Empress Kōken

Empress of Japan

Abe 713

28 August 770(770-08-28) (56–57)

Posthumous nameJapanese style: Takano-no-hime no Sumeramikoto (高野姫天皇 ) Chinese style: Empress Kōken (孝謙天皇 ) also Empress Shōtoku (称徳天皇 )

Not to be confused with Prince Shōtoku. Empress of Japan Empress Kōken / Empress Shōtoku 孝謙天皇 / 称徳天皇 Empress of Japan (Kōken, first reign)Reign749–758EnthronementAugust 19, 749PredecessorShōmuSuccessorJunnin(Shōtoku, second reign)Reign764–770EnthronementJanuary 26, 765PredecessorJunninSuccessorKōninBornAbe (阿倍 ) 713Died28 August 770(770-08-28) (aged 56–57)BurialTakano no misasagi (Nara)HouseYamatoFatherEmperor ShōmuMotherEmpress Kōmyō Empress Kōken (孝謙天皇 , Kōken-tennō, 718 – August 28, 770) , also known as Empress Shōtoku (称徳天皇 , Shōtoku-tennō) , was the 46th (with Empress Kōken name) and the 48th monarch of Japan (with Empress Shōtoku name), 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 (priestly emperor) 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 (Heijō). 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.