Princess Inoe

Princess Inoe was born in 717 to Emperor Shōmu and Agata Inukai no Hirotoji. Princess Fuwa and Prince Asaka were her siblings. Her public religious role began before her marriage: in 721 she was selected as the imperial princess serving the Ise deity. A court document reproduced in the Nara Palace chronology records the appointment; an associated ritual account describes preparations at a newly built residence beside the north pond. These preparations preceded her later service at Ise. Its precise ending remains uncertain. [S01, S02, S03]

She subsequently became the consort of Prince Shirakabe. When he acceded as Emperor Kōnin in 770, she became empress. Prince Osabe, recognized as her son, became crown prince the following year. In 772, an accusation that she had cursed Kōnin led to her deposition; Osabe also lost his position. After another allegation connected her with the death of Kōnin's sister in 773, mother and son were confined in Uchi, in Yamato. [S01, S05]

Both died on the same reported day in 775. The circumstances have prompted explanations involving political elimination, but the accounts do not securely establish a murderer or method. Inoe's rank as empress was later restored posthumously. Her commemoration included offerings and scripture readings for an aggrieved spirit. Goryō Shrine in Reianji, present-day Gojō, lists her, Osabe and Prince Sawara among its deities. [S01, S04]