| Princess Tōchi | |
|---|---|
| Empress of Japan | |
| Titles | The Empress of Japan (672) Princess Tōchi |
| Born | 653? |
| Died | May 3, 678 (the 7th Day of the 4th Month of the 7th Year of Temmu's reign) |
| Place of death | Kiyomihara Palace, Asuka, Japan |
| Consort | January, 672 - August 21, 672 |
| Consort to | Emperor Kōbun |
| Offspring | Prince Kadono |
| Father | Emperor Temmu |
| Mother | Princess Nukata |
Princess Tōchi (十市皇女, 648? – May 3, 678 (the 7th Day of the 4th Month of the 7th Year of Temmu's reign)) was a Japanese princess during the Asuka period of Japanese history. She was a daughter of Emperor Temmu and the Empress-consort of Emperor Kōbun.
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Princess Tōchi was a daughter of Emperor Temmu. Her mother was Princess Nukata, who was known as a renowned court poet.
She married Prince Ōtomo, today known as Emperor Kōbun, and gave birth to a son, Prince Kadono. She and her son followed Prince Ōtomo and lived in the capital of Omikyō in Ōmi Province (today in Ōtsu, Shiga). Prince Ōtomo acceded the Imperial dignity after his father, Emperor Tenji, had died, and then she accordingly became the Empress-consort.
In 672, Prince Ōtomo was killed in the Jinshin War. Lost her husband, she moved with her son to the palace of Asuka Kiyomihara (today it is in Asuka, Nara), where Emperor Temmu built a new capital after he won the war.
No activities regarding her are recorded after the war, except the event that in the second month of 675 she visited the Ise Jingu shrine with Princess Abe to see Princess Ōku, who was staying there as a Saiō (斎王) to serve the goddess of the shrine.
In 678, Princess Tōchi was appointed a Saiō by divination and was supposed to leave her residence to stay in the abstinence palace (斎宮, Saikū) in the 7th day of the 4th month, when she suddenly died in the residence. According to Nihonshoki, it is recorded that she died from sudden illness, but quite a few historians insist that she killed herself.
When she died, Prince Takechi composed for her three verses of lament, which are all of his verses that were collected in Man'yōshū. Not a few people believe that he secretly loved her, not only because these poems contain strong feelings of love to her, but because the people hope that, since she probably had to be in a very tough situation after the Jinshin War as "enemy's wife," she would've been happier than reality.
According to Nihonshoki, she was buried at a place named Akō. Today the location of Akō is not known exactly, though some historians are giving proposals of the estimation.