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Daijō Tennō or Dajō Tennō (both accepted readings of 太上天皇) was the title for a Japanese Emperor who abdicated in favor of a successor. The term is often shortened to Jōkō (上皇).
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As defined in the Taihō Code, although retired, a Daijō Tennō could still exert power. The first such example is the Empress Jitō in the 7th century. A retired emperor sometimes entered the Buddhist monastic community, becoming a cloistered emperor. This practice was rather common during the Heian period.
The last emperor to rule as a Jōkō was Emperor Kōkaku (1779–1817). The Emperor later created an incident called the "Songo incident" (the "respectful title incident"). The emperor disputed with the Tokugawa Shogunate about his intention to give a title of Abdicated Emperor (Daijō-tennō) to his father, who was an Imperial Prince Sukehito.
A total of 62 Japanese emperors abdicated. An incomplete list follows:
Jitō
Prince Kusabake was named as crown prince to succeed Empress Jitō, but he died at a young age. Kusabake's son, Prince Karu, was then named as Jitō's successor. He eventually would become known as Emperor Monmu.
In 697, Jitō abdicated in Mommu's favor; as a retired sovereign, she took the post-reign title daijō-tennō. After this, her imperial successors who retired took the same title after abdication.
Jitō continued to hold power as a cloistered ruler, which became a persistent trend in Japanese politics. She died four years later at the age of 58.
Gemmei
Gemmei had initially planned to remain on the throne until her grandson might reach maturity. However, in 715, Gemmei did abdicate in favor of Mommu's older sister who then became known as Empress Genshō. Genshō was eventually succeeded by her younger brother, who then became known as Emperor Shōmu.
The Empress reigned for eight years. After abdicating, she was known as Daijō-tennō; and she was only the second woman after Empress Jitō to claim this title. Gemmei lived in retirement until her death at the age of 61.
Reizei
Go-Sanjō
Shirakawa
Emperor Go-Sanjō had wished for Shirakawa's younger half-brother to succeed him to the throne. In 1085, this half-brother died of an illness; and Shirakawa's own son, Taruhito became Crown Prince. On the same day that Taruhito was proclaimed as his heir, Shirakawa abdicated;, and Taruhito became Emperor Horikawa. The now-retired Emperor Shirakawa was the first to attempt what became customary cloistered rule. He exercised power, ruling indirectly from the Shirakawa-in ("White River Mansion/Temple"); nevertheless, nominal sesshō and kampaku offices continued to exist for a long time.
Go-Toba
At that time, Fujiwara-no Tadamichi became Imperial Regent, or Sesshō. The Cloistered Emperor Toba continued to direct all the affairs of government, while the retired Emperor Sutoku had no powers. This conflict resulted in many controversies during Konoe's reign.
Go-Hanazono
Emperor Go-Hanazono abdicated in 1464, but not long afterwards, the Ōnin War (応仁の乱, Ōnin no Ran) broke out; there were no further abdications until 1586, when Emperor Ōgimachi passed the throne to his grandson, Emperor Go-Yōzei. This was due to the disturbed state of the country; and the fact that there was neither a house for an ex-emperor nor money to support him or it.