Prince Ōtomo
Emperor of Japan
Prince Ōtomo (648–672), also known under the posthumous title Emperor Kōbun (弘文天皇), was a Japanese noble who briefly ruled over the imperial court in 672, during the Jinshin War of the late Asuka period. He was born as Prince Iga to Prince Naka no Ōe. Iga changed his name to Ōtomo and married his cousin Princess Tōchi. After several years as regent, Naka ascended to the throne as Emperor Tenji in 668. He appointed either his son Ōtomo or brother Ōama as his heir. He also appointed Ōtomo as the first Daijō-daijin ('prime minister'), overseeing the Daijō-kan ('council of state').
Following Tenji's death in 671, a succession dispute broke out between Ōtomo (residing at court in Ōmi) and Ōama (who had traveled to Yoshino, possibly suspecting a plot against him). Fearing an attack by Ōtomo's forces, Ōama fled and rallied soldiers across the eastern province in mid-672, beginning the Jinshin War. A month later, Ōama's forces routed those of the Ōmi court. Ōtomo is said to have fled to the mountains and committed suicide, although he may have instead been betrayed by his minister Mononobe no Maro.
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This entry incorporates text from “Prince Ōtomo” 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.