was not concluded, however. It ended in the palace itself,
whither the two brothers repaired almost simultaneously, Kanemichi
rising from his sick-bed for the purpose. In the presence of the boy
Emperor, Kanemichi arbitrarily transferred his own office of kwampaku
to Fujiwara Yoritada and degraded his brother, Kaneiye, to a
comparatively insignificant post. The sovereign acquiesced; he had no
choice. A few months later, this dictator died. It is related of him
that his residence was more gorgeous than the palace and his manner
of life more sumptuous than the sovereign's. The men of his time were
wont to say, "A tiger's mouth is less fatal than the frown of the
regent, Kanemichi."

THE SIXTY-FIFTH SOVEREIGN, THE EMPEROR KWAZAN (A.D. 985-986)

THE SIXTY-SIXTH SOVEREIGN, THE EMPEROR ICHIJO (A.D. 987-1011)

Eldest son of the Emperor Reizei, Kwazan ascended the throne in 985.
His mother was a daughter of Fujiwara Koretada, and Yoritada, whose
appointment as regent has just been described, continued to act in
that capacity. Kaneiye's opportunity had now come. Kwazan having
succeeded Enyu, nominated the latter's son to be Crown Prince,
instead of conferring the position on his own brother, Prince Okisada
(afterwards Sanjo). Now the Crown Prince was the son of Kaneiye's
daughter, and that ambitious noble determined to compass the
sovereign's abdication without delay. Kwazan, originally a fickle
lover, had ultimately conceived an absorbing passion for the lady
Tsuneko. He could not be induced to part with her even at the time of
her pregnancy, and as there was no proper provision in the palace for
such an event, Tsuneko died in labour. Kwazan, distraught with grief,
was approached by Kaneiye's son, Michikane, who urged him to retire
from the world and seek in Buddhism the perfect peace thus alone
attainable. Michikane declared his own intention of entering the
"path," and on a moonlight night the two men, leaving the palace,
repaired to the temple Gwangyo-ji to take the tonsure. There,
Michikane, pretending he wished to bid final farewell to his family,
departed to return no more, and the Emperor understood that he had
been deceived.

Retreat was now impossible, however. He abdicated in favour of
Ichijo, a child of seven, and Kaneiye became regent and chancellor.
He emulated the magnificence of his deceased brother and rival,
Kanemichi, and his residence at Higashi-Sanjo in Kyoto was built
after the model of the "hall of fr