Emperor Kenzō

(449/50–487) was the 23rd emperor of Japan, according to the traditional order of succession. No firm dates can be assigned to this emperor's life or reign, but he is conventionally considered to have reigned from 485 to 487.

Protohistoric narrative The Japanese have traditionally accepted this sovereign's historical existence, and a mausoleum (misasagi) for Kenzō is currently maintained. The following information available is taken from the pseudo-historical Kojiki and Nihon Shoki, which are collectively known as or Japanese chronicles. These chronicles include legends and myths, as well as potential historical facts that have since been exaggerated and/or distorted over time. It is recorded in the Kiki that Kenzō was born to sometime in 449 or 450 AD and was given the name . At the time Woke already had an older brother named , and the two were both grandsons of Emperor Richū.

Woke would have been quite young when Emperor Yūryaku shot the arrow which killed his father, Ichinobe no Oshiwa during a hunting expedition. This event caused both Prince Woke and his older brother, Prince Oke, to flee for their lives. According to Harima no Kuni Fudoki, they found refuge at Akashi in Harima Province where they hid by living in obscurity. Histories from that period explained that the two brothers sought to blend into this rural community by posing as common herdsmen.

It is said that the Oke came by chance to Akashi; and at that time, Prince Oke revealed his true identity. This intermediary re-introduced the lost cousins to Emperor Seinei, who had by this time ascended to the throne after the death of his father, the former Emperor Yūryaku. Seinei invited both brothers to return the court; and he adopted both of them as sons and heirs.

His name might have been regularized centuries after the lifetime ascribed to Kenzō, possibly during the time in which legends about the origins of the imperial dynasty were compiled as the chronicles known today as the Kojiki.

Outside of the Kiki, the reign of Emperor Kinmei ( – 571 AD) is the first for which contemporary historiography has been able to assign verifiable dates. The conventionally accepted names and dates of the early Emperors were not confirmed as "traditional" until the reign of Emperor Kanmu between 737 and 806 AD. The location of the palace is thought to have been in present-day Osaka Prefecture or Nara Prefecture.

Murray reports that the only event of major consequence during Kenzō's reign had to do with the filial respect he showed for his murdered father. Kenzō arranged to have his father's remains retrieved and re-interred in a mausoleum appropriate for the son of an Emperor and the father of another.

Kenzō died at age 37, reigning only three years. He too had no other heirs; so his brother would follow him on the throne. His Empress was , Prince Oka-no-Wakugo's daughter (also Prince Iwaki's granddaughter and Emperor Yuryaku's great-granddaughter).

Consorts and children Empress (Kōgō): , Prince Oka-no-Wakugo's daughter (also Prince Iwaki's granddaughter and Emperor Yuryaku's great-granddaughter)