Emperor Antoku

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Emperor Antoku (安徳天皇 Antoku Tennō) (December 22, 1178 – April 25, 1185) was the 81st emperor of Japan, according to the traditional order of succession. He ruled during the late Heian period from the fourth month, 22nd day of 1180 to April 25, 1185. His personal name was Tokihito (言仁).

1 Genealogy
2 Life
3 Burial Site
4 Eras of his reign

[edit] Genealogy

His father was Emperor Takakura. His mother was Taira no Tokuko (平徳子), second daughter of Taira no Kiyomori (平清盛), later referred to as Empress Dowager Kenrei (建礼門院).

[edit] Life

Antoku was named crown prince at around one month of age. He ascended the throne at one year of age. Naturally, he held no actual power, but rather his grandfather Taira no Kiyomori ruled in his name, though not officially, as sesshō (regent).

In the year of his enthronement, the capital was moved to modern-day Kōbe, Hyōgo, but it was soon moved back to Kyōto. In 1183, when Minamoto no Yoshinaka entered the capital, the Taira clan fled with the young emperor and the sacred treasures to Yashima (the name of a place inside modern-day Takamatsu, Kagawa). Being defeated in the Battle of Yashima, they fled westward. In 1185 the Taira and the Minamoto clashed in the Battle of Dan-no-ura. The Taira were defeated, and his grandmother, Taira no Tokiko, the widow of Taira no Kiyomori, drowned herself along with Antoku. His mother also drowned herself, but apparently, according to the The Tale of the Heike (Heike Monogatari), she was pulled out with a rake by her long hair. According to legend, the sacred jewels and the sacred sword (two of the three sacred treasures) sunk to the bottom of the sea, and although the sacred jewels were recovered, the sword was lost.

The story of Emperor Antoku and his mother's family became the subject of the Kamakura period epic poem The Tale of the Heike (Heike is an alternate reading of the Japanese characters for "House of the Taira").

[edit] Burial Site

After his drowning, in order to mourn the Bodhi, the Amidaji Goeidō was built. Later, Antoku was enshrined at the Kurume-Suitengū in Kurume, Fukuoka, and he came to be worshipped as Mizu-no-kami (水の神, lit. "water-god" or "god of water"), the god of easy delivery at Suitengū (水天宮, lit. "water-heaven/emperor-shrine") everywhere.

With the establishment of Shintō as the state religion of Japan, the Amida was abandoned and the Akama Shrine was established in Shimonoseki, Yamaguchi to celebrate Antoku.