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*''Death: [[1840]]''
*''Death: [[1840]]''
*''Reign: [[1779]]-[[1817]]''
*''Reign: [[1779]]-[[1817]]''
*''Other Names: Tomohito''
*''Japanese'': 光格天皇 ''(koukaku tennou)''
*''Japanese'': 光格天皇 ''(koukaku tennou)''
Emperor Kôkaku reigned from [[1779]] to [[1817]], succeeding [[Emperor Go-Momozono]] and being succeeded in turn by his son, [[Emperor Ninko|Emperor Ninkô]].
Emperor Kôkaku reigned from [[1779]] to [[1817]], succeeding [[Emperor Go-Momozono]] and being succeeded in turn by his son, [[Emperor Ninko|Emperor Ninkô]].
After Emperor Go-Momozono died without any sons, Kôkaku, a member of a collateral line of the imperial family, married Go-Momozono's only daughter, [[Princess Yoshiko (Kokaku)|Princess Yoshiko]], in conjunction with taking the throne.
After Emperor Go-Momozono died without any sons, Kôkaku, a member of a collateral line of the imperial family, married Go-Momozono's only daughter, [[Princess Yoshiko (Kokaku)|Princess Yoshiko]], in conjunction with taking the throne.
Kôkaku's reign was characterized by repeated efforts to raise the symbolic authority of the imperial court vis-a-vis the [[Tokugawa shogunate]]. In [[1789]], he petitioned the shogunate for permission to have his father, an imperial prince who never took the throne, be posthumously declared a "retired emperor" (''dajôtennô''). ''[[Tairo|Tairô]]'' [[Matsudaira Sadanobu]] was ultimately successful in his opposition to this petition, but the "incident" which emerged from the conflict is said to have contributed to his fall from power.<ref>[[Luke Roberts]], ''Performing the Great Peace'', University of Hawaii Press (2012), 170.</ref>
Kôkaku arranged to have the term ''[[Emperor|tennô]]'' ("Heavenly King", or "Emperor") employed to refer to him posthumously. This marked the revival of an ancient tradition, making himself the first emperor in roughly six hundred years to be officially called ''tennô''.<ref>Luke Roberts, "Cultivating Non-National Historical Understandings in Local History," Joshua Fogel (ed.) ''The Teleology of the Nation-State'', Univ of Pennsylvania Press (2004), 169.</ref>
Kôkaku arranged to have the term ''[[Emperor|tennô]]'' ("Heavenly King", or "Emperor") employed to refer to him posthumously. This marked the revival of an ancient tradition, making himself the first emperor in roughly six hundred years to be officially called ''tennô''.<ref>Luke Roberts, "Cultivating Non-National Historical Understandings in Local History," Joshua Fogel (ed.) ''The Teleology of the Nation-State'', Univ of Pennsylvania Press (2004), 169.</ref>