Princess Tōchi

Princess Tōchi was a daughter of Prince Ōama, later Emperor Tenmu, and Princess Nukada, a poet of the seventh-century court. She became the consort of Prince Ōtomo, a son of Emperor Tenji, and the mother of Prince Kadono. Her marriage connected the households that confronted one another in the succession war of 672, when Ōama's forces defeated Ōtomo's side. The family relationship does not establish her private loyalties or her own role in the fighting. [S01, S02, S03]

The Nihon shoki, a royal chronicle completed in 720, records Tōchi travelling with Princess Abe to the shrine of Ise in 675. She remained part of the royal circle under her father's government. The recorded journey gives one specific activity after the war; it does not establish its purpose as a secret political mission or a personal declaration of allegiance. [S02]

In 678, Tōchi suddenly became ill and died at the palace while preparations were underway for Tenmu to attend a ceremony of worship. The royal procession stopped, and the sacrifice did not take place. She was buried at Akaho, with Tenmu present. The Man'yōshū, an eighth-century poetry anthology, preserves mourning poems attributed to her half-brother Prince Takechi. Their survival records commemoration, without proving a subsequent marriage or romance between them. [S02, S04]