Fujiwara no Michinaga

Fujiwara no Michinaga (藤原 道長^?, 966 – January 3, 1028) represents the highpoint of the Fujiwara clan's control over the government of Japan.

He was the fourth or fifth son of Fujiwara no Kaneie by his wife Tokihime, daughter of Fujiwara no Nakamasa. There were two regents and two imperial consorts among his brothers and sisters by the same mother.

As the youngest son of his father, he was not remarkable in the court until his two brothers died. He started his career in the court when he was 15 years old.

In 995 during the reign of Emperor Ichijō, his two elder brothers Michitaka and Michikane died of disease. He struggled with Fujiwara no Korechika, the elder son of Michitaka, for political power. With support of Senshi, his sister and mother of Ichijō, Michinaga succeeded in gaining power as well the support of majority of the court. He was appointed Nairan, the secretary of the emperor and the reviewer of all the documents sent to the emperor before the emperor himself read them.

Michinaga exerted de facto reign over Japan in the early 11th century. This can be seen from the fact that he was father to four (non-reigning) empresses, uncle to two emperors and grandfather to another three.

Though Ichijō already had an empress, a daughter of Michitaka, he claimed there were two types of empresshood and therefore it was legal for an emperor to have two empresses at the same time. Michinaga's ambitions led him to make his own daughter, Shōshi, a second empress of Ichijō. In 1000 Shōshi was announced as a Chūgū empress and the existing empress Teishi was given the title of Kōgō empress. It was the first time an emperor had two empresses. A power struggle between Korechika and Michinaga continued until Teishi's unexpected death in 1001, which sealed Michinaga's power since Shōshi became the only empress after Teishi's death.

In 1006, Michinaga invited Murasaki Shikibu to become Empress Shōshi’s companion and tutor.

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