Prince Nagaya
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Nagaya (長屋王 Nagaya-no-ōkimi or Nagaya-ō) (684 – 20 March 729) was a politician of the Nara period and an imperial prince of Japan, a son of Prince Takechi (grandson of Emperor Temmu).
His father was Prince Takechi and his mother Princess Minabe (a daughter of Emperor Tenji and Empress Gemmei's sister). He married Princess Kibi (his cousin, a daughter of Empress Gemmei and Empress Genshō's sister).
He had a great power in politics because he was a member of the Imperial family of the best birth, and there were no other competitive Imperial members in those days. A big residence was allocated to him in the very good part of Heijō-kyō.
The Fujiwara clan was the most powerful competitor of Nagaya. Fujiwara no Fuhito, the leader of the house, had been the most powerful courtier in the court in those days when this country was reigned by Empress Genshō, a cousin of Nagaya's. After Fuhito's death in 720, he seized a complete power in the court. This power shift was the source of later conflicts between him and Fuhito's four sons (Muchimaro, Fusasaki, Maro and Umakai) in the reign of Emperor Shōmu.
In 729, the four sons charged him with a false crime and Nagaya received the death penalty. He was forced to commit suicide. His wife, Princess Kibi, and his children were killed at the same time.
Wives and Children
- Princess Kibi (?-729)
- Prince Kashiwade (?-729)
- Prince Katsuragi (?-729)
- Prince Kagitori (?-729)
- A lady of Ishikawa clan
- Prince Kuwata (?-729)
- Fujiwara no Nagako, daughter of Fujiwara no Fuhito
- Prince Asukabe (?-?)
- Prince Kibumi (?-757)
- Prince Yamashiro(Fujiwara no Otosada) (?-763)
- Princess Kyōshō, a nun
- Abe no Ōtoji
- Princess Kamo (?-?)
- Princess Chinu
- Princess Madokata (?-774)
Nagaya's Curse
It is said that, as Prince Nagaya was forced to die unreasonably, he bore a grudge against the living after his death. The following are believed to have been the victims of Nagaya's curse:
Muchimaro, Fusasaki, Maro and Umakai, responsible for the prince's death, caught smallpox one after another and eventually all of them died in 737.
- In 1988, the former site of Nagaya's residence was discovered with many wooden tablets and historic relics on the construction site of a Sogo department store. Sogo did not care and continued construction. Twelve years after the store's completion, Sogo went bankrupt.