Emperor Keikō
Emperor of Japan
Emperor Keikō (景行天皇, Keikō-tennō), also known as Ootarashihikooshirowake no Sumeramikoto (大足彦忍代別天皇) and Ōtarashihiko-oshirowake no Mikoto (大帯日子淤斯呂和氣天皇), was the 12th (and legendary) emperor of Japan, according to the traditional order of succession. Both the Kojiki and the Nihon Shoki (collectively known as the Kiki) record events that took place during Keikō's alleged lifetime.
Keikō was recorded as being an exceptionally tall emperor who had a very large family. During his reign he sought to expand territorial control through conquest of local tribes. He had a very important son named "Prince Ōsu", now known as the folk hero Yamato Takeru, who was in possession of the Kusanagi no Tsurugi when he died. This treasure was later moved to Atsuta Shrine in Nagoya, Aichi Prefecture, and is now a part of the Imperial Regalia of Japan. It is possible that Keikō lived or reigned in the 4th century rather than the first, but more information is needed.
Keikō's reign is conventionally considered to have been from 71 to 130. During his alleged lifetime, he fathered at least 80 children with two chief wives (empress) and nine consorts. One of his sons became the next emperor upon his death in 130, but the location of Keikō's grave (if any) is unknown.
“Emperor Keikō” enters the record as emperor of Japan. Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what Emperor, Keikō and Japan can confirm, complicate or overturn.
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Named sources, stable identifiers and responsible institutions provide the strongest route from overview to verifiable evidence. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jun 9, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q329723. VIAF identifies the subject as 316805374. The Library of Congress control number is no2008130663. 2 of 4 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 1 use preferred rank.
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This entry incorporates text from “Emperor Keikō” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.