Fujiwara no Hirotsugu Rebellion

The Fujiwara no Hirotsugu Rebellion (藤原広嗣の乱, Fujiwara no Hirotsugu no ran^?) was an unsuccessful Nara period rebellion led by Fujiwara no Hirotsugu (藤原広嗣^?) in the Japanese islands, in the year 740. Hirotsugu, dissatisfied with the political powers, raised an army in Dazaifu, Kyushu but was defeated by government forces.

The Fujiwara no Hirotsugu Rebellion is sparsely documented and most of what is known about it, including exact dates, derives from a single historical source, the Shoku Nihongi. Completed in 797, this is one of the imperially commissioned Six National Histories and covers the time from 697 to 791. It is a valuable document for historians, though not all dates in it should be considered exact.

The Fujiwara clan had influenced Japanese politics since its founder, Nakatomi no Kamatari, assisted in a coup d'état in 645, in which the Soga clan was overthrown and shortly thereafter a reform program (Taika Reform) was launched, aimed at reinforcing imperial authority. In the 730s, the imperial advisory body known as the Council of State (Daijō-kan) was controlled by four sons of Fujiwara no Fuhito known as the "Fujiwara Four": Fujiwara no Muchimaro, minister of the right since 729; Fujiwara no Fusasaki, consultant since 729; Fujiwara no Umakai and Fujiwara no Maro who joined the council in 731. Together they held four out of ten positions of this important council which was placed directly under the emperor and in charge of all kinds of secular affairs. In addition, the Fujiwara were related with the emperor as both Shōmu's mother and his consort Empress Kōmyō, were daughters of Fujiwara no Fuhito.

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