page_title: Emperor Sutoku
section_title: Legends
hierarchical_section_title: Emperor Sutoku / Legends
caption_attribution_description: English: The Lightning Bolt. The print depicts Sutoku after his abdication becoming a demon (onryō) and Princess Shiranui fighting the evil Sotoku-in. Triptych, 29" x 14". From the series Ten Heroes of the Tametomo. 日本語: 『椿説弓張月』より崇徳上皇が讃岐で崩御し、怨霊になる瞬間を描いた一場面（歌川芳艶画）
context_page_description: Emperor Sutoku was the 75th emperor of Japan, according to the traditional order of succession.
  Sutoku's reign spanned the years from 1123 through 1142.
context_section_description: After Sutoku's abdication and exile, he devoted himself to monastic life.  He copied numerous scriptures and offered them to the court.  Fearing that the scriptures were cursed, the court refused to accept them. Snubbed, Sutoku was said to have resented the court and, upon his death, became an onryō.  Everything from the subsequent fall in fortune of the Imperial court, the rise of the samurai powers, draughts and internal unrests were blamed on his haunting.
  Along with Sugawara no Michizane and Taira no Masakado, he is often called one of the “Three Great Onryō of Japan.” (ja).
caption: Sutoku becoming demon, by Utagawa Yoshitsuya[16]
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