, also known as was the 17th
legendary Emperor of Japan
The Emperor of Japan is the monarch and the head of the Imperial Family of Japan. Under the Constitution of Japan, he is defined as the symbol of the Japanese state and the unity of the Japanese people, and his position is derived from "the ...
,
Imperial Household Agency
The (IHA) is an agency of the government of Japan in charge of state matters concerning the Imperial Family, and also the keeping of the Privy Seal and State Seal of Japan. From around the 8th century AD, up until the Second World War, it ...
(''Kunaichō'')
履中天皇 (17)
retrieved 2013-8-28. according to the traditional
order of succession
An order of succession or right of succession is the line of individuals necessitated to hold a high office when it becomes vacated such as head of state or an honour such as a title of nobility.[Emperor Kinmei
was the 29th Emperor of Japan, Imperial Household Agency (''Kunaichō'') 欽明天皇 (29) retrieved 2013-8-22. according to the traditional order of succession. Titsingh, Isaac. (1834)pp. 34–36 Brown, Delmer. (1979) ''Gukanshō,'' pp. 261– ...]
( – 571 AD), the 29th Emperor,
[Titsingh]
pp. 34–36
Brown
pp. 261–262; Varley, pp. 123–124
is the first for which contemporary historiography is able to assign verifiable dates; however, the conventionally accepted names and dates of the early Emperors were not to be confirmed as "traditional" until the reign of
Emperor Kanmu
, or Kammu, was the 50th emperor of Japan, Imperial Household Agency (''Kunaichō'') 桓武天皇 (50) retrieved 2013-8-22. according to the traditional order of succession. Kanmu reigned from 781 to 806, and it was during his reign that the sco ...
(737–806), the 50th sovereign of the
Yamato dynasty
The , also referred to as the Imperial Family or the House of Yamato, comprises those members of the extended family of the reigning Emperor of Japan who undertake official and public duties. Under the present Constitution of Japan, the Emperor i ...
.
According to ''
Kojiki
The , also sometimes read as or , is an early Japanese chronicle of myths, legends, hymns, genealogies, oral traditions, and semi-historical accounts down to 641 concerning the origin of the Japanese archipelago, the , and the Japanese imperi ...
'' and ''
Nihon Shoki'', Richū was the eldest son of
Emperor Nintoku and
Iwanohime, his name was .
Richū's contemporary title would not have been ''tennō'', as most historians believe this title was not introduced until the reigns of
Emperor Tenmu and
Empress Jitō
was the 41st monarch of Japan, Imperial Household Agency (''Kunaichō'') 持統天皇 (41)/ref> according to the traditional order of succession.
Jitō's reign spanned the years from 686 through 697.Titsingh, Isaac. (1834).
In the history o ...
. Rather, it was presumably , meaning "the great king who rules all under heaven". Alternatively, Hanzei might have been referred to as or the "Great King of Yamato".
Some scholars identify him with
King San in the ''
Book of Song''. King San sent messengers to the
Liu Song dynasty
Song, known as Liu Song (), Former Song (前宋) or Song of (the) Southern Dynasty (南朝宋) in historiography, was an imperial dynasty of China and the first of the four Southern dynasties during the Northern and Southern dynasties period ...
at least twice in 421 and 425.

Richū escaped from
Naniwa Place to
Isonokami Shrine because of
arson
Arson is the crime of willfully and deliberately setting fire to or charring property. Although the act of arson typically involves buildings, the term can also refer to the intentional burning of other things, such as motor vehicles, wat ...
. Richū succumbed to disease in his sixth year of reign. His tomb is in Kawachi province, in the middle of present-day
Osaka Prefecture. He was succeeded by his younger brother
Emperor Hanzei. None of his sons succeeded to the throne, although two grandsons would eventually ascend as
Emperor Kenzō and as
Emperor Ninken.
The site of Richū's
grave
A grave is a location where a dead body (typically that of a human, although sometimes that of an animal) is buried or interred after a funeral. Graves are usually located in special areas set aside for the purpose of burial, such as grave ...
is not known.
The Emperor is traditionally venerated at a
memorial
A memorial is an object or place which serves as a focus for the memory or the commemoration of something, usually an influential, deceased person or a historical, tragic event. Popular forms of memorials include landmark objects or works of ...
Shinto shrine
A is a structure whose main purpose is to house ("enshrine") one or more '' kami'', the deities of the Shinto religion.
Overview
Structurally, a Shinto shrine typically comprises several buildings.
The '' honden''Also called (本殿, mean ...
(''misasagi'') in
Sakai, Osaka. The
Imperial Household Agency
The (IHA) is an agency of the government of Japan in charge of state matters concerning the Imperial Family, and also the keeping of the Privy Seal and State Seal of Japan. From around the 8th century AD, up until the Second World War, it ...
designates this location as Richū's
mausoleum
A mausoleum is an external free-standing building constructed as a monument enclosing the interment space or burial chamber of a deceased person or people. A mausoleum without the person's remains is called a cenotaph. A mausoleum may be con ...
. It is formally named ''Mozu no mimihara no minami no misasagi.''
[Ponsonby-Fane, p. 419.] It is also identified as the
kofun.
Consorts and children
Imperial Consort: , Katsuragi no Ashita no Sukune's daughter
*First Son: , father of
Emperor Kenzō and
Emperor Ninken
*
*
Empress (
Kōgō
are the tools and utensils used in , the art of Japanese tea.
Tea utensils can be divided into five major categories:
*
*
*
*
*
A wide range of utensils, known collectively as , is necessary for even the most basic tea ceremony. Genera ...
) : ,
Emperor Ōjin
, also known as (alternatively spelled 譽田別命, 誉田別命, 品陀和気命, 譽田分命, 誉田別尊, 品陀別命) or , was the 15th (possibly legendary) Emperor of Japan, according to the traditional order of succession.
No firm d ...
's daughter
*, wife of Prince Ōkusaka, later married
Emperor Anko
Beauty (''
Hin
Hin or HIN may refer to:
People
* Cornelis Hin (1869–1944), Dutch Olympic sailor
* Frans Hin (1906–1968), Dutch Olympic sailor
* Johan Hin (1899–1957), Dutch Olympic sailor
Science and technology
* Hin recombinase, a protein
* Hin, an anc ...
'') : , Prince Funashiwake's daughter
Beauty (
Hin
Hin or HIN may refer to:
People
* Cornelis Hin (1869–1944), Dutch Olympic sailor
* Frans Hin (1906–1968), Dutch Olympic sailor
* Johan Hin (1899–1957), Dutch Olympic sailor
Science and technology
* Hin recombinase, a protein
* Hin, an anc ...
) : , Prince Funashiwake's daughter
Ancestry
See also
*
Emperor of Japan
The Emperor of Japan is the monarch and the head of the Imperial Family of Japan. Under the Constitution of Japan, he is defined as the symbol of the Japanese state and the unity of the Japanese people, and his position is derived from "the ...
*
List of Emperors of Japan
This list of emperors of Japan presents the traditional order of succession. Records of the reigns are compiled according to the traditional Japanese calendar. In the '' nengō'' system which has been in use since the late-seventh century, years a ...
*
Imperial cult
An imperial cult is a form of state religion in which an emperor or a dynasty of emperors (or rulers of another title) are worshipped as demigods or deities. "Cult" here is used to mean "worship", not in the modern pejorative sense. The cult ma ...
*
Five kings of Wa
Notes
References
*
Aston, William George. (1896)
''Nihongi: Chronicles of Japan from the Earliest Times to A.D. 697.''London: Kegan Paul, Trench, Trubner.
*
Brown, Delmer M. and Ichirō Ishida, eds. (1979)
''Gukanshō: The Future and the Past.''Berkeley: University of California Press. ;
*
Ponsonby-Fane, Richard Arthur Brabazon. (1959)
''The Imperial House of Japan.''Kyoto: Ponsonby Memorial Society.
*
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.
*
Varley, H. Paul. (1980)
''Jinnō Shōtōki: A Chronicle of Gods and Sovereigns.''New York: Columbia University Press. ;
External links
{{DEFAULTSORT:Richu
Japanese emperors
People of Kofun-period Japan
4th-century monarchs in Asia
5th-century monarchs in Asia
4th-century Japanese monarchs
5th-century Japanese monarchs
Year of birth unknown
405 deaths