Empress Kōken, also known as Empress Shōtoku, was the 46th and the 48th monarch of Japan, according to the traditional order of succession. Empress Kōken first reigned from 749 to 758, then, following the Fujiwara no Nakamaro Rebellion, she reascended the throne as Empress Shōtoku from 765 until her death in 770. Empress Kōken was involved in an affair with priest Dōkyō and appointed him Grand Minister in 764. In 766, he was promoted to Hōō and in 770 had tried to ascend the throne by himself. The death of the Empress and resistance from the aristocracy destroyed his plans. This incident was a reason for the later move of the Japanese capital from Nara. In the history of Japan, Kōken/Shōtoku was the sixth of eight women to take on the role of empress regnant. The five female monarchs before Kōken/Shōtoku were Suiko, Kōgyoku/Saimei, Jitō, Genmei and Genshō, and the two women sovereigns reigning after Kōken/Shōtoku were Meishō and Go-Sakuramachi.
August 19, 749 : In the 25th year of Shōmu-tennō 's reign, the emperor renounced his throne and the succession was received by his daughter. Shortly thereafter, Kōken is said to have acceded to the throne.
757: Conspiracy to overthrow Empress Kōken was not successful.
764: In the sixth year of Junnin-tennō 's reign, the emperor was deposed by his adoptive mother, and the succession was received by former-Empress Kōken.
January 26, 765 : Kōken formally reascended the throne as Empress Shōtoku.
August 28, 770 (: Empress Shōtoku died at age 57, leaving the throne vacant. She was succeeded by her first cousin twice removed, Emperor Kōnin. Empress Shōtoku had reigned for five years.
Eras of her reigns
The years of Kōken's reign are more specifically identified by more than one era name.
Tenpyō-kanpō
Tenpyō-shōhō
Tenpyō-hōji
The years of Shōtoku's reign are more specifically identified by more than one era name.
Tenpyō-hōji
Tenpyō-jingo
Jingo-keiun
Legacy
Koken's reign was turbulent, and she survived coup attempts by both Tachibana no Naramaro and Fujiwara no Nakamaro. Today, she is remembered chiefly for her alleged affair with a Buddhist monk named Dōkyō, a man she honored with titles and power. An oracle from Usa Shrine, the shrine of the kami Hachiman in Usa, is said to have proclaimed that the monk should be made emperor; but when the empress sent Wake no Kiyomaro to verify the pronouncement, Hachiman decreed that only one of imperial blood should ascend to the throne. As with the seven other reigning empresses whose successors were most often selected from amongst the males of the paternal imperial bloodline, she was followed on the throne by a male cousin, which is why some conservative scholars argue that the women's reigns were temporary and that male-only succession tradition must be maintained in the 21st century. Empress Genmei, who was followed on the throne by her daughter, Empress Genshō, remains the sole exception to this conventional argument. She is also known for sponsoring the Hyakumantō Darani, one of the largest productions of printed works in early Japan. Otagi Nenbutsu-ji, a Buddhist temple in the Arashiyama neighborhood of Kyoto, was founded by Shōtoku in the middle of the eighth century.
Kugyō
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. 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 Kōken's reign, this apex of the Daijō-kan included:
