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Takano no Niigasa
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Takano no Niigasa (高野新笠) (?–790) was a concubine of Emperor Konin and the mother of Emperor Kammu. Her full name was Takano no Asomi Niigasa.
Niigasa was a daughter of Yamato no Ototsugu (和乙継). She became a concubine of Prince Shirakabe (白壁王), a grandson of Emperor Tenji (天智天皇), and bore Prince Yamabe (山部王) in 737 and Prince Sawara (早良王) in 750. Prince Shirakabe also married with Prince Inoe (井上内親王), a daughter of Emperor Shōmu (聖武天皇) in 744. When Empress Shotoku died in 770, Prince Shirakabe was appointed her successor and acceded to the throne as Emperor Konin (光仁天皇). Prince Inoe and her son, Prince Osabe (他戸親王), were nominated as the Empress and the crown prince respectively because of her noble birth.
Sons of Niigasa had not been considered to be successors but in 772, the Empress was suddenly stripped of the rank with accused of cursing the Emperor. The crown prince, her son, was also disinherited. They were dead two years later. Although Niigasa did not became the Empress, Prince Yamabe, her son, was appointed as the crown prince and acceded to the throne as Emperor Kammu.
Yamato no Ototsugu, Niigasa's father, was a Baekje-originated noble. Kabane of Yamato clan had been Yamato no Fubito (和史) and was given a new kabane as Takano no Asomi (高野朝臣). Shoku Nihongi describes that the Yamato clan is a distant descendant of a prince (淳陀太子), son of King Muryeong of Baekje. Nihon Shoki mentions that the prince was dead in Japan in 513. The Yamato clan had the 200-year long history until Niigasa's birth comparing new comers, such as the Kudara no Konikishi clan.