Emperor Toba


Emperor Toba was the 74th Emperor of Japan, according to the traditional order of succession.
Toba's reign spanned the years from 1107 through 1123.

Genealogy

Before his ascension to the Chrysanthemum Throne, his personal name was Munehito-shinnō.
He was the son of Emperor Horikawa. His mother was Empress Dowager Fujiwara no Ishi
Toba had three Empresses, some consort ladies and 14 imperial sons and daughters.
When his mother died, his grandfather, former-Emperor Shirakawa, took him under his care and raised him.
During the initial years of Toba's reign, the actual power was held by his grandfather, the "retired" Emperor Shirakawa, in a process known as cloistered rule.
Kugyō is a collective term for the very few most powerful men attached to the court of the Emperor of Japan in pre-Meiji eras. Even during those years in which the court's actual influence outside the palace walls was minimal, the hierarchic organization persisted.
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 Toba's reign, this apex of the Daijō-kan included:
The years of Toba's reign are more specifically identified by more than one era name or nengō.