Events of Go-Sai's Life
Nagahito-shinnō became emperor when his emperor-brother died. This death left the throne vacant and the succession (senso) was received by the new monarch. Shortly thereafter, Emperor Go-Sai is considered to have acceded to the throne (sokui). The events during his lifetime shed light on his reign. The years of Go-Sai's reign correspond with a period in which Tokugawa Ietsuna was the leader at the pinnacle of the Tokugawa shogunate.
Go-Sai married the daughter of the first Takamatsu-no-miya Yoshihito (高松宮好仁親王?); and he succeeded as second Takamatsu-no-miya. Then this Imperial prince became the emperor as a temporary measure until his younger brother, Imperial Prince Satohito (識仁親王, Satohito-shinnō?) could grow older.
- January 1, 1638: The birth of an Imperial prince who will become known by the posthumous name of Go-Sai-tennō.
- January 5, 1655: The death of Go-Kōmyō caused the succession (senso) to be passed to his brother; and when the succession (senso) was received, the reign of Emperor Go-Sai was deemed to commence.
- 1655 (Meireki 1): The new ambassador of Korea, arrived in Japan.
- March 2–3, 1657 (Meireki 3, 18–19th days of the 1st month): Great Fire of Meireki: The city of Edo was devastated by a violent fire.
- 1659 (Manji 5): In Edo, construction begins on the Ryogoku Bridge (ryogokubashi).
- 1661 (Manji 6): Imperial Palace in Kyoto is burnt to the ground; and the Gekū at Yamada was seriously damaged by fire.
- March 20, 1662 (Kanbun 2, 1st day of the 2nd month): There was a violent earthquake in Kyoto which destroyed the tomb of the Taiko, Toyotomi Hideyoshi.
- 1662 (Kanbun 2): Emperor Gosai ordered Tosa Hiromichi 土佐広通 (1561–1633), a Tosa school disciple, to adopt the name Sumiyoshi (probably in reference to a 13th-century painter, Sumiyoshi Keinin 住吉慶忍), upon assuming a position as official painter for the Sumiyoshi Taisha 住吉大社).
- March 5, 1663 (Kanbun 3, 26th day of the 1st month): Emperor Go-Sai abdicated, which meant that the Prince Satohito received the succession (senso). Shortly thereafter, Emperor Reigen formally acceded to the throne (sokui).
After abdicating, Go-sai put his heart into scholarship and he left behind many books, including the "Water and Sun Collection" (Suinichishū, 水日集). He was talented in waka; and he had a profound understanding of the classics.
During his reign, because of great fires at the Grand Ise Shrine, Osaka Castle, and the Imperial Palace, among others, the Great Meireki Fire, earthquakes in the region, and because of repeated floods, many people blamed the Emperor, saying he lacked moral virtue.
- March 26, 1685 (Jōkyō 2, 22nd day of the 2nd month): Former-Emperor Go-Sai died; and a great comet was observed crossing the night sky.
Emperor Go-Sai is enshrined in the imperial mausoleum, Tsukinowa no misasagi, at Sennyū-ji in Higashiyama-ku, Kyoto. Also enshrined are Go-Sai's immediate predecessors, Emperor Go-Mizunoo, Empress Meishō and Go-Kōmyō. Go-Sai's immediate Imperial successors, including Reigen, Higashiyama, Nakamikado, Sakuramachi, Momozono, Go-Sakuramachi and Go-Momozono, are enshrined here as well.
At the at Kitano Shrine, a tablet over the Chu-mon entryway reads tenmangu in the calligraphy of Emperor Go-sai.
Read more about this topic: Emperor Go-Sai
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