Nanboku-chō Period

The , also known as the Northern and Southern Courts period, was a period in Japanese history between 1336 and 1392, during the formative years of the Muromachi (Ashikaga) shogunate. During this time, two opposing Imperial courts and their respective claimants as Emperor were engaged in conflict over their claims to the Chrysanthemum Throne, with the Southern Court ultimately renouncing their claim in favor of the Northern Court in 1392. This period became a source of contention for many Japanese historians and scholars over the following centuries. Initially, the North's victory in the dispute led official histories to paint them as the legitimate claimants. In reality, the Northern pretenders were simply puppet rulers under the direct control of the Kamakura and Ashikaga shogunates, while the Southern claimants maintained control of the Japanese Imperial Treasures, the sacred artifacts that confirmed an Emperor's legitimacy. To officially resolve this historical dilemma, in 1911 Emperor Meiji issued an edict that the Emperors of the Southern Court were the legitimate claimants during this period.Mehl 1997: 140–147.

The destruction of the Kamakura shogunate of 1333 and the failure of the Kenmu Restoration in 1336 opened up a legitimacy crisis for the new shogunate. Institutional changes in the estate system (''shōen'') that formed the bedrock of the income of nobles and warriors altered the status of the various social groups. The establishment of the Ashikaga shogunate broadened the economic base of the warriors, while undercutting the noble proprietors. However, this trend had started already with the Kamakura ''bakufu''.

Background

During the early period, there existed a Northern Imperial Court, established by Ashikaga Takauji in Kyoto, and a Southern Imperial Court, established by Emperor Go-Daigo in Yoshino.

The main conflicts that contributed to the outbreak of the civil war between the courts were the growing conflict between the Hōjō clan and other warrior groups in the wake of the Mongol invasions of Japan of 1274 and 1281 and the failure of the Kenmu Restoration, which triggered the struggle between the supporters of the imperial loyalists and supporters of the Ashikaga clan.

Disaffection towards the Hōjō-led Kamakura regime appeared among the warriors towards the end of the 13th century. This resentment was caused by the growing influence of the Hōjō over other warrior families within the regime. The Mongol invasions were the main cause behind this centralization of power that took place during the regency of Hōjō Tokimune (1268–1284). During the crisis, three things occurred: Hōjō family appointments to the council of state increased; the Hōjō private family council became the most important decision making body; and direct vassals of the Hōjō were increasingly promoted to the ''shugo'' (governor) posts. This reduced the base of support to encompass Hōjō family members and their direct vassals. When a coalition against the Hōjō emerged in 1331, it took only two years to topple the regime.

Since wealth in pre-industrial, agrarian societies is tied to land, land became the main reason for much discontent among the warrior class. Since the Kamakura period, victory in battle would be rewarded by land grants. Due to the nature of a foreign invasion, the victory against the Mongol invasions meant that there were no lands to hand out to the victors.

When the Kamakura bakufu was destroyed in 1333, the Kyoto court society emerged to confront the warrior class. In the transition from the Heian to the Kamakura period, the warriors were free from the domination of court patrimonialism. With the demise of the Kamakura, the imperial court attempted to restore its power in the Kenmu Restoration. Not until the Meiji Restoration of the 19th century did this occur again.

Kenmu Restoration: 1333–1336

In the spring of 1333, the Emperor Go-Daigo and his supporters planned to restore the glory of the imperial court. Emperor Daigo (AD 901–923), who lived at a time when the court had no strong rivals and effective rule was exercised directly from the throne, became Go-Daigo's adopted name and model. The Kenmu Restoration was a conscious movement to restore the imperial power vis-a-vis the warrior class. Two of the movement's greatest spokesmen were Prince Morinaga and Kitabatake Chikafusa. Prince Morinaga was Go-Daigo's son, and archrival to Ashikaga Takauji since he advocated the militarization of the nobles as a necessary step towards effective rule. Morinaga epitomized Chikafusa as the latter was a Kyoto noble who was also military general. During the long siege in Hitachi (1338–1343), Chikafusa wrote the ''Jinnō Shōtōki'', an influential work on the legitimacy of the Japanese imperial system. This text would later become an ideological base of the Meiji Restoration in the 19th century.

However, the Kenmu Restoration failed due to Go-Daigo's desire to restore not only imperial power, but also its culture. He wrote a treatise (''Kenmu Nenchū Gyōji'') to revive court ceremonies that had fallen out of use.Sansom 1961: 22. In 1336 Takauji rebelled against the imperial court and proclaimed the beginning of a new shogunate. After his proclamation, he was forced to retreat to Kyūshū after the imperialist forces of Kitabatake Akiie attacked and defeated him near Kyoto. This betrayal of the Kenmu Restoration by Takauji blackened his name in later periods of Japanese history, and officially started the Nanboku-chō War. Earlier historiography taught the Restoration failed due to the ineffectiveness in rewarding lands to the samurai. However, it is now clear that the Restoration was effective in this respect. Therefore, Takauji's rebellion and desire to create a new warrior regime was a prime determinant in the Restoration's failure. His rebellion encouraged the warrior class who desired to see the creation of another military regime modeled after the Kamakura bakufu.

The Nanboku-chō War was an ideological struggle between loyalists who wanted the Emperor back in power, and those who believed in creating another military regime modeled after Kamakura. Chikafusa was pragmatic on the need for warriors to participate in the Restoration but a severe divergence between Chikafusa and Takauji polarized the leaders for many years. The failure of the Restoration led to the emergence of the Ashikaga shogunate.

Internal conflicts: 1350s

Takauji was nominally shōgun but, having proved not to be up to the task of ruling the country, for more than ten years Ashikaga Tadayoshi governed in his stead.Encyclopædia Britannica Online
accessed on August 11, 2009 Relations soured between the brothers during the Kannō disturbance. This started when Takauji made Kō no Moronao his '' shitsuji'' (deputy), which led Tadayoshi to unsuccessfully have him assassinated.Papinot (1972:29) His plot was discovered, so Tadayoshi in 1349 was forced by Moronao to leave the government, shave his head and become a Buddhist monk under the name Keishin. In 1350 he rebelled and joined his brother's enemies, the supporters of the Southern Court, whose Emperor Go-Murakami appointed him general of his entire army. In 1351 he defeated Takauji, occupied Kyoto, and entered Kamakura. During the same year he captured and executed the Kō brothers at Mikage (Settsu Province). The following year his fortunes turned and he was defeated by Takauji at Sattayama. A reconciliation between the brothers proved to be brief. Tadayoshi fled to Kamakura, but Takauji pursued him there with an army. In March 1352, shortly after an ostensible second reconciliation, Tadayoshi died suddenly, according to the ''Taiheiki'' by poisoning.

Reasons of conflict

In the 1350s, the Kannō disturbance and its aftermath divided and nearly destroyed the early regime. This event divided the Muromachi regime and put a temporary hold on integration. On the surface the incident appeared as a personal struggle between Tadayoshi against the Kō brothers, backed by Takauji. However, differences in opinion regarding the estate system and the separation of bureaucracies controlled by Takauji and Tadayoshi played a larger part in the conflict.

Since the bureaucracy were under separate jurisdictions between Takauji and Tadayoshi, this created a disunited administration. Takauji was the leader of the house vassals, and thus controlled the Board of Retainers where disciplinary actions towards house vassals: brigandage and other crimes were prosecuted.Grossberg 1981:88, 107. He also led the Office of Rewards which heard claims of and to enfeoff deserving vassals. It was used to enroll new warriors who were potential adversaries of the regime.

Tadayoshi meanwhile led the Board of Inquiry which had control over the judicial functions of the regime. The major judicial organ, the Board of Coadjutors, decided on all land dispute cases and quarrels involving inheritance. Bureaucrats (''bugyōnin'') for the new regime were recruited from the ranks of those who served the Hōjō regime before its fall. They were valuable because they knew how to read and write, a task beyond the reach of most warriors.

Takauji encouraged innovation, while Tadayoshi was a conservative who wanted to preserve the policies of the past. As a military leader, Takauji appointed vassals to ''shugo'' posts as a reward for battlefield heroics, and he divided the ''shōen'' estates giving half of it to his vassals in fief or as stewardships, both of which was contested by Tadayoshi. He also opposed any sort of outright division of estate lands.

All this led to conflict and resulted in the regime losing its support. Deep divisions between members of the Ashikaga family strengthened the opposition. Both Tadayoshi and Takauji enacted token submissions to the Southern Court to push their own agendas: Tadayoshi desired to destroy the Kō brothers, and Takauji wanted to defeat Tadayoshi.

Rise of the Southern Court

The incident led reinvigorations on the war effort of the Southern Court. To a large extent this renewed offensive was made possible by turncoats from the Muromachi regime. The imperialist offensive of 1352 directed against Takauji in Kamakura was made possible by the vast numbers of former adherents of Tadayoshi who became supporters of the imperialist leader Nitta Yoshimune. The imperialist offensive against Kyoto in 1353 was made possible through the defection of the ''shugo'' lord Yamana Tokiuji; Tadayoshi's adopted son, Ashikaga Tadafuyu, became the leader of the western armies of the Southern Court during the imperialist offensives against Kyoto in 1353 and 1354.

Rise of the ''shugo'' lords

The shōgun Ashikaga Takauji appointed branch family members as ''shugo'' lords in the different provinces of western and central Japan. Ashikaga branch families appointed to ''shugo'' posts included the Hosokawa, Yamana, Imagawa, Hatakeyama, Niki, Kira, Shiba, Ishido, and the Isshiki families.Papinot 1972:27. While some warriors were appointed to ''shugo'' posts. Successful generals, who were at the same time branch family heads who had cast in their lot with Takauji's rebellion, were the ones often rewarded with the post. The cost of not tying them to the regime was to lose their support, and to encourage their independence from the regime.

The ''shugo'' acted as governors, and served the function of mediating between the regime center and periphery. As lords in their own right, they represented the authority of the regime in the provinces. The ''shugo'' of this period had greater power than that of the Kamakura, including sending envoys where land disputes occurred, law enforcement, issuing ''hanzei'' (a half-tax), and to levy taxes. They came to hold much greater authority than the samurai houseman by virtue of having a province-wide appointment. After 1372, ''shugo'' lords were given the responsibility to collect taxes (''tansen'') on landowners, nobles and samurai. As middlemen, the ''shugo'' profited by inflating the taxes. On the 1370s onwards the ''shugo'' were given the added responsibility of overseeing a new regime centered tax. Warrior families since the Kamakura period were characterized by the use of headship rights (''soryo'') where leadership over branch families was accorded to the leader of the main family. However, headship rights were extremely unstable as branch families often asserted their own independence, particularly as new generations emerged to dilute the ties of kinship.

In some provinces, the Ashikaga failed to displace the original ''shugo'' families: the Sasaki, Togashi (of the famed Togashi Masachika), Takeda