Otomo Tanaka

Please note: This article is about the brother and murderer of Hantei XVI. For other uses of the term, please see Tanaka (disambiguation).
Otomo Tanaka was a brother to Hantei XVI, one year younger than the Steel Chrysanthemum. Imperial Histories 2, p. 123
== Early Years ==
His eldest brother Otomo Toruo had died when he was seven years old in strange circumstances, and Otomo Okucheo, second son of Hantei XV, became the Imperial Heir. After his father retired in 589, his older brother became the new Emperor, as Hantei XVI, the Golden Chrysanthemum. In 590 many of the older and more traditional samurai in the Empire either died or retired. Tanaka would believe blackmail and assassination had been orchestrated by the Emperor. Imperial Histories 2, pp. 106-108
== Steel Chrysanthemum's Rule ==
Okucheo's rule quickly became a reign of terror as he brutally tortured and killed anyone he suspected of disloyalty. He even murdered four of his brothers. Legend of the Five Rings; Third Edition, p. 13 The only political figures willing to resist the Hantei's increasingly crazed rule were his mother, the dowager Empress Otomo Kaoichihime. Masters of Court, pp. 9-10
=== Removing the Emperor ===
Eventually, Tanaka and the dowager Empress concluded their only choice was to try to remove the Emperor by force, and worked to persuade the Imperial Guard that HanteI XVI had become a threat to the future of Rokugan. When the Hantei discovered his mother's disloyalty he ordered the Crab Clan Champion Hida Tsuneo to murder her in open court. This final outrage was too much, and the Imperial Guard joined Otomo Tanaka in slaughtering both Hantei XVI and Hida Tsuneo. Masters of Court, p. 10
== Retirement ==
Tanaka, having participated in the coup, felt himself unworthy to hold the throne, and the post of Emperor passed to the Steel Chrysanthemum's young son, Hantei XVII after a regency. In 616 his cousin passed his gempukku, becoming Hantei XVII. Tanaka had managed the Empire skillfully, working to repair the damage his maddened sibling had done and encouraging Seppun Hanako to write the Articles of Heaven, a series of reforms which Hantei XVII embraced once he ascended to the Throne. Imperial Histories 2, p. 113
Category:Imperial Leaders