Born the daughter of Prince Naka no Ōe (later Emperor Tenji); her name was Princess Uno no Sarara. Her mother was Ochi no Iratsume, a daughter of Soga no Kurayamada no Ishikawa no Maro. It was a year of great change: Soga no Iruka was overthrown in the Isshi Incident, and the Taika Reforms began with her father at their center.
Her maternal grandfather Ishikawa no Maro was accused of treason and lost his life, and her mother Ochi no Iratsume is said to have died soon after, overcome with grief. Through losing those closest to her, the little princess came to know the harshness of power struggles at court.
She married Prince Ōama (later Emperor Tenmu), her father's younger brother and thus her uncle. Her elder sister Princess Ōta also became Ōama's consort. Such marriages between close relatives were not unusual among the imperial family at the time. The princess would in time become her husband's most trusted adviser.
When the court moved its army to Kyūshū to aid Paekche, she went to Kyūshū with her husband and gave birth to Prince Kusakabe at Nanotsu in Tsukushi (Fukuoka). The next year the Japanese forces were badly defeated by the allied armies of Tang and Silla at the Battle of Baekgang. Kusakabe was her only son, to whose future she devoted her life.
When the ailing Emperor Tenji tried to pass the throne to Prince Ōama, Ōama sensed danger, declined, took holy orders and moved to Yoshino. The princess went with her husband to Yoshino. This decision to leave the capital would lead to a great war the following year.
When Emperor Tenji died, Prince Ōama fought Tenji's son Prince Ōtomo for the throne (the Jinshin War). The princess left Yoshino with her husband, headed for the eastern provinces and supported him. Ōama won and the next year took the throne as Emperor Tenmu, and the princess became empress consort.
Emperor Tenmu pressed on with building a state centered on the emperor; this year he ordered the drafting of a legal code (the Asuka Kiyomihara Code) and the compiling of national histories, and named Prince Kusakabe crown prince. The empress helped him govern at his side and became one of those who best understood his ideas.
Emperor Tenmu died, and the empress governed in his place. Soon after, Prince Ōtsu, a son of Tenmu who was popular with the people, lost his life on suspicion of treason. It is thought this may have been to protect Prince Kusakabe's position, but the details are debated.
Prince Kusakabe, who had been waiting to take the throne, died of illness while still young. The empress was in deep grief, but that year she put into effect the Asuka Kiyomihara Code begun by Emperor Tenmu and continued the work of setting the nation's rules in order. She placed her hopes in the growth of Kusakabe's young son, Prince Karu.
The empress herself took the throne and became Empress Jitō. She had a census registering people across the land (the Kōin Register) compiled, and put in order the system of allotting rice fields and the tax system. Making Prince Takechi Grand Minister and relying on him heavily, she carried forward the state-building Emperor Tenmu had aimed for.
She moved the capital to Fujiwara-kyō, Japan's first full-scale capital city. Modeled on Chinese capitals, with streets laid out in a grid, it was a great city that displayed the image of a state centered on the sovereign. The Man'yōshū preserves her poem on Mount Kagu: "Spring has passed and summer seems to have come; white robes are spread to dry on heavenly Mount Kagu."
She passed the throne to her grandson Prince Karu, who became Emperor Monmu. Jitō became the first retired sovereign (daijō tennō) in Japan and continued to support the government behind the young emperor. In this way, the dream she had placed in her son Kusakabe was fulfilled through her grandson.
The Taihō Code was completed by Fujiwara no Fuhito and others. It was a full-fledged legal code combining penal law (ritsu) and administrative law (ryō), and the state-building pursued by Emperor Tenmu and Empress Jitō here took definite shape. It was the age in which the foundations of the nation of Japan were laid.
She died in the 12th month of Taihō 2 (early 703 by today's calendar). She was the first sovereign to be cremated and was buried together with her husband Emperor Tenmu in his tomb. It was a life spent building a state centered on the sovereign with her husband and trying to protect the future of her son and grandson.
Soga no UmakoPrince ShōtokuNakatomi no Kamatari (Fujiwara no Kamatari)Prince Naka no Ōe (Emperor Tenji)
People of the Asuka period ・ People by period
Based on facts found in textbooks and biographies. Uncertain points are marked as such.