Matrilineal Emperors and the Brutal Nicknames of Empress Koken

The mystery of the Y chromosome as advocated by opponents of matrilineal emperors

I had lunch at work with a senior colleague who leans to the right and loves Japanese history. I had vaguely sensed that he often brought up topics that seemed to veer toward the right shoulder of the road, such as his interest in origins and roots. It turned out he is a fan of the late Prime Minister Abe and enjoys assassination conspiracy theories, so the conversation was exactly as I had expected.
He believes in these things sincerely and seems to genuinely love Japanese history and roots, so there is no sarcasm or malice in it at all.
I was quite pleased with myself, feeling like I had won a beanbag toss at a sports day (with only red bags), having discovered the perfect example for my current obsession: 'making up arbitrary hypotheses and then proving them.'

And, as expected, he is a supporter of the male-line emperor system, stemming from his opposition to separate surnames for married couples. He even brought up the somewhat occult-like argument that the Y chromosome would not be passed down. I just said, 'I see,' while mentally adding a question mark, and wondered what the mechanism of genes really is. In the end, I concluded that it cannot really be explained by science.

Then, I learned from a web article by Kazuto Hongo that there were eight female emperors. I knew names like Empress Suiko and Empress Jito, but I learned about Empress Koken, a female emperor who might have left behind some trauma, and immediately looked her up on Wiki.

This person seems to have quite a complicated history. She remained single her entire life, but she was a formidable figure who ascended to the throne twice, with her devotion to Dokyo and various other instances of unrestrained behavior standing out. The most extreme part is this passage.

Giving out terrible nicknames

Madoi, Noroshi, Kunatabure, Shikeshi, Kitanamaro... I mean,
Hey, are you a grade schooler? I couldn't help but laugh.

Thank goodness for the Wiki festival.
I shared the laughter with a friend on LINE for a while, and they pointed out that perhaps in that era, people believed in the power of kotodama (the spirit of words).

Indeed. It must have been completely different from the lightness of a modern elementary schooler's 'your mom is a belly button' type of joke (though I don't think they say that anymore). Moreover, she gave these disparaging nicknames after punishing them, which might have contained a vengeful intent to severely mistreat their remaining descendants.

Oh, how scary. But the vividness of that era. And that mysterious feeling—like a grudge, or perhaps just boredom—is indescribable. Thank you, Wiki, you are a treasure trove of entertainment. I wonder how I can safely donate 300 yen.

Isn't this Empress Koken the daughter of Emperor Shomu, who built the Great Buddha? A lot of question marks descended on me, wondering how to explain this genetically, and in the end, what came to me was that, after all, everyone has their own unique gut bacteria. Perhaps a person's inherent temperament and destiny are the deciding factors that outweigh everything else.

As I looked up the successive emperors on the Wiki festival, one mystery after another appeared. By the time you get to the Nihon Shoki, the confusion between what is real and what is historical fact is extreme, but the power transition drama is so turbulent that it makes you want to memorize all the successive emperors.

My lunch with the right-leaning senior colleague gave me a chance to get deeply hooked on Japanese history, even though I lean more to the left.
Interesting things can be found anywhere, thinks this middle-aged woman, who would have lived as long as a yokai in that era.