Ochi no iratsume (遠智娘)

Ochi no iratsume (year of birth and death unknown) was a daughter of SOGANOKURA-YAMADA no Ishikawamaro who was a cousin of SOGA no Iruka and a member of the Soga clan, a local ruling family called Gozoku in the Asuka period. She was also called Miyatsuko-hime or Minotsuko no iratsume.

Before Taika no Kaishin (Great Reformation of the Taika Era of 645) at the latest, she married Naka no Oe no Oji (Prince Naka no Oe, later Emperor Tenji), and some says it was in 644. She had a sister Mei no iratsume, who also married Naka no Oe no Oji and had two daughters, Minabe no Himemiko (Princess Minabe) and Ahe no Himemiko (Princess Ahe, later Empress Genmei). Hitachi no iratsume, who was a daughter of SOGA no Akae and also married Emperor Tenji, and Onu no iratsume, who married Emperor Tenmu, were her cousins.

At that time, she was counted as the second noblest hin (an imperial wife of the lowest rank), next to Yamato no Hime Okimi who was a daughter of Furuhito no Oe no Miko (Prince Furuhito no Oe) and the lawful wife of Emperor Tenji. In 649, her father, SOGANOKURA-YAMADA no Ishikawamaro committed suicide since someone informed on his treason. Today the incident is widely considered to have been plotted by her husband, Naka no Oe no Oji. Her age at death is unknown; it is considered by many that she died soon after giving birth to Takeru no Miko (Prince Takeru).

[Original Japanese]