Emperor Ankan

Emperor Ankan (安閑天皇, Ankan-tennō) was the 27th legendary Emperor of Japan,[1] according to the traditional order of succession.[2]

Ankan
Emperor of Japan
Reign	10 March 531 – 25 January 536
Predecessor	Keitai
Successor	Senka
Born	466
Died	536 (aged 69–70)
Burial	Furuchi no Takaya no oka no misasagi (古市高屋丘陵) (Osaka)
Spouse	Empress Kasuga no Yamada (among others)
House	Imperial House of Japan
Father	Emperor Keitai
Mother	Menokohime
Religion	Shinto

No firm dates can be assigned to this Emperor's life or reign, but he is conventionally considered to have reigned from 531 to 536.[3]

Legendary narrative

According to the Kojiki, Prince Magari no Ōe (勾大兄皇子), later Emperor Ankan, was the elder son of Emperor Keitai, who is considered to have ruled the country during the early-6th century, though there is a paucity of information about him.[4] When Ankan was 66 years old, Keitai abdicated in favor of him.

Ankan's contemporary title would not have been tennō, as most historians believe this title was not introduced until the reigns of Emperor Tenmu and Empress Jitō. Rather, it was presumably Sumeramikoto or Amenoshita Shiroshimesu Ōkimi (治天下大王), meaning "the great king who rules all under heaven". Alternatively, Ankan might have been referred to as ヤマト大王/大君 or the "Great King of Yamato".

The most noteworthy event recorded during his reign was the construction of state granaries in large numbers throughout Japan, indicating the broad reach of imperial power at the time.[5]

Memorial Shinto shrine and mausoleum honoring Emperor Ankan

Ankan's grave is traditionally associated with the Takayatsukiyama kofun in Habikino, Osaka.

Genealogy

Empress: Princess Kasuga no Yamada (春日山田皇女, d.539), Emperor Ninken's daughter

Consort: Satehime (紗手媛), Kose no Ohito no Ōomi's daughter

Consort: Kakarihime (香香有媛), Kose no Ohito no Ōomi's daughter

Consort: Yakahime (宅媛), Mononobe no Itabi no Ōomuraji's daughter

Ancestry

[6]

Ancestors of Emperor Ankan
2. Emperor Keitai (dates for Emperor Keitai's lifespan and reign unverified) 1. Emperor Ankan 24. Owari no Otohiko 12. Owari no Kie 6. Owari no Muraji Kusaka 3. Menokohime

See also

• Emperor of Japan
• List of Emperors of Japan
• Imperial cult

Notes

1. Imperial Household Agency (Kunaichō): 安閑天皇 (27)
2. Varley, Paul. (1980). Jinnō Shōtōki, p. 120; Titsingh, Isaac. (1834). Annales des empereurs du japon, p. 33., p. 33, at Google Books
3. Ponsonby-Fane, Richard. (1959). The Imperial House of Japan, p. 44.
4. Kelly, Charles F. "Kofun Culture," Japanese Archaeology. April 27, 2009.
5. Mason, Joseph. (2002). The Meaning of Shinto, p. 172., p. 172, at Google Books
6. "Genealogy". Reichsarchiv (in Japanese). Retrieved 6 January 2021.

References

• Aston, William George. (1896). Nihongi: Chronicles of Japan from the Earliest Times to A.D. 697. London: Kegan Paul, Trench, Trubner. OCLC 448337491
• Brown, Delmer M. and Ichirō Ishida, eds. (1979). Gukanshō: The Future and the Past. Berkeley: University of California Press. ISBN 978-0-520-03460-0; OCLC 251325323
• Ponsonby-Fane, Richard Arthur Brabazon. (1959). The Imperial House of Japan. Kyoto: Ponsonby Memorial Society. OCLC 194887
• Titsingh, Isaac. (1834). Nihon Ōdai Ichiran; ou, Annales des empereurs du Japon. Paris: Royal Asiatic Society, Oriental Translation Fund of Great Britain and Ireland. OCLC 5850691
• Varley, H. Paul. (1980). Jinnō Shōtōki: A Chronicle of Gods and Sovereigns. New York: Columbia University Press. ISBN 978-0-231-04940-5; OCLC 59145842