The , also known as the , was a

civil war A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies ...

fought in

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

between the

Emperor Go-Daigo Emperor Go-Daigo (後醍醐天皇 ''Go-Daigo-tennō'') (26 November 1288 – 19 September 1339) was the 96th emperor of Japan, Imperial Household Agency (''Kunaichō'')後醍醐天皇 (96) retrieved 2013-8-28. according to the traditional order ...

and the

Kamakura Shogunate The was the feudal military government of Japan during the Kamakura period from 1185 to 1333. Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005)"''Kamakura-jidai''"in ''Japan Encyclopedia'', p. 459. The Kamakura shogunate was established by Minamoto no Y ...

from 1331 to 1333. The Genkō War was named after Genkō, the

Japanese era The , also known as , is the first of the two elements that identify years in the Japanese era calendar scheme. The second element is a number which indicates the year number within the era (with the first year being ""), followed by the literal ...

corresponding to the period of 1331 to 1334 when the war occurred.

Background

Go-Daigo became

Emperor of Japan The Emperor of Japan is the monarch and the head of the Imperial House of Japan, Imperial Family of Japan. Under the Constitution of Japan, he is defined as the symbol of the Japanese state and the unity of the Japanese people, and his positio ...

in 1318 and sought to remove the

, which had ruled Japan as a ''

de facto ''De facto'' ( ; , "in fact") describes practices that exist in reality, whether or not they are officially recognized by laws or other formal norms. It is commonly used to refer to what happens in practice, in contrast with ''de jure'' ("by la ...

military government A military government is generally any form of government that is administered by military forces, whether or not this government is legal under the laws of the jurisdiction at issue, and whether this government is formed by natives or by an occup ...

from the city of

Kamakura is a city in Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan. Kamakura has an estimated population of 172,929 (1 September 2020) and a population density of 4,359 persons per km² over the total area of . Kamakura was designated as a city on 3 November 1939. Kamak ...

since the

Genpei War The was a national civil war between the Taira and Minamoto clans during the late Heian period of Japan. It resulted in the downfall of the Taira and the establishment of the Kamakura shogunate under Minamoto no Yoritomo, who appointed himself ...

in 1185, and restore power to civilian government under the Imperial House in

Kyoto Kyoto (; Japanese: , ''Kyōto'' ), officially , is the capital city of Kyoto Prefecture in Japan. Located in the Kansai region on the island of Honshu, Kyoto forms a part of the Keihanshin metropolitan area along with Osaka and Kobe. , the ci ...

. The Kamakura Shogunate was indirectly ruled by the

Hōjō clan The was a Japanese samurai family who controlled the hereditary title of ''shikken'' (regent) of the Kamakura shogunate between 1203 and 1333. Despite the title, in practice the family wielded actual political power in Japan during this period ...

as ''

shikken The was a titular post held by a member of the Hōjō clan, officially a regent of the shogunate, from 1199 to 1333, during the Kamakura period, and so he was head of the ''bakufu'' (shogunate). It was part of the era referred to as . During rou ...

'' – the

regent A regent (from Latin : ruling, governing) is a person appointed to govern a state '' pro tempore'' (Latin: 'for the time being') because the monarch is a minor, absent, incapacitated or unable to discharge the powers and duties of the monarchy ...

s of the ''

Shōgun , officially , was the title of the military dictators of Japan during most of the period spanning from 1185 to 1868. Nominally appointed by the Emperor, shoguns were usually the de facto rulers of the country, though during part of the Kamakur ...

'' – and actively blocked the Emperor's manoeuvres to restore Imperial rule.

Conflict

First uprising

In 1331, Go-Daigo plotted to seize power through force and overthrow the Kamakura Shogunate by encouraging his

vassal A vassal or liege subject is a person regarded as having a mutual obligation to a lord or monarch, in the context of the feudal system in medieval Europe. While the subordinate party is called a vassal, the dominant party is called a suzerain. W ...

s and other anti-Hōjō ''

samurai were the hereditary military nobility and officer caste of medieval and early-modern Japan from the late 12th century until their abolition in 1876. They were the well-paid retainers of the '' daimyo'' (the great feudal landholders). They h ...

'' to rebel. However, Go-Daigo was betrayed when his trusted adviser Fujiwara Sadafusa alerted the shogunate, who dispatched troops to Kyoto to suppress the uprising. Go-Daigo fled Kyoto with the

Sacred Treasures The are the imperial regalia of Japan and consist of the sword , the mirror , and the jewel . They represent the three primary virtues: Courage, valour (the sword), wisdom (the mirror), and Altruism, benevolence (the jewel).Kasagi, a secluded

monastery A monastery is a building or complex of buildings comprising the domestic quarters and workplaces of monastics, monks or nuns, whether living in communities or alone (hermits). A monastery generally includes a place reserved for prayer which ...

overlooking the

Kizu River is a river that crosses the prefectures of Kyoto and Mie in Japan, a tributary of the Yodo River. The city of Kizugawa is a city located in southern Kyoto Prefecture, Japan. It is the southernmost city in the prefecture and it is named after ...

. Go-Daigo managed to escape Kasagi when it was attacked by Kamakura troops in the

Siege of Kasagi The 1331 siege of Kasagi was among the first battles of the Genkō War, which brought an end to Japan's Kamakura period. Emperor Go-Daigo, who had been plotting against the shogunate and the Hōjō clan regents, had hidden the Japanese imperial r ...

, but was soon apprehended. Go-Daigo was subsequently

exile Exile is primarily penal expulsion from one's native country, and secondarily expatriation or prolonged absence from one's homeland under either the compulsion of circumstance or the rigors of some high purpose. Usually persons and peoples suf ...

d to the Oki Islands and the Kamakura then enthroned Emperor Kōgon, the first Emperor of the "

Northern Court The , also known as the Ashikaga Pretenders or Northern Pretenders, were a set of six pretenders to the throne of Japan during the Nanboku-chō period from 1336 through 1392. The present Imperial House of Japan is descended from the Northern Cour ...

", setting the stage for the upcoming Nanboku-chō period. Go-Daigo's son

Prince Morinaga (1308 – August 12, 1335) was a Japanese prince and monk. He was the son of Emperor Go-Daigo and his consort Minamoto no Chikako. Moriyoshi was named by his father as the head abbot of the Enryaku-ji temple on Mount Hiei. Go-Daigo attempted t ...

continued to fight against the Kamakura, leading his father's supporters alongside Kusunoki Masashige.

Second uprising

In 1333, Go-Daigo escaped Oki two years after his exile with the help of and his family, raising a new Imperial army at Funagami Mountain in Hōki Province, in the modern town of Kotoura,

Tottori Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located in the Chūgoku region of Honshu. Tottori Prefecture is the least populous prefecture of Japan at 570,569 (2016) and has a geographic area of . Tottori Prefecture borders Shimane Prefecture to the west, Hirosh ...

. Meanwhile, Ashikaga Takauji, the chief general of the Hōjō, was dispatched west to fight against Go-Daigo's second uprising. However, for unknown reasons, Takauji

defected In politics, a defector is a person who gives up allegiance to one state in exchange for allegiance to another, changing sides in a way which is considered illegitimate by the first state. More broadly, defection involves abandoning a person, ca ...

to Go-Daigo's army shortly before reaching Kyoto, and began to fight against the Hōjō. The reason for Takauji's defection is unknown, but assumed to be because of his unofficial leadership of the Minamoto clan, the victors of the Genpei War and arch-rivals of the former

Taira clan The Taira was one of the four most important clans that dominated Japanese politics during the Heian, Kamakura and Muromachi Periods of Japanese history – the others being the Fujiwara, the Tachibana, and the Minamoto. The clan is divided ...

to which the Hōjō had belonged. Additionally, Takauji possibly hoped of being named ''Shōgun'' by Go-Daigo after his restoration to power. The Imperial army lifted the Siege of Chihaya and Imperial general Nitta Yoshisada won a string of victories in the Kōzuke–Musashi campaign in May, including the Siege of Chihaya, the Battle of Kotesashi, the

Battle of Kumegawa The was part of the decisive Kōzuke-Musashi Campaign during the Genkō War in Japan that ultimately ended the Kamakura Shogunate. Fought in present-day Higashimurayama, Tokyo at the foot of the Hachikokuyama ridge on May 12, 1333, it pitted ...

, and the

Battle of Bubaigawara The was part of the decisive Kōzuke-Musashi Campaign during the Genkō War in Japan that ultimately ended the Kamakura Shogunate. It was fought on the banks of the Tama River in central Musashi province in what is now part of the city of Fu ...

. The Kamakura Shogunate was eventually defeated at the Siege of Kamakura in early July, when Imperial forces entered the destroyed city and the Hōjō committed

suicide Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Mental disorders (including depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, personality disorders, anxiety disorders), physical disorders (such as chronic fatigue syndrome), and s ...

Aftermath

Go-Daigo triumphantly returned to

and claimed power from Emperor Kōgon in what came to be known as the

Kenmu Restoration The was a three-year period of Imperial rule in Japanese history between the Kamakura period and the Muromachi period from 1333 to 1336. The Kenmu Restoration was an effort made by Emperor Go-Daigo to overthrow the ruling Kamakura Shogunate a ...

. Go-Daigo's rule would only last three years as his policies disillusioned his supporters, and most of the accomplishments of the Genkō War were gradually undone. Many ''

'' who had fought for Go-Daigo were dissatisfied with their rewards, and his pursuit of consolidating Imperial power led to their subsequent exclusion from political affairs, whereas they had held significant influence under the shogunate. Japanese

commoner A commoner, also known as the ''common man'', ''commoners'', the ''common people'' or the ''masses'', was in earlier use an ordinary person in a community or nation who did not have any significant social status, especially a member of neither ...

s were similarly dissatisfied as Go-Daigo failed to address the issues they had petitioned for him to solve. In 1336, Ashikaga Takauji named himself the ''Shōgun'' and seized power from Emperor Go-Daigo, establishing the Ashikaga Shogunate based on the Kamakura system and marking the beginning the Nanboku-chō "Northern and Southern Courts" period.

Background

Conflict

First uprising

Second uprising

Aftermath

References

Further reading