The Empress of Japan is the title given to the wife of the Emperor of Japan or a female ruler in her own right. The current empress consort is Empress Masako, who ascended the throne with her husband on 1 May 2019.

Empress regnant

Titles

List of empresses regnant

There were eight female imperial reigns (six empresses regnant including two who reigned twice) in Japan's early history between 593 and 770, and two more in the early modern period (Edo period). Although there were eight reigning empresses, with only one exception their successors were selected from amongst the males of the paternal Imperial bloodline. After many centuries, female reigns came to be officially prohibited only when the Imperial Household Law was issued in 1889 alongside the new Meiji Constitution. The eight historical empresses regnant are: Other than the eight historical empresses regnant, two additional empress are traditionally believed to have reigned, but historical evidence for their reigns is scant and they are not counted among the officially numbered Emperors/Empresses regnant: Under Shinto religious influence, the goddess Amaterasu, who is of the highest rank in the kami system, might suggest that Japan's first rulers were women. According to the Kojiki and Nihon Shoki chronicles in Japanese mythology, the Emperors of Japan are considered to be direct descendants of Amaterasu.

Empress consort

Titles

List of empresses consort

List of empresses dowager

List of grand empresses dowager