Emperor Go-Mizunoo

Emperor Go-Mizunoo (1596 – 1680) was the 108th Emperor (reigning from 1611 to 1629). His personal name was Kotohito or Masahito. He was the first emperor to reign entirely during the Edo Period.

Kotohito (Go-Mizunoo) was the third son of Emperor Go-Yōzei. His mother was Konoe Sakiko, the daughter of Konoe Sakihisa and adopted daughter of Toyotomi Hideyoshi. The Konoe family was a powerful branch of the Fujiwara family. Konoe Sakihisa, Sakiko’s father and Go-Mizunoo’s natural grand-father, was prominent during the Sengoku, Azuchi-Momoyama, and early Edo Periods and famously adopted Hashiba (later Toyotomi Hideyoshi. This gave Hideyoshi the Fujiwara legitimacy and allowed him to be appointed kampaku and taikō.

Kotohito (Go-Mizunoo) was not Go-Yōzei’s choice to succeed him as emperor. Rather, he was chosen by Ieyasu Tokugawa to succeed Go-Yōzei. Nor was he the first choice by the shogun, prior to his appointment as Imperial Prince, Hideyoshi had chosen his half-brother, Katahito as Imperial Prince. Neither of these choices were approved by Go-Yōzei, who treated both boys badly. However, such were the power dynamics of the time. After Hideyoshi died and Ieyasu seized power, Katahito was allowed to enter a monastery (thus ending his succession rights) and Kotohito was chosen by Ieyasu, because he was a legitimate son. Go-Yōzei was forced into the decision, but his bitterness lasted until his death. Go-Mizunoo harbored a grudge for the poor treatment long after Go-Yōzei’s death.

One of the events that led to Go-Yōzei’s abdication was the Inokuma Incident. Inokuma was an officer of the Imperial Guard Department, a court noble, and quite the rake, who seduced many ladies of the court. This led to his banishment, but he managed to return to Kyoto unnoticed and continued his affairs and encouraged others in the court to engage in sexual affairs. Another officer of the guards, through a dentist compatriot who was related to one of the court ladies, had a dalliance with another court lady. However, as it would turn out, they were not the only ones. Eventually the scandal reached the ears of Go-Yōzei who demanded that all involved in the affair should be executed. This brought in the Edo bakufu and retired Shogun Ieyasu who had the matter investigated. The investigation showed a great many in the court were engaged in illicit affairs and the bakufu feared extreme disruption would follow if they were all executed. The bakufu ended up executing Inokuma and the dentist, banishing some, and pardoning some. Go-Yōzei felt slighted in that his will carried no weight, which soon led to his abdication.

The upshot was that the Edo government issued laws regulating court nobles and even the court and prohibited the Emperor from granting purple robes to high-ranking priests. These laws brought the court, the emperor, and the religious establishment under the control of the Edo bakufu and the Shogun.

Go-Mizunoo’s love life almost destroyed an alliance with Ieyasu’s son, Hidetada. Go-Mizunoo was to marry Hidetada’s daughter; however, he ran afoul of Hidetada when it was discovered that Go-Mizunoo already had a son and daughter with his favorite court lady. Eventually, Hidetada relented and Tokugawa Masako would become a consort in the palace. However, the Edo government kept a tight rein on Go-Mizunoo. For instance, he wished to be administered moxibustion but was refused on the grounds that an Emperor could not have a burn mark on his body.

Go-Mizunoo reigned when Tokugawa Hidetada and Tokugawa Iemitsu were in power, which corresponds to the height of the Tokugawa shogunate. In Kyoto, it was a turbulent time with a strong earthquake in 1614 and great fires in 1620 (believed to be arson). The great bell for the Daibutsu Temple in Kyoto was cast; its inscription was used as a pretense for Ieyasu to wage war against Toyotomi Hideyori (Hideyoshi’s heir), which resulted in the Siege of Osaka Castle and the defeat of Hideyori and ending Toyotomi power.

Go-Mizunoo was very active with the ladies, having numerous consorts and siring over 30 children, including Emperor Reigen at the age of 58 while retired and living as a priest. He flaunted bakufu regulations imposed on the imperial court by secretly going to Yukaku (the red-light district) to consort with prostitutes.

Tensions with the Tokugawa came to a head in the Purple Robe Incident in 1627. As was customary, Go-Mizunoo handed out ceremonial purple robes (shie) to exemplary members of the religious establishment. He did this without authority from the bakufu and the shogunate (rules had been passed by the bakufu requiring prior authorization). The bakufu annulled not only the bestowal of the purple robes of that year but also previous ones. Certain priests who voiced their objections were banished. Go-Mizunoo felt humiliated.

Go-Mizunoo abdicated either due to the Purple Robe Incident or the combined effect of the shogunate’s interference and regulations. He chose his daughter, Imperial Princess Okiko (Empress Meishō) to replace him. He continued in a cloistered government over not only Empress Meishō, but also his sons, Emperor Go-Kōmyō, Emperor Go-Sai, and Emperor Reigen. His wife, Tokugawa Masako (known as Tufukumonin after his abdication) protected him politically and helped gain allies by rewarding the birth mothers and their fathers of the emperors.

Go-Mizuno-in, for the rest of his long life, living to the age of 85, concentrated on cultural projects. He wrote Ise Monogatari (Tales of Ise). He donated the founders hall at Shōkoku-ji Temple and fostered the building of the Japanese gardens of the Shugakuin Imperial Villa.