WEBVTT - The Isshi Incident 0:00:00.320 --> 0:00:04.760 Welcome to Noble Blood, a production of iHeartRadio and Grim 0:00:04.760 --> 0:00:14.040 and Mild from Aaron Manky. Listener discretion advised, Hey, this 0:00:14.160 --> 0:00:17.360 is Danish Shart, host of Noble Blood. A bit of housekeeping. 0:00:18.040 --> 0:00:20.520 Thank you so much to everyone who came out on 0:00:20.560 --> 0:00:23.800 my tour to see me, to hear me talk about immortality, 0:00:23.880 --> 0:00:26.400 a love story, my new book. It was just amazing 0:00:26.640 --> 0:00:29.560 getting to meet so many listeners. I just I had 0:00:29.560 --> 0:00:31.960 the best time, So thank you so much. If you 0:00:32.000 --> 0:00:34.479 want to support the show, there are links in the 0:00:34.520 --> 0:00:39.919 episode description to our Patreon, our merch if you want it, 0:00:40.080 --> 0:00:43.080 and my books. But again, the best support is just 0:00:43.200 --> 0:00:47.600 listening to the show, So thank you so much. One 0:00:47.760 --> 0:00:52.000 brief content warning before this episode. This episode does contain 0:00:52.200 --> 0:01:09.000 acts of violence and minor descriptions of gore. When Empress 0:01:09.080 --> 0:01:13.360 Kokyoku woke on the morning of July tenth, six hundred 0:01:13.400 --> 0:01:17.080 and forty five, she had no reason to suspect that 0:01:17.440 --> 0:01:21.560 anything was wrong. I imagine she went through her normal 0:01:21.760 --> 0:01:26.800 morning routine, had breakfast, got dressed, had some member of 0:01:26.840 --> 0:01:30.720 her staff review her schedule. Just another day in the 0:01:30.840 --> 0:01:35.360 life of a Japanese empress in the seventh century. The 0:01:35.520 --> 0:01:39.040 day's main event was set to take place that afternoon. 0:01:39.560 --> 0:01:42.240 It would be a reading of the memorials for the 0:01:42.360 --> 0:01:45.640 three Kingdoms of Korea to be presented to the Japanese 0:01:45.680 --> 0:01:50.080 Imperial Court. As the Empress departed her chambers for the 0:01:50.200 --> 0:01:54.960 palace's main assembly hall, she likely didn't notice these subtle 0:01:55.000 --> 0:01:59.520 glances that were being shared between the palace guards as 0:01:59.600 --> 0:02:04.200 they locked the gates securely behind her. When she entered 0:02:04.240 --> 0:02:07.680 the hall and took her seat before the Imperial Court, 0:02:08.240 --> 0:02:14.000 her eyes probably drifted over the room, subconsciously cataloging those 0:02:14.200 --> 0:02:18.160 she knew in attendance, And while she likely caught sight 0:02:18.320 --> 0:02:22.200 of her son naca Ye, she almost certainly did not 0:02:22.440 --> 0:02:27.480 see the discreetly hidden spear that he had taken great 0:02:27.600 --> 0:02:32.720 lengths to stow near his seat well before he entered 0:02:32.720 --> 0:02:37.160 the hall that day. The Empress may have looked over 0:02:37.200 --> 0:02:41.560 to one of her closest advisers, so gonew Erika, and 0:02:41.880 --> 0:02:46.679 might have wondered why the typically paranoid man who almost 0:02:46.760 --> 0:02:51.120 always carried a sword for once, had come to an 0:02:51.120 --> 0:02:56.280 event unarmed. But if the Empress did spare her adviser 0:02:56.360 --> 0:03:00.639 a passing thought, it was quickly dismissed as the ceremony's 0:03:00.800 --> 0:03:05.040 speaker came forward and began his address to the crowd. 0:03:05.800 --> 0:03:10.040 The weighty tenor of the speaker's voice carried across the 0:03:10.120 --> 0:03:14.359 hall with ease, and after his opening remarks, the Empress 0:03:14.520 --> 0:03:18.480 settled in for what was sure to be another lengthy 0:03:18.560 --> 0:03:23.760 court ceremony. Though, as I'm sure you figured out by now, 0:03:24.240 --> 0:03:30.320 Empress Kogyoku's afternoon was about to take a rather drastic turn. 0:03:31.560 --> 0:03:35.680 It started with a stutter up. Until this point, the 0:03:35.800 --> 0:03:41.520 speaker had seemed relatively confident before the crowd, but strangely, 0:03:41.560 --> 0:03:45.200 the more he spoke, the more he began to stumble 0:03:45.320 --> 0:03:50.320 over his words. Before long, the staccato stop and start 0:03:50.400 --> 0:03:54.920 of his speech became almost as distracting as the visibly 0:03:55.120 --> 0:03:59.640 shaking hand he used to repeatedly wipe the sweat dripping 0:03:59.680 --> 0:04:04.440 from his brow. When asked if something was wrong, the speaker, 0:04:04.520 --> 0:04:08.880 who was named Curiyamada, assured the crowd he was merely 0:04:08.920 --> 0:04:12.040 nervous to be speaking in front of someone as important 0:04:12.160 --> 0:04:16.520 as the Empress, But the panic in his eyes told 0:04:16.560 --> 0:04:21.440 a different story, especially when his eyes kept flitting back 0:04:21.480 --> 0:04:27.360 to the similarly panicked looking soldiers standing fully armed at 0:04:27.360 --> 0:04:32.400 the back of the hall. In truth, the speaker, Curiyamada, 0:04:32.760 --> 0:04:36.880 had been approached days earlier by the Empress's son, who 0:04:36.920 --> 0:04:41.760 confided in him his plans to use the ceremony to 0:04:41.800 --> 0:04:47.840 facilitate the assassination of his political rival Soga no Urica. 0:04:48.040 --> 0:04:53.440 The adviser. By some miracle, all the moving parts of 0:04:53.480 --> 0:04:58.440 his plot had been going perfectly to plan. The gates 0:04:58.520 --> 0:05:02.440 had been locked, the guards had been armed, and at 0:05:02.560 --> 0:05:07.000 long last, they were finally entering the hall with express 0:05:07.200 --> 0:05:12.200 orders to strike down Soga no Urica. While Kiaramata kept 0:05:12.200 --> 0:05:17.160 the hall's attention going with his speech, except when they 0:05:17.160 --> 0:05:21.560 were finally faced with the man they were tasked to kill, 0:05:22.000 --> 0:05:27.480 the guards froze. Maybe they feared the repercussions of their attack, 0:05:28.240 --> 0:05:31.760 or perhaps they had even been hit with a last 0:05:31.800 --> 0:05:36.400 minute stroke of humanity. But whatever the reason, as the 0:05:36.480 --> 0:05:40.919 speaker Kuriamata stumbled over his words in the final paragraphs 0:05:40.920 --> 0:05:44.480 of his speech, the guards could only look at each 0:05:44.480 --> 0:05:49.479 other with mounting fear as their plot dissolved before their eyes. 0:05:49.560 --> 0:05:55.040 In real time from the audience, the Empress's plotting son, 0:05:55.240 --> 0:06:01.560 Nakanoye's eyes shot back and forth between the unmoving guards 0:06:01.600 --> 0:06:06.800 and the distressed speaker until finally he decided to take 0:06:07.000 --> 0:06:12.120 matters into his own hands. In one fluid movement, Nakanoya 0:06:12.279 --> 0:06:17.560 stood from his seat, unsheathed his hidden spear, and launched forward, 0:06:18.080 --> 0:06:22.839 striking sogana Orca in the vulnerable flesh between his neck 0:06:23.000 --> 0:06:28.960 and shoulder. For a moment, time stood still, until with 0:06:29.000 --> 0:06:33.719 a sickening jerk of his arm, nacina Oye wrenched the 0:06:33.800 --> 0:06:38.000 weapon from his rival's shoulder, and pandemonium took hold in 0:06:38.040 --> 0:06:43.120 the hall. Between horrified gasps and shrieks of terror, the 0:06:43.600 --> 0:06:48.320 still conscious sogon To Orika stumbled at the feet of 0:06:48.360 --> 0:06:54.080 the Empress in an act of sheer desperation. Moments from death, 0:06:54.480 --> 0:06:58.839 he begged the Empress to take action to investigate this 0:06:59.240 --> 0:07:04.200 ultimate treachery committed by her son against the Imperial Court. 0:07:05.360 --> 0:07:08.440 When the Empress had woken up that morning, there had 0:07:08.480 --> 0:07:11.200 been no reason to think it would be anything but 0:07:11.360 --> 0:07:15.280 a normal day. But as she cast her eyes upon 0:07:15.400 --> 0:07:19.600 the blood stained blade in the palm of her son's hand, 0:07:20.160 --> 0:07:26.360 her closest adviser's blood pulling rapidly on her palace floors, 0:07:26.360 --> 0:07:29.960 she was suddenly all too aware of the fact that 0:07:30.000 --> 0:07:34.040 her following actions would not just spell the fate of 0:07:34.080 --> 0:07:37.800 her son and the legacy of her reign, but the 0:07:37.960 --> 0:07:44.280 future of her nation as a whole. I'm Dana Schwartz, 0:07:44.920 --> 0:07:58.600 and this is noble blood. The event that we know 0:07:58.760 --> 0:08:02.280 today as the Ishi Incident has come to serve as 0:08:02.360 --> 0:08:07.040 one of the most definitive moments in classical Japanese history. 0:08:07.720 --> 0:08:11.240 But what could easily be construed as a petty power 0:08:11.280 --> 0:08:15.960 struggle between two men was in fact the culmination of 0:08:16.040 --> 0:08:20.760 over a century's worth of political and religious infighting that 0:08:20.840 --> 0:08:25.920 was happening within Japan's Imperial court. Within the court, the 0:08:25.960 --> 0:08:29.480 primary source of power, of course, came from the emperors 0:08:29.760 --> 0:08:35.120 and later empresses who would come to inherit Japan's chrysanthemum throne. 0:08:35.679 --> 0:08:39.760 But aside from the imperial family, the sixth and seventh 0:08:39.760 --> 0:08:44.360 centuries were defined by the introduction of Buddhism and the 0:08:44.520 --> 0:08:49.360 heavy influence of two rival clans, the Nakatomi clan and 0:08:49.600 --> 0:08:53.240 the Soga clan. If you choose to visit Japan today, 0:08:53.440 --> 0:08:56.680 you would no doubt be greeted with the plethora of 0:08:56.760 --> 0:09:01.080 Buddhist iconography that have come to decorate the country through 0:09:01.160 --> 0:09:06.559 temples and statues over the past centuries. But before Buddhism 0:09:06.600 --> 0:09:11.720 ever came to Japan, Shintoism was the country's primary religion, 0:09:12.600 --> 0:09:16.760 and to some things up in the absolute broadest possible terms, 0:09:17.040 --> 0:09:23.040 Buddhism focuses primarily on the self and detachment from earthly possessions. 0:09:23.080 --> 0:09:28.240 Shintoism is a polytheistic religion which centers on spirits and 0:09:28.520 --> 0:09:32.280 deities known as kami. Kami could take the form of 0:09:32.520 --> 0:09:37.400 spirits or animals found in nature, but some ancient Japanese 0:09:37.480 --> 0:09:42.640 clans often cited kami as the origin of their ancestral lineage. 0:09:43.360 --> 0:09:47.360 In the case of the Nakatomi clan, their ancestral ties 0:09:47.400 --> 0:09:51.400 to kami made them an indispensable asset to the Imperial 0:09:51.480 --> 0:09:56.640 court when performing certain religious rites, which solidified their place 0:09:56.760 --> 0:10:01.679 at the side of the imperial family. Naturally, when Buddhism 0:10:01.880 --> 0:10:05.240 made its first appearance in Japan in the sixth century, 0:10:05.800 --> 0:10:10.000 the Nakatomi clan was more than a little concerned. They 0:10:10.080 --> 0:10:14.280 framed their dislike of the new religion by arguing that 0:10:14.360 --> 0:10:19.480 it corrupted traditional Japanese values, but more than likely their 0:10:19.520 --> 0:10:24.840 primary issue was more political than spiritual in nature. The 0:10:25.000 --> 0:10:30.240 introduction of Buddhism made the Nakatomi clan's place in court, 0:10:30.760 --> 0:10:35.240 which relied almost entirely on their status within the Shinto religion, 0:10:35.960 --> 0:10:42.280 all but obsolete. Meanwhile, the Soga clan were ardent supporters 0:10:42.320 --> 0:10:46.200 of this new religion making its way through Japan. Although 0:10:46.240 --> 0:10:49.680 these Soga did not have as direct an effect on 0:10:49.800 --> 0:10:53.840 court life as the Nakatomi did, their influence came through 0:10:53.880 --> 0:10:57.880 their clan's daughters, who they made sure to one way 0:10:58.040 --> 0:11:03.600 or another marry into the imperial family. Through these marriages, 0:11:03.880 --> 0:11:08.920 the Soga clan inserted themselves in court as global envoys 0:11:08.960 --> 0:11:12.640 for the throne, which in turn meant they were likely 0:11:12.840 --> 0:11:17.040 the first to hear about the introduction of Buddhism through 0:11:17.120 --> 0:11:22.960 their relations with their Chinese and Korean counterparts. Predictably, the 0:11:23.120 --> 0:11:27.080 Soga clan were thrilled at the prospect of this new religion. 0:11:27.559 --> 0:11:31.600 They saw it as a symbol of progress and globalization. 0:11:32.559 --> 0:11:37.520 But similarly to the Nakatomi, they also most likely weren't 0:11:37.679 --> 0:11:42.480 so naive as to only align with the theology purely 0:11:42.600 --> 0:11:47.160 on a spiritual level. For the Soga clan, the introduction 0:11:47.280 --> 0:11:51.880 of Buddhism was a way to pry the Nakatomi away 0:11:51.960 --> 0:11:56.040 from the nearly impenetrable space they had held next to 0:11:56.080 --> 0:12:00.520 the chrysanthemum throne. If Shintoism no longer had a place 0:12:00.559 --> 0:12:06.680 in court, than neither did the Nakatomi. Ultimately, despite the 0:12:07.000 --> 0:12:11.800 many objections from the Nakatomi clan, by the seventh century, 0:12:11.840 --> 0:12:15.880 Buddhism had fully taken root in Japan and the Soga 0:12:15.960 --> 0:12:20.000 clan had all but ousted the Nakatomi from their position 0:12:20.120 --> 0:12:25.200 in court. Unsurprisingly, this did not quell the feud between 0:12:25.240 --> 0:12:29.840 the two families, especially when in six hundred and forty 0:12:29.920 --> 0:12:35.200 three the newly powerful Soga began referring to themselves as 0:12:35.480 --> 0:12:41.959 sovereigns and using state resources to erect lavish tombs for themselves. 0:12:42.920 --> 0:12:48.120 More importantly, since the death of Japan's first Empress, Emperor 0:12:48.120 --> 0:12:51.760 Suiko in six hundred twenty eight, the Soga had been 0:12:51.880 --> 0:12:57.800 essentially controlling who ascended the throne, and predictably, their choice 0:12:57.840 --> 0:13:02.040 of rulers often skewed or those that they would most 0:13:02.080 --> 0:13:07.080 likely be able to control. So, despite what most historians 0:13:07.080 --> 0:13:10.960 believe to have been Empress Suiko's wish to have her 0:13:11.000 --> 0:13:16.239 successor be a man named Prince Yamashiro, the Soga insisted 0:13:16.679 --> 0:13:19.680 that the Empress actually wanted to be followed by a 0:13:19.720 --> 0:13:23.800 man that history would come to know as Emperor JOMEI, who, 0:13:23.880 --> 0:13:27.600 after his death, once again at the insistence of the 0:13:27.640 --> 0:13:32.160 Soga clan, would be succeeded by his wife, Empress Kogyoku. 0:13:32.679 --> 0:13:36.600 The Empress at the beginning of this story. There are 0:13:36.640 --> 0:13:39.600 a lot of names I know, and it's probably made 0:13:39.640 --> 0:13:43.320 even worse because my pronunciation, even though I try my best, 0:13:43.520 --> 0:13:47.600 is probably a mess. But if nothing else, just remember 0:13:47.800 --> 0:13:51.160 that for the first half of the seventh century, the 0:13:51.240 --> 0:13:55.400 Soga clan were the puppet masters of the Japanese Imperial Court, 0:13:55.840 --> 0:13:59.600 and the Nakatomi clan were not content to sit idly 0:13:59.640 --> 0:14:04.920 by and watched their centuries long political rivals continue to 0:14:04.960 --> 0:14:10.000 pull the strings, but given their lesser status at court, 0:14:10.440 --> 0:14:13.720 they could do little more than watch as the Soga 0:14:13.760 --> 0:14:18.120 clan continued to acquire more power through their ties to 0:14:18.200 --> 0:14:22.880 the throne. That was until six hundred and forty three, 0:14:23.080 --> 0:14:27.120 when the leader of the Soga clan, Soga Noamishi, ordered 0:14:27.160 --> 0:14:31.920 his son to orchestrate an attack on Prince Yamashiro, who 0:14:31.960 --> 0:14:36.560 had been the Nakatomi clan's choice to succeed Emperor Swiko 0:14:36.880 --> 0:14:43.000 nearly twenty years prior. Bestowing honorary titles in constructing tombs 0:14:43.080 --> 0:14:47.120 was one thing, but the assassination proved to be the 0:14:47.240 --> 0:14:51.800 final straw for the Nakatomi clan. For decades, they had 0:14:52.000 --> 0:14:57.360 silently succumbed to the lesser court life after the introduction 0:14:57.480 --> 0:15:03.080 of Buddhism, but the unti death of Prince Yamashiro installed 0:15:03.120 --> 0:15:07.400 a sentiment within the Nakatomi clan which would be echoed 0:15:07.520 --> 0:15:10.760 in the events that were to follow. If you wanted 0:15:10.800 --> 0:15:17.080 something done, you had to do it yourself. By the 0:15:17.200 --> 0:15:20.800 summer of six hundred and forty five, tensions within the 0:15:20.880 --> 0:15:25.560 Nakatomi clan were reaching a boiling point. In the wake 0:15:25.680 --> 0:15:29.680 of Prince Yamashiro's death, the Nakatomi were itching to take 0:15:29.760 --> 0:15:34.720 revenge against their long standing political rivals, and in July 0:15:34.880 --> 0:15:38.400 of that year, it appeared that they would finally be 0:15:38.480 --> 0:15:43.760 given their chance for a vengeance. Together, nakano Oya, who 0:15:43.800 --> 0:15:47.239 was the Empress's son and the head of the Nakatomi 0:15:47.280 --> 0:15:53.480 clan Nakatomi Kamatari, began planning the assassination of the man 0:15:53.600 --> 0:15:58.240 who had killed Prince Yamashiro. This legitimate claimant to the throne. 0:15:58.960 --> 0:16:04.560 The assassin was Soga no Uruka, the Empress's key adviser. 0:16:05.160 --> 0:16:09.240 The formal court ceremony for the reading of the memorials 0:16:09.280 --> 0:16:13.520 of the three Kingdoms of Korea provided the perfect backdrop 0:16:13.680 --> 0:16:18.120 for their revenge. Together, the two powerful men enlisted the 0:16:18.200 --> 0:16:22.920 help of Nacanoea's kinsmen Kuriamata, who was set to be 0:16:23.000 --> 0:16:27.760 the speaker at the ceremony. The plan was simple. On 0:16:27.800 --> 0:16:31.440 the day of the ceremony, palace guards under the control 0:16:31.560 --> 0:16:35.800 of the Nakatomie would ensure Soga no Rika arrived at 0:16:35.800 --> 0:16:41.000 the hall unarmed. After securing all the exits, the guards 0:16:41.000 --> 0:16:45.160 would arm themselves and then wait for Kuryamada to begin 0:16:45.320 --> 0:16:48.240 his speech, so that Uruka and the rest of the 0:16:48.280 --> 0:16:53.600 Soga clan would remain distracted until they could go in 0:16:53.800 --> 0:16:57.440 for the kill. Though we all know the saying about 0:16:57.560 --> 0:17:02.200 best laid plans, before we continue, I think it might 0:17:02.240 --> 0:17:05.600 be worthwhile to note that the majority of what we 0:17:05.720 --> 0:17:09.480 know about the Isshi incident, and specifically the source that 0:17:09.520 --> 0:17:12.600 I am citing the majority of this story from, is 0:17:12.640 --> 0:17:17.479 from an English translation of an eighth century Japanese text 0:17:17.960 --> 0:17:22.280 known as the Nikon Shoki, which in addition to reading 0:17:22.320 --> 0:17:26.920 more like a clunky historical diary than the typical narrative 0:17:26.960 --> 0:17:30.879 format that we've come to expect from historical texts in 0:17:30.960 --> 0:17:36.800 the West, has some let's say, awkward and possibly overexaggerated 0:17:36.920 --> 0:17:41.040 quotes thrown into its accounts. This isn't to say that 0:17:41.080 --> 0:17:45.159 the events recounted aren't true, but between the shifts in 0:17:45.359 --> 0:17:49.359 language that have no doubt occurred since the eighth century 0:17:49.960 --> 0:17:54.400 and the inherently questionable translations that have stemmed from them 0:17:54.400 --> 0:17:57.840 since then, I think it's best to take what direct 0:17:58.040 --> 0:18:01.320 quotes that I might repeat here with a grain of salt. 0:18:02.040 --> 0:18:06.880 But back to our story. The day of the ceremony, Nacanoye, 0:18:07.000 --> 0:18:10.240 the son of the Empress, walked into the chamber and 0:18:10.359 --> 0:18:14.200 took his seat, subtly checking to make sure the spear 0:18:14.400 --> 0:18:17.919 that he had hidden near by remained well concealed and 0:18:18.200 --> 0:18:22.360 within his grasp as he watched his mother take her 0:18:22.359 --> 0:18:27.560 seat before the crowd. Elsewhere, the Nakatomie guards were sealing 0:18:27.680 --> 0:18:31.960 each of the twelve exits before moving to quietly arm 0:18:32.040 --> 0:18:38.720 themselves for the gruesome task they had in store, gathering 0:18:38.800 --> 0:18:41.800 the swords and bows and arrows laid out for them 0:18:42.119 --> 0:18:46.600 at the sound of Kuryamata's speech beginning, another conspirator from 0:18:46.600 --> 0:18:51.679 the Nakatomi clan rushed forward to hurry the men along, saying, up, up, 0:18:51.840 --> 0:18:55.280 make haste to slay him. At the sound of the 0:18:55.359 --> 0:18:59.679 hall's door opening, I imagine Nacanoye did his best not 0:18:59.760 --> 0:19:04.560 to look back and watch his guards quietly filing into 0:19:04.600 --> 0:19:09.280 the room. At long last, after not only weeks of planning, 0:19:09.359 --> 0:19:13.480 but decades of political power struggle, the end of the 0:19:13.520 --> 0:19:19.800 Saga clan was within reach, until, of course, it wasn't. 0:19:20.359 --> 0:19:25.960 In exchange for their services, nacanoy and Nakatomi Kamatari made 0:19:26.000 --> 0:19:30.520 sure to offer the palace guards a handsome reward, but 0:19:30.760 --> 0:19:34.080 in the end it appeared that no amount of money 0:19:34.560 --> 0:19:38.200 would tempt the guards into taking the life of one 0:19:38.240 --> 0:19:42.920 of the Empress's closest advisers, not even at the request 0:19:43.000 --> 0:19:47.400 of her son. With the speaker nervous and his decorum 0:19:47.520 --> 0:19:51.400 slipping almost as rapidly as the end of his speech 0:19:51.480 --> 0:19:56.760 was approaching, nacanoy took his hidden spear and rose to 0:19:56.920 --> 0:20:01.119 enact the retribution that no one else wood. With a 0:20:01.240 --> 0:20:05.440 determined cry and a swing of his blade, the hall 0:20:05.600 --> 0:20:11.760 descended into chaos. Screams of fear and outrage poured from 0:20:11.760 --> 0:20:15.240 those of the Soga clan left standing, but they did 0:20:15.280 --> 0:20:20.000 nothing to staunch the gaping wound left in Soga Noorka's 0:20:20.119 --> 0:20:25.000 neck and shoulder. The man's robes darkened from the free 0:20:25.040 --> 0:20:32.000 flowing blood running down his chest, but somehow Orka remained conscious. 0:20:32.840 --> 0:20:37.560 Using what was left of his energy, Soga Noorka dragged 0:20:37.640 --> 0:20:41.879 himself in front of the Empress and begged quote, she 0:20:42.080 --> 0:20:46.919 who occupies the dignitary is the child of Heaven. I, 0:20:47.280 --> 0:20:51.480 her servant, am conscious of no crime, and I beseech 0:20:51.560 --> 0:20:56.320 her to deign to make examination into this end quote. 0:20:57.080 --> 0:21:01.760 In her shock, Empress Kagyoku shifted her gaze from the 0:21:01.920 --> 0:21:06.879 dying Iroka to her son, saying, I know not what 0:21:07.040 --> 0:21:11.040 has been done? What is the meaning of this? To this, 0:21:11.240 --> 0:21:15.680 Nakanoe bowed at his mother's feet and defended his actions 0:21:15.920 --> 0:21:19.400 by presenting them as for the good of the throne 0:21:20.240 --> 0:21:24.480 to the Empress. Though his words carried little weight. His 0:21:24.600 --> 0:21:27.920 attack in the end may not have been strong enough 0:21:27.960 --> 0:21:31.960 to actually end Irika's life in one fail swoop. But 0:21:32.119 --> 0:21:35.760 the moment he had stood and raised his spear, the 0:21:35.920 --> 0:21:40.439 Empress knew that her son had all but ended her reign. 0:21:41.520 --> 0:21:46.920 Without another word, Empress Kugyoku stood from her seat, and, 0:21:47.560 --> 0:21:52.439 with one final look cast between the two men, left 0:21:52.520 --> 0:21:56.399 the hall and secured what was left of sagun no 0:21:56.480 --> 0:22:01.399 Irka's fate. Because when the door closed behind her, the 0:22:01.560 --> 0:22:06.200 Empress no doubt heard the flurry of rising panic as 0:22:06.240 --> 0:22:10.920 her son and his men wasted no time in finishing 0:22:11.080 --> 0:22:15.960 what they had started and actually killing the man they 0:22:16.000 --> 0:22:24.680 had intended to kill. In the aftermath of Sogonoorka's assassination, 0:22:25.400 --> 0:22:30.439 life in the Imperial court shifted almost overnight. This in 0:22:30.520 --> 0:22:34.119 large part has to do with this period in Japanese 0:22:34.160 --> 0:22:38.919 history's perspective on the sanctity of the chrysanthemum throne. In 0:22:38.960 --> 0:22:42.120 the eyes of the public, the throne was seen as 0:22:42.119 --> 0:22:47.159 a position meant to be pure and untouched by quote pollution, 0:22:47.680 --> 0:22:52.080 whether it be spiritual or physical. But in act such 0:22:52.080 --> 0:22:55.960 as the brutal murder of Soganoorka in front of the 0:22:56.040 --> 0:23:01.880 Empress herself would have been considered pollution of the utmost degree, 0:23:02.240 --> 0:23:06.320 which was why within two days of the attack, Empress 0:23:06.400 --> 0:23:12.080 Kogyoku abdicated the throne from the outside. The obvious choice 0:23:12.119 --> 0:23:17.320 for Kuyoki's successor would be her son Nakanoi, but the 0:23:17.440 --> 0:23:23.200 head of the Nakatomi and Nakanoe's co conspirator, Nakatomi Kamatari, 0:23:23.760 --> 0:23:26.760 managed to convince the young prince that it would be 0:23:26.800 --> 0:23:30.880 more beneficial for his political career should he wait to 0:23:30.920 --> 0:23:35.120 take the throne, not so soon after facilitating an attack 0:23:35.200 --> 0:23:39.280 within the empirical court. It was with this in mind 0:23:39.640 --> 0:23:46.480 that Empress Kogyoku's brother ascended the throne, becoming Emperor Shuitoku. Meanwhile, 0:23:46.600 --> 0:23:51.119 outside the imperial court, the Soga clan was floundering in 0:23:51.160 --> 0:23:56.000 the fallout of Irika's death. In the days following his assassination, 0:23:56.640 --> 0:24:00.320 members of the Nakatomi clan took it upon themselves to 0:24:01.000 --> 0:24:04.600 lay waste to the rest of the Soga clan, and 0:24:04.760 --> 0:24:09.160 their leader, who was Uruka's father, Soga non Amishi, knew 0:24:09.200 --> 0:24:11.919 that it was only a matter of time before they 0:24:11.960 --> 0:24:15.679 came for him as well. In the grief of his 0:24:15.840 --> 0:24:20.840 son's assassination and the inevitable destruction of his family line, 0:24:21.400 --> 0:24:26.000 Soga no Amishi ultimately decided to take his life into 0:24:26.080 --> 0:24:30.200 his own hands only a day after his son's murder, 0:24:30.640 --> 0:24:34.400 with the threat of the Nakatomi clan looming heavily over 0:24:34.520 --> 0:24:38.280 his head. On July eleventh, six hundred and forty five, 0:24:38.920 --> 0:24:44.320 Amishi calmly set fire to his home and locked himself inside, 0:24:44.840 --> 0:24:50.200 effectively drawing a definitive and dramatic end to the reign 0:24:50.280 --> 0:25:07.239 of the Soga clan. That was the gruesome story of 0:25:07.280 --> 0:25:11.080 the Yeshi incident. But stick around after the sponsor break 0:25:11.200 --> 0:25:15.920 to hear a little more about Empress Kogyoku after her abdication. 0:25:25.720 --> 0:25:29.680 It stands to reason that Empress Kogyoku's story would end 0:25:29.840 --> 0:25:32.600 with her reign in July of six hundred forty five, 0:25:33.280 --> 0:25:37.080 and in a way it did, but not entirely. Let 0:25:37.119 --> 0:25:41.240 me explain. The reign of Empress Kogyoku may have ended 0:25:41.280 --> 0:25:44.520 with the Yishi incident, but following the death of her 0:25:44.600 --> 0:25:49.639 initial successor, her brother a decade later, Empress Kugyoku would 0:25:49.680 --> 0:25:53.920 once again ascend to the Japanese imperial throne, only this 0:25:54.000 --> 0:25:58.639 time under the name Empress Saime. Who doesn't love a 0:25:58.760 --> 0:26:03.800 good rebrand. Empress Saime's second reign was marked with much 0:26:03.920 --> 0:26:07.760 less political turmoil than her first, and this one only 0:26:07.880 --> 0:26:10.680 ended at her death in six hundred and sixty one. 0:26:11.560 --> 0:26:15.320 This time, she was finally succeeded by her son, the 0:26:15.520 --> 0:26:21.879 assassin Nakanoe, who became Emperor Tenji, and after over fifteen 0:26:22.000 --> 0:26:26.600 years since conspiring together to create the Yeshi Incident, Tenji 0:26:26.640 --> 0:26:31.879 would award his close political adviser Nakatomi Kamatari with his 0:26:31.960 --> 0:26:37.479 own clan name, making him Fujiwara no Kamatari, head of 0:26:37.520 --> 0:26:41.920 the new Fujiwara clan. The Fujiwaras would go on to 0:26:41.960 --> 0:26:45.920 hold power within the Imperial court from the seventh century 0:26:46.320 --> 0:26:49.960 well into the eighteen hundreds, and to this day are 0:26:50.000 --> 0:26:54.280 considered to be one of the most powerful ancient families 0:26:54.520 --> 0:26:59.520 in classical Japanese history. It's strange to end the episode 0:26:59.560 --> 0:27:02.119 on this note because I want to make clear I 0:27:02.160 --> 0:27:06.280 don't think assassinations and murder are good ideas, but in 0:27:06.280 --> 0:27:10.359 this one specific case, it did really work out for 0:27:10.440 --> 0:27:25.960 the people who planned it. Noble Blood is a production 0:27:26.040 --> 0:27:30.080 of iHeartRadio and Grim and Mild from Aaron Manky. Noble 0:27:30.119 --> 0:27:34.000 Blood is hosted by me Danish Swartz. Additional writing and 0:27:34.119 --> 0:27:39.119 researching done by Hannah Johnston, hannah's Wickma Hayward, Courtney Sunder, 0:27:39.200 --> 0:27:43.280 and Laurie Goodman. The show is produced by rima Il Kaali, 0:27:43.560 --> 0:27:48.679 with supervising producer Josh Thane and executive producers Aaron Manky, 0:27:48.720 --> 0:27:53.119 Alex Williams, and Matt Frederick. For more podcasts from iHeartRadio, 0:27:53.520 --> 0:27:57.520 visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen 0:27:57.560 --> 0:28:02.960 to your favorite shows.