Emperor Kōnin

Prince Shirakabe, born in 709, was a son of Prince Shiki and Ki no Tochihime, and a grandson of Emperor Tenji. He held court rank from 737 and rose to senior counsellor during the rule of Tenmu's descendants. When Empress Shōtoku died in 770, Fujiwara no Nagate and Momokawa supported his selection as crown prince and accession as Emperor Kōnin. The Buddhist monk Dōkyō was removed to Shimotsuke, and the court official Wake no Kiyomaro was recalled from exile. [S01, S05, S06]

Kōnin's consort Princess Inoe, a daughter of Emperor Shōmu, became empress; Prince Osabe became crown prince in 771. In 772, accusations of cursing the emperor brought Inoe's deposition and Osabe's removal. The accusations record the grounds used against them, rather than proof that they practised sorcery. In 773, Prince Yamabe, whose mother was Takano no Niigasa, became crown prince. Inoe and Osabe died in confinement in 775. These changes redirected the succession within Kōnin's own family. [S02, S03]

His government abolished unnecessary offices outside the regular administrative code and sought to reduce expenditure and farmers' service burdens. Changes in military recruitment favoured prosperous farmers over physically weak conscripts. Its expansion in the northeast met resistance from communities the court called Emishi, including Iji no Azamaro’s rising in 780. [S04] These policies did not settle the frontier conflict. Illness led Kōnin to abdicate to Yamabe, Emperor Kanmu, in 781. He died in the final lunar month of that year, corresponding to 782 in Western dating. [S01]