The Jinshin War is a succession dispute in Japan that breaks out in 672 following the death of Emperor Tenji.

The name refers to the jinshin or ninth year of the sixty-year Jikkan Jūnishi calendrical cycle, corresponding to the Western year 673.

Tenji had originally designated his brother, Prince Ōama as his successor, but later changes his mind in favor of his son Prince Ōtomo.

In the course of the violence that erupts as a result of factional rivalries, Ōtomo, having taken the throne as Emperor, takes his own life after reigning for less than a year.

His uncle Ōama then succeeds to the throne as the Emperor Temmu.