Chris Perry, Author

Tag: Muromachi Shogunate

  • Kanto, Won’to

    Kanto, Won’to

    As we discussed last time, the relationship between the central government in Kyoto and the Kamakura Kubo, the regional military governor, was often quite strained. The decentralised nature of political power in Japan meant that, whilst the Kubo was nominally subordinate to the Shogun, they often acted as semi-independent rulers.

    The power of the kubo was, in theory, checked by the Kanto Kanrei, the Shogun’s direct deputy in the Kanto Region, who had, for decades by this point, been a member of the Uesugi Clan.

    Like most Samurai families, the Uesugi weren’t a single family, but a loose affiliation of siblings, cousins, and other relatives that shared a name and some common ancestry, but little else, with different branches of the Clan cooperating and opposing each other as the situation demanded.

    The strongest branch of the family at this point, and the one holding the position of Kanrei, was the Yamanouchi Uesugi, so named because of their residence in an area of Kamakura called, you guessed it, Yamanouchi. This particular branch of the family actually took over the position from the branch which had risen in rebellion in 1416 and been defeated.

    The Kanrei in the 1430s was Uesugi Norizane. He found himself in a fairly unenviable position. Although the kanrei was officially the subordinate of the Kamakura Kubo, the Shogun in Kyoto had the final say over who would actually hold the position, meaning that, in practice, the kanrei often found himself beholden to the will of the Shogun over that of his direct superior.

    This was probably fine at a time when Kamakura and Kyoto were in agreement, but by now, this was definitely not the case. As we talked about briefly last time, the Kamakura Kubo, Ashikaga Mochiuji, often followed an independent path, and this defiance led to a serious breakdown in his relationship with the Shogun.

    In 1429, the accession of a new Emperor called for a change in the Era name. This was (and arguably still is) a big deal in Japanese culture; whenever a new Emperor ascends the throne, the Era name is changed. It can also be changed after significant or otherwise tragic events, as those in power seek to figuratively draw a line under the past.

    Emperor Go-Hanazono, whose accession brought about the Era name changed that provoked the showdown between Mochiuji and the Shogun.

    A change of era is often an administrative formality for most, but this time, Mochiuji, being the independent-minded fellow that he was, apparently refused to adopt the new era name. This might seem like a petty decision to us, but it was, in effect, Mochiuji announcing to the world that he didn’t recognise the new era, and by extension, the new Emperor.

    Things got worse following the death of Shogun Yoshimochi in 1431. Mochiuji had expected to be called upon to be the next Shogun, as Yoshimochi had died without heirs. When Ashikaga Yoshinori, a monk, was selected instead, Mochiuji was angry enough to consider marching on Kyoto.

    This is where Uesugi Norizane rejoins our story. He dissuaded his hot-headed master, and no force was sent. In addition, he arranged for formal apologies regarding the Era change and even went so far as to return lands that had been confiscated by Mochiuji to the Shogun.

    Norizane is also recorded as having sent expensive gifts to Kyoto in an attempt to smooth over the considerable animosity that had built up towards Mochiuji there. Norizane was evidently trying to steer a moderate course; he owed his position to the Shogun, but he was nominally subordinate to the Kubo. When these two masters were in opposition, Norizane found himself caught in the middle.

    In 1436, his position got even worse. That year, fighting broke out in Shinano Province between rival factions seeking control of the province. One side called on Mochiuji for help, and he was eager to go, but Norizane intervened, pointing out that Shinano was not one of the provinces that were under the authority of the Kamakura Kubo. Thus, no forces were sent.

    The warlord who had requested Mochiuji’s help was defeated, and in 1437, Mochiuji planned to raise an army and march into Shinano anyway, presumably to avenge his fallen comrade. This time, however, rumours spread that the army was actually to be sent against Norizane.

    Things quickly got out of control after that. Although there was some attempt to negotiate, Norizane fled the Kanto entirely, retreating to the Uesugi stronghold in Echigo Province. There was a brief reconciliation in 1438, but things broke down again quickly afterwards, with Norizane resigning as kanrei.

    This time, Norizane fled to Kozuke Province, and Mochiuji sent an army after him. In response, Norizane called for help from the Shogun, and Yoshinori, who had been waiting for an excuse to deal with the troublesome kubo, readily agreed.

    A coalition of Kanto warlords loyal to the Shogun was assembled, and the Shogun used his influence at court to have an Imperial Banner issued to the army, effectively turning it into an Imperial army, and all those who opposed it into rebels against not only the Shogun but the Emperor himself.

    An example of an Imperial Banner (this one from the 19th Century)

    What impact this had on the morale of Mochiuji and his men isn’t clear, but throughout September and October 1438, their forces were repeatedly defeated, until eventually Mochiuji surrendered and attempted to become.

    Uesugi Norizane, continuing his policy of moderation, pleaded for Mochiuji’s life, and for his son to be allowed to take the position of Kubo. Shogun Yoshinori, however, was in no mood. Mochiuji had been a thorn in his side for decades, and he would not pass up the opportunity to deal with him.

    Mochiuji and his son were forced to commit suicide, and the position of Kamakura Kubo was temporarily abolished. That wouldn’t last long, though, and in 1440, Yoshinori attempted to have his own son appointed as the new kubo.

    Mochiuji (top) commiting suicide after his failed uprising.

    This didn’t sit well with former loyalists of Mochiuji, and a rebellion, led by the Yuki Clan, broke out in the same year, with the stated aim of restoring one of Mochiuji’s sons to their late father’s position.

    In April 1441, the rebellion was defeated, and Mochuji’s surviving children were brought to Kyoto. Yoshinori continued his plans to appoint his son as kubo, but then fate took a turn, as it so often does.

    In June 1441, Yoshinori was invited to a banquet at the residence of the Akamatsu Clan, officially to celebrate the Shogun’s recent victory. When he arrived, the gates were locked, and he was set upon by a band of armed men and cut down.

    The immediate motive of his killer appears to have been either revenge for the confiscation of family property earlier in his reign or the fear of being politically purged. Historians speculate that Yoshinori was becoming increasingly paranoid, with the Imperial Nobility and Samurai class becoming fearful of the possibility of being denounced and facing exile or execution.

    A phrase used by contemporaries to describe this period of Yoshinori’s reign is ‘万人恐怖’ Bannin Kyofu, or Universal Fear, which gives you a good idea of the mood.

    In the immediate aftermath of the killing, rumours of a wider conspiracy abounded, but it soon became clear that the Akamatsu Clan had acted alone; the government’s attention focused on who would be the next Shogun. The most appropriate choice was Yoshinori’s son, Yoshikatsu, but he was just a boy, and it wasn’t until November 1442, 18 months after his father’s death, that Yoshikatsu was elevated to Shogun, despite being just nine.

    With Yoshinori’s death and his replacement by a boy, the strong, often dictatorial power of the Shogun was significantly reduced. Yoshikatsu would rely on a council of powerful lords to handle the realm until he came of age, but that didn’t happen, as Yoshikatsu fell in and died in July 1443, only eight months into his reign. His sudden death led to the spread of several rumours, from a fall from a horse to assassination, but historians generally believe he died of illness, possibly dysentery.

    A wooden statue of Ashikaga Yoshikatsu, whose reign, and life, were tragically short.
    CC 表示 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=9662197

    Yoshikatsu was replaced by his brother, Yoshimasa, who was even younger, and he wouldn’t be officially declared Shogun until 1449, by which time real power had shifted from the Shogunate to several powerful clans.

    Though no one knew it then, the Ashikaga Shogunate had begun what would prove to be a terminal decline.

    Sources
    https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E9%8E%8C%E5%80%89%E5%85%AC%E6%96%B9
    https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E8%B6%B3%E5%88%A9%E7%BE%A9%E6%95%99#
    https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E5%98%89%E5%90%89%E3%81%AE%E4%B9%B1
    https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E8%B6%B3%E5%88%A9%E7%BE%A9%E5%8B%9D
    https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E8%B6%B3%E5%88%A9%E7%BE%A9%E6%94%BF
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ashikaga_Yoshimasa

  • Collision Course

    Collision Course

    At the end of the last post, we covered an outbreak of rebellion led by the Uesugi Clan in the Kanto Region. This rebellion was put down, and the Uesugi were badly mauled, but the consequences of it would be long-reaching indeed.

    We haven’t spent a lot of time talking about the Kanto recently; most of the events of the preceding Nanbokucho Period happened in and around Kyoto, so this seems like a good opportunity to update you on what was happening in the area, which is now mostly modern Tokyo and its surroundings.

    You may remember that the government, prior to the Ashikaga Shogunate, had been the Kamakura Shogunate, based in the town of the same name. Kamakura itself is in the Kanto and was, at the time, a major population centre.

    When the Kamakura Shogunate was overthrown, the Ashikaga based themselves in Kyoto, but didn’t lose sight of their position in the Kanto. With power in Kyoto confirmed, the first Ashikaga Shogun, Takauji, sent his second son to Kamakura to oversee things there.

    The position of Kamakura Kubo was initially a solely military post, with the mission being to keep order in the provinces. However, within a few decades, it had transformed into a political and administrative position as well, with the kubo being the effective governor of a large area of eastern Japan.

    The territory under the jurisdiction of the Kamakura Kubo. The original provinces are in red, with those in gold and green added later.
    Pqks758 – 投稿者自身による著作物, CC 表示-継承 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=30770440による

    The other major power in the region was the Kanto Kanrei, the Shogunate Deputy in the Kanto region. Originally an administrative position, subject to appointment and dismissal by the Shogun, by the late 14th Century, the position had become the hereditary title of the Uesugi Clan, who used it to become the dominant power in the region.

    Officially, the Kubo was a military position, whilst Kanrei was an administrative one, but the reality was that there was considerable overlap between both positions. The Kanrei was supposed to be subordinate to the Kubo, but the situation on the ground meant that the Kanrei often controlled more land and men than the Kubo.

    There were several clashes between both positions, and the government in Kyoto, but one of the most serious was the Uesugi Rebellion in 1416, which we talked about last time. Although the rebellion was crushed, the situation in the Kanto remained tense in the aftermath.

    Firstly, the Kubo at the time was Ashikaga Mochiuji, who had an unfortunate habit of ignoring instructions from Kyoto that didn’t suit him. In the aftermath of the rebellion, the Shogun, Yoshimochi, had wanted to pursue a policy of reconciliation, similar to that of his father.

    Mochiuji, however, wanted revenge; he saw the powerful clans in the Kanto as a direct threat to his rule and was determined to crush them once and for all. He began taking direct action against families that had joined the rebellion, and despite issuing orders for him to stop, the government in Kyoto proved powerless to curb his violent tendencies.

    Yoshimochi wasn’t idle, however. Although the position of Kamakura Kubo was a powerful one, and Mochiuji had many supporters, there were others who remained opposed to him. Yoshimochi took advantage of this, extending direct vassalage to several important families in the Kanto region and elsewhere. Though these families technically owed allegiance to Kamakura, they were now direct vassals of the Shogun.

    Though this policy may have seemed like a good idea at the time, it would backfire. In 1422, the Oguri Clan, with the implied support of the Shogun, rose in rebellion against Kamakura and Mochiuji. Whether or not the Oguri expected support from Kyoto, it didn’t come, and Mochiuji personally led the army that put the rebels down.

    In response, the Shogun gave serious consideration to military action, but it was eventually decided to do nothing but demand a formal apology from Mochiuji, which he quickly agreed to, bringing an end to the immediate crisis.

    Things jump ahead a little bit here. In 1423, Shogun Yoshimochi retired and officially handed over the title (but not the power) of Shogun to his son, Yoshikazu. This arrangement didn’t last long; Yoshikazu died within two years (apparently from alcohol-related issues).

    The position of Shogun was then left vacant, but since Yoshimochi held the actual power, the government kept going regardless. This changed in 1428, when Yoshimochi himself died, seriously impeding his ability to run the state.

    Yoshimochi had no more sons, so a new Shogun was sought from amongst his brothers. Apparently, they did this by a lottery, and the name drawn was Yoshinori. The problem with that was that Yoshinori (who was also called Yoshinobu for a time) had become a monk during his youth.

    Ashikaga Yoshinori, an unlikely choice for Shogun.

    There was plenty of precedent for important officials to retire and become monks, but there was none for it happening the other way. At first, the selection of Yoshinori was opposed; he was a monk, for starters, and there were rumours that Mochiuji, the Kamakura Kubo, would be declared Shogun instead.

    Several tense months followed, including the death of one Emperor and the accession of another. It was this new Emperor, Go-Hanazono, who would name Yoshinori Shogun in March 1429. Yoshinori seems to have tried to model himself on his father, the great Yoshimitsu. He attempted to centralise power in Kyoto and curb the influence of powerful local deputies (Kanrei), and he even restarted the trade with China.

    However, Yoshinori was not Yoshimitsu, and the situation for the Shogunate was not as it had been 30 years earlier. Yoshinori would have some success initially, bringing restive lords in Kyushu back in line, and moving to end the Shogun’s reliance on the military strength of the Shugo (governors) as his predecessors had been forced to.

    Trouble was never very far away, however, and in 1433, ongoing conflicts between rival temples in and around Kyoto flared up again. Now, Yoshinori had been a monk of the Tendai Sect, specifically at the Shoren-in Temple.

    Now, the intricacies of temple politics in this era are complex to say the least, but the short version is that there were various sects of Buddhism prominent in Japan at this time. These sects were then often further subdivided, and, in keeping with the style of the time, these factions would often engage in vicious and sometimes violent rivalries with each other.

    At this time, one of the most violent disputes was between the Jimon (Temple Gate) and Sanmon (Mountain Gate) branches of the Enryaku-ji Temple on Mt Hiei, near Kyoto. Yes, you read that right, they were rivals from the same temple complex.

    A modern image of Enryaku-ji. This particular building dates from the 17th Century.
    663highland, CC 表示 2.5, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=8449808による

    In July 1433, the monks of the Sanmon Faction submitted a petition of 12 complaints to the Shogun, making allegations of misconduct against the Shogunate officials in charge of religious affairs.

    The Shogun took a conciliatory approach to this, accepted the petition and then apparently dismissed the officials in question. The Sanmon Monks, apparently getting a bit full of themselves, celebrated by burning down Onjo-ji (sometimes known as Mii-Dera), the headquarters of the Jimon Faction.

    Now, the Shogun was understandably annoyed by this. Apparently, the monks of Onjo-ji had refused to join the Sanmon Faction’s petition, but that wasn’t a good enough excuse, and Yoshinori dispatched troops to Mt Hiei, demanding that the monks of Enryaku-ji surrender.

    This they did, but the peace didn’t last long. Within a few months, rumours began spreading that the Monks were conspiring with Ashikaga Mochiuji, apparently trying to curse the Shogun, and general praying for his downfall, which in a superstitious age was a big deal.

    In response, the Shogun confiscated property belonging to the temple and sent troops to surround the temple, effectively putting Enryaku-ji under siege. From July to December 1434, no one could get in or out of Mt Hiei, and the monks were eventually compelled to seek terms of surrender.

    Shogun Yoshinori was in a far less forgiving mood this time, and he was initially reluctant to accept terms. However, under pressure from his own government, he accepted the surrender, and the previously confiscated property was returned.

    This was apparently just a ruse, however, and in February 1435, Yoshinori had four Enryaku-ji monks arrested and beheaded. The monks on Mt Hiei were outraged by this and set fire to their own temple, with 24 of them meeting their ends (more or less willingly) in the flames.

    Mt Hiei is easily visible from Kyoto, and the sight of the temple in flames caused outrage in the city. Yoshinori responded by issuing an edict sentencing anyone who complained about the situation to death, which apparently worked wonders in keeping the population quiet.

    With the Sanmon Faction subjugated, Yoshinori then turned his eyes back to the Kanto. All he needed was a pretext, and luckily for him, one would not be long in coming.

    Sources

    https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E9%8E%8C%E5%80%89%E5%BA%9C
    https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E8%B6%B3%E5%88%A9%E6%8C%81%E6%B0%8F
    https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E9%96%A2%E6%9D%B1%E7%AE%A1%E9%A0%98
    https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E4%B8%8A%E6%9D%89%E7%A6%85%E7%A7%80%E3%81%AE%E4%B9%B1
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ashikaga_Yoshikazu
    https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E8%B6%B3%E5%88%A9%E7%BE%A9%E9%87%8F
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ashikaga_Yoshinori
    https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E5%BB%B6%E6%9A%A6%E5%AF%BA
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jimon_and_Sanmon
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mii-dera
    https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E8%B6%B3%E5%88%A9%E7%BE%A9%E6%95%99#%E6%AF%94%E5%8F%A1%E5%B1%B1%E3%81%A8%E3%81%AE%E6%8A%97%E4%BA%89
    https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E5%B0%8F%E6%A0%97%E6%BA%80%E9%87%8D%E3%81%AE%E4%B9%B1
    https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E4%BA%AC%E9%83%BD%E6%89%B6%E6%8C%81%E8%A1%86

  • Peace? I hate the word…

    Peace? I hate the word…

    By the end of the 14th Century, the Ashikaga Shogunate might have been forgiven for thinking it was in a strong position. Under Shogun Yoshimitsu, Kyushu had been pacified, the power of the mighty clans close to the capital had been curtailed, and in 1392, a reconciliation had been arranged between the Northern and Southern Imperial Courts, bringing an end to the Nanbokucho Period.

    In 1395, Yoshimitsu officially retired from the Shogunate to become a monk, and although he retained actual power, the succession of his son, Yoshimochi, was secure. Then, in 1399, the Ouchi Clan rose in rebellion in Kyushu, and in crushing them, the Ashikaga Shoguns no longer faced any serious opposition in the South or West of the realm.

    Around this time, Yoshimitsu sought recognition as “King of Japan” from the Ming Emperor of China, as he had long been an admirer of Chinese culture and politics. Initially, the Chinese refused to recognise him, because, as Shogun, Yoshimitsu was (technically) a servant of the Emperor, whom the Chinese were more inclined to recognise as King.

    When Yoshimitsu retired as Shogun, however, he retained all the power of his position, but was now free of his position as a subordinate of the Emperor. This, combined with a promise to suppress the often serious problem of piracy (wako) in the waters around Korea, persuaded the Chinese to formally recognise Yoshimitsu as “King” and restart trade between Japan and China, in exchange for regular Japanese tribute as ‘subordinates’ to the Ming.

    This trade was not as we might imagine it, where merchants buy and sell according to the laws of supply and demand. Instead, as the Chinese viewed themselves as the centre of the world, they viewed trade as being based on tribute to their Emperor, with gifts being bestowed in return.

    The Yongle Emperor, who all were expected to bow to, especially if they wanted to trade with China.

    This worldview, combined with the Chinese desire to show off their wealth, meant that Japanese trade missions would often end up with such quantities of goods that they were able to secure enormous profits. One example comes from the merchant, Kusuba Sainin, who claimed that thread purchased for 250 mon in China could easily be sold for 5000 mon back in Japan.

    (The mon is a Japanese unit of currency that wasn’t very well formalised before the Edo Period, making modern purchasing power hard to figure out, but the fact that this represents around 2000% profit gives you an idea of how lucrative this trade could be.)

    These ships were only sent relatively infrequently; in fact, between 1404 and 1547, only 17 trade missions (made up of 84 ships in total) were sent, but the influx of Chinese material and cultural goods, and the Shogunate’s 10% levy on all goods arriving in Japan, meant that it was a major source of revenue and prestige.

    The trade was politically unpopular, however. The Chinese required tribute and acknowledgement of China’s supreme position in the world. Though Yoshimitsu likely viewed this as a diplomatic nicety rather than an actual submission, it didn’t sit right with the prideful Samurai or the Imperial Court, who held that their Emperor was a literal son of heaven, whereas the Chinese Emperor held a mandate that could be lost.

    While Yoshimitsu was alive and politically active, these concerns were largely kept private, but the discontent remained, and Yoshimitsu, it may surprise you to learn, wasn’t going to live forever.

    While he lived, however, Yoshimitsu invested this newfound wealth and power in what became known as Kitayama Culture. A unique blend of Imperial, Samurai, and Chinese aesthetics, it gave birth to many famous aspects of Japanese culture that are still recognisable, such as Noh Theatre and even Origami (which began as a much more formalised system than what we may be used to today).

    Like many before and after him, Yoshimitsu also invested heavily in architecture, aiming to promote the glory and prestige of his family through buildings that were more spectacular than any that came before. Most famously, the Golden Pavilion Temple, Kinkaku-ji, a landmark so famous that the actual name for the temple, the pavilion, is in (Rokuon-ji), is often forgotten.

    The Golden Pavilion in Kyoto, so famous that its name is synonymous with Japanese temples the world over.
    By Jaycangel – Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=33554210

    As we discussed last time, Yoshimitsu had an unusually close relationship with the Imperial Court, taking up several positions in the Imperial Government, and running things in such a way that it often became unclear exactly when Imperial orders weren’t simply Shogunate ones.

    This came to something of a logical conclusion in 1404 when Yoshimitsu began lobbying for the position of Retired Emperor. You may recall that, in the days before the Shoguns, Emperors would retire to become insei, or Cloistered Emperors, retaining all the actual power, whilst no longer being constrained by the often burdensome nature of an Emperor’s religious responsibilities.

    In the midst of this politicking, in April 1408, Yoshimitsu became ill, dying at the age of 51 in May of the same year. A few days after his passing, the Imperial Court offered to bestow the title of Retired Emperor on him posthumously; however, the new Shogun, Yoshimochi, declined. It has been speculated that this was agreed to previously, as a way to definitely end the Shogunate’s pretensions to the title.

    Either way, Yoshimitsu was dead, and things began to unravel quite quickly. Though Yoshimochi had been named Shogun in 1394, when his father had ‘retired’, his actual accession to the title didn’t go unchallenged. Some suggested that Yoshimitsu had actually preferred his younger son for the role, but had died before updating his will.

    Because of this, the Shogun’s Deputy (kanrei), Shiba Yoshimasa (of the once powerful, and now resurgent Shiba Clan), pushed to have Yoshimochi recognised as Shogun, and in the short term, a crisis was avoided.

    Shiba Yoshimasa had been a powerful figure in the Shogunate for decades, and he had a huge influence over the new Shogun. However, by the time Yoshimochi actually gained power, Yoshimasa was an old man, and in August 1409, he handed the position of Kanrei over to his grandson. The fact that he was a boy of 11 was apparently not a problem, given that Yoshimasa intended to keep real power anyway.

    Whether or not he meant to groom his grandson for the role is unclear, because less than a year later, Yoshimasa was dead and the power of the Shiba Clan at the centre of government was at an end.

    Ashikaga Yoshimochi, the Fourth Shogun, and very much not his father’s son.

    Unfortunately for the Ashikaga, Yoshimochi turned out not to be his father’s son. No longer under Yoshimasa’s influence, he ended the Chinese trade in 1411 (it would be reinstated later), and in 1415, he faced a serious uprising from loyalists of the former Southern Court, showing that that particular problem had not been resolved.

    More seriously, in 1416, a major rebellion broke out in the Kanto Region, when the locally powerful Uesugi Clan rose up against the Kamakura Kubo, the semi-autonomous military governor in the region.

    Now, this is a bit complex, so pay attention. The Kamakura Kubo had, since the formation of the Ashikaga Shogunate, been in the hands of a branch of the Ashikaga Family, descended from one of the sons of the first Ashikaga Shogun, Takauji. Therefore, as with a lot of Japanese history it was possible to have Ashikaga on both sides of any conflict, going forwards I’ll make sure to be clear which branch of the family I’m talking about, but it’s a bit of headache.

    Confused genealogy aside, the Kubo was, much like their cousins in Kyoto, surrounded by Samurai Clans who were often stronger than the local government. In the Kanto, the most powerful family was the aforementioned Uesugi, and they’d been a real thorn in the side of the Kamakura Ashikaga from the start.

    The Uesugi had often held the title of Kanto Kanrei, which is basically the Shogun’s Deputy in the Kanto Region, in which Kamakura lies. Unsurprisingly, the Kamakura Ashikaga and the Uesugi spent most of their time butting heads, and in 1415, a particularly serious disagreement led to the Uesugi being stripped of the kanrei position.

    You can probably guess what happened next. The Uesugi refused to accept that, and one thing led to another until in late 1416, they rose in rebellion, taking Kamakura in October. Confused reports reached Kyoto later in the month, some of which suggested that the Kamakura Kubo, Mochiuji, was already dead.

    When it became clear that he was, in fact, alive, the Shogun dispatched an army made up of loyal clans to the Kanto to put the rebellion down. This they did, and the Uesugi forces were decisively defeated at the Battle of Seyahara in January 1417, after which their power was severely curtailed.

    In the aftermath, Shogun Yoshimochi accused his brother, Yoshitsugu (who had been that potential rival to the throne we mentioned earlier), of being complicit in, or even behind the rebellion. Yoshitsugu pleaded his innocence (as you do), but, fearing for his life, fled the capital and became a monk.

    Ashikaga Yoshitsugu, who was accused of plotting rebellion by his brother, and killed in 1418.

    That didn’t save him, and in 1418, he either committed suicide or was murdered on his brother’s orders. The man accused of his assassination was later denounced for apparently having an affair with one of the Shogun’s concubines and killed himself, which is just one of those salacious side stories that make studying history such a joy.

    The seeds of more trouble in the Kanto were sown when Mochiuji pursued a policy of revenge against those who had rebelled, despite the Shogun’s official desire for reconciliation. Direct conflict would be a while in coming, but the increasingly defiant Kanto Lords could not be ignored forever.

    Sources

    https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E8%B6%B3%E5%88%A9%E7%BE%A9%E5%97%A3
    https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E5%8C%97%E5%B1%B1%E6%96%87%E5%8C%96
    https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E6%97%A5%E6%98%8E%E8%B2%BF%E6%98%93
    https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E6%A5%A0%E8%91%89%E8%A5%BF%E5%BF%8D
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kinkaku-ji
    https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E8%B6%B3%E5%88%A9%E7%BE%A9%E6%8C%81
    https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E4%B8%8A%E6%9D%89%E7%A6%85%E7%A7%80%E3%81%AE%E4%B9%B1
    https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E8%B6%B3%E5%88%A9%E6%8C%81%E6%B0%8F#%E5%AE%98%E6%AD%B4
    https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E6%96%AF%E6%B3%A2%E7%BE%A9%E5%B0%86#%E7%AE%A1%E9%A0%98%E5%B0%B1%E4%BB%BB%E3%81%A8%E5%A4%B1%E8%84%9A
    https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E9%81%A3%E6%98%8E%E8%88%B9

  • The Peace of Meitoku

    The Peace of Meitoku

    The Nanbokucho Period is named the Northern and Southern Courts Period in English because that is what it was. The division of the rival Imperial Courts was reflected across Japan during this period. There were few, if any, periods of extended peace, and rival factions would swear allegiance to one court or another, and then use that as an excuse to attack their local rivals.

    In many cases, of course, these rival warlords didn’t even bother with the formality of declaring allegiances; they settled their disputes through force because they could. They had the men, and there was no central government strong enough to stop them.

    That began to change with the third Ashikaga Shogun, Yoshimitsu. As we talked about last time, he was no idle ruler, nor was he simply the first amongst equals when it came to the brutish thuggery of this early Samurai period. Yoshimitsu played rival clans off each other to increase the military power and prestige of the Shogunate, but he also ingratiated himself with Imperial loyalists by taking a position in the government of the Northern Court, so much so that it began to appear that the Emperor’s orders, and those of the Shogun were one and the same.

    Yoshimitsu wasn’t just a political animal, though; he understood the nature of the conflicts around Japan came from the largely independent nature of the Shugo (regional lords), in which even fairly loyal Clans were left to handle their own affairs. Yoshimitsu’s solution to this was an enforced residence policy.

    Basically, the Shugo lords were required to live in Kyoto (with the exception of those based in the Kanto and on Kyushu). Once there, they were forbidden from leaving the capital without the (rarely granted) permission of the Shogun. Leaving Kyoto without this permission was seen as an act of rebellion, and, having seen what had befallen the Yamana and Toki Clans, most Shugo fell in line.

    The Flower Palace in Kyoto. Although the residence of the Shogun, it is an example of the new level of opulence that came to Kyoto with the enforced residence of the Shugo.

    In the short term, this went a long way to curbing their often violent independence, but long-term, it proved to be a disastrous policy. Whilst the first generation of lords to take residence in Kyoto left trusted relatives in charge, within a few decades, their descendants had become the real power in the provinces. Much like the Imperial Court in the 8th and 9th centuries, the Shugo grew to become out of touch with the nominally subordinate provincial officials, once again leading to a catastrophic decentralisation of power, and laying the foundations for what would eventually become the Sengoku Jidai, the Age of the Country at War.

    With this policy also came a shift in the economic and cultural centre of gravity in Japan. With the majority of the wealthiest Shugo now required to live permanently in Kyoto, the wealth that had previously been dispersed in the provinces now became centred on the capital.

    During previous eras, wealth had primarily been derived from land, but under Yoshimitsu, a new urban middle class formed from the moneylenders, traders, and other commercial agents that benefited directly from the sudden influx of wealthy, image-conscious nobles in their midst.

    Throughout the late 14th century, Kyoto flourished as a centre of wealth and culture, with some modern icons of Japanese culture, such as Renga Poetry and Noh Theatre, emerging during this time.

    A modern performance of Noh Theatre, which originated during this period in Kyoto.
    By Yoshiyuki Ito – Imported from 500px (archived version) by the Archive Team. (detail page), CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=71346350

    It was, however, also a period where ‘traditional’ social norms were challenged. The Samurai, who had emerged primarily as a rural class, were a rough and ready sort, fond of extravagant living, flashy clothes, and frequent outbursts of violence.

    This lifestyle, often called Basara in contemporary sources, was at odds with the more formal, rigid, and genteel lifestyle of the ‘old’ families in and around Kyoto, who associated art and culture with the more traditional styles of the Imperial Court.

    Whilst the Shogun was relatively strong and capable (as Yoshimitsu was), these tensions could be managed, but the seeds of further trouble were already being sown, even as the Shogun appeared to be bringing an end to the chaos.

    The Meitoku Treaty

    Throughout the late 1380s and into the 1390s, Shogun Yoshimitsu either provoked or took advantage of chaos in several powerful clans, asserting his power and weakening any serious support for the Southern Court. In 1392, after having decisively broken the power of the Yamana Clan, he turned his attention to the Southern Court and its remaining allies.

    Northern Forces attacked Chihaya Castle in early 1392, and after it fell, the Southern Court was effectively defenceless. At this point, however, Yoshimitsu took on the role of peacemaker; instead of attacking the Southern Court, he opened negotiations.

    The Southern Court, for their part, seem to have seen the writing on the wall, and faced with a peaceful outcome or the prospect of annihilation, they chose peace. In November 1392, Emperor Go-Kameyama (Southern Court) travelled to Kyoto and handed over the three Imperial Treasures to Emperor Go-Komatsu (Northern Court).

    In exchange, it was agreed that, going forward, the line of the Northern Emperors and the Southern Emperors would alternate on the throne, with Go-Komatsu (Northern) being succeeded by a Southern Emperor, and so on.

    Emperor Go-Komatsu, who wasn’t happy about the Meitoku Treaty, but also didn’t have much of a choice.

    As a side note, the Northern Court were apparently strongly opposed to the treaty, as they considered themselves the only legitimate line and didn’t wish to alternate with the ‘illegitimate’ Southern Line. It is perhaps a testament to just how powerful the Shogunate had become then, when the treaty was agreed to, with both sides evidently being mutually dissatisfied, but compelled to agree due to the overwhelming strength of the Shogun.

    So, peace came to Japan at last. A strong Shogun, a cowed Imperial Court, and a capital that had become a wealthy, bustling centre of commerce, art, and culture. All was right in the world, except, of course, it wasn’t.

    Yoshimitsu was an impressive leader, and through his personal drive, energy, and acumen, he ensured that everything went the Shogunate’s way. Bringing an end to the Nanbokucho Period was no mean feat, and we shouldn’t understate it, but unfortunately for Japan, Yoshimitsu, like most people, was mortal.

    Yoshimitsu would retired in 1394, but he kept hold of the real power.

    Though Yoshimitsu would formally retire as Shogun and become a monk in 1394, he continued to hold onto real power until his death in 1408, after which things began to unravel pretty quickly.

    Sources

    https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E6%98%8E%E5%BE%B3%E3%81%AE%E5%92%8C%E7%B4%84
    https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E4%B8%A1%E7%B5%B1%E8%BF%AD%E7%AB%8B#%E5%BE%8C%E6%97%A5%E8%AB%87
    https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E5%8D%83%E6%97%A9%E5%9F%8E
    https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E5%8D%97%E5%8C%97%E6%9C%9D%E6%99%82%E4%BB%A3_(%E6%97%A5%E6%9C%AC)
    https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E3%81%B0%E3%81%95%E3%82%89
    https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E9%80%A3%E6%AD%8C
    https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E8%83%BD%E6%A5%BD
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/N%C5%8Dgaku
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Noh
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ashikaga_Yoshimitsu

  • Centralisation.

    Centralisation.

    By the 1380s, the Northern and Southern Court Period (Nanbokucho Jidai in Japanese) had been dragging on for nearly 50 years. This was a period of frequent conflict, and the instability had only served to weaken the power of the central government in Kyoto.

    In 1368, Ashikaga Yoshimitsu became the third Ashikaga Shogun. As he was still a minor at the time, the government was initially in the hands of his Kanrei (Deputy) Hosokawa Yoriyuki, whom we talked about last time.

    Ashikaga Yoshimitsu, the third Ashikaga Shogun. This image is from after he became a monk in later life.

    In 1378, Yoshimitsu assumed power in his own right. He also moved the official Shogunate residence to the Hana-no-Gosho, or Flower Palace, in the Muromachi area of Kyoto. Because of this, the Ashikaga Shogunate is sometimes called the Muromachi Shogunate, though we’ll keep calling them Ashikaga for now, to avoid any more confusion.

    When Yoriyuki was forced to resign by his enemies during the Koryaku Coup, he was replaced by Shiba Yoshimasa, and the wider Shiba Clan saw their fortunes improve further still as Yoshimasa moved to fill several government positions with his family and retainers.

    If you imagine that the Koryaku Coup was a matter of the Shiba Clan replacing the Hosokawa, then you’d be wrong. In fact, after 1379 (the year of the coup), the power of the Shogunate increased considerably, with the centralisation of government put in place by Yoriyuki falling not into the hands of the Shiba, but the Shogun himself.

    Some historians have speculated that Yoshimitsu actually worked to engineer the conflict between the Hosokawa and Shiba Clans, playing both factions off each other in order to increase his own power. Whilst there are no clear records of any such plan, Yoshimitsu took advantage of the chaos to ensure that no one clan would be in a position to challenge him again.

    The Flower Palace in Kyoto. Yoshimitsu paid close attention to the image of the Shogunate.

    Imperial Politics

    During the 1380s, Yoshimitsu worked to tighten the bonds between the Shogunate and the Imperial Northern Court, whilst ensuring that one was clearly superior to the other.

    The exact relationship between the Imperial and Shogunate government at this time is a bit complicated, but officially, the Shogun served as the Supreme Military commander nominally at the Emperor’s service.

    In reality, of course, the Shogun was a military dictator, ruling the nation in all but name, but formally the Emperor ruled, while the Shogun merely served. To get around this legal technicality, Shoguns were often granted formal rank in the Imperial hierarchy and would often take up positions in the ‘Imperial’ government, further cementing their legitimacy.

    We won’t go into the exact nature of the Imperial hierarchy, but in short, there were nine ranks, with the top three being divided further divided into Senior and Junior levels, whilst ranks four to nine (also called ‘initial rank’) were further divided into four levels (Upper Senior, Lower Senior, Upper Junior, and Lower Junior) for a total of thirty ranks.

    By the 14th Century, Imperial Rank no longer granted very much in the way of actual political power, but it was a mark of prestige, and continues to be so today, although the ranks were reorganised during the 19th Century Meiji Restoration.

    Yoshimitsu was not the first, or last, Shogun to take on Imperial Rank and title, but he did so at a time when the formalities of the Imperial Throne were more important than they would eventually become. By 1382, he had been granted Junior First Rank and took the position of Minister of the Left, effectively Prime Minister.

    In his position as Minister of the Left, he began using the Imperial bureaucracy to issue orders and instructions, effectively turning Shogunate orders into Imperial ones, increasing their weight considerably, and obliging many troublesome lords to fall in line. It was one thing to oppose the Shogun, but another entirely to go against the Son of Heaven.

    Controlling the Imperial Government relied on harnessing the reflected prestige of the Emperor’s Divine heritage, but being Shogun was, and remained, a primarily military position. Whilst Imperial decrees brought a lot of minor lords into line, there were still several powerful clans in Japan who would not bow to anything other than force.

    Yoshimitsu the Warrior

    Fortunately for the Shogunate, Yoshimitsu proved himself adept at playing this role too. You may remember that the Koryaku Coup in 1379 had been led by three clans, the Shiba, Toki, and Yamana; however, it is the Toki and Yamana Clans who are important for this next bit.

    By the late 1380s, the Toki Clan ruled three provinces, whilst the Yamana (through various family members) controlled eleven. These power blocs were far too strong for the Shogun to take on directly; however, in 1388, the head of the Toki Clan died. Instead of allowing the heir, Yasuyuki, to inherit all three provinces (Mino, Ise, and Owari), the Shogun declared he’d only get two (Mino and Ise), whilst the third (Owari) would go to his brother, Mitsutada.

    Owari Province, in modern day Nagoya.
    By Ash_Crow – Own work, based on Image:Provinces of Japan.svg, CC BY 2.5, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=1691740

    It should come as little surprise that Yasuyuki and Mitsutada, despite being brothers, didn’t get along, and it wasn’t long before Mitsutada, who by all accounts was an ambitious sort, began plotting against his brother. Although the details are a bit murky, forces loyal to Yasuyuki attacked Mitsutada and forced him to flee to safety in Kyoto.

    This act of near fratricide was exactly what the Shogun wanted. Mitsutada had been appointed as Shugo (military governor) of Owari Province, and Yasuyuki had committed an act of rebellion in throwing him out.

    Shogun Yoshimitsu declared Yasuyuki a traitor and ordered loyal forces (led by other members of the Toki Clan, which just highlights how complex family relations were amongst Samurai) to bring him to justice. Yasuyuki was defeated by this coalition, and in the aftermath, the Toki Clan were deprived of Ise Province, whilst the family was split into two branches, one ruling Owari, the other Mino.

    Yasuyuki would survive this episode and would actually return to favour under the Shogunate less than a year later during the Meitoku Rebellion (which we’ll talk about in a minute). Yasuyuki would regain control of Ise Province in 1391, whilst his treacherous brother, Mitsutada, would be deprived of Owari in the same year, apparently due to cowardice and mismanagement.

    This whole episode shows that Shogun Yoshimitsu understood the nature of power politics in this period. Rather than destroy the Toki Clan outright, he weakened just enough to remove them as a threat to the Shogunate, but not so much that they could no longer govern what remained of their territories effectively.

    After dealing with the Toki, Yoshimitsu turned his attention to the Yamana. As we discussed earlier, at this point, the Yamana Clan controlled eleven provinces in Eastern Japan. However, it should be noted that, much like the Toki, the Yamana Clan were not a single, united family. Instead, there were four brothers who were apparently united in name only.

    Good Policy, or Good Fortune?

    Yoshimitsu took advantage of this and pitted the brothers against each other. Some historians claim this was a deliberate policy of the Shogun, whilst others counter that strife within the Yamana family was nothing new, and Yoshimitsu simply grasped an opportunity.

    Throughout 1391, Yoshimitsu had strengthened his position, defeating the Yamana Clan and dismissing his Shiba Kanrei, replacing him with Hosokawa Yoritomo, son of Hosokawa Yoriyuki, who had been overthrown during the Koryaku Coup back in 1379.

    This is often cited as evidence that Yoshimitsu was moving against all three clans. He had engineered the downfall of the Toki, removed Shiba members of his government, and gone out of his way to take advantage of the Yamana’s division, whilst attempting to provoke them into doing something rash.

    In November 1391, one of the Yamana brothers, Mitsuyuki, seized Yokota Manor in Kyoto. The exact circumstances aren’t clear. It is certain that Mitsuyuki took control of the Manor, but it’s not clear if his doing so was actually illegal. The Manor had been an Imperial property, but had come into the hands of the Yamana Family some years earlier; therefore, it’s possible that Mitsuyuki believed he was simply claiming a property that belonged to his family.

    The Shogun and Northern Imperial Court didn’t agree, however. They argued that the property was owned by the head of the Yamana Clan, not Mitsuyuki himself. It is possible that Mitsuyuki was genuinely mistaken, but he had violated the peace, and so the Shogunate confiscated his province (Izumo) as a result.

    Izumo Province.
    By Ash_Crow – Own work, based on Image:Provinces of Japan.svg, CC BY 2.5, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=1682749

    Now, if you’ve been paying any kind of attention so far (and I hope you have) then you’re probably aware that Samurai aren’t the type to take this sort of thing on the chin, and Mitsuyuki began agitating amongst his relatives, claiming that the Shogun was planning to do to the Yamana what he had done to the Toki, which, to be fair, was probably true.

    Having successfully raised an army, Mitsuyuki and the Yamana marched on Kyoto, where they were met by Shogunate forces led by Yoshimitsu himself. Outnumbered 2-1, the Yamana were defeated, their leaders were killed, captured, or put to flight, and the so-called ‘Meitoku Rebellion’ was brought to a swift conclusion.

    Mitsuyuki himself would escape, and there would be further uprisings of Yamana loyalists until his capture and execution in 1395, but for all intents and purposes, the Yamana were broken. In the direct aftermath of their rebellion, they were reduced from eleven provinces to just three, and although the Yamana Clan would survive, they could no longer challenge the Shogun.

    There would be a similar rebellion in 1399, when the next powerful clan, the Ouchi, would have to be dealt with, but their conflict with the Shogun ended much the same as the other two, with defeat, a reduction in land, but the overall survival of the clan.

    Ashikaga Yoshimitsu could arguably be considered the best of the Ashikaga Shoguns, but his most enduring legacy is not found on the battlefield, but in dynastic politics, which we’ll talk about next time.

    Sources

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ashikaga_shogunate
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ashikaga_Yoshimitsu
    https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E8%B6%B3%E5%88%A9%E7%BE%A9%E6%BA%80
    https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E6%98%8E%E5%BE%B3%E3%81%AE%E4%B9%B1
    https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E5%9C%9F%E5%B2%90%E6%B0%8F
    https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E5%9C%9F%E5%B2%90%E5%BA%B7%E8%A1%8C%E3%81%AE%E4%B9%B1
    https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E8%8A%B1%E3%81%AE%E5%BE%A1%E6%89%80
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nanboku-ch%C5%8D_period

  • The illusion of peace.

    The illusion of peace.

    As we discussed last time, efforts to bring about peace between the Northern and Southern Courts were largely put to bed by the deaths of Shogun Yoshiakira and Emperor Go-Murakami in 1367-68.

    In the Shogunate, Yoshiakira’s heir was his 10-year-old son, Yoshimitsu. As a minor, the Shogun’s power was actually wielded by Hosokawa Yoriyuki, who officially served as Kanrei or Shogun’s Deputy, but was de facto regent. Yoriyuki had earned his place in the government through years of service, including putting down a rebellion and killing his own cousin, Kiyouji.

    Hosokawa Yoriyuki, a loyal, capable, but ultimately hugely unpopular political player.

    Yoriyuki proved to be a strict, but highly capable politician. He passed, and more importantly, enforced laws against the increasing power of the Shugo (regional lords). For example, he imposed strict sumptuary laws, limiting extravagant spending and luxurious living on the part of the Samurai.

    He also made it much more difficult for these lords, who were still technically regional governors, to pass laws on their own, even in the Shogun’s name. Instead, decision-making was to be centralised within the Shogun’s government, and by extension, Yoriyuki. He used the increased administrative power of the government to reduce, if not outright prevent, the practice of rival warlords fighting each other for land.

    What had previously been a government that was based almost entirely on the decision and ability of the Shogun now took on a more bureaucratic style, with clear government systems, laws, and systems of enforcement.

    Yoriyuki also proved adept at managing the ongoing conflict with the Southern Court. In 1369, he arranged the defection of the powerful Kusunoki Clan to the side of the Northern Court and the Shogun. The next year, he dispatched an army to Kyushu to deal with the Southern Court loyalists there. Its commander, Imagawa Sadayo, was named Kyushu Tandai, effectively military governor, with wide-ranging powers and autonomy from the government.

    Yoriyuki would face serious political issues at home as well. In 1370, the Northern Court Emperor wished to abdicate in favour of his son, but a rival faction supported his nephew, and the crisis grew as members of the Shogun’s family, most notably his foster mother (Yoshiakira’s wife) Shibukawa Sachiko, began to get involved.

    At this point, Yoriyuki stepped in, presenting the last will and testament of the previous Emperor to force a solution to the crisis that ultimately preserved the peace, but created several new enemies. Sachiko would prove not to be the forgiving kind.

    More problems arose when a conflict between rival religious sects broke out over the Shogunate’s apparent favouring of one group over another. The Zen Buddhist Nanzenji had enjoyed Shogunate patronage for years, with the Shogun even going so far as to subsidise the construction of the temple’s Romon (a kind of towered gateway, common in Japanese temples).

    An example of the kind of gate found at Japanese Temples, this one is from the Jingoji Temple in Kyoto.

    Monks from the Onjoji Temple, which followed the more traditional Tendai Sect, protested this and asked the Northern Court to end construction. In response to this, one of the leading monks from Nanzenji (the Zen side, remember) criticised the Tendai Sect in his writing.

    This went back and forth for a while, until the Onjoji side decided to petition the Emperor of the Northern Court directly. Yoriyuki prevented the petition from being delivered, but a compromise was reached, in which the offending Zen Monk would be exiled, but the construction of the Romon would continue.

    The Tendai side was not satisfied with this, however, and continued pressuring the Northern Court to order the destruction of the romon. Finally, in the summer of 1370, the Northern Court, with Yoriyuki’s permission, gave in and ordered the romon destroyed. One of the leading Zen monks, Shunoku Myoha, resigned in protest, and Yoriyuki had earned himself another powerful enemy.

    Shunoku Myoha, a powerful religious leader, and yet another figure who Yoriyuki managed to antagonise.

    By the late 1370s, Yoriyuki had enemies at court, amongst the priesthood, with rival clans (especially the powerful Yamana, Toki, and resurgent Shiba Clans), as well as ongoing conflict with loyalists of the Southern Court. There was also the campaign in Kyushu, where the Kyushu Tandai, Imagawa Sadayo, was having a hard time dealing with Southern Court loyalists, and the powerful local clans, who saw little reason for loyalty to anyone but themselves.

    Apparently, Yoriyuki, aware of these problems, repeatedly tried to resign his positions as kanrei, but was refused every time by Shogun Yoshimitsu, who had by now come of age. Yoriyuki probably knew the writing was on the wall; however, his fall wouldn’t be long in coming.

    In 1378, a fresh uprising of Southern Court Loyalists broke out in Kii Province. A force led by Yoriyuki’s son, Yorimoto, was dispatched to put it down, but was defeated. In response, Shogun Yoshimitsu ordered another army raised, this time made up of warriors of the Shiba and Toki Clans, and commanded by the Yamana Clan.

    Instead of marching against the rebels in Kii Province, however, this new army came to Kyoto, where they surrounded the Shogun’s palace and demanded that Yoriyuki be removed from power.

    With effectively no force to oppose them, the Shogun had little choice but to agree to their demands, and Yoriyuki was dismissed, though he was allowed to return to his home province on Shikoku, where he became a monk. Meanwhile, in the Kanto region, another member of the Ashikaga Clan, Ujimitsu, made his own play for power in the region, aiming to have himself named Kanto Kanrei, which was the Shogun’s Deputy in the Kanto region.

    The power in that area, however, was the Uesugi Clan, and when their leader Norikata brought his forces out in opposition to Ujimitsu, the plan quickly fell apart. Norikata entered into secret negotiations with the Shogun, who had the Northern Court issue an order naming Norikata Kanto Kanrei, further solidifying the Uesugi’s power in the region.

    The most obvious beneficiaries of the so-called Koryaku Coup were the Shiba clan, as their leader, Shiba Yoshiyuki, was named the new Kanrei. He immediately tried to finish off Yoriyuki by having a rival clan, the Kono, attack and take his lands on Shikoku. This was part of the ongoing rivalry between the Kono and Hosokawa (Yoriyuki’s clan) and ended in failure when the Kono were defeated in battle and their leaders killed. In the aftermath, Shogun Yoshimitsu ordered no further action against Yoriyuki or the Hosokawa.

    Shiba Yoshiyuki, who was named Kanrei following the coup.
    Musuketeer.3 – 投稿者自身による著作物, CC 表示-継承 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=24825386による

    Turning his attention to the Kanto, the Shogun pardoned Ashikaga Ujimitsu, but the peace there was short-lived, and Ujimitsu, as commander of Kamakura (Kamakura Kubo), continued to oppose the Kanto Kanrei, Uesugi Norikata, often violently, and peace would continue to be elusive in the Kanto.

    Another consequence of all this was the realisation that the Shogunate’s military weakness had become a political liability. Over-reliance on the often dubious loyalty of powerful clans was no longer viable, so the Shogun ordered the creation of the Hokoshu, a military force that was personally loyal to the Shogun, rather than local lords.

    Ashikaga Yoshimitsu, as Shogun, would go on to increase the centralisation and overall power of the Ashikaga Shogunate, and in the years following the Koryaku Coup, he would eventually be responsible for bringing the Nanbokucho Period to an end, but more on that next time.

    Sources
    https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E5%8D%97%E5%8C%97%E6%9C%9D%E6%99%82%E4%BB%A3_(%E6%97%A5%E6%9C%AC)
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ashikaga_shogunate
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nanboku-ch%C5%8D_period
    https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E8%B6%B3%E5%88%A9%E7%BE%A9%E8%A9%AE#%E5%B0%86%E8%BB%8D%E5%B0%B1%E4%BB%BB%E5%BE%8C
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ashikaga_Yoshimitsu
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hosokawa_Yoriyuki
    https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E6%98%A5%E5%B1%8B%E5%A6%99%E8%91%A9
    https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E6%98%8E%E5%BE%B3%E3%81%AE%E4%B9%B1
    https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E5%A5%89%E5%85%AC%E8%A1%86
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/H%C5%8Dk%C5%8Dsh%C5%AB
    https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E5%BA%B7%E6%9A%A6%E3%81%AE%E6%94%BF%E5%A4%89
    https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E6%96%AF%E6%B3%A2%E7%BE%A9%E5%B0%86
    https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E7%B4%B0%E5%B7%9D%E9%A0%BC%E4%B9%8B#%E5%BA%B7%E6%9A%A6%E3%81%AE%E6%94%BF%E5%A4%89

  • On and on it goes…

    On and on it goes…

    As we mentioned previously, the word Nanbokucho literally means Southern and Northern Court, and it was this division that was the defining factor during the early years of the Ashikaga Shogunate (hence the name, I suppose).

    There had been an abortive attempt at reconciliation during the so-called Shohei Reunification, when Ashikaga Takauji (the Shogun) had made a deal with the Southern Court in order to gain their support against his rebellious brother, Tadayoshi.

    As we discussed last week, the Reunification fell apart almost as soon as Tadayoshi had been dealt with, as neither side could tolerate the other gaining power. No sooner was Tadayoshi dead than the Northern and Southern Courts went at it all over again.

    In the immediate aftermath, Southern forces attacked Kyoto, taking the city, only to be driven out a month later by a Shogunate counterattack, and this didn’t just happen once either. In the period of 1352 to 1361, there were actually four Battles of Kyoto (though they also have other names in Japanese).

    A modern view of Kyoto. A beautiful city today, a battleground in the 1360s
    Sorasak boontohhgraphy – https://unsplash.com/photos/_UIN-pFfJ7cアーカイブされたコピー at the Wayback MachineImage at the Wayback Machine, CC0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=61767016による

    Each time, Southern forces would attack, usually taking the city, only to be driven out again shortly afterwards by armies loyal to the Shogun. During this period, with Takauji’s health apparently failing, his son Yoshiakira began to take on more responsibility.

    When Takauji died in 1358, Yoshiakira became the second Ashikaga Shogun, and almost immediately set about launching a major military campaign against the Southern Court, seeking to crush it once and for all. Yoshiakira’s forces were able to take Akasaka Castle, home of the powerful Kusunoki Clan (whom we’ve mentioned previously).

    Despite this success, the Southern Court, led by the Kusunoki, resorted to guerrilla warfare in the mountainous terrain, and the conflict dragged on to the point that several Shogunate generals defected, or else just went home.

    In 1361, buoyed by another defection, the Southern Court once again attacked Kyoto, but once again, they couldn’t hold it, and within a month, the Shogun was back in control of the capital.

    This back-and-forth warfare did little but exhaust the resources of all involved, but generally, the Shogun had the advantage. This was further emphasised in 1363, when the powerful Yamana and Ouchi clans (previously supporters of Tadayoshi, and then the Southern Court) submitted to the Shogun.

    Meanwhile, everywhere else…

    Whilst the Nanbokucho period was violent and chaotic, the direct confrontations between the Northern and Southern courts actually only happened in a relatively small area of central Japan. So what was going on elsewhere in the country?

    Well, it wasn’t good. During the Kamakura Shogunate, most of the warrior clans had paid at least lip service to the idea of loyalty to the Shogun, and things had been relatively peaceful. The Ashikaga Shogunate, in contrast, had practically no control outside of the areas of central Japan.

    This meant that powerful local warlords in places like the Kanto or Kyushu (Eastern and Southern Japan, respectively) were more or less left to their own devices, though some would side openly with either the Shogunate or the Southern Court.

    In Kyushu, for example, local forces, supplemented by warriors sent by both courts, fought a series of increasingly bloody battles, culminating in the Battle of Chikugo River in the summer of 1359. It is said that this battle had over 100,000 combatants, with more men killed (46,000) than during the entire Mongol Invasion. Victory for the Southern Court secured control of Kyushu for more than a decade.

    The Battle of Chikugo River in 1359 was one of the largest ever fought in Japan, and gave control of Kyushu to the Southern Court for more than a decade.
    Musuketeer.3 – 投稿者自身による著作物, CC 表示-継承 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=27263125による

    Elsewhere in Japan, strong central government was replaced by strongman local government, as Shugo, military governors that had once been appointed by the Shogun, now took on the role of hereditary lords, passing their titles on to their heirs and creating a powerful military aristocracy that was capable of enforcing local law and order themselves and saw no need to seek support from a Shogun that might be too distracted to help anyway.

    This didn’t happen overnight, of course, the transition towards warrior rule was often gradual, and highly inconsistent across different provinces. The Samurai, who were often little better than thugs in their treatment of peasants, were not popular, and the Shugo quickly learned to lean on the (increasingly obsolete) legitimacy that came from being a “governor” instead of a “lord.”

    Technically, each Shugo derived his authority from the Shogun, and by extension, the Emperor. Yes, it was the Shugo’s men who collected the taxes and enforced the law, but he did so in the name of the Shogun. Whether or not anyone actually believed this legal fiction is besides the point; by the 1360s, centralised control of the provinces was breaking down, and it would be centuries before it would be recovered.

    Back at home

    In 1361, Doyo (remember him?) pops up again, orchestrating the downfall of his rival Hosokawa Kyouji. Kyouji, however, wasn’t the type to go quietly, and as a member of the powerful Hosokawa Clan, based in Awa Province (where he fled), he was able to raise a significant army against the Shogun.

    Awa Province, on Shikoku, the home province of the powerful Hosokawa Clan.
    By Ash_Crow – Own work, based on Image:Provinces of Japan.svg, CC BY 2.5, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=1652119

    Like many of those who opposed the Shogun, Kyouji and the Hosokawa sought support from the Southern Court, and together they took Kyoto in December, but within a few weeks, they were driven out. Not long after, Kyouji was forced back to Shikoku, where he would be killed battling forces led by his own cousin.

    Despite another victory for the Shogun and the Northern Court, this latest Battle of Kyoto had reinforced the belief that military power alone was not going to be able to settle the issue. Both Shogun Ashikaga Yoshiakira and Emperor Go-Murakami appointed officials who were in favour of peace, and tentative negotiations began shortly afterwards.

    This wasn’t a smooth process, mind you. In 1366, the Shiba Clan, former loyalists of the Shogun and strong proponents of peace, were accused of plotting against the Northern Court and exiled. Instead of joining the Southern Court as others had done, the Shiba retreated to their stronghold in Echizen Province (in modern Fukui Prefecture), where they were pursued by Shogunate forces and eventually defeated in July 1367.

    As a side note, the Shogun actually ordered several clans to send forces to deal with the Shiba, which they did. While this showed that the Shogun was able to call on considerable support when needed, it also laid the groundwork for later trouble, as it became increasingly clear that the Shogun, and by extension, the Ashikaga Clan, did not have the military strength to enforce policy on its own.

    Echizen Province, stronghold of the Shiba Clan.
    By Ash_Crow – Own work, based on Image:Provinces of Japan.svg, CC BY 2.5, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=1655318

    The path to peace was also complicated in 1367 by the Southern Court’s insistence that the Northern Court abide by the terms of the (failed) Shohei Unification, which the Shogunate unsurprisingly refused to do. This breakdown in negotiations almost led to a resumption of war, but cooler heads prevailed, and it seemed like things might work out.

    Fate has a way of being uncooperative, however. Ashikaga Yoshiakira died suddenly in December 1367, followed in March 1368 by Emperor Go-Murakami. The third Shogun was Yoshiakira’s son, Yoshimitsu, who was still a minor and was thus aided by Hosokawa Yoriyuki (the cousin who had defeated Kyouji back in 1361).

    At the Southern Court, Emperor Chokei took the throne. A hardliner, Chokei refused to continue negotiations with the Shogunate that weren’t predicated on the Northern Court submitting completely. This inflexible approach actually worked against the Southern Court’s interests, as several powerful figures who had been in support of peace (including some members of the influential Kusunoki Clan) defected to the Shogun’s side.

    And so the war would go on. Hosokawa Yoriyuki would actually prove to be an effective administrator and did much to improve the position of the Shogunate before eventually falling foul of internal politics, but more on that next time.

    Sources
    https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E5%8D%97%E5%8C%97%E6%9C%9D%E6%99%82%E4%BB%A3_(%E6%97%A5%E6%9C%AC)
    https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E8%B2%9E%E6%B2%BB%E3%81%AE%E5%A4%89
    https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E7%B4%B0%E5%B7%9D%E6%B8%85%E6%B0%8F
    https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E5%B1%B1%E5%90%8D%E6%99%82%E6%B0%8F
    https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E8%B6%B3%E5%88%A9%E7%BE%A9%E8%A9%AE#%E5%B0%86%E8%BB%8D%E5%B0%B1%E4%BB%BB%E5%BE%8C
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ashikaga_Yoshiakira
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nanboku-ch%C5%8D_period


  • Turmoil after Turmoil

    Turmoil after Turmoil

    In 1351, the rather misleadingly named Kanno ‘Disturbance’ ended with the death of Ashikaga Tadayoshi, brother to the Shogun, Takauji. The brothers’ relationship had broken down violently in the years leading up to 1350, and with Tadayoshi’s death, the political turmoil seemed like it might finally come to an end.

    But you’ve seen the title of this post, so it’s time for some good, old-fashioned, post-turmoil turmoil!

    As you may remember, the Nanbokucho Period is named for the Northern and Southern Courts in place at the time, rivals for the title of ‘real’ Emperor, with the Northern Court largely being puppets of the Shogun, and the Southern Court being descended from Emperor Go-Daigo, who had opposed the Kamakura Shogunate, and then been overthrown by the Ashikaga.

    In order to secure enough support to overcome his brother, Takauji had taken the highly controversial step of approaching the Southern Court for help. In exchange, the Southern Court had extracted huge concessions; Takauji effectively agreed to let the Southern Court take over the Northern one.

    Though this agreement would seem to suggest that the Southern Court was now in the ascendancy, things are rarely that straightforward. The Southern Court, no content to simply take over the Northern Court, intended to destroy the Shogunate entirely.

    A reading of recent history might have shown them the error of that plan, but it appears no one thought to tell them. In February 1352, the Southern Court moved to dismiss Takauji as Shogun, nominating Prince Munenaga (Emperor Go-Daigo’s son) in his place. Munenaga, leading an army of Imperial loyalists, marched on Kamakura, successfully occupying it.

    Prince Munenaga, the Southern Court’s pick for Shogun. The fact that he doesn’t appear on any official lists of Shoguns should tell you how that went.

    Meanwhile, another Imperial army attacked Kyoto, held by Takauji’s son, Yoshiakira. Successfully driving the Shogunate forces out of the city, the Imperial army occupied Kyoto on February 24th, and for the first time in more than fifteen years, an Emperor could be said to rule from the ancient capital (in this case, Emperor Go-Murakami). The Three Sacred Treasures (The Sword, Mirror, and Jewel), as well as the three remaining retired Emperors, were taken to the Southern Court capital at Yoshino.

    The Fight Back

    Despite these early successes, and having nominally stripped Takauji of legitimacy by taking his title, the Imperial cause’s optimism would prove to be short-lived. The Emperor may have had prestige as a son of heaven, but Takauji had the warriors, and that was what counted.

    Ashikaga Yoshiakira recovered from his set back quickly, gathering allies, he marched on Kyoto, retaking it on March 15th, an besieging Emperor Go-Murakami at the Otokoyama Hachiman shrine. The Shrine would hold out until May 11th before surrendering, though Go-Murakami would escape.

    Go-Murakami, who happened to be the Emperor recognised by the Southern Court during all this.

    In the east, too, Imperial fortunes quickly took a turn. Prince Munenaga had successfully occupied Kamakura, but a series of defeats in nearby Musashi Province meant he couldn’t hold the city, and Shogunate forces, led by Takauji himself, retook Kamakura by the end of March.

    Despite political uncertainty, the military situation clearly favoured the Shogunate; however, for the time being at least, the Northern Court was little more than a concept. There was no Emperor, no regent, and no Shogun, at least not officially. There wasn’t even a retired Emperor, as they all remained as ‘guests’ at Yoshino, along with the Sacred Treasures, which were required in a coronation.

    Side note: Emperor Go-Daigo actually dismissed these Sacred Treasures as ‘fakes’, but his heirs seemed to have either believed they were the real deal, or else accepted the political convenience of their existence, if not their provenance.

    After much political wrangling over the summer, Kogimonin, mother to two previous Emperors, was convinced to accept the position of regent. In August, she issued an Imperial Edict, selecting Go-Kogon as the new Emperor, re-establishing the Northern Court, and the Shogunate at a stroke.

    One of the key figures in this process had been Doyo. More than deserving of a post of his own, Doyo (originally named Sasaki Takauji, yes, same name as the Shogun), was one of the key political figures of the era, and his role in bringing about the Northern Court’s new Emperor was just the latest accomplishment in an impressive CV.

    Doyo, one of the key political players in this period.

    Doyo and his family would be at the centre of Shogunate power in Kyoto. With Takauji dealing with matters in the east, the actual rule of Kyoto was left to his son, the aforementioned Yoshiakira. In 1353, the already fragile peace was broken once again when Doyo got into a land dispute with the Yamana Clan. A direct consequence of this dispute was the Yamana defecting from the Shogun’s side, making common cause with the Southern Court, and marching on Kyoto.

    This time, Yoshiakira, who had lost Kyoto during the last round of disturbances, made sure to evacuate the Emperor ahead of time. It was a good job he did, too, as Yoshiakira’s forces were defeated when they tried to hold the city, and, realising he lacked the strength to do it alone, he called on his dad, Takauji, to come to his aid.

    As soon as word reached the Yamana that the Shogun himself was on the way, they retreated, and Ashikaga forces retook the city. There was some sporadic fighting, but the Yamana and their allies were handily defeated, and order was restored.

    In the aftermath, Doyo had proved his value to the Shogunate as someone who was a cool head in a crisis, but he had also proven he was a troublemaker, quite happy to get into feuds with powerful warrior families, which was going to be a problem going forward.

    Consequences

    In the short term, the direct consequence of this turmoil was the consolidation of power in the hands of Ashikaga Takauji. In the early years, he had been obliged to share power with his brother and deal with the threat of the Southern Court, but now, he was in charge.

    On the other hand, though, Takauji’s deal with the Southern Court had only served to increase its legitimacy, especially after the Northern Court was established. In later years, the ‘true’ Imperial line would be seen as the one that passed through the Southern Court, and the Northern Court was increasingly seen as nothing more than a Shogunate puppet.

    Finally, the most far-reaching consequence of this chaotic period was the increased power of regional warlords. Though we are still more than a century from the Warring States Period (Sengoku Jidai), the early days of the Ashikaga Shogunate had shown how weak central authority could be; the Shogun couldn’t rely on his own power to deal with threats, he had to seek support and alliances with local warlords.

    A Samurai as they might have appeared in this era.

    Increasingly, these warlords stopped being appointed officials of the Shogun, but became hereditary lords in their own right, a process that had already begun but was accelerated in this period. Sooner or later, this conflict between central and provincial authority would lead to a complete breakdown in government, but we’re getting ahead of ourselves; more on that next time.

    Sources
    https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E8%A6%B3%E5%BF%9C%E3%81%AE%E6%93%BE%E4%B9%B1#%E6%99%82%E6%B0%8F%E9%9B%A2%E5%8F%8D%E3%81%A8%E9%81%93%E8%AA%89%E3%81%AE%E4%BC%B8%E9%95%B7
    https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E4%BD%90%E3%80%85%E6%9C%A8%E9%81%93%E8%AA%89
    https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E5%AE%97%E8%89%AF%E8%A6%AA%E7%8E%8B
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kann%C5%8D_disturbance
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ashikaga_shogunate
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nanboku-ch%C5%8D_period
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ashikaga_Takauji
    https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E8%A5%BF%E5%9C%92%E5%AF%BA%E5%AF%A7%E5%AD%90#%E4%BA%8B%E5%AE%9F%E4%B8%8A%E3%81%AE%E6%B2%BB%E5%A4%A9%E3%81%AE%E5%90%9B%E3%81%A8%E3%81%AA%E3%82%8B

  • Shaky Foundations

    Shaky Foundations

    In 1336, Ashikaga Takauji overthrew Emperor Go-Daigo, bringing an end to the brief Kenmu Restoration, which had seen Go-Daigo and his supporters take power from the Kamakura Shogunate and their Hojo regents.

    Go-Daigo’s self-serving policies, which sought to restore the power of the Emperor and the Court at the expense of landholding Samurai, had proved to many of the warrior class that Imperial rule wasn’t in their interest, and Takauji had had no problem rallying his supporters against the Emperor.

    Ashikaga Takauji, serial turncoat and founder of the Ashikaga Shogunate.

    However, it would be wrong to suggest that all the warrior class supported Takauji, there were plenty who remained loyal to Go-Daigo and the idea of ruling without a Shogun, and even after he was defeated, Go-Daigo was able to set himself up with a rival ‘Southern’ Court, opposing the ‘Northern’ Court which relied on the Shogun, thus beginning the Nanbokucho, or “Northern and Southern Court” Period.

    There were political problems at home, too. Though Takauji had proven himself an effective warrior, he wasn’t much for politics, and so his brother, Tadayoshi, became responsible for day-to-day administration, and dealing with matters of justice, whilst Takauji dealt with military matters, including the appointment of Shugo, the military governors in the provinces.

    It will surprise no one to know that this dual system didn’t lead to stable government, but initially, the presence of Emperor Go-Daigo at the Souther Court in Yoshino served as something the new Shogunate could rally against. A series of battles in 1338 and 1339 generally ended in favour of the Shogunate, and when Go-Daigo died in 1339, the initial phase of the conflict came to an end. However, the peace would be fragile and frequently broken, especially further from Kyoto.

    Ko Moronao

    The dual nature of the new government led to immediate power struggles, with rival factions siding with or against each other, and external opponents, mostly at the Southern Court, seeking to take advantage of the division. One figure that emerged early on was Ko Moronao, whom Takauji appointed Shitsuji or deputy in 1336.

    Moronao was a talented warrior, but unlike Takauji, he proved to be a savvy politician as well and emerged as one of the most iconoclastic members of the new regime. He saw no need for an Emperor and favoured the rule of the Samurai without reference to either the Northern or Southern court.

    Ko Moronao, general, iconoclast, and main political player.

    In traditional Japanese historiography, Moronao is portrayed as uniquely violent and cruel, even by the standards of the time. Although not without controversy (he infamously ordered the burning of a famous shrine in which his enemy had taken refuge), Moronao’s main crime seems to have been his vociferous opposition to the Imperial Court, and it wouldn’t be until the post-1945 period that his reputation would begin to recover.

    Moronao quickly found himself at odds with Tadayoshi, who was seen as conservative and increasingly courtly, and every time Tadayoshi made a decision with which Samurai disagreed, Moronao’s popularity would only grow, but it shouldn’t be understood that Moronao’s position was due entirely to his opposition to Tadayoshi.

    Moronao was arguably the Ashikaga’s most effective commander, leading Shogunate forces to victory against the Southern Court and others throughout the chaotic period of the late 1330s and into the 1340s. Arguably, his most consequential victory came in 1348 at the Battle of Shijonawate. Here, Southern Court forces, under the leadership of the famed Kusunoki Clan, who had been advancing north since August of the previous year, were met and decisively defeated by the army of the Shogunate/Northern Court, led by Moronao.

    The Southern forces were so completely defeated that Moronao was able to advance as far as their capital at Yoshino, capturing it temporarily before withdrawing. The Kusunoki Clan, with their famed loyalty to the ‘true’ Emperor, were badly mauled, and with that, a serious military threat to the Shogun and the Northern Court was ended.

    The Kusunoki Clan meet their fate at the Battle of Shijonawate.

    The Bigger they are…

    Just as Moronao’s power seemed to be at its peak, his enemies at court moved against him. In 1349, in response to his alleged ‘misdeeds’, Moronao was stripped of his position as Shitsuji by Takauji, who was apparently pressured into doing it by Tadayoshi and his allies, the Uesugi Clan (I know, it’s another new name).

    Tadayoshi, not satisfied with having Moronao removed from office, apparently tried to have him assassinated, and when they failed, he even tried to enlist retired Emperor Kogon (of the Northern Court), asking him to issue an official order for Moronao’s death.

    Whether the Emperor refused, or there was simply no one to enforce the order, isn’t clear, but Moronao wasn’t about to hang around and let them try again. In August 1349, he and his brother marched on Kyoto at the head of an army. There was apparently relatively little fighting as Tadayoshi, taken by surprise, fled to his residence, where he was quickly surrounded and put under siege.

    The crisis was eventually resolved by negotiation. Tadayoshi would leave Kyoto and become a monk, and his closest allies, those who had conspired against Moronao, were sent into exile. Though nominally a victory for Moronao, the position of Takauji remained controversial. He had facilitated negotiations, but his actual role in the events is unclear, with some speculating that he was actually working towards the removal of his brother.

    Whatever the truth of it, the peace would not last long. Forces loyal to Tadayoshi had been gathering in the Chugoku region, but when Takauji gave the order for them to disperse, their leaders fled to Kyushu, far from Kyoto, and rebuilt their support. In late 1350, seeing the threat posed by the growing opposition, Takauji made the decision to personally march out and defeat them.

    The Chugoku Region, where Takauji’s enemies gathered.
    By TUBS – This vector image includes elements that have been taken or adapted from this file:, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=16385915

    However, with his brother distracted, Tadayoshi took his chance and fled Kyoto, arriving in nearby Kawachi Province (near modern Osaka), before raising an army with the stated goal of overthrowing Moronao and his supporters.

    Meanwhile, in the Kanto (around modern Tokyo), the Uesugi (remember them?) rose up as well, defeating forces that had remained loyal to Takauji and Moronao, handing effective control of Kamakura and the surrounding area to Tadayoshi.

    In response to all this, Takauji turned his army around and had the Emperor of the Northern Court declare Tadayoshi and his supporters to be enemies of the throne. When he heard this, Tadayoshi made the shocking decision to openly declare for the Southern Court, which had, up until then, been the Shogunate’s most implacable foes.

    Shogun Showdown

    Takauji tried to return to Kyoto but was defeated by the combined Tadayoshi/Southern Court forces at Komyo-ji, and then again at Uchidehama shortly afterwards. These defeats convinced Takauji to seek peace with his brother, and the matter was settled by further negotiation.

    In public, Takauji insisted that Moronao being allowed to become a monk was a prerequisite for peace, but allegedly, he secretly agreed with Tadayoshi that Moronao could be removed permanently. Peace was formally agreed on February 20th, and on February 26th, Moronao and his family were ambushed by forces loyal to the Uesugi (them again), and killed.

    With Moronao removed, the official reasons for the conflict between Takauji and Tadayoshi were removed, but it will probably not shock you to learn that the peace didn’t hold. The fact that Tadayoshi had sided with the Southern Court was not forgotten, and his attempts at reconciliation fell on deaf ears. He compounded this issue by continuing one of his most unpopular policies, refusing to reward Samurai who fought bravely with land confiscated from their defeated enemies.

    Takauji, for his part, sought to weaken his brother’s support by actively prosecuting his followers whilst overlooking the crimes of his own. This obviously bred considerable resentment amongst Tadayoshi’s base, but it had the side-effect of increasing support for Takauji; after all, he might reward you with land for supporting him, whilst opposing him carried the risk of prosecution.

    In the Spring of 1351, one of Tadayoshi’s most capable generals was assassinated by unknown assailants. Later, one of his commanders was attacked but was able to flee. Then, in the summer, Takauji ordered forces to move against his brother’s allies in Omi and Harima Provinces, seeking to attack from two sides.

    Alerted to the danger, Tadayoshi was able to flee Kyoto and made it to Kamakura. Although driven from the capital, he still controlled vast areas of the nation and could command the loyalty of thousands of warriors. Takauji, seeking any support he could, made an agreement with the Southern Court, effectively handing the entire Northern Court over to them in the so-called (and short-lived) Shohei Unification.

    With support in Kyoto secured, Takauji set off for Kamakura, defeating his brother’s forces in a series of battles throughout late 1351 and into 1352, eventually forcing him back to Kamakura, where he had little choice but to surrender.

    As punishment for his rebellion, Tadayoshi was confined to a temple in Kamakura, where he conveniently died only a few weeks later, allegedly by poison, but also possibly by a sudden illness.

    The main hall (Hondo) at Jomyo-ji Temple in Kamakura.

    Tadayoshi’s death brought an end to the political crisis in the short term, but it wasn’t to last. The reconciliation of the Imperial Court was already fraying at the edges, and it wouldn’t be long before conflict between Emperor and Shogun broke out again, but more on that next time.

    Sources
    https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E8%A6%B3%E5%BF%9C%E3%81%AE%E6%93%BE%E4%B9%B1#%E8%96%A9%E5%9F%B5%E5%B3%A0%E3%81%AE%E6%88%A6%E3%81%84
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ashikaga_Tadayoshi
    https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E6%89%93%E5%87%BA%E6%B5%9C%E3%81%AE%E6%88%A6%E3%81%84
    https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E5%85%89%E6%98%8E%E5%AF%BA%E5%90%88%E6%88%A6
    https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E8%A6%B3%E5%BF%9C%E3%81%AE%E6%93%BE%E4%B9%B1
    https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E9%AB%98%E5%B8%AB%E7%9B%B4
    https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E9%87%91%E3%83%B6%E5%B4%8E%E3%81%AE%E6%88%A6%E3%81%84_(%E5%8D%97%E5%8C%97%E6%9C%9D%E6%99%82%E4%BB%A3)
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sieges_of_Kuromaru
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siege_of_Kanegasaki_(1337)
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Shij%C5%8Dnawate
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/K%C5%8D_no_Moronao
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kann%C5%8D_disturbance
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ashikaga_Takauji
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kenmu_Restoration
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nanboku-ch%C5%8D_period
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ashikaga_shogunate

  • Kamakura V – The More things change…

    As we’ve already seen, by the mid-13th century, the Kamakura Shogunate was ruled in all but name by the powerful Hojo Clan, who ruled as shikken or regents for the Shoguns, who were nothing more than puppets.

    In Kyoto, the Emperor, whilst technically being the overlord of everyone as a son of heaven, was also just a figurehead, whose position and finances relied entirely on the goodwill of the Hojo. Successive Emperors accepted this situation with varying degrees of good grace, concluding that comfortable irrelevance was better than uncomfortable exile.

    Hojo power, however, became a double-edged sword; as their power grew, so did their arrogance. They began to rely on an increasingly small pool of retainers to fill powerful positions, and this led to disillusionment amongst other Samurai houses, who saw their path to wealth and influence blocked by entrenched Hojo interests.

    This situation worsened in the aftermath of the Mongol Invasions. Despite successfully defending the country, the cost of mounting the defence had been ruinous to Hojo finances, and the expected rewards of land and titles were not forthcoming (the Samurai didn’t fight for honour, you see.)

    This brewing resentment took time to reach a boiling point, but as the 14th century went on, anger towards the government in Kamakura continued to grow, and the Hojo, in what they believed to be an unassailable position, were practically blind to it.

    In 1318, Emperor Go-Daigo took the throne. His choice of name was significant, as it had been Emperor Daigo (the Go prefix means ‘later’) who had successfully opposed the power of the Fujiwara during the Heian Period, and Go-Daigo intended to emulate his namesake, and overthrow the Shogunate and restore independent Imperial Rule.

    Go-Daigo’s plans were first uncovered during the so-called Shochu Incident in 1324, where comrades of the Emperor were arrested after being accused of plotting against the Shogun. In response, the Emperor sent a letter to the Shogun, ‘ordering’ them to find the real culprits. It is generally believed that the Shogunate were well aware of Go-Daigo’s involvement, but, wanting to avoid a direct conflict with the Court, they played along, and several conspirators were exiled, whilst the Emperor himself remained officially blameless.

    Go-Daigo, though, didn’t learn his lesson, and tried again in 1331; he gathered supporters and retainers, evidently planning to launch a coup against the Shogunate. Once again, his plans were discovered, and the Shogunate dispatched forces to Kyoto to put the planned uprising down. Go-Daigo fled, but was captured shortly afterwards and exiled to the remote Oki Islands (off the coast of modern Shimane Prefecture).

    The Hojo replaced Go-Daigo with Emperor Kogon, but partisans of Go-Daigo, including his son, Prince Morinaga (sometimes called Moriyoshi) and legendary Samurai, Kusunoki Masashige, continued to oppose the Shogun, until 1333, when Go-Daigo escaped from exile.

    Landing in Hoki Province, Go-Daigo made his base at Mt Senjo and gathered a new “Imperial” Army. In April, Go-Daigo won the Battle of Mt Senjo, gaining him support of many powerful warlords in Western Japan, allowing him to march on Kyoto and take the city in June, re-establishing himself as Emperor.

    Hoki Province, where Go-Daigo landed after escaping from exile.
    By Ash_Crow – Own work, based on Image:Provinces of Japan.svg, CC BY 2.5, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=1682393

    The Hojo dispatched Ashikaga Takauji, one of their foremost generals, with orders to crush Go-Daigo and reassert Shogunate power. Takauji marched, but for reasons that are still unclear, he switched sides, turned his army around, and launched an attack on Kamakura. One possible reason for Takauji’s defection is that the Ashikaga Clan were descendants of the Minamoto, the family that had established the Shogunate, and he hoped to be named Shogun himself, but his real reasons will probably never be known for sure.

    Deprived of their main army, the Hojo suffered a series of defeats, culminating with the Siege of Kamakura in July 1333, where the Hojo were surrounded, and would eventually commit mass suicide in a cave behind the Tosho-ji Temple in Kamakura, bringing their power and their family to an end.

    The alleged site of the cave where the Hojo Clan committed mass suicide.

    In the aftermath of Go-Daigo’s victory, he almost seemed to go out of his way to piss away the goodwill he had accumulated in the years leading up to the so-called “Kenmu Restoration”. The problems stemmed from the fact that those who had supported the overthrow of the Shogunate had done so for a variety of reasons, ranging from genuine loyalty to the Emperor to an ambition to replace the Hojo as regents.

    Commoners hoped for land reform, and though there is little evidence of specific goals, it has been speculated that they were hoping for something akin to land redistribution, ending the peasant’s reliance on powerful, and often fickle, landlords.

    The Samurai who had fought for the Emperor sought rewards in land and titles, hoping to replace the governors and administrators put in place by the Shogunate.

    Finally, Imperial Courtiers hope for a true return to Imperial Rule, where the whole nation was under their control, and they could get back to the good old days of poetry, fancy clothes, and absentee landlordism.

    In the end, all three factions were to be disappointed. Go-Daigo, like the proverbial dog chasing a car, didn’t know what to do with power once he’d got it, beyond a vague notion that he should be in charge.

    In the first place, the commoners were never likely to get land reform; the Emperor had relied on the land-owning Samurai to do the fighting for them, and they were (unsurprisingly) likely to get on board with sharing the land that they had come to view as rightfully theirs.

    So what about the land taken from the Hojo and their allies? Well, that might have gone to the Samurai who had fought for the Imperial cause, but instead, Go-Daigo either took it for himself, or else gifted it to courtiers and cronies, alienating the Samurai who had expected a reward for their efforts.

    Finally, we have the Emperor and his courtiers. For whatever reason, they seemed to believe that they could just rule without the Samurai, despite all evidence telling them otherwise. Positions in regional governance, which had been the domain of Samurai for nearly 300 years at this point, went instead to courtiers.

    Quite what he had thought was going to happen isn’t clear, but within two years, the Emperor had managed to alienate just about everyone, so it should come as no surprise that his position soon became extremely precarious.

    Emperor Go-Daigo, who really didn’t know what he was doing.

    Ashikaga Takauji, the man whose defection had proved essential to the ultimate Imperial victory, now emerged as the leader of the Samurai opposition to the Emperor. The problem started when Takauji began appointing governors to Provinces himself, ignoring Imperial instructions.

    This was exactly how the first Shogunate had gotten started, and it wasn’t long before the Imperial court rightly guessed what Takauji was up to. In response, the Emperor named his son, Morinaga, Shogun, a move which further antagonised the already restless Samurai, as the title of Shogun, even before it became a powerful political position, had always been awarded to a member of the military class.

    Takauji doesn’t seem to have considered himself a turncoat in this case; the Ashikaga were descendants of the Minamoto, after all, so he portrayed himself as the redeemer of their power and, by extension, the power of the warrior class, earning himself the respect and loyalty of the disaffected Samurai.

    Prince Morinaga continued to be the leader of the opposition to Takauji, and so Takauji had him arrested on some flimsy pretext and transported to Kamakura. The situation there was tense, with Hojo loyalists launching sporadic, often poorly organised revolts, until the summer of 1335 when the son of the last Hojo regent, Tokiyuki, successfully took control of the city.

    In fleeing the city, Takauji’s brother, Tadayoshi, had Prince Morinaga beheaded, leaving Kamakura to the Hojo rebels. Upon hearing the news of the city’s fall, Takauji asked the Emperor to bestow the title of Shogun on him, to give me the authority to crush the rebellion and restore order. The Emperor refused, guessing correctly what Takauji was up to.

    Takauji raised an army and took Kamakura back anyway, and when he was ‘invited’ to Kyoto to explain himself, he refused. At this point, civil war was inevitable, and both sides ordered all Samurai in the realm to join their side.

    Again, it’s not clear exactly what Go-Daigo thought was going to happen, after all, he’d spent five years pissing off just about everyone, so it should have come as no surprise when the vast majority of warriors, and peasants too, for that matter, joined Takauji.

    Takauji’s forces quickly secured Kyoto in February 1336, only to be driven out in a counter-attack a short while after. Regrouping in the west, he advanced again, defeating the Emperor’s forces at Minatogawa and securing final control of the capital in July.

    The Battle of Minatogawa, where Ashikaga Takauji overcome the forces of Emperor Go-Daigo.

    Not long after, Takauji had the new Emperor, Komyo, declare him Shogun, giving birth to the Ashikaga, or Muromachi Shogunate. Go-Daigo was down, but not out, however, and he would return to plague the new government, but more about that next time.

    Sources
    https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E5%BB%BA%E6%AD%A6%E3%81%AE%E6%96%B0%E6%94%BF
    https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E8%AD%B7%E8%89%AF%E8%A6%AA%E7%8E%8B
    https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E6%A5%A0%E6%9C%A8%E6%AD%A3%E6%88%90
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kusunoki_Masashige
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prince_Moriyoshi
    https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E6%AD%A3%E4%B8%AD%E3%81%AE%E5%A4%89
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genk%C5%8D_War
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kenmu_Restoration