Go-Momozono

was the 118th emperor of Japan, according to the traditional order of succession. He was named after his father Emperor Momozono. The wording of in the name translates as "later", so he has also been referred to as "Later Emperor Momozono", "Momozono, the second", or "Momozono II".

Go-Momozono became Emperor in 1771, during the Edo period, and died eight years into his reign in 1779. Events during his reign were confined to a series of natural calamities that occurred in 1772, aside from that the political situation with the Shōgun was quiet. Things came to a head towards the end of Go-Momozono's life in the form of a succession issue as the Emperor had no eligible successor. As a result, he hastily adopted a son on his deathbed who later became the next Emperor.

Genealogy He was the son of Emperor Momozono with a lady-in-waiting. Before becoming emperor, he was known as Imperial Prince Hidehito (英仁親王).

Consort and issue(s): Empress (Nyogo): Konoe Koreko (近衛 維子, 26 January 1760 – 6 November 1783), later Seikamō-in (盛化門院), daughter of Konoe Uchisaki (近衛内前) First Daughter: Imperial Princess Yoshiko (欣子内親王, 11 March 1779 – 11 August 1846), married to Emperor Kōkaku Adopted children: Adopted Son: Imperial Prince Kanehito(兼仁親王, 23 September 1771 – 11 December 1840), later Emperor Kōkaku

Events of Go-Momozono's life Early life Before Go-Momozono's accession to the Chrysanthemum Throne, his personal name (imina) was or Hanahito. Prince Hidehito was born on August 5, 1758, and was the firstborn son of Emperor Momozono. After his father died in 1762, the title of Emperor went to his aunt who became known as Empress Go-Sakuramachi. Hidehito was deemed too young to become Emperor at the time but was named Crown Prince and heir 5 years later. The year 1772 as a whole was later called "year of trouble" because it was marked by an extraordinary succession of natural calamities. A contemporary pun was made linking the words "Meiwa" + "ku" (meaning "Meiwa 9", that is, the year 1772 according to the era calendar) and the sound-alike word "meiwaku" (meaning "misfortune" or "annoyance"). Epidemic diseases spread across the country in 1775 which resulted in 190,000 estimated deaths in Edo.

Succession issue and death Go-Momozono's Imperial Family lived with him in the Dairi of the Heian Palace, he never officially married and only had children with a court lady named Konoe Koreko (近衛維子). This family included at least 2 sons who died in infancy, and one 10-month-old daughter at the time of the Emperor's early death.

Eras and Kugyō The years of Go-Momozono's reign are more specifically identified by more than one era name or nengō: boxstyle_1=background-color: #fcc; boxstyle_2=background-color: #fb9; boxstyle_3=background-color: #ffc; boxstyle_4=background-color: #bfc; boxstyle_5=background-color: #9fe; 1= 1. Emperor Go-Momozono 2= 2. Emperor Momozono (1747-1762) 3= 3. Ichijō Tomiko (1743-1796) 4= 4. Emperor Sakuramachi (1720-1750) 5= 5. Anegakōji Sadako (1717-1789) 6= 6. Ichijō Kaneka (1692-1751) 7= 8= 8. Emperor Nakamikado (1702-1737) 9= 9. Konoe Hisako (1702-1720) 10= 10. Anegakōji Mitake (1696-1726) 11= 12=12. Takatsukasa Fusasuke (1637-1700) 13= 14= 15=