Fujiwara no Shimeko

Fujiwara no Teishi (藤原 呈子, also read Fujiwara no Shimeko; 1131 – October 23, 1176) was a Japanese noblewoman (nyoin) of the late Heian period. She was a consort to Emperor Konoe but did not bear him any children and entered religious orders in her mid twenties. Her dharma name was Shōjōkan (清浄観) and her ingō was Kujō-in (九条院).

Biography Fujiwara no Teishi was born in 1131 to Fujiwara no Koremichi and a daughter of Fujiwara no Akitaka. She became the adopted daughter of the kanpaku Fujiwara no Tadamichi. Like many Japanese noblewomen of the pre-modern era, the correct reading of her given name is uncertain, and the readings Teishi and Shimeko are speculative on and kun readings, respectively.

In Kyūan 6 (1150) she entered the service of Emperor Konoe, initially as a nyōgo and later become empress (chūgū). This was against the backdrop of between Tadamichi and his brother Yorinaga regarding whose daughter would be the mother of the future emperor . Unfortunately, she did not provide the emperor with an heir, and in Kyūju 2 (1155) she entered religious orders due to illness, taking the dharma name Shōjōkan. In Hōgen 1 (1156) she became and in Hōgen 3 (1158) . In Nin'an 3 (1168) she became a nyoin, with Kujō-in as her ingō.

She died in 1176.