was a member of the royal family in

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

during the

Asuka period The was a period in the history of Japan lasting from 538 to 710, although its beginning could be said to overlap with the preceding Kofun period. The Yamato period, Yamato polity evolved greatly during the Asuka period, which is named after the ...

. He was the eldest son of

Emperor Tenmu was the 40th Emperor of Japan,Imperial Household Agency (''Kunaichō'') 天武天皇 (40) retrieved 2013-8-22. according to the traditional order of succession. Ponsonby-Fane, Richard. (1959). ''The Imperial House of Japan'', p. 53. He ascended ...

. He fought on the side of his father in the Jinshin War (672), a battle of succession, which resulted in his father becoming

Emperor 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 ...

. At the age of 19, he was dispatched by his father to the battle front in what is now Fuwa District,

Mino Province was a province of Japan in the area of Japan that is today southern Gifu Prefecture. Mino was bordered by Ōmi to the west, Echizen and Hida to the north, Shinano to the east, and Ise, Mikawa, and Owari to the south. Its abbreviated fo ...

(now the southern part of

Gifu Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located in the Chūbu region of Honshu. Gifu Prefecture has a population of 1,910,511 () and has a geographic area of . Gifu Prefecture borders Toyama Prefecture to the north; Ishikawa Prefecture ...

) as vanguard and general commander. In 679, while in Yoshino with his father, he swore to an oath of cooperation with his siblings. When

Empress Jitō was the 41st emperor of Japan, monarch of Japan,Imperial Household Agency (''Kunaichō'') 持統天皇 (41)/ref> according to the traditional List of Emperors of Japan, order of succession. Jitō's reign spanned the years from Jitō period, 68 ...

ascended to the throne in 686 he became the '' Daijō-daijin'' and handled government affairs. He died suddenly in 696, thought by some to be an assassination. He loved Princess Tōchi (his elder half-sister, Prince Ōtomo's wife). He left only three '' waka'' poems during his whole life, but they were all poetry offered to her.

Family

Parents *Father:

(天武天皇, c. 631 – 1 October 686) *Mother: Munakata no Amako-no-iratsume (胸形尼子娘), unakata-no-Kimi Tokuzen's daughter Consorts and issues * Consort (''Hi''): Princess Minabe (御名部皇女), Emperor Tenji's daughter and Empress Genmei's full-sister **First Son:

Prince Nagaya Nagaya ( ') (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 Tenmu). His father was Prince Takechi and his mother Princess Minabe (a daughter of Emperor ...

(長屋王 , 684 – 20 March 729) **Second Son: Prince Suzuka (鈴鹿王, d. 3 October 745) * Consort (Hi): Princess Tajima (但馬皇女),

's daughter and Prince Takechi's half-sister *Unknown mother **Third Son: Prince Kadobe (門部王) **First Daughter: Princess Yamagata (山形女王, d. 5 October 745) **Second Daughter: Princess Kawachi (河内女王, d. 5 February 780) **Third Daughter: Princess Hinokuma (檜前女王)

References

*Yoshida Takashi 吉田隆 (1999), 飛鳥・奈良時代 ''Asuka Nara Jidai (Asuka and Nara Period)'', Iwanami Junior Shinsho, p. 71 650s births 696 deaths Sons of Japanese emperors {{Japan-royal-stub