festival of the
New Year in his exalted capacity. Yet her Majesty was not satisfied.
Another step of promotion was possible. In the year after her second
ascent of the throne she named him Ho-o (pontiff), a title never
previously borne by any save her father, the ex-Emperor Shomu. Dokyo
rose fully to the level of the occasion. He modelled his life in
every respect on that of a sovereign and assumed complete control of
the administration of the empire. He not only fared sumptuously but
also built many temples, and as the Empress was not less extravagant,
the burden of taxation became painfully heavy. But the priestly
favourite, who seems to have now conceived the ambition of ascending
the throne, abated nothing of his pomp. Whether at his instigation or
because his favour had become of paramount importance to all men of
ambition, Asomaro, governor of the Dazai-fu, informed the Empress
that, according to an oracle delivered by the god of War (Hachiman)
at Usa, the nation would enjoy tranquillity and prosperity if Dokyo
were its ruler.

The Empress had profound reverence for Hachiman, as, indeed, was well
known to Asomaro and to Dokyo. Yet she hesitated to take this extreme
step without fuller assurance. She ordered Wake no Kiyomaro to
proceed to Usa and consult the deity once more. Kiyomaro was a
fearless patriot. That Shotoku's choice fell on him at this juncture
might well have been regarded by his countrymen as an intervention of
heaven. Before setting out he had unequivocal evidence of what was to
be expected at Dokyo's hands by the bearer of a favourable revelation
from Hachiman. Yet the answer carried back by him from the Usa shrine
was explicitly fatal to Dokyo's hope. "Since the establishment of the
State the distinction of sovereign and subject has been observed.
There is no instance of a subject becoming sovereign. The successor
of the throne must be of the Imperial family and a usurper is to be
rejected." Dokyo's wrath was extreme. He ordered that Kiyomaro's name
should be changed to Kegaremaro, which was equivalent to substituting
"foul" for "fair;" he banished him to Osumi in the extreme south of
Kyushu, and he sent emissaries whose attempt to assassinate him was
balked by a thunder-storm. But before he could bring any fresh design
to maturity, the Empress died. Dokyo and Asomaro were banished, and
Kiyomaro was recalled from exile.

Historians have been much perplexed to account for the strangely
apatheti