Kaninnomiya Imperial Prince Sukehito (閑院宮典仁親王)
Kaninnomiya Imperial Prince Sukehito (April 1, 1733 - August 1, 1794) was the head of the Miyake (house of an imperial prince) in Edo period and member of the Imperial family. His childhood name was Hisanomiya. He was the second head of the Kaninnomiya family and was from the hereditary Imperial family. His former name was Emperor Kyoko or Kyokoin. Imperial Prince Sukehito lived during the Edo period, and later he was given the title Emperor Kyoko after the end of Meiji period. He was a talented poet of Waka (a traditional Japanese poem of thirty-one syllables) who was one of the popular poets of oral tradition in the Kokindenju, he was also known to be good with a brush and an very rare example of his calligraphy in black paint exists in Tanzaku (a long sheet on which Waka poems are written). He was Emperor Kokaku's father. His place of entombment is called as Mausoleum as he was given the posthumous honorific title of Emperor. His mausoleum is located in Rozan-ji no Misasagi (the Rozan-ji mausoleum) (Kamigyo Ward, Kyoto City).
Genealogy
He was Emperor Higashiyama's grandchild and the second Prince of Kaninnomiya Imperial Prince Naohito. His foster mother was Chancellor, Motohiro KONOE's daughter, FUJIWARA no Shushi. His birth mother was Ie no Nyobo (a lady in waiting), Sanuki. His Miyasudokoro (wife) was Emperor Nakamikado's fifth Princess, Imperial Prince Fusako.
Brief Personal History
Since Emperor Gomomozono died in 1779 without having a prince to become his successor, Imperial Prince Sukehito's sixth Prince, Imperial Prince Morohito (Tomohito) succeeded to the throne in haste (Emperor Kokaku).
Since his father, Imperial Prince Sukehito's rank in the Imperial Palace was lower than Minister, the respected title of the retired emperor was about to be given to Imperial Prince Sukehito, but he did not receive it, since the Senior Councilor of the Edo bakufu (Japanese feudal government headed by a shogun), Sadanobu MATSUDAIRA was ageist it. (Songo ikken - Songo Incident)
In 1884, he was given the posthumous name of 'Emperor Kyoko' and the respected title of 'retired emperor,' being Emperor Meiji's great great grandfather, (The procedure to do this was a lot more complicated since the system of having a 'the retired emperor' was abolished after Meiji period) so, after that he was called Emperor Kyoko or Kyokoin, instead of Kaninnomiya Imperial Prince Sukehito.