Prince Kusakabe

Prince Kusakabe was a son of Emperor Tenmu and Princess Uno, subsequently Empress Jitō. His mother was a daughter of Emperor Tenji. The Nihon shoki, a royal chronicle completed in 720, places Kusakabe among the six princes who took a pledge of mutual support at Yoshino in 679. It records his designation as crown prince in 681 and his association with Tenmu in government. [S01, S02]

Royal descent and designation gave Kusakabe a prominent place among Tenmu's sons. The chronicle assigns him a higher rank than his half-brother Prince Ōtsu in 685. After Tenmu's death in 686, Uno governed the court while Kusakabe remained crown prince. Ōtsu was accused of treason and put to death. The surviving court account records the accusation and punishment; it does not independently prove the alleged conspiracy or Kusakabe's personal participation in suppressing it. [S01, S02]

Kusakabe died in 689 before taking the throne. Jitō formally acceded in 690 and later yielded to his son, Emperor Monmu, in 697. Kusakabe's consort, Princess Abe, subsequently ruled as Genmei; their daughter became Empress Genshō. The Man'yōshū, an eighth-century poetry anthology, also preserves a poem attributed to him under the honorific name Hinamishi. His royal line continued after a succession he had never completed himself. [S02, S03, S04]