Prince Masahito

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For other uses, see Masahito (disambiguation).
Prince Masahito, also known as Yōkwōin daijō-tennō

Prince Masahito (誠仁親王 Masahito-shinnō?, 1552-1586), also known as Prince Sanehito and posthumously named Yōkwōin daijō-tennō, was the eldest son of Emperor Ōgimachi.

Prince Masahito died before his father.

Masahito's eldest son was Imperial Prince Kazuhito (和仁親王 Kazuhito-shinnō?, 1572-1617), who acceded to the Chrysanthemum Throne on the death of Emperor Ōgimachi. Kazuhito would become known as Emperor Go-Yōzei.[1]

Later, Go-Yōzei elevated the rank of his father, even though his father's untimely death made this impossible in life. In this manner, Go-Yōzei himself could enjoy the polite fiction of being the son of an emperor.

  • August 21–25, 1598 (Keichō 3, 20-24th day of the 7th month): Buddhist rituals were performed in the Seriyoden of the Imperial Palace to celebrate the 13th anniversary of the death of the emperor's father.[2]

The actual site of Prince Masahito's grave is known. This posthumously-elevated emperor is traditionally venerated at a memorial Shinto shrine (misasagi) at Kyoto.

The Imperial Household Agency designates this location as Yōkwōin's mausoleum. It is formally named Tsukinowa no misasagi at Sennyū-ji.[1]


  1. ^ a b Ponsonby-Fane, Richard. (1959). Imperial House, p. 424.
  2. ^ de Visser, Willem Marinus. (1935). Ancient Buddhism in Japan, p. 691, p. 691, at Google Books