Emperor Go-Shirakawa
Emperor Go-Shirakawa (1127 –1192) was the 77th emperor of Japan. He reigned from 1155 to 1158 (Late Heian Period) and after abdication, he ruled a cloistered (insei) government.
Go-Shirakawa’s rule coincided with a period of instability as the dynamics of power saw a shift from the Imperial Palace to the warriors. Go-Shirakawa used the samurai to maintain a slippery hold on power as the samurai increasingly amassed wealth and power through alliance with the imperial court.
Early life
His father was Emperor Toba. His personal name was Masahito.
Masahito was not expected to become emperor. Retired Emperor Toba, who ruled as an insei (cloistered) emperor, had appointed his eldest son, Emperor Sutoku, to succeed him and in 1142, Toba had Sutoku retire in favor of Toba’s three-year-old son, Emperor Konoe. Emperor Sutoku expecting to outlive his father assumed his son would be named emperor. Unfortunately for Sutoku, when Konoe died there were other plans afoot for a new emperor.
Retired Emperor Toba’s wife Bifukumon’in had adopted Prince Morihito, the son of one of Masahito’s consorts, and had raised him to be emperor. Though Toba did not believe Masahito was emperor material, he was agreeable to Masahito being emperor until Morihito became of age. Thus Masahito became Emperor Go-Shirakawa.
Hōgen Incident
In 1156, Retired Emperor Toba died and the forces loyal to Emperor Sutoku staged a rebellion, the Hōgen Rebellion or Hōgen Incident. Go-Shirakawa enlisted Minamoto no Yoshitomo and Taira no Kiyomori whose forces defeated those of Sutoku.
Go-Shirakawa gained a political ally, Fujiwara no Michinori also known as Shinzei, who instituted measures to increase political authority of the Imperial Court over the regent houses and temples and shrines.
In 1158, Go-Shirakawa abdicated in favor of Prince Morihito, who became Emperor Nijō. Go-Shirakawa became a cloistered emperor and ruled intermittently through the reigns of five emperors (Nijō, Rokujō, Takakura, Antoku, and Go-Toba) until his death in 1192.
Soon three forces led to turmoil. Emperor Nijō opposed cloistered rule by Go-Shirakawa. Within the cloistered government of Go-Shirakawa, there was animosity between Shinzei and Fujiwara no Nobuyori (who as Go-Shirakawa’s homosexual lover received favoritism).
Heiji Rebellion
On the night of December 9, 1159, Nobuyori aided by Minamoto no Yoshitomo attacked Sanjo Palace and kidnapped both Go-Shirakawa and Nijō. Soon thereafter Shinzei was captured and killed. Nobuyori took over the government in Kyoto. Go-Shirakawa was able to escape to Ninna-ji Temple. The effeminate Nijō was also able to escape, being mistaken as a woman. Nijō enlisted the aid of Taira no Kiyomori who ended Nobuyori’s reign and defeated the Minamoto, re-establishing Nijō and Go-Shirakawa. One of the first acts that Go-Shirakawa approved of was the execution by beheading of Nobuyori.
With Shinzei and many of his supporters dead, Go-Shirakawa’s political power was at low ebb, or so it seemed. Taira no Kiyomori not only supported Nijō’s direct government, but also supported Go-Shirakawa. Go-Shirakawa ordered Kiyomori to arrest Fujiwara clan members who were accused of organizing the killing of Shinzei and who happened to be important figures in Nijō’s government.
Among the court ladies, Go-Shirakawa’s favorite was Taira no Shigeko, known for her beauty and charm. In 1161, Shigeko gave birth to Prince Norihito.
Go-Shirakawa wanted Prince Norihito to become emperor. When Nijō discovered the plot to make Norihito emperor, he ended Go-Shirakawa’s cloistered government. Go-Shirakawa began building Renge-o-in Temple with financial help from Kiyomori.
Renewal and Rebellion
In another twist, Emperor Nijō became gravely ill. Nijō abdicated in favor of his eight-month-old son, who became Emperor Rokujō. Go-Shirakawa struck a deal with Kiyomori to allow Norihito to become Crown Prince. It is often claimed that either the Fujiwara or Go-Shirakawa forced Rokujō to abdicate, but considering that the boy was barely three, this author assumes it did not take much pressure, maybe a new toy or sweet. Norihito became Emperor Takakura in 1168.
In 1169, Emperor Go-Shirakawa entered the Buddhist priesthood.
At this point, Go-Shirakawa and Kiyomori had a good relationship. Go-Shirakawa received representatives from the Sung Dynasty brought in by Kiyomori. In 1171, Emperor Takakura married Kiyomori’s daughter. Kiyomori provided the muscle for Go-Shirakawa.
Some of the early fissures in Go-Shirakawa’s relationship with the Taira came about over the ongoing clashes between Buddhist temples. When Go-Shirakawa attempted to use Taira no Shigemori (Kiyomori’s son) against Enryaku-ji, Shigemori refused because the Taira were closely connected to Enryakuji.
Taira no Kiyomori continued to increase his wealth and power, even forcing Go-Shirakawa to accept their grandson, Tokohito, as Crown Prince. (Tokohito became Emperor Antoku.) In response, Go-Shirakawa began seizing estates of the Go-Sekkan families (those families who provided regents to emperors) and even from the Taira. Go-Shirakawa also favored other claimants to the Taira in appointments. Not to be outdone, in 1179 Kiyomori took control of the government and confined Go-Shirakawa to Toba dono (his father’s retirement residence), ending Go-Shirakawa’s cloistered government.
In 1180, Go-Shirakawa dispatched Prince Mochihito to enlist the Minamoto to his cause. This was the beginning of the Genpei War. While Go-Shirakawa did not lead any armies nor engage in masterful strategy, he did survive whereas many of the major players did not – Mochihito, Emperor Takakura, and Kiyomori died by 1183. After the Taira evacuated Kyoto, Go-Shirakawa restarted his cloistered government. By 1185, after the Battle of Dan no ura, the Taira were destroyed, and Emperor Antoku drowned. Go-Shirakawa now had to deal with the Minamoto, particularly Yoritomo.
After the Genpei War, Minamoto no Yoritomo had large portions of Japan under his control. While Kiyomori had gained power by propping up the Imperial Court, Yoritomo created a wall between the court and his samurai, so that they were only loyal to him. Go-Shirakawa could not control Yoritomo and could only affirm Yoritomo’s actions after they became a fait accomplis, like commanding the sun to rise after daybreak. Go-Shirakawa refused to elevate Yoritomo to sei tai shogun and Kujō no Kanezane (of the Go-Sekke Kujō) to chief minister; however, they patiently waited until Go-Shirakawa died in 1192. Shortly after his death, Kanezane became regent for the four-year-old Emperor Go-Toba who appointed Yoritomo as shogun. Yoritomo began the Kamakura Shogunate, effectively ending imperial rule.
Go-Shirakawa appears as a tyrannical captain of a rudderless boat heading toward an unseen waterfall. One has to wonder if he was aware of the overall situation and had a master plan or was he constantly in crisis mode?