Emperor Sushun

Template:Infobox royalty

Template:Nihongo was the 32nd Emperor of Japan,<ref name="kunaicho">Imperial Household Agency (Kunaichō): 崇峻天皇 (32)</ref> according to the traditional order of succession.<ref>Ponsonby-Fane, Richard. (1959). The Imperial House of Japan, p. 47.</ref>

Sushun's reign spanned the years from 587 through 592.<ref>Titsingh, Isaac. (1834). Annales des empereurs du Japon, pp. 38–39; Brown, Delmer et al. (1979). Gukanshō, p. 263; Varley, H. Paul. (1980). Jinnō Shōtōki, p. 126.</ref>

Traditional narrative

Before his ascension to the Chrysanthemum Throne, his personal name (his imina)<ref>Brown, pp. 264; n.b., Up until the time of Emperor Jomei, the personal names of the Emperors (their imina) were very long and people did not generally use them. The number of characters in each name diminished after Jomei's reign.</ref> was Hatsusebe-shinnō, also known as Hatsusebe no Waka-sazaki.<ref>Aston, William. (2005). Nihongi, p. 112.</ref>

His name at birth was Template:Nihongo. He was the twelfth son of Emperor Kinmei. His mother was Template:Nihongo, a daughter of Soga no Iname,<ref name="v126">Varley, p. 126.</ref> who was the chief, or Ōomi, of the Soga clan.

He succeeded his half-brother, Emperor Yōmei in 587, and lived in the Kurahashi Palace (Kurahashi no Miya) in Yamato.<ref>Brown, p. 263; Varley, p. 126.</ref>

587: In the Template:Nihongo, the Emperor died, and despite a dispute over who should follow him as sovereign, the succession was received by another son of Emperor Kinmei, one of Yōmei's younger brothers. Shortly thereafter, Emperor Sushun is said to have acceded to the throne.<ref>Titsingh, p. 38; Brown, 263; Varley, p. 44; n.b., A distinct act of senso is unrecognized prior to Emperor Tenji; and all sovereigns except Jitō, Yōzei, Go-Toba, and Fushimi have senso and sokui in the same year until the reign of Emperor Go-Murakami.</ref>

Sushun's contemporary title would not have been tennō, as most historians believe this title was not introduced until the reigns of Emperor Tenmu and Empress Jitō. Rather, it was presumably Template:Nihongo, meaning "the great king who rules all under heaven". Alternatively, Sushun might have been referred to as Template:Nihongo2 or the "Great King of Yamato".

He came to the throne with the support of the Soga clan and Empress Suiko, his half sister and the widow of Emperor Bidatsu. Initially, the Mononobe clan, a rival clan of the Sogas, allied with Template:Ill, another son of Kimmei, and attempted to have him installed as Emperor. At the Battle of Shigisan, Soga no Umako, who succeeded his father as Ōomi of the Soga clan, eventually killed Mononobe no Moriya, the head of the Mononobe clan, which led to its decline. Umako then installed Emperor Sushun on the throne.

As time went on, Sushun eventually became resentful of Umako's power, and wanted him deposed. It is said that one day, he killed a wild boar and stated, "As I have slain this boar, so would I slay the one I despise". This angered Soga no Umako and, perhaps out of fear of being struck first, Umako hired Template:Illm to assassinate Sushun in 592.

Emperor Sushun's reign lasted for five years before his death at the age of 72.<ref name="v126"/>

The actual site of Sushun's grave is known.<ref name="kunaicho"/> The Emperor is traditionally venerated at a memorial Shinto shrine (misasagi) at Nara.

The Imperial Household Agency designates this location as Yōmei's mausoleum. It is formally named Kurahashi no oka no e no misasagi.<ref>Ponsonby-Fane, p. 420.</ref>