Imperial Prince Masanari (雅成親王)
Imperial Prince Masanari (October 20, 1200 - March 19, 1255) was a member of the Japanese imperial family who lived in the early Kamakura period. He was a son of Emperor Gotoba and his mother was FUJIWARA no Jushi (Shigeko), later, he was adopted by Senyomonin. Emperor Juntoku was his older brother. His wife was a daughter of Michimitsu KOGA. He was one of the New thirty-six major poets. His alias was Rokujonomiya or Tajimanomiya.
In 1204, he was given the title of Imperial Prince, then went through genpuku (celebrate one's coming of age) in 1212 and became an Imperial Prince with the third court rank. He got married in the following year. The Kamakura bakufu (Japanese feudal government headed by a shogun) made a request of inviting the Imperial Prince as the next Shogun immediately after the assassination of Seii taishogun (literally, "great general who subdues the barbarians") MINAMOTO no Sanetomo, but the retired Emperor Gotoba, who decided to defeat the Kamakura bakufu, rejected the request. In 1221, he was banished to Tajima Province on the charge of involvement in the Jokyu War and confined in Takaya, Kinosaki County in the same province (present Toyooka City, Hyogo Prefecture). Later, he become a priest in 1226.
However, it is recorded that he lived with his biological mother, Shumeimonin in Kyoto in 1244 maybe because of a remission from the bakufu after the death of his father, the retired Emperor Gotoba. Then, in 1246, a rumor was circulated that Michiie KUJO who was an influential person in the then imperial court and chief supporter of Shumeimonin colluded with his son, Shogun Yoritsune KUJO, and intended to put up Shogun Yoritsune KUJO as the next Emperor by dismissing the regent Tokiyori HOJO and Emperor Gosaga who were supported by him. Tokiyori brought Kujo's father and son down ahead of their action and sent Imperial Prince Masanari back to Takaya, Tajima Province. The Imperial Prince died of illness in that place and was buried there.
He was excellent as a poet and collected poems of Imperial Prince Masanari, and his poems were also included in an anthology of poems collected by imperial command such as "Shoku-Gosen Wakashu" (Later imperial poetic anthology, continued).