Fujiwara no Miyako

Fujiwara no Miyako was a daughter of the minister Fujiwara no Fuhito and an elder sister of the future Empress Kōmyō. She became Emperor Monmu's consort in 697 and gave birth in 701 to Prince Obito, later Emperor Shōmu. His accession in 724 made her position as the sovereign's mother a matter of both household status and law. Prince Nagaya questioned the form of her new title, which the court then adjusted. [S01]

The Shoku Nihongi, a court chronicle completed in 797, describes Miyako as having withdrawn from ordinary human affairs after her son's birth and not having met him. It credits the monk Genbō with her recovery and records mother and son meeting at the empress's residence in 737. This is the chronicle's account of illness and recovery, rather than a modern medical diagnosis or independent proof of a miraculous cure. The meeting brought Miyako into a public occasion of celebration and rewards for Genbō and officials serving her household. [S02, S03]

After Shōmu's daughter became Empress Kōken in 749, Miyako received the title of grand empress dowager. She died in 754. The chronicle records the cancellation of the following year's New Year audience during mourning. Her life left traces in royal titles, household service and commemorative observance, as well as in the account of her long separation from her son. [S01, S02]