Emperor Kanmu

Emperor Kanmu (737– 806) was the 50th emperor of Japan, reigning from 781 to 806. He founded Kyoto as the capital city.

Kanmu was the eldest son of Prince Shirakabe no Okimi (Emperor Kōnin), and was born prior to Shirakabe’s ascension to the throne. Emperor Kōnin was a grandson of Emperor Tenji. According to the Shoku-Nihongi, his mother, Yamato no Niigasa (later called Takano no Niigasa), was not Japanese but Korean, being a 10th generation descendant of Muryeong of Baekje (462–523), king of Baekje, one of the Three Kingdoms of Korea. Kanmu’s personal name was Yamabe.

Takano no Niigasa (circa 720-790) became a concubine of Prince Shirakabe and bore Prince Yamabe and Prince Sawara. Prince Shirakabe was married to Princess Inoue (aka Ikami or Inoe), a daughter of Emperor Shōmu in 744. When Empress Kōken died in 770, Shirakabe acceded to the throne as Emperor Kōnin. Princess Inoue, and her son, Prince Osabe, were named as empress and crown prince respectively, because of Inoue’s noble birth. Even though they were the sons of Emperor Kōnin, neither Yamabe nor Sawara were in line to be crown prince due to Takano no Niigasa’s background. Yamabe expected to become a government bureaucrat.

Life for Yamabe irrevocably changed in 772. In that year, Inoue was accused of cursing Emperor Kōnin and he stripped her of the rank of Empress and Osabe the status of Crown Prince. Cursing someone may not sound so bad nowadays, but Inoue and Osabe were alleged to have murdered Imperial Princess Naniwa, Kōnin’s sister, by cursing her. The two were sent into confinement and mysteriously died on the same day.

Yamabe married his half-sister, Princess Sakahito. Princess Sakahito’s mother was Inoue but also reputed to have been Niigasa (Kanmu’s mother).

Yamabe had a formal investiture ceremony making him crown prince in 773 and in 781, Yamabe ascended to the throne as Kanmu after Kōnin’s abdication. Kanmu then appointed his brother, Sawara, as crown prince.

In 782, Hikami no Kawatsugu, great-grandson of Emperor Tenmu and Fuwa, Shōmu’s daughter and Inoue’s sister joined by the sadaijin Fujiwara no Uona , attempted a coup d’état, but failed and they were sent into exile.

Kanmu took an active part in governance. He attempted to improve administration by limiting government hierarchy and functions, limit the power of the Nara Buddhist sects, expand his territory, and seek a new capital.

In northern Japan, Kenmu waged an ongoing war with the Emishi or Ezo. In 794 Kanmu awarded Ōtomo no Otomaro a new title that would be highly sought in the future – “sei-i tai shōgun” (“barbarian subduing great general”) and he would later award Sakanoue no Tamuramaro the second such honor.

Beginning with Prince Shōtoku (574 – 622) there had been imperial sponsorship of Buddhism. This led to a general politicization of the clergy, along with intrigue and corruption. Perhaps the most famous instance occurred when Dōkyō, a Buddhist monk, managed to ingratiate himself with Empress Shōtoku formerly Empress Kōken.  She awarded him high positions and honors. In 770, he tried to ascend to the throne. To limit Buddhism, Kanmu issued edicts attempting to limit the number of Buddhist priests and temples.

Kanmu even became involved with university studies by amending the curriculum of Confucian ideology to include a new course on the Spring and Autumn Annals. The commentaries promoted a state in which the Emperor, as “Son of Heaven,” should make his people happy by extending his influence to barbarous lands.

Kanmu’s most far-reaching project was to move the capital from Nara. In 784, when Kanmu wanted to find a new capital he commissioned a group headed by Fujiwara no Tanetsugu. It was initially decided to move the capital to Nagaoka-kyō.   Kanmu placed Tanetsugu in charge of construction as the administrator. However, in 785, Tanetsugu was assassinated. The emperor’s brother, Prince Sawara, was implicated, exiled to Awaji Province, and died along the way. Also several members of the Ōtomo clan were implicated including the leader, Yakamochi, who had died but nevertheless was stripped of his rank.

Nagaoka-kyō was the capital from 784 to 794. The move did accomplish the goal of removing the Nara Buddhist establishment out of politics. However, the move proved disastrous because of a series of natural disasters that included the flooding of half the city.

During the final years of Kōnin’s reign and the early years of Kanmu’s reign, there were several natural disasters. Kanmu felt them personally as three women in his life died in succession: Fujiwara no Tabiko (consort) in 788, Takano no Niigasa (mother) in 789, and Empress Otomuro (wife) in 790. In 1792 Prince Ate became ill. These disasters were attributed to the vengeful spirits of Inoue, Sawara, and other nobles who had died unnaturally. To make amends, Kōnin had reburied their remains in 777; in 800, Kanmu restored Inoue to the rank of Empress; and in 806, several members of the Ōtomo clan were restored. Imperial Prince Sawara was elevated to become Emperor Sudo (which still remains the only recorded instance of posthumously raising someone to the rank and title of emperor). Inoue was later deified in the Ryoan-ji Goryo-jinja Shrine and Kanmu renamed Inoue’s mausoleum to reflect her proper status.

Heian-kyō (the capital of peace and tranquility)

According to legend, Kanmu made one of the most momentous decisions in Japanese history while on a hunting trip. Looking around he found himself in a sort of bowl, surrounded on three sides by mountains. The military men would have noted that it would be easy to defend. There was abundant water and the people native to the area were anxious to align themselves with the emperor. Perhaps most important of all, his diviners noted that there was a temple that guarded the northeast, which was the entrance of evil.

In 794, Kanmu moved his capital and named the city Heian-kyō (“the capital of peace and tranquility”), now known as Kyoto.

After the decision Kanmu must have felt a sense of relief – free from administrative interference by the Buddhist temples that surrounded Nara, free from the Fujiwara stronghold, free from the violent succession battles in a fresh venue that diviners saw auspicious signs.

Kanmu’s city, Heian-kyō was based on the Tang Dynasty capital of Chang’an. The streets also were influenced by the Chinese doctrine of the yin and the yang (which makes it very easy to get around for the streets run north-south, east-west very accurately). With great foresight, Kammu ordered the street to be extra wide to act as firebreaks. Geomancy was utilized. To protect the city, a network of protective shrines was set up at key geomantic points, and the whole site circumscribed by the directional animals of Chinese mythology.

Kanmu found allies in the two local clans: the Hata and the Kamo. The Hata clan was originally from China who lived in Korea then migrated to Japan. They settled around their Matsuo Taishen Shrine and Fushimi Inari Shrine on the west bank of the Uzumasa River. The Kamo dominated the east bank of the Uzumasa and dominated the areas of the Kamigamo and Shimogamo shrines.

Kanmu was very intent on limiting the influence of Buddhist Temples. Heian-kyō already had a group on Mt. Hiei that was in the northeast. Kanmu only commissioned two new temples: Tōji (Eastern Temple) and Sai-ji (Western Temple) which flanked the road at southern entrance to the city.

Not only did Kanmu endeavor to physically escape from the Nara Sects, he also fostered new sects as a counter to them. In 803, Kanmu sponsored the monks Kūkai and Saichō to take part in a diplomatic trip to Tang China. Kūkai and Saichō returned from China to found the Japanese branches of Tendai and Shingon Buddhism, sometimes called esoteric Buddhism. These two schools would become the dominate force in Buddhism for many years.

Kanmu’s Legacy

Kanmu can arguably be called the most important person in Japanese history relating to Kyoto. Besides designating Kyoto as the capital and laying out the city, he provided for an orderly plan of succession and government that worked well for many years.

Emperor Kanmu had 16 empresses and consorts, and 32 imperial sons and daughters. Kanmu and Fujiwara no Otomuro had two sons who later became emperor, Emperor Heizei and Emperor Saga.  Kanmu by consort Fujiwara no Tabiko had another son who became emperor, Prince Ōtomo (Emperor Junna). Some of his descendants (known as the Kanmu Taira or Kanmu Heishi) took the Taira hereditary clan title, and in later generations became prominent military leaders. The waka poet Ariwara no Narihira was one of his grandsons.

It was Kanmu’s intention that the ruler be an adult of ability, not a child, so when a ruler died who did not have an adult heir, he was to be followed by a brother.  The status of succession was determined by the degree of relationship to the emperor. If brothers succeeded each other, all their sons would be of the highest rank thus ensuring a good number of choices. It was a stable plan but there were potential problems with conflicts of successions.

For many years Kanmu’s succession plan held sway. After Kanmu came Heizei, his son. Emperor Heizei abdicated in favor of his brother, Emperor Saga. Saga abdicated in favor of his brother, Emperor Junna. Emperor Saga and Empress Tachibana no Kachiko (Empress Danrin) had a son, Masara (Emperor Ninmyō). Ninmyō ascended to the throne after the abdication of his uncle, Emperor Junna, and following Kanmu’s plan, Junna’s son, Tsunesada, was designated as crown prince.

The plan lasted until the Jōwa Incident. Fujiwara no Yoshifusa was able to influence Emperor Saga and Empress Danrin into supporting his grandchild Michiyasu to be placed in line to succeed Ninmyō, even though Michiyasu was only a child.