In 1333, Emperor Go-Daigo of Japan
led a revolt against the Kamakura Shogunate.
With the help of disaffected samurai —
notably Ashikaga Takauji and Kusunoki Masashige, state
turned against state. The Hōjō regents fell.
Kamakura was captured. The shogunate ended
after a century and a half of warrior rule.
Go-Daigo entered Kyoto in triumph, ascended.
He attempted to restore direct imperial rule,
the Kenmu Restoration (1333-1336). He ruled
as his own prime minister, made appointments personally,
distributed rewards to loyalists, old-fashioned tooled.
But he favored court aristocrats over the samurai
who had actually won him the throne. The samurai
were unhappy. Many had expected new estates
from the confiscated Hōjō lands, the dried.
Ashikaga Takauji, who had betrayed the Hōjō,
betrayed Go-Daigo next. In 1336, he took
Kyoto, installed a rival emperor from the junior
line of the imperial family, his chosen hook.
Go-Daigo fled to Yoshino in the mountains south
of Kyoto and continued to claim legitimacy there.
For nearly sixty years, Japan had two imperial courts,
the Northern (Kyoto, Ashikaga's) and Southern (Yoshino), air.
This is called the Nanboku-chō period (1336-1392),
the Northern and Southern Courts. Each claimed to be
the legitimate continuation of the imperial line.
Samurai families chose sides based on strategy.
Kusunoki Masashige had been Go-Daigo's most loyal general,
a military genius who had defeated much larger forces
through guerrilla tactics. He foresaw defeat at
the Battle of Minatogawa but went to fight his courses.
He committed ritual suicide with his brother after the battle,
having extracted the promise from his son to continue the fight.
Kusunoki became the emblem of loyal service
to the emperor against all odds, warrior of light.
(In modern Japan, Kusunoki was revived as the model
samurai for the Meiji and Showa imperial ideology,
the loyal servant who dies for the Emperor.
His statue stands before the imperial palace, mythology.)
Takauji established the Ashikaga Shogunate (1336-1573)
based in the Muromachi district of Kyoto.
It was weaker than the Kamakura Shogunate,
unable to control regional warlords' potento.
The Ashikaga ruled for over two centuries, but
their real power extended only to central Japan.
The rest was governed by regional warlords (shugo)
who increasingly ignored the shogun's plan.
The period was culturally rich despite political weakness.
Zen Buddhism flourished under Ashikaga patronage.
The tea ceremony (sadō) was refined by
Sen no Rikyū later, aesthetic of age.
The arts of Noh drama were codified by
Zeami Motokiyo in the late fourteenth century.
Ink painting (sumi-e) was imported from Song China.
Japanese arts reached sophisticated refinery.
The Kinkaku-ji (Golden Pavilion) was built
by Ashikaga Yoshimitsu in 1397, covered in gold leaf.
The Ginkaku-ji (Silver Pavilion) was built
by Yoshimasa later, more subtle belief.
The Kenmu Restoration had failed, but the model
of imperial restoration would inspire later movements.
The Meiji Restoration of 1868 would invoke
Kenmu as its direct precedent improvements.
Go-Daigo would be remembered as the emperor
who attempted the impossible — to restore
direct imperial rule in an age when it was impossible.
A failed restorer, but a heroic figure lore.
Stand.