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Emperor Juntoku: 21 Years on Sado, Death by Starvation
Emperor Juntoku (1197-1242), son of [Emperor Go-Toba](/character/gotoba), shared his father's fate after the 1221 Jokyu War and was exiled to Sado Island. After 21 years of poetry composition there, including his famous Hyakunin Isshu poem "Momoshiki ya," he starved himself to death in 1242 after his hopes for his line's succession were dashed.
Emperor Juntoku (1197-1242), third son of Emperor Go-Toba, shared his father’s ambition to overthrow the Kamakura shogunate. Educated in waka poetry and court ritual, he authored the Kinpisho (treatise on imperial protocol) and Yakumo Misho (poetics). After abdicating in 1221 to support his father’s war preparations, he was exiled to Sado Island after the failed Jokyu War. He spent 21 years on Sado composing poetry, including his Hyakunin Isshu poem “Momoshiki ya” — the closing poem of that anthology, symbolizing the end of the classical court era. When the 1242 death of Emperor Shijo offered a chance for his son’s enthronement, the shogunate rejected the Juntoku line in favor of the Tsuchimikado branch. Juntoku starved himself to death at age 46, three years after his father.
Last updated: May 2, 2026
Portrait of Emperor Juntoku — poet-emperor who starved himself after 21 years on Sado
Wikimedia Commons / Public Domain
Sado Island in winter — Juntoku's 21-year exile
Wikimedia Commons / CC BY-SA 3.0
Hyakunin Isshu — Juntoku's closing poem
Wikimedia Commons / Public Domain
Mano imperial tomb in Sado — Juntoku's final resting place
Wikimedia Commons / CC BY-SA 3.0
Kinpisho — Juntoku's authoritative work on court ritual
Wikimedia Commons / Public Domain
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