Imperial Princess Masako (正子内親王)

Imperial Princess Masako was a member of the Japanese Imperial Family.

Imperial Princess Masako (810 - April 18, 879) was the princess of Emperor Saga. Her mother was Empress TACHIBANA no Kachiko. Details will be provided in this section.

Imperial Princess Masako (1045 - September 27, 1114) was the princess of Emperor Gosuzaku. Her mother was a nyogo (a court title given to a consort of the Emperor), FUJIWARA no Enshi (Nobuko), who was a daughter of FUJIWARA no Yorimune. Emperor Goreizei and Emperor Gosanjo dynasty Saiin (an unmarried princess who, in former times, was sent by the emperor to serve at Kamo Shrine).

Imperial Princess Masako (810 - April 18, 879) was the princess of the fifty-second Emperor Saga. Her mother was Empress TACHIBANA no Kachiko. She was the Empress of Emperor Junna. Her half brother was Emperor Ninmyo (they were born in the same year, so they appeared to be twins).

In around 823, she made her bridal entry into the court of her uncle, Emperor Junna. She was officially appointed as the empress in 827. Emperor Junna abdicated in 833, and she became the empress dowager. Her eldest son, Imperial Prince Tsunesada, was officially appointed as the Crown Prince of Emperor Ninmyo.
In 840, she shaved her head to entered the priesthood upon Retired Emperor Junna's death,
In 842, Imperial Prince Tsunesada abdicated as Prince due to the Jowa Incident and Imperial Princess Masako became a priest. In 854, she became the Grand Empress Dowager. In 860, she received the orders of Buddhism by the head priest of the Tendai sect, Ennin, and her Buddhist name was Ryoso. She died in 879. She was seventy years old.

She was a beautiful, modest, and gentle woman, and had the virtue of a mother. She had three sons including Imperial Prince Tsunesada, but Imperial Prince Tsunesada abdicated later due to the Jowa Incident, and "Nihon Sandai Jitsuroku" (sixth of the six classical Japanese history texts) described that she got really mad, cried, and held a grudge against her mother, Kachiko, the Grand Empress Dowager, who was behind the plot. Later, she set up Saichiin (medical facility for monks and nuns) in Daikaku-ji Temple by rebuilding the old palace of Retired Emperor Saga, her father, and made Junnain into a dojo, and devoted her energy to save people who took refuge in Buddhism.

The imperial mausoleum is in Maruyama Ryobo Sankochi (Saga Daikakuji Monzen Nobori-cho, Ukyo Ward, Kyoto City, Kyoto Prefecture).

[Original Japanese]