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

Events of Go-Momozono's Life

Hidehito was passed over when his father died. He was too young to be emperor at that time.

• August 5, 1758: Prince Hidehito is born, the first son of Emperor Momozono.

• 1768: Hidehito-shinno was named Crown Prince and heir.

• January 9, 1771: Empress Go-Sakuramachi abdicated in favor of her nephew, Prince Hidehito; and his reign started immediately.

• February 29, 1772 (Meiwa 9, 26th day or the 1st month): "The Great Meiwa Fire" – one of the three greatest Edo fire disasters. Unofficial reports describe a swath of ashes and cinders nearly five miles wide and 15 miles (24 km) long—destroying 178 temples and shrines, 127 daimyo residences, 878 non-official residences, 8705 houses of bannermen, and 628 blocks of merchant dwellings, with estimates of over 6,000 casualties. All this devastation subsequently engendered the costs of reconstruction.

• August 2, 1772 (Meiwa 9, 4th day of the 6th month): A tempest struck the Kantō region, causing floods and ruining crops.

• August 17, 1772 (Meiwa 9, 19th day of the 6th month): Another storm brought flooding and high winds to the Kantō region, destroying an estimated 4000 houses in Edo alone.

• 1772 (Meiwa 9): This was called the "year of trouble" because it was marked by an extraordinary succession of natural calamities. a contemporary pun was made linking the words "Meiwa" + "ku" (meaning "Meiwa 9") and the sound-alike word "meiwaku" (meaning "misfortune" or "annoyance").

• 1772 (Meiwa 9, 11th month): The nengō was changed to Anei (meaning "eternal tranquillity"); but this symbolic act proved to be futile.

• 1775 (An'ei 4): Epidemic diseases spread across the country – in Edo alone, an estimated 190,000 died.

• 1775 (An'ei 4): Swedish pyhsician and botanist Carl Peter Thunberg arrives at VOC outpost or "factory" in Nagasaki bay; and his scientific activities will result in the first detailed, descriptive survey of the flora and fauna of the Japanese archipelago.

• 1778 (An'ei 7): Kyoto suffers a massive flood.

• 1778 (An'ei 7): Volcanic island of Sakurajima erupts one mile away from Kagoshima – 16,000 died.

• 1779: The emperor adopted a son from the Kan'in branch of the Imperial family; and this son would become known as Emperor Kōkaku.

• June 12, 1779: The emperor died at the age of 22.

Go-Momozono's kami is enshrined in the Imperial mausoleum, Tsukinowa no misasagi, at Sennyū-ji in Higashiyama-ku, Kyoto. Also enshrined in this location are this emperor's immediate Imperial predecessors since Emperor Go-Mizunoo – Meishō, Go-Kōmyō, Go-Sai, Reigen, Higashiyama, Nakamikado, Sakuramachi, Momozono and Go-Sakuramachi. The shrine complex also encompasses the misasagi of three of Go-Momozono's immediate successors – Kōkaku, Ninkō, and Kōmei.