(449/50–487) was the 23rd emperor of Japan, according to the traditional order of succession. No firm dates can be assigned to this emperor's life or reign, but he is conventionally considered to have reigned from 485 to 487.
Protohistoric narrative Exile and Return The Japanese have traditionally accepted this sovereign's historical existence, and a mausoleum (misasagi) for Kenzō is currently maintained. The following information available is taken from the pseudo-historical Kojiki and Nihon Shoki, which are collectively known as or Japanese chronicles. These chronicles include legends and myths, as well as potential historical facts that have since been exaggerated and/or distorted over time. It is recorded in the Kiki that Kenzō was born to sometime in 449 or 450 AD and was given the name . At the time Woke already had an older brother named , and the two were both grandsons of Emperor Richū.Murray, David. (1906).
Woke would have been quite young when Emperor Yūryaku shot the arrow which killed his father, Ichinobe no Oshiwa during a hunting expedition. Fearful of their lives, both Prince Woke and his older brother, Prince Oke chose to flee into the countryside. According to Harima no Kuni Fudoki, they found refuge at Akashi in Harima Province where they hid by living in obscurity. Histories from that period explained that the two brothers sought to blend into this rural community by posing as common herdsmen. The Kiki then splits on the narrative on how the two Princes were re-discovered.
According to the Kojiki, both Princes were re-discovered after the death of Emperor Seinei as officials searched for a successor to the late Emperor. The Nihon Shoki on the other hand gives a different account as the Emperor is alive and well when the Princes were found. Their discovery allegedly occurred when a newly appointed governor came to Akashi to attend a festival. Woke pleaded with his older brother to reveal themselves given this great opportunity to do so. After Oke relented, the two communicated their status to the governor through song and dance. The now shocked governor re-introduced the lost cousins to Emperor Seinei, who adopted both of them as sons and heirs.
Woke wanted his elder brother to become Emperor; but Oke refused. As the two struggled for a year to reach an agreement Princess Iitoyo (their sister or aunt) became a de-facto regent. The great men of the court insisted that one or the other of the brothers must accept the throne; but in the end, Woke proved to be more adamant. Prince Woke agreed to accept the throne; and Kenzō was ultimately proclaimed as the new Emperor—which created a sense of relief for all the people who had endured this period of uncertainty.
Reign Both the Koiki and Nihon Shoki come back into agreement for events during Emperor Kenzō's reign.
Historical assessment
There is no evidence to suggest that the title (meaning "emperor") was used during the time to which Kenzō's reign has been assigned. Instead, his title could have possibly been , meaning "the great king who rules all under heaven", or "Great King of Yamato". The name Kenzō was more than likely assigned to him posthumously by later generations. His name might have been regularized centuries after the lifetime ascribed to Kenzō, possibly during the time in which legends about the origins of the imperial dynasty were compiled as the chronicles known today as the Kojiki.
Outside of the Kiki, the reign of Emperor Kinmei ( – 571 AD) is the first for which contemporary historiography has been able to assign verifiable dates. The conventionally accepted names and dates of the early Emperors were not confirmed as "traditional" until the reign of Emperor Kanmu between 737 and 806 AD.
While the actual site of Kenzō's grave is not known, this regent is traditionally venerated at a memorial Shinto shrine (misasagi) in Osaka. As designated by the Imperial Household Agency as Kenzō's mausoleum, its formal name is . Kenzō is also enshrined at the Imperial Palace along with other emperors and members of the Imperial Family at the Three Palace Sanctuaries.
It is recorded that his capital was at in Yamato Province.Titsingh, p. 30. The location of the palace is thought to have been in present-day Osaka Prefecture or Nara Prefecture.Aston, William. (1998). Nihongi, Vol. 1, pp. 377–393.
Murray reports that the only event of major consequence during Kenzō's reign had to do with the filial respect he showed for his murdered father. Kenzō arranged to have his father's remains retrieved and re-interred in a mausoleum appropriate for the son of an Emperor and the father of another.Murray,
Kenzō died at age 37, reigning only three years. He too had no other heirs; so his brother would follow him on the throne. His Empress was , Prince Oka-no-Wakugo's daughter (also Prince Iwaki's granddaughter and Emperor Yuryaku's great-granddaughter).
Consorts and children Empress (Kōgō): , Prince Oka-no-Wakugo's daughter (also Prince Iwaki's granddaughter and Emperor Yuryaku's great-granddaughter)
See also Princess Iitoyo Imperial cult
Notes
References
Further reading Aston, William George. (1896). Nihongi: Chronicles of Japan from the Earliest Times to A.D. 697. London: Kegan Paul, Trench, Trubner. Brown, Delmer M. and Ichirō Ishida, eds. (1979). Gukanshō: The Future and the Past. Berkeley: University of California Press. ; Murray, David. (1906). Japan. New York: G.P. Putnam & Sons. Ponsonby-Fane, Richard. (1959). The Imperial House of Japan. Kyoto: Ponsonby Memorial Society. Titsingh, Isaac. (1834). Annales des empereurs du Japon (Nihon Ōdai Ichiran). Paris: Royal Asiatic Society, Oriental Translation Fund of Great Britain and Ireland. Varley, H. Paul. (1980). Jinnō Shōtōki: A Chronicle of Gods and Sovereigns. New York: Columbia University Press. ;