View source for Fujiwara no Nakamaro

{{Short description|Japanese noble}}
{{family name hatnote|Fujiwara|lang=Japanese}}
{{nihongo|'''Fujiwara no Nakamaro'''|藤原 仲麻呂||706 – October 21, 764}}, also known as {{nihongo|'''Emi no Oshikatsu'''|恵美 押勝}},<ref name="brown274">[[Delmer Brown|Brown, Delmer M.]] (1979).  ''Gukanshō,'' p. 274</ref> was a Japanese aristocrat (''[[kuge]]''), courtier, and statesman.<ref name="nussbaum207">[[Louis-Frédéric|Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric]]. (2005). [https://books.google.com/books?id=p2QnPijAEmEC&pg=PA207 "Fujiwara no Nakamaro"] in ''Japan Encyclopedia'', p. 207.</ref>  He was chancellor (''[[Daijō-daijin]]'') of the Imperial government during the [[Nara period]].<ref name="sansom91">[[George Bailey Sansom|Sansom, George Bailey]]. (1958). ''A History of Japan to 1334,'' p. 91; excerpt, "He paid particular attention to military matters, and while he was Chancellor, he planned a line of forts at points in the northern provinces of Mutsu and Dewa, which were to be bases of operations against the rebellious aborigines.  His project did not succeed ..."</ref>

==Early life==
Nakamaro was the second son of [[Fujiwara no Muchimaro]],<ref name="brown274"/> who was the founder of southern branch of the [[Fujiwara clan]].<ref>Hall, J. W. 1993. ''The Cambridge History of Japan'' Volume 1. Cambridge University Press. [https://books.google.com/books?id=A3_6lp8IOK8C&dq=%22Southern+Branch%22+Muchimaro&pg=PA249 p.249].</ref>

==Career==
Nakamaro was named to progressively important court positions during the reign of [[Empress Kōken]]. 
* Minister of the Right (''udaijin'')<ref name="brown274"/>
* Supreme Military Official (''shibinaishō'')<ref>Brown, [https://books.google.com/books?id=w4f5FrmIJKIC&pg=PA274 p. 274 n44]; excerpt, "An office was established during Empress Kōken's reign  but abolished after Nakamaro's death in 764."</ref>
* Vice Minister (''jundaijin'')<ref name="brown274"/>

Opposition led by [[Tachibana no Naramaro]] and others was put down in 757.<ref>Nussbaum, [https://books.google.com/books?id=p2QnPijAEmEC&pg=PA921 "Tachibana no Naramaro" at p. 921]; Bender, Ross. (2009). [https://www.jstor.org/discover/10.2307/41038700?uid=3739256&uid=2129&uid=2&uid=70&uid=4&sid=21101187570013 "The Suppression of the Tachibana Naramaro Conspiracy,"] ''Japanese Journal of Religious Studies'' 37/2:223–245; compare [http://nirc.nanzan-u.ac.jp/publications/jjrs/pdf/846.pdf  mirrored full-text] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120212223250/http://nirc.nanzan-u.ac.jp/publications/jjrs/pdf/846.pdf |date=2012-02-12 }}; retrieved 2012-10-23.</ref>

In 758, Nakamaro was given the title and role of "Grand Guardian" (''taihō''); and his name was changed to Emi No Oshikatsu.<ref name="brown274"/>  The power to mint copper coins was granted to Oshikatsu in 758.<ref>Soyeda, Juichi. (1896). [https://books.google.com/books?id=Jw9flhPPSr8C&pg=PA489 ''A History of Banking in Japan,'' p. 489].</ref>

Nakamaro became Prime Minister (''taishi'') during the reign of [[Emperor Junnin]].<ref>Brown, [https://books.google.com/books?id=w4f5FrmIJKIC&pg=PA275 p. 275].</ref>  He acted to secure the northern border with the Ainu, but his plans did not succeed.<ref name="sansom91"/>

Plans for a military campaign in Korea were started, but it was abandoned.<ref>Sansom, p. 91; excerpt, "Oshikatsu was no more fortunate in another undertaking, which was to send a large expedition against Korea.  He set up commissions to equip some five hundred ships, which were to transport an army of 40,000 men across the straits.  It seems that only moderate progress had been made when the project was abandoned ...."</ref>

His plans were opposed by some of his cousins in the Fujiwara clan.<ref name="nussbaum207"/>

===Rebellion===
{{further|Fujiwara no Nakamaro Rebellion}}
In 764, Nakamaro was a trusted supporter of the emperor Junnin; and he was at odds with former-[[Empress Kōken]] and her close associate, the monk [[Dokyo|Dōkyō]].  In the struggle between the factions headed by Junnin and Kōken, Nakamaro was captured and killed.<ref name="sansome90">Sansom, p. 90; excerpt, "... Nakamaro, better known by his later title as the Minister Oshikatsu, was in high favour with the Emperor Junnin but not with the ex-Empress.  In a civil disturbance that took place in 764-765, Oshikatsu was captured and killed, while the young Emperor was deposed and exiled in 765 and presumably strangled.  The ex-Empress reascended the throne as the Empress Shōtoku, and Dōkyō was all powerful until she died withous issue in 770."</ref>   His wife and children were also killed.<ref>Plutschow, Herbert. (1993). ''Historical Nara,'' pp. 176-177.</ref>  Soon after, Junnin was deposed; and Kōken reclaimed the monarch's role for another five years.<ref name="sansome90"/>

==Notes==
{{reflist}}

==References==
* Bauer, Mikael. ''The History of the Fujiwara House''. Kent, UK: Renaissance Books, 2020; {{ISBN|1912961180}}; 
*[[Delmer Brown|Brown, Delmer M.]] and Ichirō Ishida, eds. (1979).  ''Gukanshō: The Future and the Past.'' Berkeley: University of California Press. {{ISBN|978-0-520-03460-0}}; [https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/251325323 OCLC 251325323]
*[[Louis-Frédéric|Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric]] and Käthe Roth. (2005). [https://books.google.com/books?id=p2QnPijAEmEC ''Japan encyclopedia.''] Cambridge: [[Harvard University Press]]. {{ISBN|978-0-674-01753-5}}a; [http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/58053128?referer=di&ht=edition OCLC 58053128]
* Plutschow Herbert E. (1983). ''Historical Nara: with illustrations and guide maps.'' Tokyo: Japan Times. {{ISBN|9784789002264}}
* [[George Bailey Sansom|Sansom, George Bailey]]. (1958). ''A History of Japan to 1334.'' Stanford: Stanford University Press. {{ISBN|0-8047-0523-2}}

==See also==
* [[Tōshi Kaden]], a bibliographic clan record

{{Fujiwara family tree}}
{{Daijō-daijin}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fujiwara no, Nakamaro}}
[[Category:Fujiwara clan]]
[[Category:706 births]]
[[Category:764 deaths]]
[[Category:People of the Nara period]]
[[Category:People executed by Japan by decapitation]]