Soga no Iruka

Soga no Iruka was a powerful court figure at Asuka who died in 645. His father, Soga no Emishi, headed the family's position in royal government. The Nihon shoki, a court chronicle completed in 720, portrays Iruka as exercising greater power than his father after Empress Kōgyoku's accession in 642. His authority belonged to a court sustained by royal marriages, official appointments and competing family networks. [S01]

The same chronicle attributes the attack on Prince Yamashiro no Ōe's household at Ikaruga in 643 to Iruka. Yamashiro was a son of Prince Shōtoku and a royal succession candidate. The attack ended in the deaths of Yamashiro and members of his family. This violent removal of a royal household is central to the account of Iruka's political activity; the chronicle's portrayal of his private ambitions was written down much later. [S01, S02]

In 645, Prince Naka no Ōe and Nakatomi no Kamatari organized a palace coup, with help from Soga no Kurayamada no Ishikawa Maro, a member of the wider Soga family. Iruka was killed during a court ceremony. Emishi died the following day, and a new government formed under Emperor Kōtoku. The coalition against Iruka crossed family boundaries, while the surviving narrative presents his defeat through the later royal court's account. [S01]