, also known as , was a Japanese empress, the chief consort of

Emperor Saga was the 52nd emperor of Japan, Emperor Saga, Saganoyamanoe Imperial Mausoleum, Imperial Household Agency according to the traditional order of succession. Saga's reign lasted from 809 to 823. Traditional narrative Saga was the second son of ...

Ponsonby-Fane, Richard. (1959). ''The Imperial House of Japan,'' pp. 318-319. and the daughter of .Ponsonby-Fane, p. 319. She was de facto ruler of the empire between 833 and 850. The empress was a devout Buddhist. She founded the Buddhist Danrin-ji temple complex, and for this reason, she came to be called Danrin''-kōgō.'' She died in the 4th day of the 5th month of 850. Known for her renowned beauty in her life, on her deathbed, Empress Danrin requested her body to be left open to the environment for the public to see the effects of human decomposition. This event later became a popular Japanese folk legend and was later depicted by the 18th century painting
Nine Stages of Decomposition of the Heian Period Empress Danrin
.

Genealogy

Lady Kachiko was born to Tachibana no Kiyotomo and his wife, Taguchi Michihime. In June 809, Tachibana no Kachiko married the new emperor. The marriage produced seven children: two sons and five daughters. Her eldest son would succeed his father as Emperor of Japan and her eldest daughter married Prince Otomo, who later became Emperor Junna. *Husband:

(嵯峨天皇, Saga-tennō, October 3, 786 – August 24, 842) **Son: Imperial Prince Masara (正良親王) later Emperor Ninmyō **Daughter: Imperial Princess Seishi (正子内親王; 810–879), married to Emperor Junna **Daughter: Imperial Princess Hideko (秀子内親王; d. 850) **Son: Imperial Prince Hidera (秀良親王; 817–895) **Daughter: Imperial Princess Toshiko (俊子内親王; d. 826) **Daughter: Imperial Princess Yoshiko (芳子内親王; d. 836) **Daughter: Imperial Princess Shigeko (繁子内親王; d. 865)

In popular culture

In the acclaimed 2013 movie '' Avalokitesvara'', a loose adaptation of the Putuoshan genesis story, Ryoko Nakano starred as the Empress Dowager Tachibana Kachiko.

Notes

References

*Adolphson, Mikael S., Edward Kamens and Stacie Matsumoto. (2006)
''Heian Japan, Centers and Peripheries.''
Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press.
OCLC 71542885
*

Kōjien is a single-volume Japanese dictionary first published by Iwanami Shoten in 1955. It is widely regarded as the most authoritative dictionary of Japanese, and newspaper editorials frequently cite its definitions. As of 2007, it had sold 11 mi ...

, 6th edition * Ponsonby-Fane, Richard Arthur Brabazon. (1959)
''The Imperial House of Japan.''
Kyoto: Ponsonby Memorial Society
OCLC 194887
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tachibana no, Kachiko 786 births 850 deaths Japanese empresses consort Deified Japanese women Japanese Buddhist nuns 8th-century Buddhists 9th-century Buddhists 8th-century Japanese women 8th-century Japanese people 9th-century Japanese women Mothers of Japanese emperors