenso is unrecognized prior toEmperor Tenji; and all sovereigns exceptJitō,Yōzei,Go-Toba, andFushimi havesenso andsokui in the same year until the reign ofEmperor Go-Murakami.
