Viewed as the emperor's likely heir, Imperial Prince Ōtsu began attending to matters of state in 683, but was demoted in 685 when the court rank system was revised.[1][2] Soon after Emperor Tenmu's death, Ōtsu was accused of conspiracy and was swiftly executed in 686.[1] The last days of his life are described in the Nihon Shoki and Man'yōshū; [2] his personality emerges through poetry anthologies including the Kaifūsō.
A popular and highly capable figure, Prince Ōtsu was positioned as the likely successor to the imperial throne, but was executed after false charges were laid against him by Empress Jitō in order to promote her own son, Prince Kusakabe, to the position of crown prince.[2][1] Kusakabe himself died suddenly in 689.[2]
Poems
Two examples of his work are below, including the death poem—
Poem sent by Prince Ōtsu to Lady Ishikawa
Gentle foothills, and
in the dew drops of the mountains
soaked, I waited for you –
grew wet from standing there
in the dew drops of the mountains.
Farewell poem
Momozutau / iware no ike ni / naku kamo wo / kyō nomi mite ya / Kumokakuri nan.
Today, taking my last sight of the mallards
Crying on the pond of Iware,
Must I vanish into the clouds!
In popular culture
Japanese poet and scholar Shinobu Orikuchi featured a fictionalised version of Prince Ōtsu in his novel Sisha no Sho (The Book of the Dead, also made into a film by Kihachirō Kawamoto) as a restless ghost kept on Earth by the memory of a young woman whose gaze he connected with just prior to his death.
