Though emperor of Japan for only 3 years, Goshirakawa (1127-1192) continued to attend to affairs of state for over 30 years from the safety of a monastery. His reign was beset by civil wars.

Born Masahito, Goshirakawa was the fourth son of Emperor Toba and Fujiwara Akiko (Shoshi). He ascended the throne as Japan's seventy-seventh emperor in 1155, toward the end of what is often called the period of "cloister government," or the Insei system. Under this system the titular sovereign would abdicate at his own pleasure, placing a suitable and docile heir upon the throne, and he would continue to direct affairs of state from the retreat, or cloister. Most of the "cloistered emperors" then "entered religion" and were given the appellation of H-, or Sacred Ruler, which gave them some protection against secular dangers.

The effectiveness of the Insei system lasted for about 70 years, from 1086 to 1156, although the system...