# Emperor Go-Reizei (後冷泉天皇)
**Emperor Go-Reizei** (後冷泉天皇, personal name Chikahito 親仁; August 28, 1025 – May 22, 1068) was the seventieth emperor of Japan, reigning from 1045 to 1068 in the middle of the [Heian period](https://www.edgepedia.org/heian-period).[1](https://id.ndl.go.jp/auth/ndlna/01111426) He was the eldest son of [Emperor Go-Suzaku](https://www.edgepedia.org/emperor-go-suzaku), and his reign is remembered chiefly for the outbreak of the [Zenkunen War](https://www.edgepedia.org/zenkunen-war) in the north and for the succession crisis that followed his death, which brought the first emperor in generations without a Fujiwara mother to the throne.[2](https://ctext.org/datawiki.pl?if=en&res=93324) • [3](https://www.persee.fr/doc/dhjap_0000-0000_1980_dic_5_1_882_t2_0072_0000_1)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Life dates | August 28, 1025 – May 22, 1068; personal name Chikahito (親仁)[1](https://id.ndl.go.jp/auth/ndlna/01111426) |
| Major event | Zenkunen War (1051–1062), begun when Abe no Sadatō and Munetō rebelled in 1051[2](https://ctext.org/datawiki.pl?if=en&res=93324) |
| Consorts | Second consort Princess Shoshi (1026–1105), daughter of Emperor Go-Ichijō; consort Fujiwara no Kanshi, daughter of Fujiwara no Yorimichi[3](https://www.persee.fr/doc/dhjap_0000-0000_1980_dic_5_1_882_t2_0072_0000_1) |
| Heirs | No male heirs by his Fujiwara wife; succeeded in 1068 by his younger half-brother Go-Sanjō[3](https://www.persee.fr/doc/dhjap_0000-0000_1980_dic_5_1_882_t2_0072_0000_1) • [4](https://ctext.org/datawiki.pl?if=gb&res=784395) |
| Mausoleum | Enkyōji-ryo (圓敎寺陵), under the Imperial Household Agency[5](https://www.kunaicho.go.jp/visit/ryobo/stamp.html) |
## Accession and the Fujiwara regency
Go-Reizei came to the throne in 1045 when his father, Emperor Go-Suzaku, abdicated; Go-Suzaku died on February 7, 1045, at the age of 37.[2](https://ctext.org/datawiki.pl?if=en&res=93324) The regency of [Fujiwara no Yorimichi](https://www.edgepedia.org/fujiwara-no-yorimichi) (992–1074), who had served as regent and chancellor for over fifty years through the reigns of Go-Ichijō, Go-Suzaku, and Go-Reizei, continued over the new emperor, who was Yorimichi's nephew.[3](https://www.persee.fr/doc/dhjap_0000-0000_1980_dic_5_1_882_t2_0072_0000_1) • [6](https://fliphtml5.com/Lib_APN2026/oymo/17/)
The succession question was settled before Go-Reizei took the throne. On his sickbed, Go-Suzaku appointed Imperial Prince Takahito, Go-Reizei's younger half-brother whose mother was the imperial princess Teishi, as crown prince, a decision possibly advised by Fujiwara no Yoshinobu.[7](https://www.researchgate.net/publication/263236041_Conflating_Monastic_and_Imperial_Lineage_The_Retired_Emperors%27_Period_Reformulated_M_Bauer_Monumenta_Nipponica_67_2_pp_239-262) Yorimichi accepted this arrangement because he could not propose a crown prince with a Fujiwara mother of his own line.[7](https://www.researchgate.net/publication/263236041_Conflating_Monastic_and_Imperial_Lineage_The_Retired_Emperors%27_Period_Reformulated_M_Bauer_Monumenta_Nipponica_67_2_pp_239-262)
## Marriage politics and the succession
The Fujiwara regents' power rested on placing their daughters as emperors' consorts so that each reigning emperor had a Fujiwara mother. Go-Reizei had both a Fujiwara mother and a Fujiwara wife, but the marriage failed to produce a male heir.[6](https://fliphtml5.com/Lib_APN2026/oymo/17/) His consort Fujiwara no Kanshi, Yorimichi's daughter, bore no sons, so Yorimichi never obtained the position of grandfather to an emperor or crown prince.[3](https://www.persee.fr/doc/dhjap_0000-0000_1980_dic_5_1_882_t2_0072_0000_1)
When Go-Reizei died on May 22, 1068, in the fourth year of the Jiryaku era, the succession passed to his younger half-brother, who acceded as [Emperor Go-Sanjō](https://www.edgepedia.org/emperor-go-sanjo).[4](https://ctext.org/datawiki.pl?if=gb&res=784395) Go-Sanjō was an adult whose mother was an imperial princess, not a Fujiwara, and his accession in 1068 marked the point at which the Fujiwara regency lost its hold over the imperial line.[3](https://www.persee.fr/doc/dhjap_0000-0000_1980_dic_5_1_882_t2_0072_0000_1) • [8](https://jref.com/articles/heian-period-part-1.204/) Go-Sanjō began curbing Fujiwara influence, instituting a records office (kiroku-jo) to verify estate titles, and his short reign laid the groundwork for the cloistered rule (insei) that dominated the following century.[3](https://www.persee.fr/doc/dhjap_0000-0000_1980_dic_5_1_882_t2_0072_0000_1) • [9](https://www.historyrise.com/article/emperor-go-sanjo-the-warrior-emperor-and-reformer-of-court-politics/)
## The Zenkunen War
The major event recorded of Go-Reizei's reign occurred in 1051, when [Abe no Sadatō](https://www.edgepedia.org/abe-no-sadato) and Munetō instigated a rebellion in the north that became known as the Zenkunen War (1051–1062), the "Former Nine Years' War."[2](https://ctext.org/datawiki.pl?if=en&res=93324) The conflict ran through most of Go-Reizei's reign and was fought against the Abe family in northeastern Japan.
## Cultural and religious connections
A copy of the [Lotus Sutra](https://www.edgepedia.org/lotus-sutra) imperially autographed by Emperor Go-Reizei was among the items the monk Jōjin carried for offering at [Mount Wutai](https://www.edgepedia.org/mount-wutai) in Song China, entrusted to him by Empress Dowager Fujiwara no Kanshi.[10](https://www.mdpi.com/2077-1444/17/4/460) The episode links Go-Reizei's court to the Heian practice of dispatching monks to Song China and requesting Buddhist artifacts.[10](https://www.mdpi.com/2077-1444/17/4/460)
His name also attaches to the Reizei Goin, the palace established by [Emperor Saga](https://www.edgepedia.org/emperor-saga) as a residence for retired emperors; emperors including Reizei and Go-Reizei used the Reizei-in as a palace or temporary residence, and the estate's management became a vehicle for imperial family wealth in the tenth and eleventh centuries.[11](https://kotobank.jp/word/%E5%86%B7%E6%B3%89%E9%99%A2-151289)
## Death and burial
Go-Reizei died on May 22, 1068. Sources give his age at death differently: the Jiryaku-era chronology and the Chinese Text Project record say he died at age 44, while the Nihoner era summary gives 43 and the Korean-language Namu profile gives 42 by Western reckoning.[4](https://ctext.org/datawiki.pl?if=gb&res=784395) • [12](https://nihoner.com/japanese-history/eras/jiryaku/) • [13](https://www.namu.moe/w/%EA%B3%A0%EB%A0%88%EC%9D%B4%EC%A0%9C%EC%9D%B4%20%EC%B2%9C%ED%99%A9) He is buried at Enkyōji-ryo (圓敎寺陵), one of the imperial mausolea managed by the [Imperial Household Agency](https://www.edgepedia.org/imperial-household-agency).[5](https://www.kunaicho.go.jp/visit/ryobo/stamp.html)
## References
1. [後冷泉天皇, 1025–1068, Web NDL Authorities, National Diet Library](https://id.ndl.go.jp/auth/ndlna/01111426)
2. [後冷泉天皇 Hou Lengquan Tianhuang, Chinese Text Project](https://ctext.org/datawiki.pl?if=en&res=93324)
3. [Fujiwara no Yorimichi (992–1074), Persée](https://www.persee.fr/doc/dhjap_0000-0000_1980_dic_5_1_882_t2_0072_0000_1)
4. [後三条天皇, Chinese Text Project](https://ctext.org/datawiki.pl?if=gb&res=784395)
5. [陵印について, 宮内庁 (Imperial Household Agency)](https://www.kunaicho.go.jp/visit/ryobo/stamp.html)
6. [ImagineFX Book of Japan, 6th Edition](https://fliphtml5.com/Lib_APN2026/oymo/17/)
7. [Conflating Monastic and Imperial Lineage: The Retired Emperors' Period Reformulated, Monumenta Nipponica 67(2)](https://www.researchgate.net/publication/263236041_Conflating_Monastic_and_Imperial_Lineage_The_Retired_Emperors%27_Period_Reformulated_M_Bauer_Monumenta_Nipponica_67_2_pp_239-262)
8. [Heian Period – Part 1, Japan Reference](https://jref.com/articles/heian-period-part-1.204/)
9. [Emperor Go-Sanjō: The Warrior Emperor and Reformer of Court Politics, History Rise](https://www.historyrise.com/article/emperor-go-sanjo-the-warrior-emperor-and-reformer-of-court-politics/)
10. [The Politics of Buddhist Artifacts: Tribute and Bestowal Between Heian and Northern Song, Religions 17(4):460](https://www.mdpi.com/2077-1444/17/4/460)
11. [冷泉院, コトバンク / 日本大百科全書](https://kotobank.jp/word/%E5%86%B7%E6%B3%89%E9%99%A2-151289)
12. [Jiryaku (治暦, 1065), Nihoner](https://nihoner.com/japanese-history/eras/jiryaku/)
13. [고레이제이 천황, Namu](https://www.namu.moe/w/%EA%B3%A0%EB%A0%88%EC%9D%B4%EC%A0%9C%EC%9D%B4%20%EC%B2%9C%ED%99%A9)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Society and history › History and archaeology › Asian history › Japan › Heian Japan (794 to 1185) › Heian people and families*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Sep 18, 2026; Sep 30, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Sep 18, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
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