Japanese History Digest
The Heian period
The Heian period
The Heian period refers to the approximately 400 years from 794, when Emperor Kanmu moved the capital to Heian-kyō (present-day Kyoto), until the establishment of the Kamakura shogunate in 1185. During this era, while inheriting the ritsuryō system of the Nara period, politics centered around the aristocracy, and a uniquely Japanese culture flourished and developed significantly.
The era of Emperor Kanmu
After Emperor Kōnin abdicated, his son, Emperor Kanmu, ascended to the throne. In 784, Emperor Kanmu moved the capital to Nagaoka-kyō. However, due in part to the assassination of Fujiwara no Tanetsugu, the official in charge of constructing the new palace, the capital was relocated again in 794 to Heian-kyō. It is said that Heian-kyō was chosen because it was distant from Nara, where Buddhist monks held great influence, and because of the accessibility of water transportation from Lake Biwa.
Emperor Kanmu devoted himself to rebuilding the Ritsuryō system. He abolished the conscripted military units that had previously been organized and instead implemented the Kondei system, in which the sons of local governors guarded the provincial government offices, thereby reducing the burden on the people while maintaining military strength. He also established the office of Kageyushi to strictly supervise local officials during the change of provincial governors. Meanwhile, in response to the intensifying rebellion of the Emishi in the Tōhoku region at the end of the Nara period, he dispatched Sakanoue no Tamuramaro as Sei-i Taishōgun (Barbarian-Subduing Generalissimo), achieving significant results.
The Era of Emperors Heizei and Saga
After Emperor Kanmu, Emperors Heizei and Saga continued efforts to restore the ritsuryō system. In 809, due to illness, Emperor Heizei abdicated in favor of his half-brother, Emperor Saga, and moved to Heijō-kyō. However, with the support of the siblings Fujiwara no Kusuko and Fujiwara no Nakanari, Emperor Heizei attempted to move the capital back to Heijō-kyō and restore himself to the throne. This plan failed in 810, resulting in what is known as the Kusuko Incident.
Following this event, new offices were established: the position of Kurōdo-no-tō (Chief Chamberlain), responsible for handling confidential state matters, was created as an extraordinary office outside the ritsuryō codes, and Fujiwara no Fuyutsugu was appointed to this role.Additionally, the office of Kebiishi was established to maintain public order in the capital.
During Emperor Saga’s reign, the legal codes were further organized. He compiled the Kōnin Kyaku-Shiki, which consisted of supplementary laws (kyaku) and detailed regulations (shiki) to the ritsuryō system.
The Rise of The Fujiwara Northern House (Hokke)
During the Kusuko Incident, the Fujiwara Shikike siblings, Fujiwara no Kusuko and Fujiwara no Nakanari, were punished. However, after this, the Fujiwara Northern House (Hokke) solidified its position by leveraging its status as the imperial maternal relatives and carrying out a movement to exclude other clans. In 842, Yoshifusa, son of Fujiwara no Fuyutsugu, ousted Tomo no Kiyomitsu and Tachibana no Kachiko, and installed the child of his sister Junshi as crown prince (the Jōwa Incident). Furthermore, in 866, he succeeded in removing Dainagon Tomo no Yoshio from power, and Yoshifusa became the first non-imperial regent (sesshō) in Japanese history (the Ōtenmon Incident). In 888, Yoshifusa’s son Mototsune provoked the Akō Dispute and became the kanpaku (chief advisor) to Emperor Uda. After Mototsune’s death, Emperor Uda did not appoint a kanpaku and instead made Sugawara no Michizane the head of the Kurōdodokoro (Chamberlain’s Office), but during the reign of the next emperor, Daigo, Sugawara no Michizane was demoted to Dazaifu by Fujiwara no Tokihira (the Shōtai Incident). In the Anna Incident of 969, Fujiwara no Saneyori demoted Minamoto no Takaakira, thereby completing the Fujiwara Northern House’s exclusion of other clans.
Regency Government (Sekkan Seiji)
After the Anna Incident, the Fujiwara clan nearly completed the exclusion of rival families and established the regency government system. From this point on, the positions of regent (sesshō) and chief advisor (kanpaku) were always filled, with the Fujiwara clan-especially the Northern House-at the center of political power.
The peak of regency government came during the era of Fujiwara no Michinaga and his son Yorimichi. Fujiwara no Michinaga married his daughters to emperors, securing immense authority as the emperor’s maternal relative. Yorimichi also served as regent and chief advisor for about fifty years, marking the height of Fujiwara dominance.
During this period, the emperor became a largely symbolic figure, while real political power was held by the Fujiwara regents and chief advisors. Most other influential families were excluded from government, and internal power struggles within the Fujiwara clan became central to court politics.
However, during Yorimichi’s time, events such as the Former Nine Years’ War and growing social unrest began to shake the authority of the imperial court. Eventually, when Emperor Go-Sanjō ascended the throne and began to rule directly without appointing a regent or chief advisor, the regency government gradually declined.
The Growth of Warrior Bands
While aristocratic culture flourished in Heian-kyō, this culture was supported by the burdens placed on the provinces. Among provincial governors (kokushi), it became common for some to practice remote governance (yōnin), in which they received salaries without actually going to their assigned provinces. In response to such governance, local powerful families (gōzoku) allied themselves with central aristocrats and temples or shrines, established private estates (shōen), and stopped paying taxes. As the fundamental structure of the ritsuryō system collapsed in this way, some local leaders began to seek actual control over their regions through military force.
In the eastern provinces, Taira no Masakado led a rebellion against the provincial government (the Masakado Rebellion), while around the same time in the west, Fujiwara no Sumitomo led pirates from the Seto Inland Sea and attacked as far as Dazaifu (the Sumitomo Rebellion)
. Although both uprisings were ultimately suppressed by the central government, it became clear that the central aristocracy lacked the power to control such disturbances and had to rely on the military strength of the warriors (bushi).
Afterwards, unrest continued to break out across the country, such as the Taira no Tadatsune Rebellion in 1028, the Former Nine Years’ War in 1051, and the Later Three Years’ War in 1083. Through these events, local warrior bands (bushidan) grew in strength and influence, laying the foundation for the rise of the samurai class
.
Insei (Cloistered Rule) and the Taira Clan
At the imperial court, because Fujiwara no Yorimichi’s daughter did not bear a prince, Emperor Go-Sanjō-who had no maternal ties to the Fujiwara-ascended the throne in 1068. Emperor Go-Sanjō appointed talented individuals such as Ōe no Masafusa and worked to reform the system by issuing the Enkyū Decree for the Regulation of Shōen (private estates), establishing the Office for the Verification of Estate Documents, and standardizing official measures, all in an effort to control illegal shōen.
His successor, Emperor Shirakawa, continued these policies and aimed for direct imperial rule, focusing on the regulation of shōen. When his own son, Prince Yoshihito, was eight years old, Shirakawa abdicated, installing him as Emperor Horikawa, and began to govern as a retired emperor (jōkō), thus initiating the system of insei (cloistered rule)
. This system continued under Retired Emperors Toba and Go-Shirakawa. A key feature of insei was that, without following the traditional procedures of the reigning emperor, the retired emperor’s edicts (inzen) and directives from his court (in no chō kudashibumi) held overriding authority. Many nobles donated shōen to the retired emperor in hopes of gaining his protection.
In 1156, after Retired Emperor Toba’s death, conflicts over rights to these donated estates intensified within the imperial family and the Fujiwara regency, leading to the Hōgen Rebellion. In 1159, further disputes among Retired Emperor Go-Shirakawa’s close retainers escalated into the Heiji Rebellion, a struggle among the leading warrior clans. Emerging victorious, Taira no Kiyomori established a powerful Taira government under the insei of Go-Shirakawa.
Thus, the period of insei saw the concentration of real power in the hands of retired emperors, while the Taira clan rose to political dominance through military strength, culminating in the formation of the first samurai-led government in Japanese history.
Timeline of the Nara period
| 784 AD | The capital is moved to Nagaoka-kyō |
| 794 AD | The capital is moved to Heian-kyō |
| 805 AD | The Tokusei Debate (Sugawara no Michizane vs. Fujiwara no Otsugu) |
| 810 AD | The Kusuko Incident (Retired Emperor Heizei [Shikike Nakanari, Kusuko] vs. Emperor Saga) |
| 842 AD | The Jōwa Incident (Ban no Kiyotsune, Tachibana no Kachiko) → Under Emperor Montoku, Fujiwara no Yoshifusa becomes Grand Minister of State (Daijō Daijin) |
| 866 AD | The Ōtenmon Incident (Ban no Yoshio, expulsion of Ki no Toyooki) |
| 888 AD | The Akō Dispute (Fujiwara no Mototsune becomes Kanpaku, Chief Advisor to the Emperor) |
| 939 AD | The Masakado Rebellion Fujiwara no Sumitomo’s Rebellion |
| 958 AD | The minting of Kangen Taihō (the last of the twelve imperial coins) |
| 969 AD | The Anna Incident: Fujiwara no Saneyori demotes Minamoto no Takaakira. |
| 1028 AD | The Taira no Tadatsune Rebellion (in the Bōsō region) - suppressed by Minamoto no Yorinobu (son of Minamoto no Mitsunaka) |
| 1051 AD | The Former Nine Years’ War (Abe no Yoritoki’s Rebellion) - suppressed by Minamoto no Yoriyoshi (son of Yorinobu) |
| 1069 AD | The Enkyū Decree for the Regulation of Shōen (private estates) |
| 1072 AD | Emperor Shirakawa ascends the throne |
| 1083 AD | The Later Three Years’ War - suppressed by Minamoto no Yoshiie (son of Yoriyoshi); Fujiwara no Kiyohira emerges victorious (founder of the Northern Fujiwara clan in Ōshū) |
| 1086 AD | Emperor Horikawa ascends the throne (beginning of cloistered rule by Retired Emperor Shirakawa, continuing through Emperors Toba and Sutoku) |
| 1107 AD | The Rebellion of Minamoto no Yoshichika - suppressed by Taira no Masamori |
| 1156 AD | The Hōgen Rebellion (Retired Emperor Sutoku vs. Emperor Go-Shirakawa) - marks the start of Go-Shirakawa’s cloistered rule |
| 1159 AD | The Heiji Rebellion (Taira no Kiyomori vs. Minamoto no Yoshitomo) |
| 1167 AD | Taira no Kiyomori becomes Grand Minister of State (Daijō Daijin) |
| 1177 AD | The Shishigatani Incident; 1179: Emperor Go-Shirakawa is placed under house arrest |
| 1180 AD | Emperor Antoku (grandson of Kiyomori) ascends the throne |
Facilities where you can learn about the Nara period
Gangoji Temple(Nara City, Nara Prefecture)
https://gangoji-tera.or.jp/en/
Muro-ji Temple, “Nyonin Koya” (Uda City, Nara Prefecture)
https://www.murouji.or.jp/en/
Byodoin Temple, World Heritage Site (Uji City, Kyoto Prefecture)
https://www.byodoin.or.jp/en/
Official Miyajima Tourism Website (Hatsukaichi City, Hiroshima Prefecture)
https://www.miyajima.or.jp/english/
Chuson-ji Temple (Hiraizumi Town, Iwate Prefecture)
https://www.chusonji.or.jp/language_en/index.html
