Emperor Junna

Posthumous name
	Japanese style: Yamato-neko-ame-no-takazuruiyatoo no Mikoto (日本根子天高譲弥遠尊),; also Saiin no Mikado (西院帝); Chinese style: Emperor Junna (淳和天皇)

Junna
Junna
Emperor of Japan
Reign	29 May 823 – 22 March 833
Enthronement	30 May 823
Predecessor	Saga
Successor	Ninmyō
Born	Ōtomo (大伴); c. 785
Died	11 June 840 (aged 54–55); Heian Kyō (Kyōto)
Burial	Ōharano no nishi no minenoe no misasagi (Kyoto)
Spouse	Princess Shoshi/Masako; Princess Koshi; (among others);
Issue	See below
Posthumous name
	Japanese style: Yamato-neko-ame-no-takazuruiyatoo no Mikoto (日本根子天高譲弥遠尊),; also Saiin no Mikado (西院帝); Chinese style: Emperor Junna (淳和天皇)
House	Yamato
Father	Emperor Kanmu
Mother	Fujiwara no Tabiko

Emperor Junna (淳和天皇, Junna-tennō, c. 785 – 11 June 840) was the 53rd emperor of Japan,[1] according to the traditional order of succession.[2] Junna reigned from 823 to 833.[3]

Traditional narrative

Junna had six Empresses and Imperial consorts and 13 Imperial sons and daughters.[4] His personal name (imina) was Ōtomo (大伴).[5]

Junna is traditionally venerated at his tomb; the Imperial Household Agency designates Ōharano no Nishi no Minenoe no Misasagi (大原野西嶺上陵, Ōharano no Nishi no Minenoe Imperial Mausoleum), in Nishikyō-ku, Kyoto, as the location of Junna's mausoleum.[1]

Events of Junna's life

810: After the rebellion of Emperor Heizei, he became the crown prince of Emperor Saga at 25 years of age.[4]
30 May 823[6] (Kōnin 14, 17th day of the 4th month[7]): In the 14th year of Emperor Saga's reign, he abdicated; the succession (senso) was received by Junna, Saga's younger brother and Emperor Kanmu's third son.[8]
22 March 833 (Tenchō 10, 28th day of the 2nd month[9]): In the 10th year of Emperor Junna's reign, the emperor abdicated; and the succession (senso) was received by his adopted son. Shortly thereafter, Emperor Ninmyo is said to have acceded to the throne. After Junna stepped down from the throne, two former Emperors were alive. In this period, Saga was called the Senior Retired Emperor and Junna was known as the Junior Retired Emperor.[8]
11 June 840 (Jōwa 7, 8th day of the 5th month[10]: Former-Emperor Junna died at the age of 55.[11] Following his death, Fujiwara no Yoshifusa maneuvered to have Montoku, rather than the crown prince Tsunesada, put on the throne; Junna's death set the stage for the Fujiwara clan's ascendancy.[12]

Eras of Junna's reign

The years of Junna's reign are more specifically identified by more than one era name (nengō).[13]

Kōnin (810–824)
Tenchō (824–834)

Kugyō

Kugyō (公卿) is a collective term for the very few most powerful men attached to the court of the Emperor of Japan in pre-Meiji eras.[14]

In general, this elite group included only three to four men at a time. These were hereditary courtiers whose experience and background would have brought them to the pinnacle of a life's career. During Junna's reign, this apex of the Daijō-kan included:

Sadaijin, Fujiwara no Fuyutsugu (藤原冬嗣), 825–826.[4]
Sadaijin, Fujiwara no Otsugu (藤原緒嗣), 832–843.[4]
Udaijin, Fujiwara no Otsugu (藤原緒嗣), 825–832.
Udaijin, Kiyohara no Natsuno (清原夏野), 832–837.[4]
Naidaijin (not appointed)
Dainagon, Fujiwara no Otsugu (藤原緒嗣), 821–825.
Dainagon, Yoshimine no Yasuyo (良峯安世) (half brother of Emperor Junna), 828–830.
Dainagon, Kiyohara no Natsuno (清原夏野), 828–832
Dainagon, Fujiwara no Mimori (藤原三守), 829–838

Consorts and children

Empress: Imperial Princess Shōshi/Masako (正子内親王; 810–879), Emperor Saga's daughter

Second Son: Imperial Prince Tsunesada (恒貞親王), the Crown Prince (deposed in 842)
Third Son: Imperial Prince Motosada (基貞親王; 827–869)
Fourth Son: Imperial Prince Tsunefusa (恒統親王; 829-842)

Hi (Empress as posthumous honors): Imperial Princess Koshi (高志内親王; 789–809), Emperor Kanmu's daughter

First Son: Imperial Prince Tsuneyo (恒世親王; 806–826)
First Daughter: Imperial Princess Ujiko (氏子内親王; d.885), 16th Saiō in Ise Shrine (823–827)
Imperial Princess Yushi (有子内親王; d. 862)
Imperial Princess Sadako (貞子内親王: d. 834)

Court lady: Princess Otsugu (緒継女王; 787–847)

Nyogō: Nagahara no Motohime (永原原姫)

Nyogō: Tachibana no Ujiko (橘氏子), Tachibana no Nagana's daughter

Prince

Koui: Fujiwara no Kiyoko (藤原潔子), Fujiwara no Nagaoka's daughter

Court lady: Kiyohara no Haruko (清原春子), Kiyohara no Natsuno's daughter

Imperial Princess Meishi (明子内親王; d. 854)

Court lady: Ōnakatomi no Yasuko (大中臣安子), Ōnakatomi Fuchiio's daughter

Fifth Son: Imperial Prince Yoshisada (良貞親王; d. 848)

Court lady: Ōno no Takako (大野鷹子), Ōno no Masao's daughter

Imperial Princess Hiroko (寛子内親王; d. 869)

Court lady: Tachibana no Funeko (橘船子), Tachibana no Kiyono's daughter

Imperial Princess Takaiko (崇子内親王; d. 848)

Court lady: Tajihi no Ikeko (丹犀池子), Tajihi no Kadonari's daughter

Imperial Princess Tomoko (同子内親王; d. 860)

Unknown lady

Mune no Chushi (統忠子; d. 863), removed from the Imperial Family by receiving the family name from Emperor (Shisei Kōka, 賜姓降下) in 862.

Ancestry

[15]

Ancestors of Emperor Junna

16. Emperor Tenji (626–672)

8. Prince Shiki (d. 716)

17. Koshi-no-michi no Iratsume

4. Emperor Kōnin (709–782)

18. Ki no Morohito

9. Ki no Tochihime (d. 709)

19. Michi

2. Emperor Kanmu (737–806)

20. Yamato no Takesuke (c.660-?)

10. Yamato no Ototsugu

5. Takano no Niigasa (c. 720–790)

11. Haji no Maimo

1. Emperor Junna

24. Fujiwara no Fuhito (659–720)

12. Fujiwara no Umakai (694–737)

25. Soga no Shōshi

6. Fujiwara no Momokawa (732–779)

13. Kume no Wakame (d. 780)

3. Fujiwara no Tabiko (759–788)

28. Fujiwara no Umakai (694–737)

14. Fujiwara no Yoshitsugu (716–777)

29. Isonokami no Kunimina no Ōtoji

7. Fujiwara no Moroane

Notes

Japanese Imperial kamon — a stylized chrysanthemum blossom

Emperor Junna, Ōharano no Nishi no Minenoe Imperial Mausoleum, Imperial Household Agency
Ponsonby-Fane, Richard. (1959). The Imperial House of Japan, p. 64.
Brown and Ishida, pp.282–283; Varley, H. Paul. (1980). Jinnō Shōtōki, p. 164; Titsingh, Isaac. (1834). Annales des empereurs du Japon, pp. 102–106., p. 102, at Google Books
Brown and Ishida, p. 282.
Titsingh, p. 103; Brown and Ishida, p. 282.
Julian dates derived from NengoCalc
弘仁十四年四月十七日
Brown and Ishida, pp. 282–283.
天長十年二月二十八日
承和七年五月八日
Brown and Ishida, p. 283; Varely, p. 164.
Mason and Caiger, p. 69
Titsingh, p. 102.
Furugosho: Kugyō of Junna-tennō
"Genealogy". Reichsarchiv (in Japanese). Retrieved 28 January 2018.

References

Brown, Delmer M.; Ishida, Ichirō (1979). The Future and the Past (a translation and study of the Gukanshō, an interpretive history of Japan written in 1219). Berkeley: University of California Press. ISBN 978-0-520-03460-0. OCLC 251325323.
Imperial Household Agency (2004). 桓武天皇　大原野西嶺上陵 [Emperor Junna, Ōharano no Nishi no Minenoe Imperial Mausoleum] (in Japanese). Retrieved 2011-02-04.
Mason, R. H. P.; Caiger, J. G. (1997). A History of Japan (2nd (revised) ed.). North Clarendon, VT: Charles E. Tuttle Company. ISBN 0-8048-2097-X.
Kasai, Masaki. (1991). 公卿補任年表 (Kugyō Officials Chronological Table) Tokyo: Yamakawa Shuppan-sha. ISBN 4-634-60270-9; ISBN 978-4-634-60270-0; OCLC 166930357
Ponsonby-Fane, Richard Arthur Brabazon. (1959). The Imperial House of Japan. Kyoto: Ponsonby Memorial Society. OCLC 194887
Titsingh, Isaac. (1834). Nihon Ōdai Ichiran; ou, Annales des empereurs du Japon. Paris: Royal Asiatic Society, Oriental Translation Fund of Great Britain and Ireland. OCLC 5850691
Varley, H. Paul. (1980). Jinnō Shōtōki: A Chronicle of Gods and Sovereigns. New York: Columbia University Press. ISBN 978-0-231-04940-5; OCLC 59145842