Biography
Fuhito was 13 years old when the Jinshin incident occurred. His father Kamatari had been a strong supporter of Emperor Tenji, but Kamatari had already died and Fuhito was too young to be appointed a governmental officer, so he was not involved in this political conflict. In 688 he appeared first as a courtier.
In 697 Prince Karu, the son of Prince Kusakabe and therefore grandson of Emperor Temmu and Empress Jitō, was appointed crown prince. Fuhito supported this appointment strongly and gained the favor of Empress Jitō. After that, his position in the court rose steadily. In 701 Prince Obito, later the emperor Shōmu was born by Miyako. Fuhito succeeded in persuading the court to appoint Obito the crown prince, and made his other daughter a wife of Obito. Until then only a royal lady could be promoted to the empress, but he succeeded in gaining his daughter the position of empress of Obito by the emperor Shōmu. It was the first empress who did not derive from the imperial household.
He moved Yamashina-dera, the Buddhist temple which was the main temple his clan supported, to Nara and renamed it Kōfuku-ji. After his death, Kasuga shrine, the main Shinto shrine of the Fujiwara clan, was settled near Kofuku-ji in 768.
He played a role in the establishment of the state law, ritsuryo, in Japan. He participated in the edition called Taihō Ritsuryō. He also joined in making its revision, the Yōrō ritsuryō. Before its completion, he died in the summer of 720. When he died, he was appointed Udaijin, one of the ministers.
After his death the court honored him with two titles 文忠公(Bunchu Kō) and 淡海公(Tankai Kō) and with the office of Daijodaijin, the highest office of the court.
He had four sons: Fujiwara no Muchimaro, Fujiwara no Fusasaki (681 – 737), Fujiwara no Umakai and Fujiwara no Maro. His son Fusasaki would become the ancestor of the regent line of the Fujiwara clan.
Read more about this topic: Fujiwara No Fuhito
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