After becoming crown prince, he acceded to the throne upon the abdication of his father Emperor Shirakawa on January 3, 1087 (Ōtoku 3).[7] His father's kampakuFujiwara Morozane became regent, and Horikawa's reign was overshadowed by the cloistered rule of his father. Horikawa filled his reign with scholarship, poetry, and music.
When Horikawa's empress-consort Fujiwara no Ishi (藤原苡子) died in 1103, his son the Imperial Prince Munehito was taken to be raised by the retired Emperor Shirakawa. This son later succeeded Horikawa to the throne and was later known as Emperor Toba.[8]
Horikawa died at the age of 28 on August 9, 1107 (Kajō 2).[9] He is among the seven emperors entombed near Ryōan-ji in Kyoto. He is traditionally venerated at the Nochi no Yenkyō-ji no misasagi memorial Shinto shrine; [10] this site has been designated as Horikawa's mausoleum by the Imperial Household Agency.
^Brown, pp. 264; prior to Emperor Jomei, the personal names of the emperors were very long and people did not generally use them. The number of characters in each name diminished after Jomei's reign.
