Emperor Toba (鳥羽天皇) (February 24, 1103 - July 20, 1156) was the 74th imperial ruler of Japan. He reigned from 1107 to 1123, but actual power was held by the "retired" emperor Shirakawa in a process known as cloistered rule. After Shirakawa died in 1129, Toba also became a cloistered emperor. His personal name was Munehito (宗仁)
The role of the Emperor of Japan has alternated between that of a supreme-rank cleric with largely symbolic powers and that of an actual imperial ruler from the dawn of history until the mid-twentieth century.
Although the emperor performs many of the roles of a head of state, there has been a persistent controversy within Japan as to whether the emperor is in fact a true monarch in a political sense or merely a hereditary pretender, as a political servant of a constitutional parliamentary republic.
The acceptable imperial wives, brides for an emperor and for a crown prince, were even legislated into the Meiji-era imperial house laws, which stipulated that daughters of Sekke (the five main branches of the higher Fujiwara) and daughters of the imperial clan itself were primarily acceptable brides.
EmperorToba (鳥羽天皇 Toba Tennō) (February 24, 1103 – July 20, 1156) was the 74th imperial ruler of Japan, according to the traditional order of succession.
He became emperor at the age of four upon the death of his father, Emperor Horikawa.
Government affairs were controlled by his grandfather as cloistered emperor.