This episode puts the cap on the Taika era, filling in the rest of what went on. A brief rundown of some of what you’ll find:

Missions to and from Silla—the tribute from Nimna was cancelled, but Silla agreed to send diplomatic hostages
Archery, and a description of the related game of “pitch-pot”
Reinforcing the northeast with barriers and towns to defend the borders against raids by the Emishi
Public works projects gone awry
A work off-site to a popular ancient resort area
Many, many palaces—most of them unburnt
Deadly politics and regrets

Welcome to Sengoku Daimyo’s Chronicles of Japan. My name is Joshua and this is episode 112: The End of an Era
The Crown Prince, Naka no Oe, was fast asleep in his chambers when he awoke to a commotion. In the dark he could hear people running and yelling. Taking in a deep breath, he could smell smoke in the air. In a time when light was provided by burning oil or wood, the smell of smoke would not have been uncommon, but this was different—it was something more. Furthermore, there was a strange glow, almost like an early dawn, but from the wrong direction. Leaping from his bed, Naka no Oe ran outside into the corridor, where he was met with servants who hurried him and the other members of the household outside. There, the Crown Prince could see the flames rising up from the building.
How the fire itjad started wouldn’t didn’t matter much. Perhaps an oil lamp washad been knocked over by the wind, or a stray ember had caught a piece of the thatch on the roof. Once the fire was too large to put out, they could only do so much. Servants grabbed what they could, trying to rescue it from the flames.
Even though he was probably the most powerful man in all of Yamato, the Crown Prince was powerless in front of the rising flames. They consumed his palace, and he could do little more than watch.
Fire is a terrible and frightening natural force, which humans often feel like they have control over, at least in small doses—candles, cookfires, and the like. A small ember, though, can cause an entire house to go up in smoke.
And houses are not the only man-made thing that can be destroyed by a tiny spark. Institutions, and relationships, can likewise be laid low by something small: new ideas can up-end tradition, and slanderous rumors can be fanned into flames that bring nothing but destruction. This is not too dissimilar from our human institutions. They can also be put at risk, though not always in such a physical way. In a politically charged environment, however, a stray word can be just like that ember, and if it isn’t caught quickly, the damage it can do can be immense.
This episode we are going to try and finish up the Taika period. This first official nengo, or official era name, and it covers the period from 645 to 650. We’ve mostly been covering the various edicts from this period, which were bringing major changes to the way that the Yamato government was structured and extended its reach much more concretely down to the lowest levels of society. There are still a lot of questions about how complete Yamato state control was, and time and again we will see that in an age before modern vehicles and communication there was always some level of independence at the periphery, especially as politics tended to turn the attention of the elites away from the rural countryside and more towards the court and the capital. Nonetheless, I think we can say that the state of Yamato really had come together and established itself and its institutions across the entire archipelago.
This episode, however, we are going to go beyond what the edicts tell us, and look at the rest of what was going on across that very same archipelago as all of this was happening—or at least what was recorded by the Chroniclers. This includes diplomatic missions from the Korean peninsula, to the west, as well as defenses set up against the Emishi in the northeast. There was an epic work off-site for the court. And also, there was tragedy. Even as the court became more structured, and many of the older traditions were changing, the politics of the elite were still as deadly as ever.
….
We’ll start in the ninth month of 646, just after the court abolisheding the practice of allowing elites to create their own family units, which we talked about in the last episodeepisode XXX. That month we are told that the sovereign, Karu, took up residency in the temporary or detached palace of Kawazu—possibly pronounced “Koudzu”, according to Aston, who thought it could be in the same area where Ohosazaki no Ohokimi, aka Nintoku Tenno, is said to have had his digs back in the day.
This move may have to do with the Toyosaki palace still being under construction. We know that heKaru moved the capital to Toyosaki, in Naniwa, back at the end of 645, and in the third month of 646 we are told that the general amnesty given out was because of the rites involved with moving into a new palace—presumably the one at Toyosaki. However, it isn’t clear if he moved in to the Toyosaki palace, or if he did sojust resided there temporarily just to make it officially the palace and then moved out as construction continued—or perhaps they needed to make renovations. HeKaru is said to have built another palace at Wogohori in 647, and then he occupied the palace of Kawazu, and later he would occupy the temporary palace of Muko. In fact, it isn’t until the start of 648 that we are next told that he occupied the palace of Toyosaki. , and tThe reasons for all of this moving around are incredibly vague to non-existent as far as the Chronicles are concerned. They are all in or around Naniwa, however.
Speaking of moving capitals, Finally, in a month that was turning out to be quite the end to summer—and the last entry for that entire year—there was a note about the rats in the province of Koshi heading off to the east. You may recall from Episode XXX109 that in the year XXX645, rats were said to have taken flight in the direction of the new capital, Naniwa, and it seems that it was a particularly popular meme at this time. With all of Karu’s moving around, after all, it was doubtful that the rats had any time to unpack. Koshi wasn’t exactly nearthe the capital though, so what could the rats be indicating hereit mean? Well in the following year, 647, we see that the Nutari Barrier was constructed, with a local settlement to support it, presumably as an outpost to defend against possible attacks and incursions by the Emishi. There is some suggestion that the flight of rats was an omen, talking about the creation of athis new settlement—even if not a new capital—to the east of Koshi.
But with those rats, we close out 646. Heading into 647 we pick back up on the 15th day of the first month. While the courtiers were playing archery, we are briefly told that messengers from Goguryeo and Silla came with tribute.
First a note about playing archery at court: archery had long been a sport of the elites, from what we can tell, especially with their penchant for hunting. It was also something encouraged by Confucius as a way to maintain martial training. Certainly archery demonstrations, at the very least, would be something that one would see at court, and the twang of a bow was said to chase away evil spirits.
Even in the time of Confucius, however, there was another game, known in modern Putonghua as “tou hu”, or “toko” in Japanese, or “pitch-pot” in Englilsh. This was a game that often took the place of archery, where arrows weren’t shot out of a bow at a target, but instead they were thrown, by hand, at a narrow-mouthed pot that had two rings on either side of the mouth of the jar. This game is still practiced in some places, usually as part of a celebration of some kind.
As this was a kind of “arrow play”, it was considered by some to be just as good as archery—particularly for court nobles that didn’t really want to have to go through all the effort of actually drawing a bow. This game was something you could do in your court clothing and just about anywhere. Points were given based on whether the arrow landed in the pot, in the ears, or various other conditions.
The game was known in Japan from early times, and we have an extant pitch-pot in the Shosoin repository—one of the many items donated to Todaiji temple by Shomu Tenno in the 8th century and still preserved today. It is quite possible, therefore, that pitch-pot was known and even played in the Asuka era courts.
That said, the terms used in the Nihon Shoki do refer to “shooting” archery, suggesting that the courtiers were was actually using bow and arrow—a much more popular courtly pastime in Japan than the continent, at least.
Anyway, on to the fact that Goguryeo and Silla envoys arrived during the archery fun-times.
First off,To summarize a little bit of the continental politics at the this time: Goguryeo was currently fighting the Tang dynasty on their western border. This conflict would continue, and eventually the Tang dynasty would enlist the help of Silla, though alliances on the peninsula were fickle, and it is common to see various states switch alliances at the drop of a hat, if it suited their needs. At the very least, by sending tribute, Goguryeo was likely courting assistance of some kind from Yamato, but the details are sparse, as per usual.
As for Silla, even though the entry at the beginning of 647 doesn’t give us much info, we do have an entry at the end ofanother entry also dated to 647 regarding a mission that may have been this one or perhaps one that came later in the year—the fact that it was not given a specific date but stuck on the end makes it somewhat difficult to place, chronologically. We are told that Silla sent Kim Chyunchyu, who is noted to be a “superior minister” with the rank of “Greater Ason”. Aston notes that Chyunchyu is mentioned in the 15th century history of the Korean peninsula, the Dongguk Tonggam, giving us some assurances that he may have actually existed.. They were apparently coming backKim Chyunchyu was accompanied by two of Yamato’s emissaries, who had left for Silla on the 9th month of the previous year. a previous mission to Silla, headed by This was Takamuku no Kuromaro as well asand Nakatomi no Oshikumia (named Nakatomi no Muraji no Oshikuma). Those twoey had left in the 9th month of the previous year, 646crossed the strait, with the goal of acquiring a diplomatic hostage from Silla, much as Baekje had apparently done. The answer seems to have been toAnd so now Silla sentd Kim Chyunchyu, who was taken as a diplomatic hostage. It is also noted, though, that with this embassy to Silla, they cancelled the tribute from Nimna. Given the timing, I suspect that was part of the negotiations that they had, which, from Silla’s perspective, meant that they didn’t have to divvy everything up into two bucketscontinue the polite fiction that Nimna was still an independent country.
That said, even if Silla was sending a hostage, they did also thesendt tribute other diplomatic gifts from Silla was still there—a parrot and a peacock, we are told: exotic birds from faraway lands, which would no doubt have been quite the sight in Yamato. How well they dealt with the climate in the archipelago is something the Chroniclers do not comment on.
Before leaving this whole exchange, I’d like to briefly go back to the note on archery, which we told they were performing at court in the first month, when the envoys from Goguryeo and Silla arrived: archery had long been a sport of the elites, from what we can tell, especially with their penchant for hunting. It was also something encouraged by Confucius as a way to maintain martial training. Certainly archery demonstrations, at the very least, would be something that one would see at court, and the twang of a bow was said to chase away evil spirits.
Even in the time of Confucius, however, there was another game, known in modern Putonghua as “tou hu”, or “toko” in Japanese. This was a game that often took the place of archery, where arrows weren’t shot out of a bow at a target, but instead they were thrown, by hand, at a narrow-mouthed pot that had two rings on either side of the mouth of the jar. As this was a kind of “arrow play”, it was considered by some to be just as good as archery—particularly for court nobles that didn’t really want to have to go through all the effort of actually drawing a bow. This game, known in English as “pitch-pot”, was something you could do in your court clothing and just about anywhere. Points were given based on whether the arrow landed in the pot, in the ears, or various other conditions.
The game was known in Japan from early times, and we have an extant pitch-pot in the Shosoin repository—one of the many items donated to Todaiji temple by Shomu Tenno in the 8th century and still preserved today. It is quite possible, therefore, that pitch-pot was known and even played in the Asuka era courts.
That said, the terms used in the Nihon Shoki do refer to “shooting” archery, suggesting that it was actually bow and arrow—a much more popular pastime in Japan, at least. However, I couldn’t help but digress a bit to talk about pitch-pot, a game that is still practiced in some places, usually as part of a celebration of some kind.
You may recall from Episode XXXthe last episode that 647 seemed to be getting off to quite a start. You may recall that this is also when new edicts for how the court would operate were made—including showing up for work literally at the crack of dawn. In addition, the Chronicles tell us about we are told about Yamato no Aya no Atahe no Aratawi no Hirafu. Hirafu had apparently been charged by the court to dig a canal, but there was some kind of a mistake as ithe dug it was dug towards Naniwa and we are told that it caused “distress” among the people. We aren’t, told what kind of distress this wasit caused—it could just be that people were upset about being called up for labor, especially if they didn’t think itthe canal was necessary. Or perhaps they were upset because it disrupted fields and perhaps even caused flooding. Whatever the reason, the complaints made it to the ear of the sovereign, who said they had mistakenly taken Hirafu’s advice—effectively throwing him under the ox-cart, as it were—and that the canal had been dug without an actual purpose, and so they discontinued the work.
I like this entry in part because it shows an apparent mistake, but also talks about the kinds of corvee labor that people would be called up for. Digging canals was certainly something that the various governors were empowered to do, though it was supposed to be based on local advice. I suspect that this entry was intended to demonstrate that the sovereign was listening to the people, though I do wonder how many other projects continued despite people complaining, since you can’t please everyone.
And I imagine that all of this was rather stressful. Which is perhaps why, in the 10th month of the 647, the sovereign and high ministers, including the ministers of the Left and Right, all went to Arima Onsen.
We’ve mentioned Onsen before, and Arima is certainly one of the oldest that we know of. It is positioned just over the mountains to the northwest of Naniwa—modern Ohosaka—and it continues to be a resort town to this day. The natural hot springs have been a draw for centuries, clearly, and they . It must have been particularly relaxing at that time, which is listed as the 10th through 12th months, but was probably more like the modern months of late November to January, assince the lunar calendar started about a month and change later than ours today. That means they sovereign and court would have been up in the hot spring area during the turn to the colder months—as the maple leaves were turning color, and possibly enjoying a bit of snowfall, if the weather cooperated. They spent over a month up in the hot spring area: talk about the ultimate work off-site.
Unfortunately, the relaxing vacation ended on a bit of a sour note. Returning to Naniwa on the 30th day of the twelfth month, the last day of the lunar year, we are told that the Palace of the Crown Prince, i.e. Prince Naka no Oe, caught fire, which shocked everyone. Perhaps this is why the sovereign, Karu, chose to stay in the temporary palace of Muko, or maybe they were unrelated.
Fires were not entirely uncommon in a world of wooden houses. , though that doesn’t make them any less destructive and dangerous. If you wanted light in the dark or at night, you had few options, and all of them required some kind of flame. There were stone and bronze lanterns from at least the 6th century onwards, but inside you still neededhad some kind of fuel and a flame, with buildings built almost entirely of wood. In outdoor spaces you might have even had open metal baskets with wood and pitch which burned bright, but could also lead to dangerous embers floating on the wind. And if something did catch fire, your options to put it out were limited: . Bbucket brigades to help bring water, or you could trying to pull down the burning part of the structure in hopes to contain it. There were no firetrucks or extinguishers like we have today.
ThisThe fire at the princely palace must have been quite a loss, and yet it didn’t stop the work of the government -- . Thatthat had to carry on. We aren’t told where Naka no Oe took up residence next—he may have just had his palace rebuilt on the same site, or perhaps took up residence at another palace. This must have been a massive loss for him, personally, though.
Moving on to 648, we are told that the courty celebrated the new year, Karu moved into the Toyosaki palace, and then, in the second month, student priests were sent from Yamato to the peninsula, presumably to get a better handle on their Buddhist studies. A few days later, Abe no Ohoomi, the Sadaijin, or Minister of the Left, arranged a special ceremony at the temple of Shittennoji. We are told that he invited the “Four Classes”, which likely was a reference to all members of the Sangha, or Buddhist community, and he enshrined four images of Buddha in the main pagoda. He then piled up drums, one on top of the other, to simulate Vulture Peak.
Vulture Peak, or Griddhrakūta, sometimes called “Holy Eagle Peak” is a peak in modern Bihar, and is said to have been one of the historical Buddha’s favorite places. Its name is derived from the shape of the mountain, which was thought to look like a vulture—or I guess one could say an eagle—with its wings folded by its side. This is where the Buddha is said to have given many of his the Buddha’s sermons were said to have occurred, including those written down as the Lotus Sutra, the Heart Sutra, and others. The Lotus Sutra even mentions it Vulture Peak by name, so it would have likely been well known to the Buddhist community.
I would note that this is different from another mountain that often shows up in Buddhist iconography: Mt. Sumeru, or just Mt. Meru. That five-peaked mountain is considered the center of the universe, and it shares this pride of place in Buddhist, Hindu, and Jain tradition. However, whereas Vulture Peak is identified with a particular geographic feature, Mt. Meru is more theoretical, and as far as I can tell there is not single location agreed upon as Mt. Meru by the various traditions.
Two months after Abe builtding his drum-mountain, on the first day of the fourth month, the old cap rankss were discontinued, though the Sadaijin and Udaijin, the ministers of the Left and Right, continued to wear theirs. Of course, in the following year, on the second month of 649, 19 new cap ranks would be established, which we discussed last episode.
Other than that, we aren’t given a lot more details on the fifth through twelfth months of 648, other than to say that another Silla envoy apparently came with tribute—which I’m presuming isn’t the one that had arrived with Kim Chyunchyu. And then there was another barrier and barrier settlement built at Ihabune, with subjects from both Koshi and Shinano moved there to support the border station.
649 kicks off with another new year’s festival, and then the creation of new ranks and the 8 Ministries and 100 bureaus, which we discussed last episode. We are also told that there was a mission this year from the Queen of Silla—but we aren’t told exactly when it occurred, . Jjust that Kim Tasya was sent as a hostage with a household of over 30 people, presumably as a replacement for Kim Chyunchyu. His household included a Buddhist priest, various officials, artists, an interpreter, and sixteen servants to look after him and his household. All of them would presumably stay with Kim Tasya throughout his time as a diplomatic hostage.
A few months into the new year, on the 17th day of the third month, we are told that Abe no Oho-omi passed away.
I suspect that this is connected, in a way, to the extravagant celebration he threw at Shittenoji; if he were old and sickly, it is quite possible that Abe no Ohomi was trying to make sure that he had banked enough good karma before moving on to his next life.
That His death would have changed the power dynamics within the court. The Sadaijin was the more senior position. The Udaijin, or Minister of the Right, was none other than Soga no Kuroyamada no Ishikawa no Maro. As you may recall, he had been enlisted to assist Naka no Oe with the overthrow of Maro’s own kinsmen, Soga no Iruka and Soga no Emishi, and as a reward he had been granted one of the highest positions in the court. Along with Abe no Oho-omi, he had been helping Naka no Oe and his best bud, Nakatomi no Kamatari, implement their vision for a new Yamato. Being at the top, however, is bound to garner you some enemies, and in Soga no Maro’s case, the call was coming from inside the house.
Soga no Hiuga, also known as Soga no Musashi or, apparently, Soga no Musa, was apparently not much of a fan of his fellow Soga family member, : his elder brother and reluctant father-in-law, Soga no Maro. Presuming they are the same person—not always a guarantee in the Chronicles—As we noted in Episode 106, Musa no Omi, or more properly Soga no Omi no Musashi, or Soga no Musa, had taken Soga no Maro’s eldest daughter and eloped with her after she had been betrothed to marry Naka no Oe. Soga no Maro’s alliance with the Crown Prince had only been saved by his youngest daughter offering herself up in her sister’s stead. Given that Soga no Musashi had run away with Soga no Maro’s eldest without asking permission suggests that the two were not on the best of terms, and it seems that Soga no Musashi once again saw a chance to turn the tables against his unwilling father-in-law shortly after the death of Abe no Oho-omi.
For you see, one week later, Soga no Musashi went to Crown Prince Naka no Oe and told him that his elder brother, Soga no Maro, was waiting for the Crown Prince to go to the seaside so that he could do some sort of “mischief”—presumably against the Crown Prince. This alarmed Naka no Oe, who went to his uncle, the sovereign. Karu sent Ohotomo no Koma no Muraji, Mikuni no Maro no Kimi, and Hodzumi no Kurafu no Omi to question Maro about these accusations. Maro, however, refused to say anything to them. Perhaps it was his pride—after all, he was the Minister of the Right, and only a handful of people sat higher in the court hierarchy. In any normal situation, he would have had no reason to explain himself to those beneath him. He told them that he would only talk directly to the sovereign, in a face-to-face interview.
Hearing this, Karu sent Mikuni no Maro and Hodzumi no Kurafu back to try and investigate, despite objections from Soga no Maro. He gave them the same answer as before and sent them on their way.
I cannot begin to fathom what Soga no Maro’s thoughts were. Perhaps he didn’t trust the intermediaries to properly report up. He was, after all, being accused of treason. To the sovereign and the crown prince, however, it looked as though these were the actions of a guilty man.
Karu began preparations to build up an armed force, with the intention of surrounding Soga no Maro’s residence, but before that could happen, Soga no Maro fled via Chinu towards the boundary of the province of Yamato—which is to say the Nara basin. He took with him his two sons, Hoshi and Akagoma.
Maro had a third, eldest son at this point who had moved out. This son, Soga no Koshi, was staying in the Yamada area of Yamato, building a temple—possibly Yamadadera. When he heard that his father was fleeing the capital, he went out to the great Tsuki tree in Imaki to meet him and his brothers, and then they took refuge in the temple.
Koshi demanded the opportunity to stand and face the royal army that was following on his father’s heels. He offered to advance straight on them and oppose them, presumably with men of his own, but Soga no Maro would not allow it.
That evening, Soga no Koshi came up with the idea of burning the royal palace at Woharida, and started the process of assembling troops, despite his father’s insistence that he do no so thing. When his father found out, he was furious. He berated his son, and the priests of Yamada Temple. As Aston translates it he said to them: “Shall one who is in the position of vassal contrive treason against his Lord? Shall the duty of a son to a father be brought to nothing? This temple was originally built, not for me personally, but under a vow for the sake of the Sovereign. I have now been slandered by Musashi, and I fear that I shall be unjustly put to death. With so near a preospect of the yellow springs, I would withdraw from life still cherishing fidelity in my bosom, and the object of my coming to the Temple is that my last moments may be made easier.”
Essentially, he had already consigned himself to the fact that he was probably going to die, but if that happened he was going to do it on his terms, with a clear conscience that he, at least, had remained loyal.
As for the Royal Army, they were getting ready to attack. Ohotomo no Koma and Soga no Musashi were at the head of the army. However, as they came upon Yamadadera, they were approached by two figures: Hashi no Omi no Mu and Uneme no Omi no Onimaro, who had just come from Yamada temple. They told the arriving army what had just happened, and how Soga no Maro and seven of his family members, including his three sons and one daughter, had strangled themselves, rather than submitting to the kind of royal death penalty he figured he had waiting. After learning this, the generals turned the army around and headed back and encamped at Tajihi no Saka as they figured out what to do next.
The following day, the 25th day of the third month of 649, the royal army approached the temple and rounded up all of the Minister’s men. The generals had cangues placed around the necks of the Minister’s supporters—large, wooden boards that would be placed around the neck as a form of public humiliation—and their hands were tied behind them. Mononobe no Futsuta no Shiho was ordered to demean and cut off Soga no Maro’s head, presumably as proof of his death. Several days later, those considered loyal to Soga no Maro were also put to death. Fourteen were executed, while nine were strangled and fifteen were banished.
Later, as messengers were sent to take over Soga no Maro’s property, they were going through his mansion when they found several things with inscriptions indicating that they were valuable items that were noted as belonging to Prince Naka no Oe. When this was reported back, the Crown Prince realized that he had made a mistake—Soga no Maro had not been committing treason, and he apparently held Naka no Oe in such high regard that he considered those things passed down by the Crown Prince had been consideredto be particularly special.
Unfortunately, regret cannot undo the past. Naka no Oe realized that Soga no Musashi must have been misleading him all this time, but there wasn’t actually any hard evidence for this, and so he couldn’t justify executing him. Thus, Naka no Oe took the next best step: He appointed Soga no Musashi as the viceroy of Tsukushi.
Now this would seem to be anything but a punishment. After all, the Viceroy of Tsukushi oversaw all of the island of Kyushu, a seemingly prestigious position. However, even the people of the time realized that this gift was a white elephant. After all, it would mean that Soga no Musashi would be expected to move all the way to Tsukushi—about as far from the court and center of politics as was possible. This was, as the people of the time even figured out, a stealth banishment. This same tactic would be used not infrequently to move political rivals out of the court, where their influence would then be greatly reduced.
The tragedy didn’t end there, however. As you may recall, Naka no Oe’s own wife, Miyatsuko-hime, was the daughter of Soga no Maro. When she heard that heer had been decapitated by Shiho, she took it deeply to heart. She was so distraught that the word “Shiho” would trigger her. Even the mention of salt—also pronounced Shiho—caused her grief, and her attendants used another word to refer to it in her presence: Kitashi. Eventually, we are told that Miyatsuko-hime’s grief overwhelmed her and she passed away. When the Crown Prince, Naka no Oe, heard that, he found himself grieved and shocked.
Nunaka Kawara no Fubito no Mitsu, seeing the Prince’s grief, came forward and presented two verses of poetry, which Aston translates as:
On a mountain-stream
Two mandarin-ducks there be,
Well matched together:--
But the wife who was a like mate for me
Who is it that has taken away?
That first verse makes a reference to mandarin ducks, who were observed to mate for life, and were often considered a symbol of marital fidelity. The other verse is a bit more direct:
Though on every tree
The flowers are blooming,
How can it be that
My darling wife
Does not blossom again?
These verses touched the Crown Prince, reflecting as they did his own deep despair. He praised them, and gave Mitsu his own lute to sing them on. He also presented silk, cloth, and even silk floss—lavish gifts for the impromptu bard’s words.
Words would not change the fact that both the Minister of the Right and of the Left were now both dead and gone. On the 20th day of the 4th month, Kose no Tokodako no Omi was raised up as Minister of the Left, or Sadaijin, and Ohotomo no Nagatoko no Muraji, also called Umakai, was made the Minister of the Right.
The positions may have been filled, but this episode must have had a traumatic effect on the court. That This was a lot of people to be killed or banished in a short time, many of them from the upper echelons of society. And perhaps that is why, with the close of the year 649, we also see the close of the Taika era.
TThe era had certainly brought great change—and much of it would shape the direction of history for centuries to come. However, it ended on something of a sour note, with the presumably natural death of the Minister of the Left, and then the unjust slander and death of the Minister of the Right. One can only imagine that these were uneasy times for the court.
And perhaps that is why, starting in 650, we’ll get a new era name: Hakuchi. But that is something we will touch on in future episodes.
And so, until next time, thank you for listening and for all of your support.
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And that’s all for now. Thank you again, and I’ll see you next episode on Sengoku Daimyo’s Chronicles of Japan.

References

Aston, W. G. (1972). Nihongi, chronicles of Japan from the earliest times to A.D. 697. London: Allen & Unwin. ISBN0-80480984-4
Knox, George William (1903). The Early Institutional Life of Japan, a Study in the Reform of 645 A. D. By K. ASAKAWA, Ph.D. The American Historical Review, Volume 11, Issue 1, October 1905, Pages 128–129

Rough Transcript

References