The 58th emperor of Japan, third son of Emperor Ninmyō. He was placed on the throne at fifty-five in 884, after the deposition of Emperor Yōzei, by the powerful Fujiwara no Mototsune, to whom he entrusted the government in an arrangement regarded as the origin of the office of chancellor. A lover of learning and poetry, he was the ancestor of the line that continued through his son Uda and grandson Daigo. His poem on gathering young spring greens for a friend, composed while still a prince, is in the Kokinshū.
君がため 春の野に出でて 若菜つむ
わが衣手に 雪は降りつつ
Kimi ga tame haru no no ni idete wakana tsumu / waga koromode ni yuki wa furitsutsu
For your sake I went out into the spring fields to gather young herbs, and all the while snow kept falling on my sleeves.