mid-Heian period · 976–1017Retired Emperor Sanjō

The 67th emperor of Japan, second son of Emperor Reizei. He came to the throne in 1011 at thirty-six but was in constant conflict with the all-powerful Fujiwara no Michinaga, who pressed him to abdicate on the grounds of failing eyesight. He yielded the throne in 1016, took Buddhist vows, and died the following year at forty-two; his son soon renounced the succession, sealing Michinaga's dominance. Eight of his poems are in imperial anthologies. His Hyakunin Isshu poem, composed while ill and resolved to abdicate, wonders whether he will remember the moon of this night with longing.