Shotoku Taishi (573-621), the Prince of Holy Virtue, was a Japanese regent, statesman, and scholar. He prepared the Seventeen-article Constitution in 604 and contributed significantly to the political-cultural development that led to the Taika Reform of 645-649.

Prince Shotoku was the second son of Emperor Yomei (Prince Oe) and his consort, Anahobe Hashihito. According to legend, his mother bore him unexpectedly and with no labor pains while on her routine inspection of the imperial stable. While an infant, the prince already began to show evidence of exceptional intellect, and he began reading extensively in his early childhood. He is said to have listened once to eight persons simultaneously pleading to him and to have understood every word. Emperor Yomei's love for his prodigious son was so great that he had the prince live in a specially reserved part of the palace known as the Jogu, or Upper Palace. The...