Emperor Kōnin

Emperor Kōnin (708–782), personal name Shirakabe, was the 49th emperor of Japan and a grandson of Emperor Tenji. He is said to have feigned a love of drink to survive the purges of the 760s and won credit for suppressing the Fujiwara no Nakamaro rebellion of 764. When Empress Shōtoku died without an heir in 770, ministers placed the sixty-two-year-old Shirakabe on the throne.

In 772 he deposed Empress Inoe and Crown Prince Osabe, later named his son Yamabe heir, and abdicated to him in 781; Yamabe ruled as Emperor Kanmu.