Career

Number firm dates can be assigned to this emperor"s life or reign, but he is conventionally considered to have reigned from 453–456. Ankō was a 5th-century monarch. The reign of Emperor Kimmei (509?–571 AD), the 29th emperor, is the first for which contemporary historiography is able to assign verifiable dates.

However, the conventionally accepted names and dates of the early emperors were not to be confirmed as "traditional" until the reign of Emperor Kammu (737–806), the 50th sovereign of the Yamato dynasty.

According to Kojiki and Nihon Shoki, Ankō was the second son of Emperor Ingyō. Ankō"s contemporary title would not have been tennō, as most historians believe this title was not introduced until the reign of Emperor Tenmu.

Rather, it was presumably Sumeramikoto or Amenoshita Shiroshimesu Ōkimi (治天下大王), meaning "the great king who rules all under heaven." Alternatively, Ankō might have been referred to as the "Great King of Yamato."

Ankō was assassinated in his third year of reign by Mayowa no Ōkimi (Prince Mayowa), in retaliation for the execution of Mayowa"s father. The actual site of Ankō"s grave is not known.

The Imperial Household Agency designates this location as Ankō"s mausoleum.

lieutenant is formally named Sugawara no Fushimi no nishi misasagi.