Empress Genshō

Empress Genshō (680–748), the 44th monarch of Japan, reigned from 715 to 724. A daughter of Crown Prince Kusakabe and Empress Genmei, she took the throne when her mother abdicated, the only empress regnant in Japanese history to succeed another reigning empress, ruling as a placeholder for her young nephew Prince Obito.

During her reign the Nihon Shoki chronicle was completed in 720, and the Three-Generations Land Act was issued in 723. In 724 she abdicated in Obito's favor; he ruled as Emperor Shōmu. Genshō never married and died in 748.