Stories of the Japanese 00257 [Early Heian Period] 53rd Emperor Junna

During the reign of Emperor Saga, Fujiwara no Fuyutsugu, who had served as a close aide to the Emperor for many years since his time as Crown Prince, was promoted to Dainagon in the 9th year of Konin (818) and boasted great power.
April 9th, 11th year of Konin (820). A drought led to poor harvests and famine, and Fuyutsugu issued a decree stating,
“Unpaid taxes from the year before last and earlier are hereby exempted.”
To save the starving populace, Fuyutsugu sacrificed the nation's tax revenue. It can be said that this was quite a benevolent policy.
In the 13th year of Konin (822), another large-scale drought occurred, and Fuyutsugu announced,
“Those who use their private wealth to save the starving will be granted court rank.”
Because fiscal investment was difficult, he attempted to utilize private financial resources. He was quite a wise man, indeed.
Despite Fuyutsugu's efforts to save the poor amidst such continuing droughts, in the 14th year of Konin (823), Emperor Saga proposed something that would lead to further fiscal strain. He said he wanted to abdicate in favor of his younger brother, the Crown Prince, Imperial Prince Otomo.
At the time, the Retired Emperor Heizei was still alive, so Fujiwara no Fuyutsugu opposed this, stating,
“Having two retired emperors would place a heavy burden on the treasury.”
It is believed that both retired emperors and reigning emperors had to perform various ceremonies to maintain their respective status, and the costs for these were enormous.
However, Emperor Saga did not listen to the opinion of his trusted confidant with whom he had built a relationship of trust for many years, and on April 16th, he pushed through the abdication against opposition. Thus, Imperial Prince Otomo ascended the throne. This was Emperor Junna.
With this abdication, Imperial Prince Masara (later Emperor Ninmyo: 810–850), a son of Emperor Saga, became the Crown Prince. From Emperor Saga's perspective, it was as if to say,
“I will yield the throne to my younger brother for now, but after that, my son will succeed.”
Since Fuyutsugu had married his daughter to Imperial Prince Masara, if the Prince were to ascend the throne in the future, the Fuyutsugu family would be even more secure.
Furthermore, Imperial Princess Masako (810–879), a daughter of Emperor Saga, became Empress. Emperor Saga had married his daughter to his younger brother who had become Emperor, perhaps to assign her the role of monitoring him so that he would not plot anything untoward. Having been troubled by conflict with his own older brother, Emperor Saga was likely cautious and suspicious regarding his relationship with his younger brother.
As an aside, the Otomo clan, fearing that their name was the same as the Emperor's (Imperial Prince Otomo), changed their name to “Tomo.” Figures who appear later, such as Tomo no Yoshio, originally bore the Otomo surname.