Iitoyo facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Princess Iitoyo 飯豊青皇女
Josei Tennō
Reign	484
Born	440
Died	484
Regnal name Empress Iitoyo
Father	Emperor Richū or Ichinobe no Oshiwa

Iitoyo (飯豊青皇女 Princess-Iitoyo, 440-484), was a Japanese Imperial princess and possibly empress regnant. She was, according to traditional legend, ruler for a short period between Emperor Seinei and Emperor Kenzō. She is referred to as "Empress [Regnant] Iitoyo" (飯豊天皇 Iitoyo-tennō) in the Fusō Ryakuki and the Honchō Kōin Jōun-roku [ja], a 12th-century and a 15th-century history respectively.

Descent

Princess Iitoyo, like the reigning Emperor Kenzō (Prince Oke ; ruled 485–487) and Ninken (Prince Ōke ; ruled 488–498) are said to be descended from the 17th Emperor Richū (ruled 400–405). The exact degree of this relationship is shown differently in the earliest chronicles from the 8th century :

After the Kojiki of 712, Iitoyo was the younger sister of the imperial prince Ichinobe no Oshiwa and thus the daughter of Emperor Richū and aunt of the princes Ōke and Oke.

Tomb of Iitoyo.

In turn, according to the Nihon Shoki of 720, Iitoyo was the daughter of the prince and his wife Hayehime, making her the sister of Ōke and Oke and, like the two, a grandchild of Emperor Richū.

Regency

According to the chronicles mentioned, after the death of the 20th Emperor Ankō (presumably ruled 453–456), his brother murdered all rivals who could claim the throne, and then ruled as the 21st Emperor Yūryaku (presumably ruled 456–479). His victims included above all his cousin Prince Ichinobe no Oshiwa, who was the eldest son and crown prince of Emperor Richū. While we learn that Oshiwa's sons Ōke and Oke fled to the province after his murder, there is no information about their aunt (sister, according to the Nihon shoki) Iitoyo during this time.

Iitoyo appears in the chronicles for the first time in the history of the 22nd Emperor Seinei (presumably ruled 479–484), the son and successor of Emperor Yūryaku. Seinei had no children and otherwise no close relatives. Princes Ōke and Oke were in hiding, so another suitable heir to the throne from the lineage of the Sun Goddess Amaterasu had to be sought.

According to the Kojiki, this search ended with the discovery of Princess Iitoyo at the Tsunusashi Palace, in Oshinumi, in Kazuragi. She then appears to have taken over as regent until Wodate, the governor of Harima province, sent a message to the capital after his discovery of princes Ōke and Oke. Iitoyo then gave the order to bring her nephews to her in the palace, where she presumably handed the rule over to Ōke.

The course of these events is presented somewhat differently in the Nihon Shoki. The princes are found before the death of Emperor Seinei, so that he can elevate the older Ōke himself to the crown prince and Oke to the imperial prince. Iitoyo is briefly mentioned here for the first time in the narrative of Emperor Kenzo. The princes, after the death of Seinei, cannot agree which should succeed, since each wanted to leave the throne to the other. In the resulting interregnum, Iitoyo took over the reign and ruled the country from the Tsunuzashi Palace in Oshinomi. She gave herself the title Oshinomi no Ihitoyo no Awo no Mikoto, After eleven months in the winter of the same year, she died and was buried in a burial site (misasagi) on Mount Haniguchi in Katsuraki.