Shirakawa’s Retired Court Becomes a Center of Government

After Emperor Shirakawa abdicated to his son Horikawa in 1086, he maintained a household with its own advisers, administrators and religious foundations. The in no chō, the retired sovereign’s household office, handled property and correspondence. Inzen were orders transmitted in the retired ruler’s name through his attendants.

This household had a material setting. The Toba detached palace south of Kyoto developed residences, temple halls, storehouses and quarters for its supporting population. Provincial governors helped finance and organize construction, and materials arrived from the provinces. Estates and temple patronage supported continuing household business; clerks gave decisions a documentary form that recipients could present in disputes.

The reigning emperor’s court and Fujiwara regents remained active. Fujiwara no Morozane served as Horikawa’s regent, while Shirakawa’s influence expanded over subsequent successions, especially when his grandson became Emperor Toba in 1107. A petition or appointment could thus involve several households. Effective retired rule depended on people able to transmit and enforce commands, and on revenue and heirs that lasted beyond the original abdication.