Emperor Kōmei

Lore & Background

In January 1867, Kōmei was diagnosed with smallpox, though he had allegedly never been ill before. On 30 January 1867, he suffered a fatal violent bout of vomiting and diarrhea with purple spots on his face. His death was considered convenient for anti-bakufu forces, and rumors of assassination by radicals from Choshu or radical court officials circulated, though no evidence supports this and it is generally believed he died from smallpox. His kami was enshrined at the Nochi no Tsukinowa no Higashi no misasagi mausoleum at Sennyū-ji in Kyoto, alongside his predecessors.

Reader's Guide

Emperor Kōmei's significance lies in his role during a pivotal transition in Japanese history. As the last emperor before the Meiji Restoration, his reign saw the forced end of Japan's 220-year national seclusion and the beginning of its engagement with Western powers. Though the Tokugawa shogunate held de facto power, Kōmei began to reassert imperial authority, breaking centuries of tradition by actively opposing the shogunate's concessions to foreign nations. His 'Order to expel barbarians' in 1863, though not enforced by the shogunate, fueled anti-foreign and anti-shogunate violence that weakened the Tokugawa regime. His death in 1867, at a time of government bankruptcy and near collapse, cleared the way for his son Emperor Meiji to ascend the throne and for the Meiji Restoration to begin. Kōmei's consistent opposition to Western influence and his attempts to regain imperial power made him a symbol of resistance and a catalyst for the political changes that reshaped Japan.

Did You Know?

• Emperor Kōmei never saw any foreigners during his lifetime and did not care much for anything foreign.
• He twice expressed his will to abdicate in protest over unequal treaties signed without his approval.
• His death in 1867 was rumored to be an assassination, but it is generally believed he died of smallpox.
• The pilgrimage of shōgun Tokugawa Iemochi to Kyoto in 1863 was a defining moment in relations between the bakufu and the Imperial Court.