"Empress Suiko" Women's hoodie

Kōgō Suiko became the first of what would be several examples in Japanese history where a woman was chosen to accede to the throne to avert a power struggle.


Before Empress Suiko's ascension to the Chrysanthemum Throne, her personal name was Toyomike Kashikiya hime no Mikoto.
Suiko actually had several names including Princess Nukatabe and (possibly posthumously) Toyomike Kashikiya. She was a daughter of Emperor Kinmei. Her mother was Soga no Iname's daughter, Soga no Kitashihime. Suiko was the younger sister of Emperor Yōmei.

Empress Suiko was a consort to her half-brother, Emperor Bidatsu, but after Bidatsu's first wife died she became his official consort and was given the title Ōkisaki (official consort of the emperor). She bore eight children.

After Bidatsu's death, Suiko's brother, Emperor Yōmei, came to power for about two years before dying of illness. Upon Yōmei's death, another power struggle arose between the Soga clan and the Mononobe clan, with the Sogas supporting Prince Hatsusebe and the Mononobes supporting Prince Anahobe. The Sogas prevailed once again and Prince Hatsusebe acceded to the throne as Emperor Sushun in 587. However, Sushun began to resent the power of Soga no Umako, the head of the Soga clan, and Umako, perhaps out of fear that Sushun might strike first, had him assassinated by Yamatoaya no Ataikoma (東漢直駒) in 592. When asked to accede to the throne to fill the power vacuum that subsequently developed, Suiko was the first women to be given power in Japanese history to stop men from fighting.



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