Dramatis Personae

Naka no Ōe（中大兄), aka Tenji Tennō (天智天皇)

Instigator of the Isshi Incident and the Taika Reforms, Naka no Ōe was a powerful figure at court even before he formally took the throne. He had many of his rivals eliminated and forcibly brought a new government structure to the Japanese archipelago. He moved the court to Ōtsu, on the shores of Lake Biwa. The Chronicles claim that he offered the state to Ōama, but they also suggest that this may not have been what he actually wanted. When Ōama refused, Naka no Ōe let him go become a monk and handed the state to his son, Ōtomo, instead.

Prince Ōama (大海人皇子)

Younger brother to Naka no Ōe, Prince Ōama doesn’t show up much until after Takara Hime’s death. He was five years Naka no Ōe’s junior, and named Crown Prince upon his brother’s formal ascension to the throne. He is mostly depicted in the narrative conveying the wishes of his brother and helping to promulgate various changes to the government structure.

Though he was named the Crown Prince, when Naka no Ōe fell ill, he renounced the title and ostensibly went to Yoshino to become a monk. This would allow Prince Ōtomo to charge of the government, instead. However, once Naka no Ōe passed away, Ōama still had a claim to the throne.

Prince Ōtomo (大友皇子), aka Kōbun Tennō (弘文天皇)

Prince Ōtomo, also known as Prince Iga (伊賀皇子) was the son of Naka no Ōe and an uneme, or palace woman—Iga no Uneme no Yakako. He was born in 648, and in 671 he was made the first Dajōdaijin (太政大臣), head of the Council of State (太政官) at roughly 23 years of age.

Upon the death of his father, Naka no Ōe, he took charge of Yamato along with the high ministers of the court. This would be known as the Ōmi (or Afumi) court, as it was based in Ōtsu, on the shores of Lake Biwa. He was eventually recognized, posthumously, as Kōbun Tennō.

Queen Yamatobime (倭姫)

Naka no Ōe’s queen, according to the Nihon Shoki. Prince Ōama suggested that she take charge of the government until Prince Ōtomo came of age, but it seems that this advice was not heeded. She is sometimes referred to as Yamatobime no Ōkimi, suggesting that maybe she was considered the sovereign for a time. She was the daugther of Furubito no Ōe, who had previously been killed for treason by her husband. Her name simply translates to something like “Princess Yamato”, which feels more like a title than a name she received at birth. There are poems attributed to her in the Man’yoshu, but she otherwise largely disappears from the narrative.

Soga no Akae (蘇我赤兄)

As Sadaijin, or Minister of the Left (左大臣), in the Ōmi court, he was one of the most powerful ministers, and supported Ōtomo, along with the Minister of the Right, Nakatomi no Kane, and other powerful ministers at the time.

Nakatomi no Kane (中臣金)

He was Udaijin, or Minister of the Right (右大臣). This was one of the two top positions in the court, overseeing many of the ministries of the Council of State for the Ōmi Court, the formal government of Yamato upon the death of Naka no Ōe.

Welcome to Sengoku Daimyo’s Chronicles of Japan. My name is Joshua, and this is episode 129:   The Jinshin no Ran, Part I: Prologue to War.
The long bridge at Uji arched over the river, like a wooden rainbow. Former Crown Prince Ohoama, his head shaved and wearing the garments of a monk, was carried over the bridge.   This was no simple priestly procession, however: he was accompanied by his entire household. Some on foot, and some on horseback. Even the kesa, once meant to be a symbol of priestly humility and simplicity, cried out that this was a man of wealth and power and status.
The procession made its way across the bridge, headed south, to the ancient Yamato capital and then on to the mountain passes beyond, where the cherry trees would bloom, come the spring. At the north end of the bridge, the high ministers and nobility of Yamato watched them go. The ministers of the Left and the Right stood in the cold, winter air, wrapped in their warmest clothing, but it wasn’t just the weather that was causing a chill. To some, this seemed a miracle—a clear sign that the succession would now be an easy one, with Ohoama taking himself off the board. But to others, they weren’t so sure.
While many of Yamato’s traditions had evolved or changed—or even been outright replaced by continental ideas—many still remembered how things had been. The bloody politics and power struggles that often accompanied any transition of power. Naka no Oe had risen to power in just such a fashion. Now that he was not long for this world, would his legacy be any less violent?
Greetings, everyone, and welcome back. Last episode we took you through the official reign of Naka no Oe, aka Tenji Tennou. Granted, this reign was only from 668 to 671, but Naka no Oe had already been putting his stamp on the state for over 33 years. Now, however, he was dead, as were those who had helped him implement his enormous changes, and with his death there was the question: Who would now ascend to the throne?
And that question brings us to today’s topic: The Jinshin no Ran, also known as the Jinshin War. This was a succession dispute that occurred in the year 672 following the death of Naka no Oe, between Naka no Oe’s son Ohotomo and his brother Ohoama. The name, “Jinshin”, is formed much as the name of the “Isshi” incident, using the sinified Japanese reading of the sexagenary cycle characters used for the year. 672 was a “Mizu-no-e Saru” year, or what we today might just call a “Water Monkey” year. Read together, these characters can be pronounced “Jinshin”, hence “Jinshin no Ran”.
Quick digression: That word “Ran”, indicating a war or similar martial disturbance, is the same character used as the title of the famous Kurosawa film that took Shakespear’s King Lear story and set it in the Warring States period of Japan. If you haven’t seen it, I highly recommend it—definitely a classic. Not exactly relevant here, but still worth it.
But back to the Jinshin War: we’re going to likely spend a few episodes on this, not just because it is important, but also because the record is fairly detailed, and I’d like to use it to really help us get an idea of what was going on. This episode we’ll look at the broad picture: some of the causes of the war and where things were, generally speaking, just before the major campaigns kicked off.
Of course, this isn’t the first succession dispute in the Chronicles, but this one is incredibly detailed, and especially importantbecause it goes to the heart of the legitimacy of the royal family—the imperial family—for at least the next century. To a certain extent, I would also suggest that it was exactly the kind of thing that the Nihon Shoki was created to address: an official history as propaganda for the Japanese court, telling the court approved story of the royal family and providing justification as to why they are in power. Along the way it also props up the lineages of other elites.
So let’s go over the basic story of the conflict before we get into the details. I know, I know: spoilers. But I think it will help to have context for what we are talking about right now.
To try to summarize: Ohoama, Naka no Oe’s brother, is mentioned as the Crown Prince throughout Naka no Oe’s reign, but just before Naka no Oe’s death, Ohoama declined the position and went to Yoshino to become a Buddhist monk. This allowed Naka no Oe’s son, Prince Ohotomo, the current Dajo Daijin, or head of the council of state, to run the government and eventually take the throne. However, shortly into Prince Ohotomo’s reign, Ohoama raised an army and fought with Ohotomo and the court at Ohotsu-kyo, known as the Afumi court. After a couple of months of intense fighting, Ohoama defeated the Afumi forces and Ohotomo. Ohoama would go on to take the throne, becoming known as Temmu Tennou. He is credited with starting the projects that culminated in the creation of the Kojiki and the Nihon Shoki.
On the surface, this could easily look like a simple case of usurpation—especially if you come from a cultural background where sons are expected to inherit from their fathers, as is common in many European monarchies. However, we have to remind ourselves that this isn’t Europe. For centuries, succession in Yamato had been much more chaotic than that. Often succession went not to a son or daughter, but first to a brother, and even then it didn’t necessarily go to the oldest brother, or to the oldest child. Even designating an heir wasn’t a guarantee that, after a ruler’s death, someone else wouldn’t come along and change things by force.
Of course, the Nihon Shoki appears to lay out various rules for succession. In most cases, your mother has to be descended—however distantly—from a previous sovereign. Also, inheritance typically doesn’t come at the attainment of adulthood. It isn’t like someone turns 20 and they are suddenly eligible. We see plenty of reigns that are passed off as regencies—that is, the sovereign is legally just a caretaker for the throne until the true heir comes of age. Perhaps the most famous of these is Okinaga Tarashi Hime, aka Jingu Tenno, who supposedly held the throne from the death of her husband until their son, Homuda Wake, aka Ojin Tenno, was of age. But it isn’t like she just abdicated. In fact, I don’t think we’ve seen a single example where a regent has abdicated the throne. The only real abdication that we see is in 645, when Takara Hime, known as Kogyoku Tenno during her first reign, abdicated after the Isshi Incident.
There are also plenty of examples of possible claimants to the throne who certainly seem like they may have been supremely qualified for the position who end up dying or being killed, sometimes with the specific claim that they were trying to usurp the throne. The most recent example is Furubito no Oe, who likely was in line to inherit the throne from Takara Hime prior to the Isshi Incident. It doesn’t help that the Chronicle often only calls people by their titles: so it is the “Crown Prince” who does such and such, or it is “the sovereign”—without explicitly naming who that person is. Of course, this is sometimes made clear by context, but that can’t always be relied upon.
This is compounded by the fact that at this time, Wa cultural norms were being overwritten by continental concepts of propriety and morality, with the growth of reading and continental works introducing many people to the discourses of Confucius and others. Borrowing governmental structures and ideas from a Confucian state meant that Confucian ideals would get pulled along as well, even if those structures and ideas weren’t strictly Confucian. An example is the importance of filial piety, and so-called “Proper” relationships between people. In some cases Confucian or even Buddhist concepts were used to explain and rationalize existing traditions, and in others they were used to provide a counter-narrative. Thus the world described by the Nihon Shoki is one that was no doubt much more comprehensible to an 8th century member of court than to someone from the 3rd.
I say all that so that we can keep an eye out for the Chroniclers’ bias and perhaps give some thought to what might not have gotten written down.
The creation of the Ritsuryo state was the culmination of over 33 years of work. During that time, the Yamato court had centralized their power and control. The Chronicles, looking back at the end of the process, report this as a good thing, and it is hard to argue that these reforms truly did lead to the country of Japan as we know it, today.
However, it probably wasn’t all lollipops and rainbows.   The centralization of authority received pushback, and we see the center flexing its military might as well as legal and moral authority. The new Ritsuryo state claimed a much greater control over land and resources than any previous government had done or been able to do. Even if the 5th century sovereign Wakatakeru no Ohokimi, aka Yuryaku Tenno, had people at his court from Kyushu to Kanto, influence isn’t the same as control. Up until the Ritsuryo reforms, it appears that local administrators had a lot of leeway in terms of what happened in their local domains. After all, what could Yamato do about it? As long as “taxes” were paid, then there was no reason for Yamato to otherwise interfere with local events, and even if there were, who would they get to enforce their will?
But In the Ritsuryo system, at least conceptually, the State had local governors who reported back to the central authority. These governors were set apart from the Kuni no Miyatsuko, the traditional local authority, and their income was tied to the court.
Moreover, this system wasn’t just tradition and the whims of the elites: it was codified in written laws and punishments. In fact, the Record of the Fujiwara—the Toushi Kaden—claims that the entire legal code was written down in 668 by their patriarch, Nakatomi no Kamatari, prior to his death. There are also other references to this compilation, known to us as the “Oumi Code”, referencing the region that the court had moved to: Afumi, around Lake Biwa. Unfortunately, we don’t have any extant copies of what, exactly, the Code said, other than various laws explicitly noted in the Nihon Shoki. Still, we can assume that it was probably similar to later codes, which would have been using the Oumi code as a base from which to work from.
The new authority for this code descended from the throne, based on continental and even Confucian concepts of the State. And Naka no Oe had no doubt been the one to help maintain continuity over the past three decades. Now he was dead, so what came next?
Well based on what we have in the Nihon Shoki, that should be obvious: His brother, the Crown Prince, Ohoama, would take the throne, wouldn’t he? After all, he was the designated Crown Prince, and he had been in that role, promulgating orders, and otherwise acting as we might expect, at least since Naka no Oe had given up the position.
And yet, it seems there was some doubt. After all, while a brother—or sister—inheriting the throne was hardly unheard of, Naka no Oe did have children of his own. Most importantly, there was his son, Prince Ohotomo. Ohotomo was only about 23 years old, but he had been made the Dajoudaijin, the head of the Council of State, which one would think would put him in a position of tremendous authority.
Naka no Oe apparently had some inkling that there could be a succession dispute upon his death. And so, two months after he had taken ill, as it became painfully obvious that he might not recover, he called in his brother, Crown Prince Ohoama, and he told him clearly that it was his intention to have his brother succeed him on the throne.
Before going much further, I would note that the entries in the Nihon Shoki that speak to this incident are spread across two different books in that chronicle. Part of it takes part in the chronicle of Tenji Tennou (Naka no Oe), but then the reign of Temmu Tennou (Ohoama) is actually broken up into two books, the first of which is often considered the history of the Jinshin Ran, while the second is really Temmu’s reign. And in some cases we get slightly different versions of the same event.    The Nihon Shoki was written less than 50 years after the events being discussed, so likely by people who had actual memory of what happened, it was also propaganda for the regime in power at the time. So as we read through the events, we have to be critical about our source and what it is telling us.
To that end, I’ll mostly start out with the narrative as it appears in the Nihon Shoki, and then we can look back and see what else might be going on if we make some assumptions that the Chroniclers may not be the most reliable of narrators for these events.
Anyway, getting back to the story as we have it in the Nihon Shoki: So the person sent to fetch Prince Ohoama to come see his brother, the sovereign, was a man by the name of Soga no Yasumaru. And Yasumaru brought not only the summons, but a warning, as well. He told Prince Ohoama to “think before you speak”. This suggested to Ohoama that there was some kind of plot afoot.
And lest we forget, for all that Naka no Oe is often put up on a pedestal for his role in the Taika reforms and founding the nation—even the posthumous name they gave him was the “Sovereign of Heavenly Wisdom”—that pedestal he stands on is covered in blood. Naka no Oe’s political career starts with the brazen murder of Soga no Iruka in full view of all the gathered nobility, and is immediately followed with him marshalling forces against Soga no Emishi, who set fire to his own house rather than surrender.
And then, shortly into the Taika period, Naka no Oe had his own brother, Furubito no Oe, killed so that he wouldn’t be a threat. And later, when he just heard a rumor that Soga no Ishikawa no Maro—his father-in-law, Prime Minister of the Right, and co-conspirator—was having treasonous thoughts, he gathered up forces to have him and his family murdered.
And though it may have been a bit less bloody, let’s not forget his apparent falling out with his uncle, Karu, where he left the giant palace complex at Naniwa and took the entire royal family to Asuka against his uncle, the sovereign’s, wishes.
Add to that the note from the Fujiwara family records, the Toushi Kaden, about the party at the “shore pavilion” where Ohoama spiked a spear through a plank of wood which rattled Naka no Oe enough that he was contemplating having him taken out right there. According to that account, it was only the intervention of Nakatomi no Kamatari that saved Ohoama’s life. Even if it weren’t true, it likely illustrates something about how their relationship was viewed by others.
Given all of that, I think we can understand how Ohoama might not be entirely trusting of his older brother’s intentions.
So when that same brother offered him control of the government, Ohoama was suspicious. Perhaps it was because he was already the Crown Prince, the expected heir, so why would Naka no Oe be offering him the throne? Perhaps it was some kind of test of his loyalty?
And so Prince Ohoama declined. He claimed that he had always had bad health, and probably wouldn’t be a good choice. Instead, he put forward that the Queen, Yamatobime, should be given charge, and that Naka no Oe’s son, Prince Ohotomo, should be installed as the Crown Prince—the new successor to the throne. Furthermore, to demonstrate his resolve, he asked to be allowed to renounce the world and become a monk.
Indeed, immediately after the audience with his brother, Prince Ohoama went to the Buddhist hall in the palace itself and had his head shaved and took holy orders. He even gave up any private weapons that he might have—likely meaning not just his personal weapons, but any private forces that might be under his command. The sovereign himself sent his brother a kesa or clerical garment, apparently approving of—or at least accepting—his decision.
Two days later, Prince Ohoama went back to his brother and asked to be allowed to leave for Yoshino to go and practice Buddhism there. He was given permission and he headed out. The ministers of the left and right, that is Soga no Akae and Nakatomi no Kane, along with Soga no Hatayasu, a “Dainagon” or Chief Counselor, and others, all traveled with him all the way to Uji, where they saw him off. By evening he had made it as far as the Shima Palace, which is assumed to have been in Asuka—possibly at or near the site of the old Soga residence. The following day he was in Yoshino.
Arriving at Yoshino with his household, Prince Ohoama gave his servants a choice—those who wished could take orders and stay with him in Yoshino. Those with ambitions at the court, though, were allowed to return back to Ohotsu, presumably going to work for another family. At first, none of them wanted to leave his side, but he beseeched them a second time, and half of them decided to stay and become monks with him while half of them left, returning to the court.
As we mentioned earlier, another royal prince—and possibly crown prince—had taken a similar option back in the year 645. That was Prince Furubito no Oe, half-brother to Naka no Oe and Ohoama. We talked about that back in episode 109. As with that time, taking Buddhist orders and retiring from the world was meant to demonstrate that the individual was renouncing any claims on the throne and was no longer a threat to the succession.
The Nihon Shoki notes, though, that as Prince Ohoama was leaving Uji, some commented that it was like the saying: “Give a tiger wings and let him go.” The first part of that is no doubt referencing a saying still used in Mandarin, today: “Rúhǔtiānyì” or “Yǔhǔtiānyì, meaning to “add wings to a tiger”—in other words to take something strong and make it even more powerful. In this case, the choice to renounce the succession and leave court made Ohoama more powerful and then set him free to do what he wanted.
There is a lot of speculation around what actually happened. Prince Ohotomo had only recently come of age and been given the important position of Dajo Daijin. Still, he was also only 23 years old. Now, granted, Naka no Oe hadn’t been much older, himself, when he instigated the Isshi Incident, but most sovereigns aren’t mentioned as having come to the throne themselves until they were maybe 30 years old or more. Still, there is at least one theory that suggests that Naka no Oe wanted to have his brother, Ohoama, step aside and let Ohotomo take the throne. According to that theory, his request for Ohoama to succeed him as ruler eas a ruse to get Ohoama to admit his own ambition, which Naka no Oe could then use as a pretext to get rid of his brother.
There is another theory that Naka no Oe wanted Ohoama to step in as effectively regent: Ohoama would rule, but Ohotomo would then inherit after him.
Ohoama’s counterproposal is intriguing. He suggested that the affairs of state should be given to Yamato-bime, Naka no Oe’s queen, and that she should rule as regent until Ohotomo was ready. Of course, we have examples of something like this, most recently from the previous reign. Takara Hime came to the throne, originally, because her husband, who was the sovereign, passed away and their children were not yet of age to take the throne.
However, there is something interesting, here in the relationship between Yamato Bime and Ohotomo. Because while Yamato Bime was the queen, and daughter, herself, of Furubito no Oe, Ohotomo was not clearly of the proper parentage. He was not Yamato Bime’s son – she had no children herself - , but his mother was simply a “palace woman” named “Iga no Uneme no Yakako”. This suggests that she was an uneme from Iga named Yakako, and we are given no details about her parentage.    She is also listed as the last of Naka no Oe’s consorts, suggesting to the reader that she was the lowest in status. For this reason Ohotomo is known as the Iga Royal Prince, Iga no Miko.
Of course, there are plenty of reasons why the Chroniclers might not want to give any glory to Prince Ohotomo or his mother. After all, the story works out best if Ohoama should have just been the sovereign all along. And this could all be technically true—the best kind of true—while also omitting key details so that the reader draws a certain inference. The Chroniclers were pulling from lots of different sources, and you didn’t have to do a lot of changing things when you could just not put them in in the first place. In other cases we know that they changed the records, because we see them using anachronistic language that doesn’t make sense if drawn from a contemporary record.
And so we have at least a couple of theories of what might be going on here, beyond just the straight narrative.   One idea is that Naka no Oe wanted Ohotomo to inherit all along, and perhaps he thought Ohoama could be a regent to help him out once Naka no Oe passed away. Or maybe he just wanted Ohoama out of the way. There is also the theory that the Nihon Shoki is, in fact, correct, that Naka no Oe wanted to give the state to Ohoama, but the latter refused, either misunderstanding Naka no Oe’s intentions or perhaps gauging the feeling at court—perhaps it wasn’t Naka no Oe that Ohoama was worried about, but rather some of the high nobles and officials?   It is probably telling that Ohoama’s reported solution was to have Yamato-bime act as regent, with Ohotomo eventually inheriting.
Whatever the actual reason, Ohoama declined Ohoama headed off to self-imposed exile in Yoshino.
Meanwhile, back in Afumi in the Ohotsu capital, Ohotsu-kyo, Ohotomo was now the de facto Crown Prince. We are told that on the 23rd day of the 11th month of 671 he took his place in front of the embroidery figure of Buddha in the Western Hall of the Dairi, the royal quarters of the Ohotsu Palace. He was attended by the Minister of the Left, Soga no Akaye, the Minister of the Right, Nakatomi no Kane, as well as Soga no Hatayasu, Kose no Hito, and Ki no Ushi. Taking up an incense burner, Ohotomo made a vow that the six of them would obey the sovereign’s commands, lest they be punished by the various Buddhist and local deities.
These five ministers, along with Ohotomo, are going to show up again and again.   Moving forward, they would manage the government, and would be generally referred to as the Afumi court. And it is clear that the Chroniclers laid the blame for anything that might happen at their feet.
The Afumi court would continue court business as usual, and they were immediately thrown into the thick of it. For instance, they were likely the ones to entertain the Tang envoys that arrived that same month. You see, the priest Douku (or possibly “Doubun”), along with Tsukushi no Kimi no Satsuyama, Karashima no Suguri no Sasa, and Nunoshi no Obito no Iwa, had finally made it back from their journey to the mainland. They brought with them Guo Wucong along with an embassy from the Tang court that numbered approximately 600 members, as well as ambassador Sathek Sonteung, of Silla, with his own embassy of about 1400 people. This enormous entourage sailed in 47 ships, and they had anchored at the island of Hijishima.   The Governor of Tsushima, responsible for being the first line of met with them. Given then number fo ships, they didn’t want it to look like it was a hostile invasion, so the governor sent a letter to Prince Kurikuma, the viceroy of Tsukushi, to let him know what was happening. Prince Kurikuma had them send Doubun and others ahead to the capital, so that they could let the court know that a massive embassy had arrived, and to prepare the way for them. However, with the sovereign in extremely poor health, and the court otherwise preoccupied with preparations for what might come next, , they kept the embassy at Tsukushi, for the time being. We are told that that they sent presents on the 29th for the king of Silla, but no indication of them being brought to the court.
Enormous foreign embassies aside, the Afumi court had plenty to deal with close to home. It didn’t help that the day after Ohotomo and the ministers had gathered to make their oaths, a fire broke out in the Ohotsu palace, apparently originating with the third storehouse of the treasury.    Several days later, the five ministers, attending the Crown Prince, Ohotomo, made oaths of loyalty in the presence of Naka no Oe, whose condition was only growing worse. And four days later, on the third day of the fourth month, Naka no Oe passed away. He was then temporarily interred in what is referred to as the “New Palace”.
And contrary to what Ohoama had suggested, there is no indication that Queen Yamato-bime was installed as any kind of regent. Instead it seems as if Ohotomo was just jumping in and taking the reins. Granted, he also had the Council of State to lean on, so there’s that.
The Chronicles are pretty quiet for a couple of months after Naka no Oe’s death, and then we are told that Adzumi no Muraji no Inashiki was sent to Tsukushi to let the Tang ambassador Guo Wucong know the news. We are told that on the 18th day of the 3rd month, Guo Wucong, I presume having made it to Ohotsu, publicly mourned the late sovereign. Three days later, on the 21st, he made obeisance at the court, presumably to Ohotomo, and offered up a box with a letter from the Tang emperor and various presents in token of goodwill for the sovereign of Yamato. A couple of months later, the Afumi court returned the favor, presenting armor, bows, and arrows as well as cloth, floss, and silk. Later in that same 5th month, Guo Wucong and his people departed for the continent.
And here is where we hit one of the big questions of this whole thing: Had Ohotomo been formally invested as sovereign, yet? We clearly see that he had his father’s ministers on his side, and they were running things. Then again, it took years after Takara Hime’s death before Naka no Oe, himself, formally stepped up. It is quite possible that Ohotomo was not yet invested, and perhaps that was, in part, because there was another person with a claim who was still alive. It is hard to say.
What we do know is that the consensus opinion for centuries was that Ohotomo was never formally invested as sovereign. He is certainly seen as having inherited the governance of the kingdom, but he was never considered one of the official sovereigns. That all changed in relatively recent times. In fact, it wasn’t until 1870, the early years of the Meiji period, that Prince Ohotomo was given a posthumous title and regnal name: Koubun Tennou. Today, the Imperial Household Agency and some historians consider Ohotomo to have been an official sovereign, but that isn’t everyone. If he was, though, much what we see would have been happening at his court.
That same month that Guo Wucong departed, Prince Ohoama got wind that something hinky was afoot. Ohoama was residing as a monk in Yoshino, but by all accounts he still had half of his household staff, his wives, and family, all with him. Also, as the former Crown Prince, he clearly had friends and allies. After all, he was still a member of the royal household.
And so it was in the 5th month that he heard from one Yenewi no Muraji no Wogimi that there was something amiss. For one thing, the Afumi court had called up laborers to build the tomb for Naka no Oe, but word was that they had issued those so-called laborers with weapons rather than tools. Wogimi seemed worried that they were preparing to do something about Ohoama. After all, even though he had theoretically retired from the world, as long as he was alive, he still had a claim on the throne, similar to the problem of Prince Furubito no Oe back in 645.
Someone else told Ohoama that they noticed pickets were being set up in various places between the Afumi and Yamato—another sign that the Afumi court was apparently expecting some kind of military action. Furthermore, the guards at the Uji bridge were no longer allowing supplies bound for Yoshino and Ohoama’s household.
It seemed clear that something was up, and so Ohoama made an announcement: while he had renounced the royal dignity and retired from the world, it was only because of his poor health and a desire to live a long and happy life. If that life was being threatened by forces outside of his control, then why would he let himself be taken quietly?
From that point, he seems to have started plotting and gathering forces of his own, in case things came to a head. Of course, there are those who suggest that, in truth, Ohoama had been plotting and raising forces ever since he started his exile in Yoshino—or at least since his father passed away. Indeed, once things kick off, you’ll notice how quickly people are levying troops, as if spontaneously deciding to support Ohoama’s cause, and I would suggest that there was probably lot of back and forth that we just don’t see because it was never recorded.
Things reached a tipping point on the 22nd day of the 6th month. That is when Ohoama gave orders to three of his vassals, Murakami no Muraji no Woyori, Wanibe no Omi no Kimide, and Muketsu no Kimi no Hiro. He claimed that the Afumi Court was plotting against him, so he asked his vassals to go to the land of Mino—modern Gifu prefecture—and to reach out to Oho no Omi no Honeji, the governor of the Ahachima district hot springs—now the area of Anpachi. Honeji was to levy soldiers and set them out on the Fuwa road—this was the road from Mino to Afumi, and was one of the few ways in and out of Afumi region.
As we’ve mentioned in the past, the benefit of Ohotsu-kyo was its naturally defended position. Lake Biwa is surrounded on all sides by mountains, and there were only a few ways in and out. The Fuwa Pass is at the edge of a location that you may have heard of: today we know that region as Sekigahara. That is because it was one of several seki, or barriers, set up to help check movements across the archipelago. To the south, one could also use the Suzuka pass, where there would likewise be set up the Suzuka no Seki, or Suzuka barrier. Suzuka was accessible from Afumi via the regions of Koga and Iga. There was also the Afusaka no Seki, between Afumi and the area of modern Kyoto, and the Arachi no Seki, between Afumi and Tsuruga, on the Japan Sea—where many of the Goguryeo missions had arrived.
Of these, the Afusaka barrier and the Fuwa barrier were probably the most well known and most heavily traveled. Control of the Fuwa pass would be critical throughout Japan’s history, controlling much of the traffic between eastern and western Japan. Hence why, over 900 years later, another fight would come to a head here, as the battle of Sekigahara would see Tokugawa Ieyasu’s eastern forces defeating the western army of Ishida Mitsunari. That battle is seen as a decisive victory that birthed the Tokugawa shogunate, who would rule Japan for the next 250 years.
So for Ohoama, having Honeji and his men take control of the Fuwa barrier was critical, as it would limit the Afumi court’s ability to levy forces in the eastern provinces.
A few days later, Ohoama was himself about to move out, but his advisors stopped him. They were worried about heading east without an army, yet. Ohoama agreed, and he wished that he hadn’t sent Woyori out just yet—Woyori was someone he trusted, militarily. Instead, however, he had to make do. And so he had Ohokida no Kimi no Yesaka, Kibumi no Muraji no Ohotomo, and Afu no Omi no Shima go to Prince Takasaka, who was in charge of the Wokamoto Palace in Asuka, and apply for posting bells—the tokens that would allow him and others use the various official post stations to supply them with provisions as they traveled.
Speaking of this palace, although the court had moved to Ohotsu, a palace was maintained in Asuka. After all, this was still seen as the “ancient capital” and the home to a lot of powerful families, so it makes sense that the royal family kept the palace in working order. It also appears to have functioned as the local government headquarters for the region, with Prince Takasaka, or Takasaka no Ou, at its head.
Asking for the posting bells was a test by Ohoama. If he received them, then great, it would give him the ability to travel to the east, where he could presumably raise troops to protect himself. However, if Prince Takasaka refused, then that would be a sign that the Afumi government had, indeed, sent word that Ohoama was not supposed to go anywhere. If that was to happen, then Afu no Shima would return to Yoshino to let Ohoama know, while Ohokida no Yesaka would go to Afumi to tell Ohoama’s sons, Prince Takechi and Prince Ohotsu, to make haste and meet him in Ise.
Sure enough, Prince Takasaka refused the posting bells, and so, on the 24th of the 6th month, Prince Ohoama made the decision to move. They left quickly—he didn’t even let anyone saddle a horse for him or prepare his carriage. He just started to head out on foot on a journey to the East.
That journey would set in motion the coming conflagration. Ohoama and his allies would quickly gather their forces in an incredibly short period of time, starting with a daring trek across the mountainous path between Yoshino and the land of Ise. At the same time, the Afumi court would levy their own forces. It was now a race for people and positions.
And to see how that race progressed, I’ll ask you to tune in next episode, when we take a look at the opening moves in the war for the throne of Yamato.Until then, thank you once again for listening and for all of your support.
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And that’s all for now. Thank you again, and I’ll see you next episode on Sengoku Daimyo’s Chronicles of Japan.

References

Bauer, M. (2020). The History of the Fujiwara House: A Study and Annotated Translation of the Tōshi Kaden. Amsterdam University Press.
https://doi.org/10.1017/9781912961191.
Kuramoto, Kazuhiro (2007). 壬申の乱. 吉川弘文館. ISBN 978-4-642-06312-8.
Aston, W. G. (1972). Nihongi, chronicles of Japan from the earliest times to A.D. 697. London: Allen & Unwin. ISBN0-80480984-4.