, also known as Kazu-ko, was

empress consort of Japan The empress of Japan is the title given to the wife of the Emperor of Japan or a female ruler in her own right. The current empress consort is Empress Masako, who ascended the throne with her husband on 1 May 2019. Empress regnant Titles * ...

as the wife of Emperor Go-Mizunoo. Through collaboration with her parents,

Oeyo , , or : 1573 – September 15, 1626) was a noblewoman in Japan's Azuchi–Momoyama period and early Edo period. She was a daughter of Oichi and the sister of Yodo-dono and Ohatsu. When she rose to higher political status during the Tokugawa s ...

and

Shogun , officially , was the title of the military aristocracy, rulers of Japan during most of the period spanning from 1185 to 1868. Nominally appointed by the Emperor of Japan, Emperor, shoguns were usually the de facto rulers of the country, exc ...

Tokugawa Hidetada was the second ''shōgun'' of the Tokugawa dynasty, who ruled from 1605 until his abdication in 1623. He was the third son of Tokugawa Ieyasu. Early life (1579–1593) Tokugawa Hidetada was born to Tokugawa Ieyasu and the Lady Saigō on May ...

, she was a prominent and influential figure within the politics and culture of the

Edo Period The , also known as the , is the period between 1600 or 1603 and 1868 in the history of Japan, when the country was under the rule of the Tokugawa shogunate and some 300 regional ''daimyo'', or feudal lords. Emerging from the chaos of the Sengok ...

History

* 1620 (''

Genna was a coming after ''Keichō'' and before ''Kan'ei.'' This period spanned the years from July 1615 to February 1624. The reigning emperor was . It is also known as ''Genwa''. Change of era * 1615 : The era name was changed to mark the enthr ...

6''): Masako entered the palace as a

consort __NOTOC__ Consort may refer to: Music * "The Consort" (Rufus Wainwright song), from the 2000 album ''Poses'' * Consort of instruments, term for instrumental ensembles * Consort song (musical), a characteristic English song form, late 16th–earl ...

Emperor Go-Mizunoo , posthumously honored as , was the 108th Emperor of Japan, according to the traditional List of Emperors of Japan, order of succession. Go-Mizunoo's reign spanned the years from 1611 through 1629, and he was the first emperor to reign entirely d ...

. Although there was already a concubine for Go-Mizunoo, the marriage to Masako was celebrated with great pomp. * 1624: Masako was granted the title of chūgū (中宮), indicating that she was a legitimate wife and therefore an established Empress Consort. She is the first consort to hold this title since the reign of

Emperor Go-Hanazono (July 10, 1419 – January 18, 1471) was the 102nd emperor of Japan, according to the traditional order of succession.Imperial Household Agency (''Kunaichō'')後花園天皇 (102) retrieved 2013-8-28. His reign spanned the years from 1428 thro ...

. * 1629: When the Emperor Go-Mizunoo abdicated in 1629, Masako took the title and name of .Ponsonby-Fane, p. 115. In a rare break with tradition, Masako's daughter, Imperial Princess Onna-Ichi-no-miya Okiko, succeeded her father in her own right as

Empress Meishō , posthumously honored as , was the 109th monarch of Japan,Imperial Household Agency (''Kunaichō'')明正天皇 (108)/ref> according to the traditional order of succession.Ponsonby-Fane, Richard. (1959). ''The Imperial House of Japan'', p. 115. ...

, albeit at the age of five.Ponsonby-Fane, p. 115. After Meishō abdicated at 19, the throne would be successively held by two of her half-brothers, who would reign as Emperor Go-Kōmyō and

Emperor Go-Sai , posthumously honored as , also known as , was the 111th emperor of Japan, according to the traditional order of succession.Ponsonby-Fane, Richard. (1959). ''The Imperial House of Japan'', pp. 116. Go-Sai's reign spanned the years from 1655 th ...

respectively. Both had been brought up by Masako as if they were her own sons.Ponsonby-Fane, pp. 115–116. Masako had two younger daughters; Princess Teruko (1625-1651) who married

Konoe Hisatsugu , son of regent Nobuhiro, was a ''kugyō'' or Japanese court noble of the Edo period (1603–1868). He held a regent position kampaku from 1651 to 1653. There are no records of his mother. His sister was the consort of Tokugawa Mitsukuni, the d ...

, and Princess Akiko (1629-1675), also known as the Third Princess.

Achievements

Masako used her wealth to bring together the two capitals of

Edo Edo (), also romanized as Jedo, Yedo or Yeddo, is the former name of Tokyo. Edo, formerly a (castle town) centered on Edo Castle located in Musashi Province, became the '' de facto'' capital of Japan from 1603 as the seat of the Tokugawa shogu ...

and

Kyoto Kyoto ( or ; Japanese language, Japanese: , ''Kyōto'' ), officially , is the capital city of Kyoto Prefecture in the Kansai region of Japan's largest and most populous island of Honshu. , the city had a population of 1.46 million, making it t ...

, as well as helping to maintain the high standards of the court. Her money was also used to restore significant buildings that had been damaged in the preceding civil wars. Many of these restorations were originally credited to her brother Iemitsu, or her husband, but have recently been properly credited to her. Masako also presented herself as a representative of the

Tokugawa clan The is a Japanese dynasty which produced the Tokugawa shoguns who ruled Japan from 1603 to 1868 during the Edo period. It was formerly a powerful ''daimyō'' family. They nominally descended from Emperor Seiwa (850–880) and were a branch of ...

, although the high standards expected from this position may have got her into trouble. According to tradition, Masako and

Lady Kasuga was a Japanese noble lady and politician from a prominent Japanese samurai family of the Azuchi–Momoyama and Edo periods. Born Saitō Fuku (斉藤福), she was a daughter of Saitō Toshimitsu (who was a retainer of Akechi Mitsuhide). She w ...

broke a

taboo A taboo is a social group's ban, prohibition or avoidance of something (usually an utterance or behavior) based on the group's sense that it is excessively repulsive, offensive, sacred or allowed only for certain people.''Encyclopædia Britannica ...

by visiting the Imperial court dressed as commoners. The event is said to have highly embarrassed Go-Mizunoo, who promptly abdicated and named Meisho as

empress The word ''emperor'' (from , via ) can mean the male ruler of an empire. ''Empress'', the female equivalent, may indicate an emperor's wife (empress consort), mother/grandmother (empress dowager/grand empress dowager), or a woman who rules ...

. It is perhaps more likely, though, that Go-Mizunoo abdicated due to the fallout over the " Purple Robe Incident", which had caused a serious political conflict between him and

Tokugawa Iemitsu was the third ''shōgun'' of the Tokugawa shogunate, Tokugawa dynasty. He was the eldest son of Tokugawa Hidetada with Oeyo, and the grandson of Tokugawa Ieyasu. Lady Kasuga was his wet nurse, who acted as his political adviser and was at the ...

, the new Shogun. Whatever the actual reasons, Meishō's elevation made Iemitsu, as Masako's brother, the uncle of the sitting

monarch A monarch () is a head of stateWebster's II New College Dictionary. "Monarch". Houghton Mifflin. Boston. 2001. p. 707. Life tenure, for life or until abdication, and therefore the head of state of a monarchy. A monarch may exercise the highest ...

Family

* Father:

(1581-1632) * Mother:

(1573-1626) * Husband:

(1596-1680) * Children: **, became

** married

** ** ** ** married Nijō Mitsuhira ** * Adopted: ** Emperor Go-Kōmyō **

Interests

* Empress Masako was a patron of the arts. She collected antiques as well as contemporary art. She was also skilled at calligraphy and dabbled in poetry.

Notes

References

*Lillehoj, Elizabeth. "Tōfukumon'in: Empress, Patron and Artist". ''Woman's Art Journal'' 17(1996):28–34. * Ponsonby-Fane, Richard Arthur Brabazon. (1959)
''The Imperial House of Japan.''
Kyoto: Ponsonby Memorial Society
OCLC 194887
* Titsingh, Isaac. (1834). ''

Nihon Ōdai Ichiran , ', is a 17th-century chronicle of the serial reigns of Japanese emperors with brief notes about some of the noteworthy events or other happenings. According to the 1871 edition of the ''American Cyclopaedia'', the 1834 French translation of ...

''; ou
''Annales des empereurs du Japon''.
Paris: Royal Asiatic Society, Oriental Translation Fund of Great Britain and Ireland
OCLC 5850691
Japanese empresses consort 1607 births 1678 deaths People of the Edo period Samurai Tokugawa clan 1620s in Japan 17th-century Japanese people 17th-century Japanese women Mothers of monarchs {{japan-royal-stub