Gen'ei

Gen'ei (元永) was a Japanese era name (年号, nengō, lit. "year name") after Eikyū and before Hōan. This period spanned the years from April 1118 through April 1120.^[1] The reigning emperor was Emperor Toba-tennō (鳥羽天皇).^[2]

Change of Era

• January 24, 1118 Gen'ei gannen (元永元年): The new era name was created to mark an event or series of events. The previous era ended and the new one commenced in Eikyū 6, on the 3rd day of the 4th month of 1118.^[3]

Events of the Gen'ei Era

• 1118 (Gen'ei 1, 9th month): The emperor made a pilgrimage to the Kumano Shrines in Wakayama.^[4] These Kumano sanzan are: Hongu Taisha, Hayatama Taisha, and Nachi Taisha.^[5]
• 1118 (Gen'ei 1, 12th month): Emperor Toba attended a festival organized by Saishō-ji. This temple had been established under the auspices of his Imperial patronage.^[6]
• 1119 (Gen'ei 2, 8th month): Arihito, a Prince of the blood, was honored with the name Minamoto; and he was elevated to the 2nd rank of the 3rd class. Arihito's father, Sukehito-shinnō, was the third son of Emperor Go-Sanjō, and the younger brother of Emperor Toba. Arihito is said to have excelled in the arts of poetry.^[7]

Notes

1. Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005). "Gen'ei" in Japan Encyclopedia, p. 236 at Google Books; n.b., Louis-Frédéric is pseudonym of Louis-Frédéric Nussbaum, see Deutsche Nationalbibliothek Authority File.
2. Titsingh, Isaac. (1834). Annales des empereurs du Japon, pp. 178-180; Brown, Delmer et al. (1979). Gukanshō, p. 321; Varley, H. Paul. (1980). Jinnō Shōtōki, pp. 200-204.
3. Brown, p. 321.
4. Titsingh, p. 180; Brown, p. 322.
5. Link to images at Kansai World Heritage Archives web site Archived 2008-01-08 at the Wayback Machine
6. Brown, p. 317, p. 322.
7. Titsingh, pp. 180-181.

References

• 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; OCLC 251325323
• Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric and Käthe Roth. (2005). Japan encyclopedia. Cambridge: Harvard University Press. ISBN 978-0-674-01753-5; OCLC 58053128
• Titsingh, Isaac. (1834). Nihon Odai Ichiran; ou, Annales des empereurs du Japon. Paris: Royal Asiatic Society, Oriental Translation Fund of Great Britain and Ireland. OCLC 5850691
• Varley, H. Paul. (1980). A Chronicle of Gods and Sovereigns: Jinnō Shōtōki of Kitabatake Chikafusa. New York: Columbia University Press. ISBN 9780231049405; OCLC 6042764

External links

• National Diet Library, "The Japanese Calendar" -- historical overview plus illustrative images from library's collection

Preceded by Eikyū	Era or nengō Gen'ei 1118–1120	Succeeded by Hōan