The Division between Retired Empress Kōken and Junnin's Government

By 762, the court contained two sovereigns with competing claims to authority: Emperor Junnin, who had taken the throne in 758, and the retired Empress Kōken. Junnin was associated with Fujiwara no Nakamaro, the court's dominant minister. Kōken had meanwhile drawn close to the monk Dōkyō, who had attended her during an illness at Hora Palace.

When the court returned to Heijō, Junnin resided in the palace while Kōken stayed at Hokke-ji, a temple within the capital. She publicly declared that major affairs and the administration of rewards and punishments belonged to her, leaving routine matters to Junnin. This was a claim to divide government business according to its importance, rather than a second coronation.

The two establishments still required officials, messages, provisions, and guards. Kōken's temple residence did not place her outside the city's political network. The division made disagreement over who could issue a binding command increasingly serious; in 764, the contest broke into armed conflict when Nakamaro attempted to mobilize forces and Kōken's supporters moved against him.