Editing Module:Taika (era) (section)

==Events of the ''Taika'' era==
* '''645''' (''Taika 1''):  Empress Kōgyoku abdicates; and her brother receives the succession (''senso'').  Shortly thereafter, Emperor Kōtoku formally accedes to the throne (''sokui'').<ref>Varley, H. Paul. (1980). ''Jinnō Shōtōki'', p. 44; a distinct act of ''senso'' is unrecognized prior to [[Emperor Tenji]]; and all sovereigns except [[Empress Jitō|Jitō]], [[Emperor Yōzei|Yōzei]], [[Emperor Go-Toba|Go-Toba]], and [[Emperor Fushimi|Fushimi]] have ''senso'' and ''sokui'' in the same year until the reign of [[Emperor Go-Murakami]].</ref>
* '''645''' (''Taika 1''): Kōtoku introduces the {{nihongo|[[Taika reform]]|大化の改新| ''Taika no kaishin''}}. The ideas and goals of this {{nihongo|systemic reform|律令|''[[ritsuryō]]''}} were memorialized in a series of articles which formally bore the imprimatur of the emperor.  Kōtoku officially divided Japan into eight provinces.  The Taika reforms also sought to regulate the rank of government officials who were to be distinguished by 19 sorts of official hats or caps with differing forms and different colors according to a very strictly-defined hierarchy.<ref name="t48">Titsingh, [https://books.google.com/books?id=18oNAAAAIAAJ&dq=nipon+o+dai+itsi+ran&pg=PP9   p. 48.]</ref>
* '''645''' (''Taika 1''): Kōtoku decides to abandon [[Asuka, Yamato|Asuka]], which had been the capital city up to this time.  Instead, he transferred the capital to [[Osaka|Naniwa]], which is in the general vicinity of the Bay of Osaka.  In this new location, Kōtoku centralized his power without further delay.  Kōtoku lived in a palace which had been newly constructed for him on a promontory.  The name of this palace was Toyosaki-no-Miya.  The palace was at [[Nagara, Chiba|Nagara]], in the general area of [[Osaka|Naniwa]] in [[Settsu province]].<ref>Brown, Delmer ''et al.'' (1979). ''Gukanshō'', p. 266; [http://www.city.osaka.jp/english/index.html  Osaka City website:] [http://www.city.osaka.jp/english/for_tourists/c_historical_overview.html Osaka, history] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071106162354/http://www.city.osaka.jp/english/for_tourists/c_historical_overview.html |date=2007-11-06 }}</ref>
* '''646''' (''Taika 2, 1st day of the 1st month''):  Kōtoku established a regular calendar for the court, with major audiences scheduled only on certain days.  The emperor also addressed a number of matters which would affect all parts of Japan—as for example, creating judicial districts, establishing guard posts on major roads, arranging for postal relay systems, dividing the country in governable units with separations following the natural boundaries created by mountains and rivers, appointing governors for each province, and fixing the amounts porters might be able to charge.  Kōtoku named the chiefs in the districts and the villages; and for the first time, it became possible to register the number of houses and the numbers of people in each location, the taxes to be exacted from each area and the varying products from throughout the land.  He also mandated that from every hundred households, one beautiful young woman should be sent for service in the palace household.  He arranged that in each year, an officer from the central court should be sent to each province to examine the conduct of the governors and their government.  The emperor also initiated plans for building storehouses of goods and arsenals which would serve the needs of a national army or militia.<ref name="t48"/>  The ''[[udaijin]]'' [[Sogo Yamada Ishikawa Maro]] was specifically charged with the task of planning so that all the faults that could be attributed to mistakes of government would not happen—or could be mitigated.  This was also a time in which the greater part of the rules of etiquette and customs of the court were revised or contrived.  [[Emperor Tenji|Naka-no Ōe]]''-shinnō (imperial prince of a [[shinnōke]]'' and the ''sesshō'' [[Nakatomi no Kamatari]] counseled these and other measures intended to make Japan a better and stronger country.<ref name="b266t49">Brown, p. 266; Titsingh, [https://books.google.com/books?id=18oNAAAAIAAJ&dq=nipon+o+dai+itsi+ran&pg=PP9  p. 49.]</ref>
* '''649''' (''Taika 5,7th day of the third month''): The ''[[sadaijin]]'' [[Abe no Kurahashi Maro]] died.<ref name="b266">Brown, p. 266.</ref>
* '''649''' (''Taika 5, 3rd month''):  [[Sogo-no Kiyouga]], the younger brother of the ''udaijin'' [[Soga Yamada Ishikawa Maro]], informed the emperor that his older brother was involved in a conspiracy against the emperor.  On the basis of this information, Kōtoku sent men to the ''udaijin''{{'}}s home with plans to put the traitor to death.  Yamada somehow learned about this in advance, and he then decided to kill himself.  Shortly thereafter, after Yamada's innocence had been proven, the surviving brother, Kiyouga, was punished.  For his part in misleading the emperor and in causing the ''udaijin'' to kill himself, Kiyouga was exiled to [[Tokachi Subprefecture|Tokachi]] on the northern island of [[Hokkaidō]], which was a largely unpopulated wilderness at that time.<ref name="b266t49"/>
* '''649''' (''Taika 5,20th day of the 4th month''): [[Kose no Toko no Ō-omi]] (593-658) was named ''sadaijin'' shortly after his predecessor died.<ref name="b266"/>
* '''649''' (''Taika 5, 4th month''):  [[Ōtomo Nagatoko no Muraji]] was made ''udaijin''.<ref name="b266"/>
* '''649''' (''Taika 5''):  In this year, the Emperor decreed the establishment of a new system of government, (the ''[[hasshō hyakkan]]''), which was composed of eight ministries and 100 bureaus.<ref>Varley, p. 133; Titsingh, [https://books.google.com/books?id=18oNAAAAIAAJ&dq=nipon+o+dai+itsi+ran&pg=PP9  p. 49.]</ref>
* '''650''' (''Taika 6''):  The ''Hakuchi'' era began in the sixth year of the ''Taika'' era.  The daimyō of [[Nagato province]] brought a white pheasant to the court as a gift for the emperor.  This white pheasant was then construed as a good omen.  Emperor Kōtoku was extraordinarily pleased by this special avian rarity, and he wanted the entire court to see this white bird for themselves.  He commanded a special audience in which he could formally invite the ''sadaijin'' and the ''udaijin'' to join him in admiring the rare bird; and on this occasion, the emperor caused the [[nengō]] to be changed to Hakuchi (meaning "white pheasant").<ref>Titsingh, [https://books.google.com/books?id=18oNAAAAIAAJ&dq=nipon+o+dai+itsi+ran&pg=PP9  p. 49.]</ref>