was a high-ranking Japan

Japan

Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...

ese official during the Nara period. He was born in Bizen Province

Bizen Province

was a province of Japan on the Inland Sea side of Honshū, in what is today the southeastern part of Okayama Prefecture. It was sometimes called , with Bitchu and Bingo Provinces. Bizen borders Mimasaka, Harima, and Bitchū Provinces....

 (now Wake, Okayama

Wake, Okayama

is a town located in Wake District, Okayama, Japan.As of March 2011, the town has an estimated population of 15,560. The total area is 144.23 km²....

) to a family of politically important, devoted Buddhists who hoped to keep Buddhism and politics separate through religious reform. He became a trusted advisor to Emperor Kammu

Emperor Kammu

was the 50th emperor of Japan, according to the traditional order of succession. Kammu reigned from 781 to 806.-Traditional narrative:Kammu's personal name was . He was the eldest son of Prince Shirakabe , and was born prior to Shirakabe's ascension to the throne...

, a position which he used to encourage the development of Buddhism in a direction which would prevent it from posing a threat to the government. According to the Shoku Nihongi

Shoku Nihongi

The is an imperially commissioned Japanese history text. Completed in 797, it is the second of the Six National Histories, coming directly after the Nihon Shoki and followed by Nihon Kōki. Fujiwara no Tsugutada and Sugano no Mamichi served as the primary editors...

, he was sent to the Usa Shrine

Usa Shrine

, also known as , is a Shinto shrine in the city of Usa in Ōita Prefecture in Japan. Emperor Ojin, who was deified as Hachiman-jin , is said to be enshrined in all the sites dedicated to him; and the first and earliest of these was at Usa in the early 8th century...

 to receive a divine message; stating that only those of descent from Amaterasu

Amaterasu

, or is apart of the Japanese myth cycle and also a major deity of the Shinto religion. She is the goddess of the sun, but also of the universe. the name Amaterasu derived from Amateru meaning "shining in heaven." The meaning of her whole name, Amaterasu-ōmikami, is "the great August kami who...

 could become emperor, it refuted the previous divine message claiming Dōkyō

Dokyo

was a Nara Period Japanese monk of the Dharma character school. As he was born in the family of Yuge, in the lineage of the Mononobe clan, Dōkyō was also known as . He was the brother of Yuge no Kiyoto.-Background:...

 was to be the next emperor after Empress Kōken

Empress Koken

, also known as , was the 46th and the 48th emperor of Japan respectively, according to the traditional order of succession. Empress Kōken first reigned from 749 to 758, then she reascended the throne as Empress Shōtoku from 765 until her death in 770....

 (later Empress Shōtoku). This report angered Dōkyō, who used his influence with the Empress to have an edict issued sending Kiyomaro into exile; he also had the sinews of Kiyomaro's legs cut, and only the protection of the Fujiwara clan saved him from being killed outright.

The following year, however, Empress Shōtoku died. She was succeeded by Emperor Kōnin

Emperor Konin

was the 49th emperor of Japan, according to the traditional order of succession. Kōnin's reign lasted from 770 to 781.-Traditional narrative:The personal name of Emperor Kōnin was given was As a son of Imperial Prince Shiki and a grandson of Emperor Tenji., his formal style was Prince Shirakabe...

, who in turn exiled Dōkyō to Shimotsuke Province

Shimotsuke Province

is an old province of Japan in the area of Tochigi Prefecture in the Kanto region. It was sometimes called or .The ancient capital of the province was near the city of Tochigi, but in feudal times the main center of the province was near the modern capital, Utsunomiya.-History:Different parts of...

 and not only recalled Wake no Kiyomaro from exile, but also appointed him as both kami (governor) of Bizen Province

Bizen Province

was a province of Japan on the Inland Sea side of Honshū, in what is today the southeastern part of Okayama Prefecture. It was sometimes called , with Bitchu and Bingo Provinces. Bizen borders Mimasaka, Harima, and Bitchū Provinces....

 and Udaijin

Udaijin

Udaijin , most commonly translated as the "Minister of the Right", was a government position in Japan in the late Nara and Heian periods. The position was consolidated in the Taihō Code of 702. The Asuka Kiyomihara Code of 689 marks the initial appearance of the Udaijin in the context of a central...

(junior minister of state). The following year, he petitioned the governor of Dazaifu to send officials to Usa to investigate allegations of "fraudulent oracles"; in his later report, Wake no Kiyomaro stated that out of five oracles checked, two were found to be fabricated. This resulted in the government relieving Usa no Ikemori of his position as head priest and replacing him with the previously-disgraced Ōga no Tamaro. Following this, Wake no Kiyomaro returned to Yamato

Yamato Province

was a province of Japan, located in Kinai, corresponding to present-day Nara Prefecture in Honshū. It was also called . At first, the name was written with one different character , and for about ten years after 737, this was revised to use more desirable characters . The final revision was made in...

. He remained a trusted advisor to Emperor Kammu; in the spring of 793, he convinced the emperor to abandon the delay-plagued construction of a capital at Nagaoka

Nagaoka

-Places:* Nagaoka, Niigata, Japan* Nagaoka-kyō, the capital of Japan from 784 to 794** Nagaokakyō, Kyoto, Japan, a city at the location of Nagaoka-kyō* Izunagaoka, Shizuoka, Japan, a former town in Izu Peninsula.-People:...

 and instead seek another location to the northeast, at Heian-kyō

Heian-kyo

Heian-kyō , was one of several former names for the city now known as Kyoto. It was the capital of Japan for over one thousand years, from 794 to 1868 with an interruption in 1180....

 (modern-day Kyōto

Kyoto

is a city in the central part of the island of Honshū, Japan. It has a population close to 1.5 million. Formerly the imperial capital of Japan, it is now the capital of Kyoto Prefecture, as well as a major part of the Osaka-Kobe-Kyoto metropolitan area.-History:...

.

His face appeared on 10-yen notes issued from 1888.