Wake no Kiyomaro

Wake no Kiyomaro (733–799) was an important political figure in the Late Nara and Early Heian Periods. He is known for receiving a message from the Usa Shrine that only one descended from the sun god, Amaterasu, could be emperor and for advising Emperor Kanmu to move his capital to Kyoto. He is commemorated at the Go’o shrine.

During the late Nara Period, Empress Kōken and later, Empress Shōtoku, (the empress had two reigns, she was called Kōken in the first, and Shōtoku in the second) relied upon the Buddhist monk, Dōkyō, for advice and support. He had cured her of a disease, and they became very close. He had become a trusted advisor and confidant, perhaps even her lover. A Shinto priest at the Usa-jinga shrine told Empress Kōken that he had received a message from the gods that if she appointed Dōkyō as the next emperor, there would be peace throughout the land.

While certainly Dōkyō fully accepted the message, and who would not accept such a message, there was some skepticism. Wake no Kiyomaro was sent to the Usa Shrine to verify the authenticity of the message. Sure enough, the first message could not be authenticated; however, Kiyomaro returned with an oracle that stated that the emperor should be a descendant of Amaterasu, the Sun God.

Dōkyō did not take this message well. He used his influence with the Empress Shōtoku, who agreed with him, to have Kiyomaro (and his sister, Wake no Hirumushi, one of Kōken’s close confidents) banished. Dōkyō also had the tendons in Kiyomaro’s legs cut. It was only through the intervention of the Fujiwara that Kiyomaro was saved.

When Empress Shōtoku died in 770, the Fujiwara returned to power, stripped Dōkyō of his position sending him into exile, and restored Wake no Kiyomaro.

Emperor Kanmu placed Kiyomaro in charge of civil engineering construction projects. Kiyomaro convinced Emperor Kanmu to abandon the capital at Nagaoka and seek another location, which turned out to be Heian-kyō, now known as Kyoto.

He was appointed Minister of Popular Affairs (Minbukyo)and compiled a genealogy of the Emperor’s mother’s family. After his death, his sons continued playing an important role in governmental affairs. His sister, Wake no Hiromushi, worked with orphaned children.

In 1851, Emperor Kōmei praise Wako no Kiyomaro, giving him the posthumous title of Senior First Rank (Shoichii), deified him as “Go’o Daimyojin” and dedicated a shrine in his honor. At his shrine, the Go’o Shrine (Go’o Jinja), there are guardian boars to commemorate the legend of his being saved by a wild boar en route to exile in Usa. This shrine is across the street from the Imperial Palace in Kyoto.