Emperor Bidatsu and Soga no Umako Underwater Battle ②.

Buddhism continued to flow into the Bidatsu dynasty (reigned AD 572-585), and within the imperial court,

Soga clan = Buddhism

Mononobe clan, Nakatomi clan = Belief in Shintoism, promotion of banishing Buddhism

Divided into positions, intense political leadership struggles were repeated through religion.

The Mononobe and Nakatomi clan felt a strong sense of crisis that they would be driven out of the center of the political world due to the growth of the Soga clan. It is believed that deep inside he had a feeling of displeasure towards the Soga clan.

In other words, Emperor Bidatsu, the Mononobe clan, and the Nakatomi clan were completely in agreement in terms of 'anti-Soga.'

At that time, smallpox epidemics were repeated and many people died, and both the Buddhist sect and the anti-Buddhist sect were blaming each other, saying, "It's all your fault."

Umako independently promoted the collection of Buddhist statues from Kudara, the construction of Buddhist temples, and the construction of pagodas, and strengthened his activities to worship Buddhism in an effort to expand the power of the Soga clan (these activities are currently in it is said to have happened in the vicinity of Wada-cho and Ishikawa-cho, Kashihara City).

Mononobe no Moriya and Nakatomi Katsumi could not overlook these moves that led to the usurpation of central power within the Imperial Court, and fiercely resisted by burning Buddhist statues and Buddhist temples and cutting down towers, pushing through with their claim to abolish Buddhism. Umako did not rebel and endured the use of force. It was clear that Emperor Bidatsu was behind Moriya and Katsumi.

I believe that one aspect of the Bidatsu dynasty was that Emperor Bidatsu and Soga no Umako maintained their relationship of being the emperor and senior vassal while repeatedly fighting behind the scenes for political leadership.

These two scabbards come to an end in an unexpected way.

In the 14th year of Bidatsu (AD 585), there was a large outbreak of smallpox, and in the second month of spring (February 24 AD 585), Umako became ill. Around March or April, Emperor Bidatsu and Mononobe no Moriya contracted the disease, so it is possible that Umako brought the disease into the Imperial Court.

In the midst of this epidemic, Emperor Bidatsu finally passed away in the August of the 14 year of Bidatsu (August 15, 585). Umako somehow recovered and survived. At this time, Emperor Bidatsu was 47 years old and Umako was about 35 years old.

Umako was blessed as a politician in terms of political environment and rhetoric, but he was also a lucky man. Umako would wield power at the core of the Imperial Court for more than 40 years, until the 34th year of Suiko (AD 626).

Real political power fell into Umako's hands.

(The photo shows a bus stop in Wada-cho, Kashihara City. It is said that Moriya and Katsumi burned the Buddha statues and Buddhist temples in this area. Mononobe no Moriya is said to have visited the site and conducted while sitting on the folding stool.)

Kashihara Wada Bus Stop: 15 minutes walk west from Kashihara Jingumae Station. Taken on November 30, 2020

Emperor Bidatsu and Soga no Umako, Underwater Battle①.

Emperor Bidatsu (AD 538-585) was an emperor who opposed the Soga family.Emperor Bidatsu (Nunakakurahutotamashiki no Mikoto) is the son of Emperor Kinmei and his mother is Princess Ishihime (daughter of Emperor Senka), so although he is of first-class blood, but he does not have the blood of the Soga family. During the Kinmei dynasty (reigned AD 539-572), the Soga family married Emperor Kinmei with two wives (Kitashihime and Oanenokimi), and they had many children with the emperor and rapidly expanded their power.

(Kitashihime's child)

Prince Tachibana Toyohi, Princess Toyomike Kashikiyahime, Prince Sakurai, and others, 7 sons and 6 daughters

(Oanenokimi's child)

Princess Anahobe Hashihito, Prince Anahobe, Prince Hatsusebe, and others, 4 sons and 1 daughter

The Soga family had 18 princes and princesses, and it is believed that they overwhelmed the clans around the emperor.

Emperor Bidatsu, on the other hand, had only two brothers from the same mother: an older brother and a younger sister.

(Child of Ishihime)

Prince Yata Tamakatsu no Oe, Nunakurahutotamashiki no Mikoto (later Emperor Bidatsu), Princess Kasanui.

Naturally, Emperor Bidatsu tended to be isolated in his youth, and it can be imagined that he had a strong antipathy for the Soga family. According to the Shoki, "The Emperor did not believe in the Dharma, but loved the texts and history" , and not believing in the Dharma means that he was different from the Soga family.

Emperor Bidatsu had four wives (Hiro-hime: daughter of Okinaga Mate-ou, Toyomikekashikiyahime: daughter of Emperor Kinmei, Okinago: daughter of Kasuganoomi no Nakakimi, Unako: Ise Oojika Obito Oguma's daughter), three years after her accession to the throne, he decided to make Hirohime the Empress.

The rank of empress determines the order of the Emperor's consorts, and since the political status of the clans that produce them rises considerably, every clan carries out desperate political activities behind the scenes to have a daughter of its own bloodline installed as empress.

At this time, the representative of the Soga family was Umako, who was a minister, so it is thought that Umako was concentrating his efforts on becoming Empress Kashiyakihime. Hirohime is considered to be the elder, so it was natural to assume that Hirohime was the empress, but it was not interesting for the Soga family that she was the daughter of another family and the empress, leaving Toyomikekashikiyahime.

Emperor Bidatsu implied the message that “I will not allow the Soga family to become a central clan in the political world.”

I believe that the ministers around the emperor must have sensed this. However, Hirohime died only ten months after becoming her empress. I don't know the reason for her, but Hirohime's backbone, Okinaga clan, had little presence in the political world, and as the Soga family grew, she was under pressure, and she may have died suddenly as a result.

Her next empress was Princess Toyomike Kashikiyahime.

Kashikiyahime was a person of restrained character and possessed an extraordinary sense of her political balance. Emperor Bidatsu's true intention was to avoid making Princess Kashikiyahime the Empress, but given the growing power of the Soga family, Umako's manipulation of the political world, and the personality of Princess Kashikiyahime, there is no room for choice.

Princess Kashikiyahime will later have Prince Shotoku, and even though she is a woman, she will serve the throne for 36 years. Behind the birth of Japan's first empress, she had a track record of fulfilling a heavy responsibility as an empress during the Bidatsu Dynasty, which may have been the reason why many of her retainers were satisfied with the political foundation.

There is no "what if..." in history, but I wonder if the Suiko Dynasty would have been established without the Empress Kashikiyahime.

Empress Suiko's glorious achievements are recorded in Volume 22 of the Chronicles of Japan(Nihon Syoki), and it was the Bidatsu Dynasty's personnel affairs that triggered them.

(The photo is Kasuga Shrine, which is said to be the site of Yakugo Sakitamamiya, which is said to be a translation of Emperor Bidatsu: Kaiju, Sakurai City, Nara Prefecture)

Kasuga Shrine (Kaijuu, Sakurai City): 11 minutes walk west from Sakurai Station. Taken on August 31, 2022.

The Mizuochi Ruins（water clock） and the Seventeen-Article Constitution

There is a famous ruin called Mizuochi Ruins near Asuka Temple, and I think many people have visited it.

The National History Encyclopedia states, “The discovered remains include a tower-like building, various facilities for water use that were built integrally with this building, a group of four or more dug-standing pillar buildings, and a dug-standing pillar fence. It has a first-class scale and content among architecture,” and it seems that it is a highly accurate building. "Rou" means a tall building, and it seems that it was a huge two-story building that cannot be imagined from the ruins.

This building was built to tell the time using the flow of water, and served as a large clock in the Asuka area.

Using the high-tech technology of the time, the water tanks were set up at different levels, and when the top tank was filled with water and connected to each other with thin pipes, the water gradually moved from the top to the bottom, creating a thin pipe. The amount and time of flowing water is constant depending on the height, so it seems that it was a device to measure time. The more tanks there are, the more accurate time can be measured.

The large copper pipes for pumping water and the small copper pipes for flowing excess water to the Ishigami Ruins were made by rounding copper plates, joining them with silver solder, coating with lacquer to prevent freezing, and even covering them with wooden pipes.

In the Nihonshoki (Chronicles of Japan), the 6th year of the Saimei era (AD 660.5), it is written that “The crown prince (Nakanooeno Oji) made a water clock for the first time to inform the people of the time. In the fourth month of the tenth year of Tenchi (A.D. 671.4.25), it is written, ”A water clock is placed on a new stand to tell the time, and the bell and bell ring. This day was the first time I used leaking.

The Mizuochi Ruins are said to have been established in the tenth year of Tenchi (AD671).

The article on the water clock in the Chronicles of Japan and the existence of the Mizuochi ruins almost confirm that the Seventeen-Article Constitution was created before the sixth year of Saimei (AD660).

Although Article 8 of the 17-Article Constitution has a description of the time at which government officials should serve and the time at which they should leave, the description is ambiguous, and it is not possible to know the time at which they should serve from this wording alone.

“As mentioned in 8, the lords and the Hundred Houses should go to work early and leave late. Public affairs cannot be taken lightly, and it is difficult to complete them all in one day. Therefore, if you show up late, you won't be able to make it in time for urgent business, and if you leave early, you'll leave the office behind.”

What is written here is “Go early, leave late”', and there is no specific standard.

If this is the case, the more diligent bureaucrats will work longer hours and lose money, while the haphazard bureaucrats will gain more, making it impossible to maintain order in the bureaucracy.

This was supplemented by Article 11, which stipulated, “Look clearly at the achievements and faults of bureaucrats, and reward and punish accordingly.” I think I was convinced.

The Prince's work ranged from adjudicating lawsuits to educating the people through Buddhism, national infrastructure and transportation such as road construction, health and labor relations such as saving the poor, and diplomacy in exchanges with foreign countries. It would inevitably require a huge bureaucracy.

When the Constitution was written in the twentieth year of Suiko (AD 604), our country did not have the technology to make water clocks, and it was not possible to inform government officials of the time they should serve.

(The photo is of the Mizuochi Ruins)

Mizuochi Ruins: A 33-minute walk west from Kashiharajingu-mae Station. Taken on November 30, 2020.