Emperor Monmu

Emperor Monmu (683–707), personal name Karu, was the 42nd emperor of Japan and ruled from 697 to 707. Son of Crown Prince Kusakabe and the future Empress Genmei and grandson of Emperor Tenmu, he was enthroned at fourteen when Empress Jitō abdicated.

In 701 he proclaimed the Taihō era name, and the Taihō Code, Japan's first Ritsuryō code, was enacted in 701 and 702. He died in 707 at twenty-five, leaving the throne to his mother because his son Prince Obito was still young; Obito later became Emperor Shōmu.