Emperor En'yū
Emperor En'yū was the 64th Emperor of Japan. He ruled from 969 to 984. He was born on April 12, 958, and died on March 1, 991, at age 32. His personal name was Morihira-shinnō. He was the son of Emperor Murakami and Empress Anshi, and the brother of Emperor Reizei.
In 967, Morihira-shinnō was made crown prince, bypassing his older brother because the Fujiwara clan supported him. When En'yū became emperor, there was a major power struggle in the Fujiwara family over who would be the regent (kampaku). En'yū favored his maternal uncle, Fujiwara no Kanemichi. He made Kanemichi’s daughter the empress consort, though she did not have any children.
En'yū’s other relatives, Kaneie and Kaneie’s daughter Senshi, were angry about this and stayed away from the court for a long time, bringing En'yū’s only son, who would become Emperor Ichijō, with them at Kaneie’s mansion.
During En'yū’s reign, imperial processions to the shrines Hachiman and Hirano began. His burial place is in Kyoto at Nochi no Mukarami no misasagi, and the court posthumously named him En'yū. His son Ichijō would later become emperor. The top courtiers at En'yū’s court were powerful Fujiwara nobles, including Kanemichi and Kaneie and their families.
This page was last edited on 3 February 2026, at 20:14 (CET).