Emperor Shijō


Emperor Shijō was the 87th emperor of Japan, according to the traditional order of succession. This reign spanned the years 1232 through 1242.

Genealogy

Before his ascension to the Chrysanthemum Throne, his personal name was Mitsuhito-shinnō, also known as Tosihito-shinnō.
He was the first son of Emperor Go-Horikawa.
Consort: Kujō Genshi later Nishinomon’in, Kujō Norizane’s daughter
He had no children, due to his youth at the time of his death.

Events of Shijō's life

He reigned from October 26, 1232 to February 10, 1242.
Emperor Shijō died from an accident in 1242. His Imperial tomb is at Sennyū-ji in the Nochi no Tsukinowa no Higashiyama no misasagi.
As the Emperor was very young, and the Retired Emperor Go-Horikawa died just two years later, most of the actual leadership was held by his maternal relatives Kujō Michiie and Saionji Kintsune.

Kugyō

Kugyō is a collective term for the very few most powerful men attached to the court of the Emperor 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 Shijō's reign, this apex of the Daijō-kan included:
The years of Shijō's reign are more specifically identified by more than one era name or nengō.