He was the first emperor to ostensibly retire to a monastery, but in fact continue to exert considerable influence over his successor. This process would become known as cloistered rule.
When he was very young, his relations with his father were very cold but loving and in 1068, when his father was enthroned, he was proclaimed a shinnō (Imperial Prince), becoming Imperial Prince Sadahito. In 1069, he became Crown Prince and in due course, he became emperor at the age of 19.
January 18, 1073 (Enkyū 4, on the 8th day of the 12th month): In the 5th year of Emperor Go-Sanjō-tennō's reign (桓武天皇六年), the emperor abdicated; and the succession (‘‘senso’’) was received by his son. Shortly thereafter, Emperor Shirakawa is said to have acceded to the throne (‘‘sokui’’).[8]
Akampaku was put in place, but Shirakawa attempted to rule directly, like his father. He attempted to regulate the shōen (manor) system, working to weaken the influence of the sekkan lines.
1074 (Jōhō 1, 1st month): Dainagon Minamoto- no Takakune asked to be relieved of his duties because of his age. He was 71, and he wanted to retire to Uji. In his retirement, he was visited by many friends with whom he pursued research into the history of Japan. He brought this work together in a book.[9]
1074 (Jōhō 1, 7th day of the 2nd month): The former kampakuFujiwara Yorimichi died at the age of 83. In this same period, his sister, the widow of Emperor Ichijo, died at the age of 86.[9]
1074 (Jōhō 1, 3rd day of the 10th month): Empress Jōtōmon-in died at the age of 86.[10]
1077 (Jōryaku 1, 2nd month): Udaijin Minamoto no Morofusa died at of an ulcer at the age of 70.[11]
1077 (Jōryaku 1): The emperor caused Hosshō-ji (dedicated to the "Superiority of Buddhist Law") to be built at Shirakawa in fulfillment of a sacred vow. This temple became only the first of a series of "sacred vow" temples to be created by Imperial decree. Hosshō-ji's nine-storied pagoda would become the most elaborate Imperial-sponsored temple structure ever erected up to this time.[12]
May 26, 1081 (Eihō 1, 15th day of the 4th month): The Buddhist Temple of Miidera was set on fire by the monks of a rival sect on Mt. Hiei.[13]
1081 (Eihō 1, 4th day of the 6th month): Miidera was burned again by monks from Mt. Hiei.[14]
1083 (Eihō 3, 10th month): At Hosshō-ji, construction begins on a nine-story pagoda.[15]
1084 (Ōtoku 1, 9th month): The empress Kenshi, the emperor's principal consort, died. Shirakawa was afflicted with great grief, and for a time, he turned over the administration of the government to his ministers.[15]
1087 (Ōtoku 3, 9th month): Shirakawa announced his intention to abdicate in favor of his son.[15]
January 3, 1087 (Ōtoku 3, 26th day of the 11th month): Shirakawa formally abdicated,[13] and he took the title Daijō-tennō.[15] Shirakawa had personally occupied the throne for 14 years; and for the next 43 years, he would exercise broad powers in what will come to be known as cloistered rule.[16]
Go-Sanjō had wished for Shirakawa's younger half-brother to succeed him to the throne. In 1085, this half-brother died of an illness; and Shirakawa's own son, Taruhito-shinnō (善仁親王) became Crown Prince.
On the same day that Taruhito was proclaimed as his heir, Shirakawa abdicated;, and Taruhito became Emperor Horikawa. The now-retired Emperor Shirakawa was the first to attempt what became customary cloistered rule. He exercised power, ruling indirectly from the Shirakawa-in (lit. "White River Mansion/Temple"); nevertheless, nominal sesshō and kampaku offices continued to exist for a long time.
1088 (Kanji 2, in the 1st month): The emperor paid a visit to his father's home.[18]
1088 (Kanji 2, 10th month): Shirakawa visited the temples at Mt. Hiei.[18]
1088 (Kanji 2, 14th day of the 12th): The sesshō Fujiwara Morozane was given additional honors with the further title of daijō-daijin.[19] In this context, it matters a great deal that the mother of Emperor Horikawa, formerly the daughter of udaijin Minamoto no Akifusa, was also formerly the adopted child of Morozane.[20]
1089 (Kanji 3, 5th month): Shirakawa made a second visit to Mt. Hiei; and this time, he stayed seven days.[18]
1090 (Kanji 4, 12th month): Fujiwara Morozane was relieved of his responsibilities as sesshō and he was simultaneously named kampaku.[18]
1094 (Kanji 8, 8th day of the 3rd month): Morozane resigned from his position as kampaku.[21]
1095 (Kahō 2, 8th month): The emperor was stricken with intermittent fevers; and he ordered prayers to be offered for his return to good health. After Horikawa recovered his health, he was generous and appreciative to the Buddhist priests who had prayed for his recovery.[22]
1095 (Kahō 2, 11th month): The Buddhist priests of Mt. Hiei came down from their mountain to protest a dispute with Minamoto Yoshitsuna and other government officials which had led to military action and bloodshed. The priests carried a portable shrine as far as the central hall of Enryaku-ji, where a curse was laid on daijō-daijin Fujiwara Moromichi.[23]
1096 (Kahō 3, 9th day of the 11th month): Former-Emperor Shirakawa entered the Buddhist priesthood at the age of 44 and received the Dharma nameYūkan (融観).[13]
In 1096, on the occasion of his daughter's death, Shirakawa entered a monastery under the name of Yūkan (融観); and thus, he became a hō-ō (法皇), which is the title accorded to a former emperor who has become a monk.
After the death of Emperor Horikawa, Shirakawa's grandson became Emperor Toba. Shirakawa was still alive when Toba abdicated in turn to his son, who became Emperor Sutoku. By the time of his death in 1129, he had ruled as cloistered Emperor for 41 years and through the reigns of three emperors who were effectively little more than figureheads.
This emperor's posthumous name comes from Shirakawa-in (白河院), the name of the residence from which he conducted his cloistered rule after abdicating the throne. Another name was Rokujō no Mikado (六条帝, Mikado being an old name for the Emperor of Japan).
Kugyō (公卿) is a collective term for the very few most powerful men attached to the court of the Emperor of Japan in pre-Meiji eras. Even during those years in which the court's actual influence outside the palace walls was minimal, the hierarchic organization persisted.
In general, this elite group included only three to four men at a time. These were hereditary courtiers whose experience and background would have brought them to the pinnacle of a life's career. During Shirakawa's reign, this apex of the Daijō-kan included:
^Brown, pp. 264; prior to Emperor Jomei, the personal names of the emperors were very long and people did not generally use them. The number of characters in each name diminished after Jomei's reign.
^Titsingh, p. 169; Brown, p. 314; Varley, p. 44; a distinct act of senso is unrecognized prior to Emperor Tenji; and all sovereigns except Jitō, Yōzei, Go-Toba, and Fushimi have senso and sokui in the same year until the reign of Emperor Go-Murakami.
