Empress Gemmei
Empress Gemmei (also
Empress Genmyō; 元明天皇
Genmei Tennō) (
661 – December 7, 721) was the 43rd
imperial ruler of
Japan, according to the traditional order of succession, and the fourth woman to hold such a position. She was a daughter of
Emperor Tenji and the wife of Crown Prince
Kusakabe no Miko, who was the son of
Emperor Temmu and
Empress Jitō. Kusakabe was also Gemmei's first cousin and her nephew. After their son
Emperor Mommu died in
707, she succeeded to the throne, in hopes of holding it until her grandson
Emperor Shōmu reached maturity. However, in
715, Gemmei abdicated in favor of Mommu's sister
Empress Genshō. Shōmu later succeeded Genshō.
In
708 she moved the capital of Japan from the Fujiwara Capital to the
Heijō Capital, just west of the modern city of
Nara, thus giving the
Nara period of Japanese history its name.
Empress Gemmei, along with court officials, is primarily responsible for the completion of the Kojiki in 712 A.D. Her father-in-law,
Emperor Temmu's initial attempts in 680 A.D. failed to finalize the publication before his death in 686 A.D., until she continued the commission of the
Kojiki during her reign.
#Japanese dates correspond to the traditional
lunisolar calendar used in Japan until 1873. December 7, 721 of the
Japanese calendar corresponds to
December 29,
721 of the
Julian calendar.
