Kōken Abdicates and Junnin Accedes

Empress Kōken transferred the throne to Prince Ōi in 758. He became Emperor Junnin. Fujiwara no Nakamaro, a senior minister with close connections to Empress Dowager Kōmyō, had helped advance Ōi's claim and now gained further influence under the new sovereign. Nakamaro received the name Emi no Oshikatsu in the same year.

Kōken's abdication did not end her political authority. The new court operated alongside a retired empress whose dynastic position and access to officials remained substantial. Junnin's association with Nakamaro gave the minister a powerful route to influence, but the reigning sovereign and retired sovereign were not interchangeable offices.

Their relationship deteriorated in the following years. In 762, Kōken publicly claimed responsibility for major affairs, leaving routine business to Junnin. In 764, Nakamaro's armed challenge was defeated and Junnin was deposed. Those later conflicts were not already settled by the 758 transfer; they show how the coexistence of the two sovereigns developed into a contest over authority.