Emperor Go-Kōmyō - Events of Go-Kōmyō's Life

Events of Go-Kōmyō's Life

Tsuguhito-shinnō was granted the title of Crown Prince; and the following year, he became Emperor when Empress Meishō abdicated. His sister stepped down from the throne and the succession (senso) was received by the new monarch. Shortly thereafter, Emperor Go-Kōmyō is considered to have acceded to the throne (sokui). The events during his lifetime shed light on his reign. The years of Go-Kōmyō's reign correspond with a period in which Tokugawa Iemitsu and Tokugawa Ietsuna were leaders at the pinnacle of the Tokugawa shogunate.

• April 20, 1633: The birth of an Imperial prince who will become known by the posthumous name of Go-Kōmyō-tennō.

• 1641 (Kanei 19): Prince Tsuguhito was named heir; and he was given the title of Crown Prince.

• 1643 (Kanei 20, 29th day of the 9th month): The empress ceded her throne to her brother by abdicating; and the succession (senso) was received by his younger brother.

• November 14, 1643 (Kanei 20, 3rd day of the 10th month): Go-Kōmyō accepted the title; and he is said to have acceded to the throne (sokui). He was age 11. His reign is considered to have begun.

• 1645 (Shōhō 2, 23rd day of the 4th month): The Shogun was elevated to the rank of sadaijin.

• 1649 (Keian 2, 20th day of the 2nd month): There was a major earthquake in Edo.

• 1651 (Keian 4): Tokugawa Ietsuna was proclaimed Shogun.

• 1652 (Keian 5, 5th month): Nihon Ōdai Ichiran is first published in Kyoto under the patronage of the tairō Sakai Tadakatsu, lord of the Obama Domain of Wakasa Province.

• 1653 (Jōō 2, 12th day of the 8th month): A violent fire destroyed a large part of the imperial palace and many temples which were nearby. Shortly thereafter, several girls, aged 12–14 years, were imprisoned for arson involving this fire as well as other fires in Kyoto.

• 1654 (Jōō 3, 6th day of the 7th month): Ingen, a Buddhist priest who would eventually become very influential, arrived at Nagasaki from China. His intention was to reform the practice of Buddhism in Japan.

• October 30, 1654 (Jōō 3, 20th day of the 9th month): The emperor died. He was buried at Sennyū-ji on the 15th day of the 10th month. There is a probability that the emperor died of smallpox.

Go-Kōmyō is among those enshrined in the imperial mausoleum, Tsukinowa no misasagi, at Sennyū-ji in Higashiyama-ku, Kyoto. Also enshrined are Go-Kōmyō's immediate predecessors, Emperor Go-Mizunoo and Empress Meishō. Go-Kōmyō's immediate Imperial successors are also memorialized in this misasagi, including Go-Sai, Reigen, Higashiyama, Nakamikado, Sakuramachi, Momozono, Go-Sakuramachi and Go-Momozono.