Born: 9 January 1624, Japan
Died: 4 December 1696
Country most active: Japan
The following bio was written by Emma Rosen, author of On This Day She Made History: 366 Days With Women Who Shaped the World and This Day In Human Ingenuity & Discovery: 366 Days of Scientific Milestones with Women in the Spotlight, and has been republished with permission.
Empress Meishō (明正天皇, Meishō-tennō) was the 109th monarch of Japan, reigning from January 9, 1624, to December 4, 1696. She was the seventh of eight women to become empress regnant in Japanese history.
Before her reign, Empress Meishō was known as Okiko (興子) and held the title Onna-Ichi-no-miya (女一宮). She was born in Kyoto, Kyoto Prefecture, as the second daughter of Emperor Go-Mizunoo and Tokugawa Masako, the daughter of Tokugawa Hidetada.
During her rule, Japan experienced significant events, including the development of the Tokugawa shogunate under Tokugawa Iemitsu, the “Purple Robe Incident,” and the banning of Christianity in Japan.
Empress Meishō reigned for fifteen years, making her one of the few reigning empresses in Japanese history. She passed away at 72 and is venerated in the imperial mausoleum at Tsuki no wa no misasagi in Kyoto, alongside her father and other Imperial successors.
This biography, written by Gabby Storey, is shared with permission from Team Queens, an educational history blog run by a collective of historical scholars. All rights reserved; this material may not be republished without the author’s consent.
Meishō was born 9 January c.1624/26 to Emperor Go-Mizunoo and Tokugawa Masako, who was the daughter of the second Tokugawa shōgun, Tokugawa Hidetada, whose father was the first Tokugawa shōgun.
Meishō became empress regnant aged 5 on 22 December 1629 following the abdication of her father. Go-Mizunoo abdicated following his bestowal of honorific purple garments to ten priests, which was banned at the time.
Meishō reigned for fifteen years until she abdicated in favour of her half-brother Go-Kōmyō. During her reign she faced religious rebellion and revolts which were forcefully dealt with, though the extent of her involvement in this quelling is unclear.
Meishō does not appear to have married, and produced no children, therefore being succeeded by her half-brother Go-Kōmyō. She was the seventh empress regnant in Japanese history. She died on 4 December 1696 and was buried at the imperial mausoleum, Tsuki no wa no misasagi, Kyoto.
Meishō’s reign, like that of the other empresses regnant, is interesting because of their accession and succession – with the exception of one, all empresses regnant chose a male successor as their heir.
Recommended Reading
Atsuko Hirai, Government by Mourning: Death and Political Integration in Japan, 1603-1912 (Cambridge: Harvard University Asia Center, 2014)
Marius B. Jansen, The Making of Modern Japan (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2000)
Richard Ponsonby-Fane, The Imperial House of Japan (Kyoto: Posonby Memorial Society, 1959)