＜prologue＞
I started a blog called “The Baby Boomer Generation’s Miscellaneous Blog”（Dankai-sedai no garakutatyou:団塊世代の我楽多（がらくた）帳） in July 2018, about a year before I fully retired. More than six years have passed since then, and the number of articles has increased considerably.
So, in order to make them accessible to people who don’t understand Japanese, I decided to translate my past articles into English and publish them.
It may sound a bit exaggerated, but I would like to make this my life’s work.
It should be noted that haiku and waka （Japanese short fixed form poems） are quite difficult to translate into English, so some parts are written in Japanese.
If you are interested in haiku or waka and would like to know more, please read introductory or specialized books on haiku or waka written in English.
I also write many articles about the Japanese language. I would be happy if these inspire more people to want to learn Japanese.
my blog’s URL:団塊世代の我楽多（がらくた）帳 | 団塊世代が雑学や面白い話を発信しています
my X’s URL:団塊世代の我楽多帳（@historia49) on X
(Reference) Original article in Japanese
・残念な天皇の話(その１２)。四条天皇は自分が仕掛けたいたずらで転倒死！？
The Japanese Imperial Family (Imperial Household) is said to be “the world’s longest-running royal family.” If Emperor Jimmu, as described in the Kojiki and Nihon Shoki, was a real person, then the Imperial Family has a history of over 2600 years, up to the current 126th Emperor.
Even if Emperor Keitai (450?–531), the 26th Emperor and a descendant of Emperor Ojin, is definitively the first emperor, it doesn’t change the fact that it is “the world’s longest-running royal family.”
Throughout this long history of the Imperial Family, there have been tyrannical emperors, incompetent emperors, and lecherous emperors, but there have also been foolish emperors like Emperor Shijo, whom we will introduce here.
He died after “falling and tripping over a prank he set up to make someone else trip.” However, he was only 10 years old, so he may have just been in his “prank-and-mischievous” or “naughty” phase.
1. About Emperor Shijō
Emperor Shijō (1231–1242, reigned 1232–1242) was the eldest son of the 86th Emperor Go-Horikawa (1212–1234, reigned 1221–1232). His mother was Empress Kujō Chikako (daughter of Kujō Michiie).
He ascended to the throne at the age of one in 1232, following Emperor Go-Horikawa’s abdication. His father, the retired Emperor Go-Horikawa, established the cloistered government, but died two years later. Afterward, his maternal grandfather, Kujō Michiie, took power. In 1241, he came of age and took Kujō Hikoko as his consort, but she died at the age of 10 in an “unfortunate accident.”
One day, he thought of scattering “slippery stones” on the palace corridors to make his attendants and ladies-in-waiting trip and fall, much to his amusement.
He was excited by his mischievous idea, but he tragically tripped on the slippery floor he had set up, hit his head hard, suffered a brain contusion, and died.
He paid a heavy price for his prank.
I once heard from my high school teacher that a member of parliament who proposed stricter regulations on the Public Offices Election Act became the first person to violate that law; this is a similarly comical story.
The fact that former Minister of Justice Katsuyuki Kawai was charged with violating the Public Offices Election Act is ironic, and it’s disheartening to think how low the quality of the Minister of Justice has fallen.
2. Historical Context Before and After Emperor Shijo
The sudden death of Emperor Shijō signifies the extinction of the bloodline of Prince Moritada.
Emperor Takakura (1161-1181, reigned 1168-1180), the 80th emperor, had three sons: Emperor Antoku (1178-1185, reigned 1180-1185), Emperor Gotoba (1180-1239, reigned 1183-1198), and Prince Moritada (1179-1223).
However, Emperor Antoku had already died along with the Taira clan in the Battle of Dan-no-ura, so the only remaining bloodline is that of Emperor Gotoba, the instigator of the Jōkyū War (1221).
Prince Moritada, Emperor Go-Horikawa, and Emperor Shijo all died young, and rumors spread that this was the work of a vengeful spirit of Emperor Go-Toba.
It is said that Emperor Go-Toba, who was exiled to Oki, left behind the following “death document”:
If, by any chance, I am drawn to the delusions of this world and become a demon, I will bring disaster upon this world. If my descendants ever seize power, it will be entirely due to my own power. If my descendants ever seize power, they should pray for my soul.
Following Emperor Shijō, Emperor Go-Saga (1220-1272, reigned 1242-1246), who became the 88th emperor, was one of the factors that led to the “Northern and Southern Courts period.”