The Story of the Japanese 00430 [Late Heian Period] The 79th Emperor Rokujo

Now, we have looked at the honeymoon period between the Taira clan and Goshirakawa, but there was still one force remaining within the Imperial Court that could oppose Goshirakawa. That was Goshirakawa's son, Emperor Nijo.
Emperor Nijo showed a strong desire to manage the government and found his father, Goshirakawa, who interfered in everything, to be a nuisance. The existence of this Emperor Nijo was a major risk for Kiyomori, who was trying to seize real power through his alliance with Goshirakawa.
Just two weeks after Taira no Shigeko gave birth to Imperial Prince Norihito, a major political upheaval occurred. It was discovered that Shigeko's older brother, Tokitada (1130?–1189), had been plotting to have Imperial Prince Norihito named crown prince prematurely. Since he was trying to install an imperial prince with Taira blood—who was also his own nephew—as emperor, Emperor Nijo showed extreme displeasure. Emperor Nijo dismissed Tokitada from his post and also dismissed court nobles of the Goshirakawa faction, such as Fujiwara no Korechika, claiming they were complicit in the plot.
The move Kiyomori took in response to this political upheaval was, surprisingly, to support Emperor Nijo's decision and express his approval. Kiyomori supported the dismissal of Tokitada, who was his wife's brother, and showed a submissive attitude toward Emperor Nijo. In a sense, Kiyomori built a solid foundation by cozying up to both Goshirakawa and Nijo to a moderate degree and maintaining a proper distance, ensuring that no matter which faction won, he would be in a good position.
However, the conflict between Goshirakawa and Nijo ended unexpectedly early. In June of the first year of Eiman (1165), Emperor Nijo fell ill and was forced to abdicate. The person Emperor Nijo chose as the next emperor was the newborn Imperial Prince Nobuhito (1164–1176).
As for Kiyomori, he surely would have preferred the accession of Imperial Prince Norihito, who carried Taira blood, but pushing the issue here would have been unwise. Kiyomori showed no moves contrary to Emperor Nijo's will and simply watched over the accession of Imperial Prince Nobuhito.
On June 25, Imperial Prince Nobuhito ascended to the throne. This was Emperor Rokujo. His accession at the age of seven months was the youngest in history, a record that remains unbroken to this day.
Then, just one month after his abdication, on July 28, the Retired Emperor Nijo passed away. He was only 22 years old.
Kiyomori, who had maintained relationships with both Goshirakawa and Nijo, began to approach Goshirakawa without hesitation from this point on. And Goshirakawa, too, by aligning himself with Kiyomori, began to purge the Nijo direct-rule faction that still remained within the Imperial Court and sought to restore his own power.
From here, the honeymoon period between Kiyomori and Goshirakawa begins. However, even though it was a honeymoon, it was merely a relationship where they used each other, and the two were destined to clash just ten years later.