The Reign of Emperor Kōnin

With Empress Shōtoku gone, the court quickly acted to remove Dōkyō and his cronies from power, then turned their eyes toward the critical issue of succession. Their choice for the next Tennō was the elder Prince Shirakabe, whose reign, while more stable than that of Shōtoku-Tennō's, was still fraught with scandal, military catastrophe, and intrigue. For a picture of Emperor Kōnin, check out the supplemental post! Support the show My latest novel, "Califia's Crusade," is now available at Ama...