Background
Tenno Kōgyoku was born in 594. He was the daughter of Prince Chinu and Princess Kibitsu-hime.
Tenno Kōgyoku was born in 594. He was the daughter of Prince Chinu and Princess Kibitsu-hime.
Tenno Kogyoku was the Empress consort of Emperor Jomei, to whom she bore two sons, who later ascended the throne as Emperors Tenchi and Tenmu. With the death of her husband she ascended the throne (642) and lived first at Oharida Palace and then at Asuka-no-Itabuki Palace, both in Nara Prefecture. It was during her reipn that Prince Nakano-Oe (later Emperor Tenchi) and Kamatari Fujiwara led an army to quell the rebellion of Soga. She abdicated the throne in favor of Koken (646), but three years later reascended the throne upon his death with the name of Saimei Tenno. She died while in Kyushu leading an expedition to quell a revolt in Korea.
Princess Takara (Takara-no-miko) was a great-granddaughter of Emperor Bidatsu. She became the wife and Empress consort of her uncle Emperor Jomei. The Imperial marriage produced three children: Prince Naka-no-Oe (Emperor Tenji), Prince Oama (Emperor Tenmu), Princess Hashihito (Empress consort of Emperor Kotoku).