Emperor Hanazono

花園天皇

Tomihito as depicted in the Tenshi Sekkan Miei.

*Not to be confused with Emperor Go-Hanazono.*

**Emperor Hanazono** (14 August 1297 - 2 December 1348) is traditionally the 95th emperor of Japan.

Emperor Hanazono's personal name is **Tomihito**.

Tomihito's reign was marked with violence between the Jimyōin lines and Daikakuji lines, and although the Bakufu resolved many of the issues, Tomihito's successor, Takaharu, would mess everything up.

## Biography

Tomihito was the son of Emperor Fushimi and half-brother to Emperor Go-Fushimi.

Tomihito admired paintings as a child.

He was made Crown Prince to his cousin Emperor Go-Nijō and when he died prematurely, Tomihito gained the throne.

When Tomihito ascended the throne, Emperor Fushimi regained power as retired Emperor along with Emperor Go-Fushimi. Tomihito appointed Takaharu crown prince.

A major controversy arose when Emperor Go-Fushimi fell ill for a long period of time. Emperor Fushimi wanted Emperor Go-Fushimi to give all of his power he had as retired Emperor to Tomihito which did not sit well with him so Emperor Go-Fushimi wrote a letter to Saionji Sanekane asking for assistance and since Sanekane's relationship with Emperor Fushimi was bad, Sanekane agreed to help. In the end Emperor Go-Fushimi did not give up his powers. This controversy was further inflamed when Sanekane discovered that a close friend of Emperor Fushimi harbored ill intentions towards the Bakufu and so sent him away. Emperor Fushimi was paranoid as a result and desperately reaffirmed the Bakufu of his loyalty but the stains had sunk deep and even Tomihito's legitmacy was questioned as a result. Tomihito despaired, writing that only the will of the gods and Buddha could determine his fate in his diary.

The Bakufu worked with the Jimyōin lines and Daikakuji lines to create a plan known as the Bunpō Compromise that would guarantee peace by stating that an Emperor of one line should abdicate to a relative from the other line every 10 years and so forth. Shortly before Emperor Fushimi's death, the line of succession looked like this:

* ~~Kunihito~~
	+ ~~Hisahito~~
		- *Hirohito*
			* *Tanehito*
				+ Kazuhito **(3)**
			* **Tomihito**
	+ ~~Tsunehito~~
		- *Yohito*
			* ~~Kuniharu~~
				+ Kuniyoshi **(2)**
			* Takaharu **(1)**

Tomihito ---> Takaharu ---> Kuniyoshi ---> Kazuhito

### Abdication & Later life

He later abdicated to Takaharu honoring the Bunpō Compromise. After that, he engaged himself with scholarly interests and even wrote an diary. The diary documented parts of his own reign as well as Takaharu's reign.

## Family

* Father: Hirohito
* Mother: Toin Sueko (洞院 季子)

Consort: Ogimachi Michiko (正親町 実子; 1297-1360)

* 1st daughter: Hisako
* 2nd son: Nobunaga
* 3rd son: Naohito
* Daughter: Noriko (d. 1348; 儀子)
* Son: Priest at Shōgoin
* Daughter: Married a member of the Kazan'in clan

Consort: Ichijo Tsubone (一条局; d.1325)

* Son: Kakuyo (1320-1382; 覚誉), became a priest

Lady-in-Waiting: Wamuro Yoriko (葉室頼子)

* 5th Daughter: Noriko (祝子)
* Daughter: Unnamed

## Quotes

(自分の日記を、後代に誰が見るだろうか。子もいない、孫もいない身にとって、日記を記すのをやめよう。)

"I have loved pictures since I was a child."

## References

1. ↑ Japan: Its History, Traditions, and ReligionsWith the Narrative of a Visit in 1879, Edward J. Reed, 2012
2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 https://www.suntory.com/sma/exhibition/2017\_2/display.html
3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 *The Diary of Emperor Hanazono, Tomihito*
4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 4.5 4.6 4.7 4.8 4.9 Kenmu: Go-Daigo's Revolution, Andrew Edmund Goble, 1996
5. ↑ Japanese Women Writers: A Bio-critical Sourcebook, 1994
6. ↑ Seeds in the Heart: Japanese Literature from Earliest Times to the Late Sixteenth Century, 1999
7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 http://takumisuzuki123.blog.fc2.com/blog-entry-74.html