Parents: Reigen
Date of Birth: 21 October 1675
Royal House: Yamato
Spouse: Yukiko
Reign: 1687 – 1709
Predecessor: Reigen
Predecessor: Reigen
Summary: Higashiyama reigned in a period in Japanese history during which the shogun, or military governor, had actual control over the government. The emperor, as today, played the role of figurehead and semi-divine being. Higashiyama was the son of a secondary consort to his father, but was accepted as heir upon his father's death. He was proclaimed Crown Prince in 1682 and nominally acceded to the throne in 1687 after his father abdicated, but Reigan continued to rule as regent for many years afterwards. The Tokugawa shogun, Tsunayoshi, saw this as subterfuge and eventually suppressed it, taking over the role of regent directly.
Being a puppet ruler, Higashiyama did nothing in particular during his reign except accept dignitaries, eat, produce offspring, and look important. Still, the success or failure of his reign was based on the politics and realities of the period. During his reign, Edo, the capital city of Japan, experienced a great fire. Six years later, a great earthquake destroyed much of the capital and the subsequent tsunami and fire killed up to 200,000 people. Another earthquake his Osaka four years later and Mt. Fuji erupted the next year, in 1708. Politically, Higashiyama's reign saw the increased use of coin currency in Japan and the arrival of German and Italian missionaries. A scandal at the end of his reign saw his cousin, the wife of the shogun, kill the shogun then commit suicide. That same year, Higashiuama abdicated leaving the empire to his son, Nakamikado.
Date of Death: 16 January 1710
Successor: Nakamikado
Other Monarchs Who Died Today:
- Polyeuctus, patriarch of Constantinople (960)
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