Gosho (御所), Gose (御所) (御所)
Gosho, Gose
Gose is a city name for Gose City, Nara Prefecture.
It is pronounced as 'gose.'
Gosho refers to the gosho-go. The gosho-go is an honorific title which refers to nobles such as the Imperial Family and shogun as well as their residences. It is read gosho or gosho-go. In this section, the gosho-go will be discussed.
Gosho refers to a variety of persimmon.
The Gosho generally refers to residences of the Imperial Family or the Emperor himself. Additionally, the Gosho for retired emperors (cloistered emperors) is called In Gosho or Sento Gosho, and the one for empress dowagers is Nyoin Gosho or Omiya Gosho.
The Gosho may also refer to members of the Imperial Family, ministers, and shogun themselves as well as their residences and direct or collateral children and descendants. There was a custom to refer to children of high nobles ranking higher than ministers as Omuro Gosho, and thus the gosho-go was widely given not only to the Imperial Family but also to high-ranking nobles and samurai families. At times, the gosho-go was even awarded to the temple at which the head priest was a son of the Imperial Family or the sekke (family of a regent or a chief advisor to the Emperor).
Gosho which refer to shogun's residences
The residence for Shogun of the chinju-fu (local military office), FUJIWARA no Hidehira, was called Kyara no Gosho.
The residence for Seii Taishogun (literally, "great general who subdues the barbarians"), MINAMOTO no Yoritomo, was referred to as Okura Gosho.
The residence for the Ashikaga Shogunate family was called Muromachi Gosho or Hana no Gosho.
The villa for TAIRA no Kiyomori in Fukuhara-kyo (imperial capital) was called Yukimi Gosho.
Gosho-go
The gosho-go is an honorific title awarded to the sekke, shogunate families and clans, high nobles, temples and shrines. The Imperial Court or the Shogunate mostly awarded the gosho-go to temples, shrines, nobles, daimyo (Japanese feudal lord) families according to their family lineages and social status, and the title is considered to be the most honorific. The Imperial Court mainly gave the gosho-go to the temples and shrines at which the head priest was a son or daughter of the Imperial Family or the sekke; moreover, high nobles were practically allowed to be referred to as Gosho, Gosho-sama, or Ue-sama by their families.
On the other hand, the samurai governments of the Muromachi bakufu (Japanese feudal government headed by a shogun) and the Edo bakufu awarded the gosho-go to families having eligible social status for the gosho-go among the shogunate clans and retainers. In the Muromachi period, the head and his siblings of the Ashikaga Shogunate family, the clan of the Kamakura Kubo (Governor-General of the Kamakura Government) family, and the Kitabatake clan who was a powerful daimyo on the side of the Nancho (Southern Court, or Yoshino Imperial court) who acted as the shogun of the chinju-fu, and its descendants were all entitled to the gosho-go. In the Edo period, the Kitsuregawa clan, descendants of the Kamakura Kubo family, was awarded the gosho-go.
The residence of the Ashikaga Shogunate family in Muromachi, Kyoto, in particular, was referred to as Hana no Gosho, and the head of the family himself was also called 'Kubo-sama' or 'Gosho-sama.'
Furthermore, the fifteenth Shogun, Yoshiaki ASHIKAGA, was referred to as Buke Gosho (Samurai Gosho), but was also called Ashiki Gosho (Evil Gosho) after he was opposed to his ex-mentor, Nobunaga ODA.
The honorific title for the branch families of the sekke, the residence of Kaneie ICHIJO, and the past heads of the Tosa-Ichijo clan including Kaneie ICHIJO was Nakamura Gosho. The eldest son and heir of Kanesada ICHIJO, Tadamasa ICHIJO was referred to as Otsu Gosho, and the last head of the Tosa-Ichijo family, Masachika ICHIJO was called Kureda Gosho.
The son of Akinari KITABATAKE, Akitada KITABATAKE, named himself 'Shoni KITABATAKE,' and then called himself Shizukuishi Gosho when he went down into Iwate-gun in Oshu Province (the origin of Gosho Dam).
A member of the Ashikaga Shogunate family, Akizane SHIBA was referred to as Shiba Gosho. Akisada SHIZUKUISHI, an illegitimate child of the Kosuiji-Shiba clan was called Shizukuishi Gosho while Akiyoshi ISARI was referred to as Isari Gosho.
The Kira clan who is an Ashikaga clan, gained influence over Mikawa Province and Musashi Province, and the Kira clan in Musashi Province was referred to as Setagaya Gosho or Kira Gosho. Its branch clan, the Katsumi clan, was called Katsumi Gosho.
The descendants of Yoshitsugu ASHIKAGA, a son of Yoshimitsu ASHIKAGA of the Shogunate family in the Muromachi period, went down into Echizen Province, became the Kuratani clan, and were referred to as Kuratani Gosho.
Akiie KITABATAKE, a high noble in the period of the Northern and Southern Courts (Japan), was referred to as Funakoshi Gosho, and his descendants were called Heki Gosho or Horowata Gosho. The Namioka-Kitabatake clan, descendants of Akiie KITABATAKE, was referred to as Namioka Gosho, and its descendants were called Kawahara Gosho.
The Kitabatake clan, noble daimyo in Ise Province, was called Tagi Gosho or Kiriyama Gosho. The Kozukuri clan, descendants of the Kitabatake clan, was referred to as Kozukuri Gosho; the Okochi clan Okochi Gosho; the Sakanai clan Sakanai Gosho; the Haze clan Haze Gosho; the Fujikata clan Fujikata Gosho; and Tamaru clan Tamaru Gosho.
As a form of historical expression, moreover, the honorific title, Ogosho (literally Big Gosho), was awarded to Imperial princes and cloistered Seii Taishogun.
In the Muromachi period, shogun, the Kamakura Kubo family, Ashikaga clans, and the Kitabatake clan, for example, were entitled to the Gosho, and in the Edo period, Kunitomo ASHIKAGA, a descendant of the Kamakura Kubo family, was awarded the gosho-go when he returned to the Edo bakufu. The second highest honorific title after the gosho-go is the Yakata.
List of Gosho (Palaces)
Tokyo
Kokyo (Imperial Palace) no Gosho (for the present Emperor and Empress)
Fukiage Omiya Gosho (the palace was originally the Gosho for the Emperor Showa, and was later used as Omiya Gosho, or Gosho for empresses, for Empress Kojun.)
Togu Gosho (for the Crown Prince)
Kyoto Gosho (the takamikura, or the Imperial throne to show the official residence of the emperor, is enshrined.)
Kyoto Omiya Gosho, Nyoin Gosho (originally built for the empress dowager, but currently used by the Emperor, the Empress, and the Imperial Family when they visit Kyoto.)
Kyu Kayanomiya Tei Ato, or Former Kayanomiya Family Residence Site (the Kayanomiya Residence was built on the site of the Nyoin Gosho different from the Nyoin Gosho above, and the residence was later demolished.)
Sento Gosho (the Gosho was originally built for the retired emperors, but it was burned down, and its garden and tea room only remain today.)