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was a regent and a politician of the Asuka period in Japan.
According to the ''Nihon Shoki'', Shōtoku succeeded in establishing a centralized government during his reign. In 603, he established the twelve official ranks at court. The Seventeen-article constitution was promulgated, and is often attributed to Prince Shōtoku, though some scholars today doubt if he wrote this constitution, because of style. In 607, he sent a mission led by Ono no Imoko to the Sui Dynasty.
He was a proponent of Buddhism, and commissioned the Shitennō-ji Temple in Settsu province (present-day Osaka). He was interested in mainland Asian cultures, particularly the Chinese culture.
His name has long been linked with Hōryū-ji in Yamato province. Documents at Hōryū-ji claim it was founded by Suiko and Shōtoku in 607; moreover, excavations done in 1939 confirmed that Prince Shotoku's palace, the Ikaruga-no-miya (斑鳩宮), occupied the eastern part of the current temple complex, where the Tō-in (東院) sits today.^[1]
In these years, China took the first steps toward to opening relations with Japan. the Sui Emperor of China, Yangdi (''kensui taishi'') is said to have dispatched a message in 605 which said:
:"The sovereign of Sui respectfully inquires about the sovereign of Wa."^[2]
In response, Prince Shōtoku is considered to have authored the earliest written instance in which the Japanese archipelago is named "Nihon," which what the Japanese call their island nation today. In 607, he is said to have caused this salutation to be written:
:"From the sovereign of the land of the rising sun (''nihon/hi izuru'') to the sovereign of the land of the setting sun."^[3]
He is known by several titles and his real name is since he was born in front of a stable. He is also known as or . In the ''Kojiki'', his name appears as . In the ''Nihon Shoki'', in addition to Umayado no ōji, he is referred as 豊耳聡聖徳, 豊聡耳法大王, and 法主王. The most popular name ''Prince Shōtoku'' first appeared in ''Kaifūsō'' written in 751, more than a hundred years after his death.
His likeness has appeared on Japan's 10,000-, 5,000-, 1,000-, and 100-yen notes.

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References

1.
2. Varley, Paul. (1980). ''Jinnō Shōtōki,'' p. 128.
3. Varley, Paul. (1973). ''Japanese Culture: A Short History.'' p. 15


★ Varley, H. Paul. (1973). ''Japanese Culture: A Short History.'' New York: Praeger Publishers.

★ Varley, H. Paul , ed. (1980). [ Kitabatake Chikafusa (1359)], ''Jinnō Shōtōki ("A Chronicle of Gods and Sovereigns: Jinnō Shōtōki of Kitabatake Chikafusa" translated by H. Paul Varley).'' New York: Columbia University Press. ISBN 0-231-04940-4

See also

★ Asuka-dera