The son of Shirakawa and the Empress Kenshi, Horikawa ruled from 1086-1107. Like his father, Horikawa exercised considerable power at court (Hurst, 1976, p 147), but his death at the age of twenty-nine shortened his rule, and it is reasonable to assume that during the first several years of his reign Horikawa was little more than a figurehead. However, for most of his tenure as Tennô, he controlled the court in concert with the Fujiwara heads, Morozane and Moromichi. He enjoyed the protection and devotion of his father, who was still very interested in the politics of court succession. After his death, his son acceded to the throne, and enjoyed similar protection from Shirakawa In.
The son of Toba and Taikenmon'in, Sutoku was Go-Shirakawa's older brother and reigned from 1123-1141. His relationship with his father was poor, and Toba eventually forced him to abdicate in favor of his half-brother Konoe. His own son, Shigehito, was considered as a candidate to become crown prince when Konoe failed to produce an heir. However, due to Toba's love for his consort Bifukumon'in, and her wish to see her adopted son Morihito take the throne, the matter was not so easily settled. Morihito's father was still living, making him an unsuitable candidate. But Toba was willing to "compromise: Prince Masahito [Morhito's father] became emperor (Go-Shirakawa), and Prince Morihito, the future emperor Nijô, was made crown prince" (Hurst, 1976, p 173). So Sutoku's son was passed over, increasing the enmity between Sutoku and the rest of the imperial household. When Toba died, Sutoku became the head of the imperial household. He began mustering a force, with the intention of deposing Go-Shirakawa, and so the Hôgen disturbance (1156) began. Sutoku's side lost the ensuing battle, and he was eventually exiled. He makes an appearance in the Heike Monogatari, when he is "hastily granted the posthumous designation Emperor Sutoku" (McCullough, 97) so that his spirit would stop interfering with Kenreimon'in's pregnancy.
The son of Toba and the powerfully ambitious Bifukumon'in, Konoe was named crown prince by his father shortly after his birth. He took the throne in 1141, after Sutoku was forced to abdicate, and reigned until his death fourteen years later. It would seem that the court was controlled mostly by Toba and his associates during this time. Konoe was sickly throughout his life, and his early death resulted in the dispute over imperial succession that eventually led to the Hôgen disturbance.
The son of Go-Shirakawa and Fujiwara no Ishi, Nijô reigned from 1158-1165. He was the favorite of Bifukumon'in, and was originally supposed to succeed Konoe, but the fact that his father was still alive and had not been made emperor delayed his accession, and forced Toba to put Go-Shirakawa on the throne despite his fears that Go-Shirakawa was "unqualified to become emperor" (Hurst, 1976, p 173). Nijô's relationship with his father was rather fractious after he took the throne, especially since his father wanted to exercise as much influence as possible from his position as the head of the imperial family. Although he could not totally exclude his father from court affairs, Nijô made every effort to curtail Go-Shirakawa's political activities, and was even "criticized by the Gempei seisuiki for his lack of filial piety" (Hurst, 1974, p 77). Nijô had several of Go-Shirakawa's associates removed from their offices, and kept a strong rule in concert with Fujiwara Morozane.
Later, the question of who would next accede to the throne further divided father and son. Go-Shirakawa (and the Taira clan) wished to have his son, who later became Takakura Tennô, installed as crown prince. Nijô instead abdicated in favor of his own son when a severe illness forced him to step down from the throne. The accession of Nijô's son, Rokujô, was in accordance with Toba's wishes, and was another move that would presumably have kept Go-Shirakawa's influence to a minimum. However, shortly after Nijô's death, Go-Shirakawa forced Rokujô to abdicate in favor of Takakura.
The son of Nijô and his consort, the daughter of Iki no Kanemori, Rokujô ruled from 1165-1168. Since he was still an infant at the time, "Go-Shirakawa handled the actual affairs of state" (Chikafusa, 212). Indeed, Go-Shirakawa named his own son (future Tennô Takakura) crown prince. It seems that this was done not to ensure his line's succession, as Rokujô was his grandson, but to advance his relationship with the Taira clan. Taira Kiyomori, a major figure in the Heike Monogatari, was elevated by this arrangement and was eventually allowed to have his own daughter named Empress.
The son of Go-Shirakawa and Kenshunmon'in, Takakura reigned from 1168 until 1180, and died shortly after his abdication. He was more of a pawn than anything else in the plans of both Go-Shirakawa and Taira Kiyomori. He was given as a consort Kiyomori's daughter Tokuko, who would later become Kenreimon'in, and through this relationship Kiyomori was able to excercise control over the reigning sovereign. During this time, the Taira rose to power at court, and eventually challenged the authority of the In. The Heike Monogatari praises Takakura, citing his efforts to curtail Kiyomori's excesses and his cultured manner, calling him a "wise ruler. . . he was deeply mourned by members of society. . . who felt as though deprived of the light of the sun" (McCullough, 199). Chikafusa claims that Takakura "greatly lamented Kiyomori's ceaseless wicked acts . . . weary of this world, he abruptly abdicated" (214). However, it appears that no matter how wise or cultured Takakura may have been, Kiyomori and Go-Shirakawa controlled the country during his reign.
The son of Takakura and Kenreimon'in, Antoku acceded in 1180 and died without ever abdicating. It was during his reign that the Gempei War was fought, and he died during the Taira flight to the western provinces (Chikafusa, 215). During the early part of his reign, Kiyomori ran most matters of state. Go-Shirakawa was closely controlled at this time, and would not resume political activity until 1181. He did not regain his former position until 1183, but by then the Kamakura Bakufu had begun to take shape, and he would never again have the sort of power that he had enjoyed during Rokujô's tenure as Tennô (Hurst, 1974, p 78).
The son of Takakura and Shichijô-no-in, Go-Toba reigned from 1183 until 1198. He is the subject of the famous story related in Heike Monogatari, when Go-Shirakawa was selecting the new Tennô. When Go-Toba approached and sat on Go-Shirakawa's lap, the In supposedly said "This is my real grandson" (McCullough, 257). Durig the early part of Go-Toba's reign, Go-Shirakawa controlled much of the court politics. After the death of the In in 1192, Minamoto Yoritomo, the commander of the Kamakura Bakufu, had established himself as a major figure, despite his distance from the capital. Go-Toba abdicated and remained at court as In for another twenty years, but he did not hold the same kind of sway that Shirakawa, Toba, and Go-Shirakawa had held. He was one of the major figures of the ill-fated Jôkyû incident, in which Go-Toba and several of his allies attempted to overthrow Yoritomo. After his defeat, he was exiled to the Oki Islands, where he ended his days as a monk.