prologue

The Fall of the Kamakura Shogunate and the Establishment of the Muromachi Shogunate

The fall of the Kamakura shogunate

Causes of decline

The Kamakura shogunate, established by Yoritomo’s skill, had enjoyed prosperity.
However, as time passed, its glory began to fade.
In particular, the Mongol invasions became the cause of the decline of the Kamakura shogunate.

The era ruled by the Kamakura shogunate is called the Kamakura period (from the 12th to the 14th century).
In the middle of this period (1274-1281), Mongolia, a then great empire, invaded Japan.
The Kamakura shogunate succeeded in repelling Mongolia’s invasion twice.
However, a big problem occurred here.
That was “goon and houko”, which I introduced last time.
The samurai fought and repelled Mongolia at great cost.
However, the Mongol invasion was a war of national defense.
The Kamakura shogunate could not give satisfactory lands to the samurai who had worked hard for them.
In other words, there was a shortage of “goon”.
As a result, the dissatisfaction of the samurai toward the shogunate accumulated.

The fall of the shogunate

Before long, the samurai who were dissatisfied with the shogunate started a rebellion.
The leader of them was Ashikaga Takauji, who later established the Muromachi shogunate.

They gained legitimacy by supporting Emperor Go-Daigo, who wanted to regain political power from the shogunate.

The establishment of the Muromachi shogunate

Kenmu Restoration and Emperor Go-Daigo’s failure

Emperor Go-Daigo, who destroyed the Kamakura shogunate, carried out a political reform called “Kenmu Restoration”.
This lasted from Kenmu 1st year (1334) to Kenmu 3rd year (1336).
Emperor Go-Daigo thought that politics should be carried out by the emperor as in ancient Japan.
Therefore, he started a political system that absolutized his own orders.

However, this politics was unpopular.
The samurai felt that their rights and status were threatened.
The court nobles resented the emperor’s autocratic attitude.
The people were dissatisfied with the increased burden of taxes and labor.
As a result, some samurai, led by Ashikaga Takauji, rebelled.

Emperor Go-Daigo was supported by loyal retainers such as Kusunoki Masashige and Nitta Yoshisada, but he was eventually defeated and fled from Kyoto.
Thus, “Kenmu Restoration” ended in about three years.

Ashikaga Takauji and the establishment of the Muromachi shogunate

Ashikaga Takauji was a vassal of the Kamakura shogunate, but he rebelled and destroyed it.
Then he opposed Emperor Go-Daigo’s “Kenmu Restoration” and enthroned “Emperor Komyo”.
The imperial court with this “Emperor Komyo” at the top is called the “Northern Court”.

In Kenmu 3rd year (1336), Takauji conquered Kyoto and established the Kenmu Shikimoku.
This was a political policy to create a new regime by samurai.
In Engen 3rd year (1338), Takauji was appointed as the Seii Taishogun.

This is considered as the official establishment of the Muromachi shogunate.
The era ruled by the Muromachi shogunate is called the “Muromachi period”.

The Muromachi period was also an era of repeated wars such as the Kanno War and the Onin War during the period of the Northern and Southern Courts, and continued for about 240 years until the 15th shogun, Yoshiaki Ashikaga, but collapsed in Tensho 1 (1573)

The Nanboku-chō Period

Emperor Go-Daigo established the ‘Southern Court’ in opposition to the ‘Northern Court’ led by Emperor Komyo and Takauji ASHIKAGA.
However, Ashikaga Takauji opened up the Muromachi shogunate and consolidated his power base.

This was the beginning of the Nanboku-chō period.
The Nanboku-chō period lasted for about 56 years, from 1336 to 1392.

During this period, the Southern and Northern Courts fought each other while claiming legitimacy.
The end of the Nanboku-chō period was in 1392. Emperor Go-Kameyama of the Southern Court abdicated in favor of Emperor Go-Komatsu of the Northern Court, and the two courts were unified.

At this time, the Ashikaga shogunate was in the era of the third shogun, Ashikaga Yoshimitsu.
He mediated between the two sides of the imperial court and made peace.
The authority of the Muromachi shogunate was established by the unification of the Nanboku-chō period.

Epilogue