FALL OF THE HOJO AND RISE OF THE ASHIKAGA
THE DAYS OF SADATOKI
WITH the accession (1284) of the seventh Hojo regent, Sadatoki, the
prosperous era of the Bakufu came to an end. Sadatoki himself seems
to have been a man of much ability and fine impulses. He succeeded
his father, Tokimune, at the age of fourteen, and during nine years
he remained under the tutelage of the prime minister, Taira no
Yoritsuna, thereafter taking the reins of government into his own
hands. The annals are unfortunately defective at this, period. They
fail to explain the reason for Sadatoki's retirement and adoption of
religion, in 1301, after eight years of active rule. It may be that
the troubles of the time disgusted him. For alike politically and
financially an evil state of affairs prevailed. In 1286, the Adachi
clan, falling under suspicion of aiming at the shogunate, was
extirpated. A few years later, the same fate overtook Taira no
Yoritsuna, who had been the chief accuser of the Adachi, and who,
being now charged by his own first-born with coveting the regency
(shikken), was put to death with his second son and all his
retainers. Yet again, three years subsequently to this latter
tragedy, Yoshimi, a scion of Yoritomo's brother, the unfortunate
Yoshinori, fell a victim to accusations of treachery, and it needed
no great insight to appreciate that the Bakufu was becoming a house
divided against itself.
It was at this time, also, that the military families of the Kwanto
in general and of Kamakura in particular began to find their incomes
distressingly inadequate to meet the greatly increased and constantly
increasing outlays that resulted from following the costly customs of
Kyoto as reflected at the shogun's palace. Advantage was taken of
this condition by professional money-lenders, by ambitious nobles,
and even by wealthy farmers, who, supplying funds at exorbitant rates
of interest, obtained possession of valuable estates. The Bakufu made
several futile legislative essays to amend this state of affairs, and
finally, in the year 1297, they resorted to a ruinous device called
tokusei, or the "benevolent policy." This consisted in enacting a law
which vetoed all suits for the recovery of interest, cancelled all
mortgages, and interdicted the pledging of military men's property.
Of course, such legislation proved disastrous. Whatever temporary
relief it afforded to indigent and improvident debtors, was far
outweighed by the blow given to credit generally, and by the
indignation excited among creditors. The Bakufu owed much of the
stability of their influence to the frugality of their lives and to
their unsullied administration of justice. But now the Kwanto bushi
rivalled the Kyoto gallants in extravagance; the Kamakura tribunals
forfeited the confidence of the people, and the needy samurai began
to wish for the return of troublous times, when fortunes could be won
with the sword. Amid such conditions Sadatoki took the tonsure in
1300, and was succeeded nominally by his cousin Morotoki, who,
however, administered affairs in consultation with the retired
regent. In 1303, a son was born to Sadatoki, and the latter, dying in
1311, bequeathed the office of regent to this boy when he should
reach years of discretion, entrusting him, meanwhile, to the
guardianship of two officials, the more active of whom was a lay
priest, Nagasaki Enki.
An idea of the confusion existing at that time in Kamakura may be
gathered from the fact that, during the five years between the death
of Sadatoki and the accession of his son Takatoki (1316), no less
than four members of the Hojo family held the regency in succession.
Takatoki was destined to be the last of the Hojo regents. Coming into
power at the age of thirteen, his natural giddiness of character is
said to have been deliberately encouraged by his guardian, Nagasaki,
but even had he been a stronger man it is doubtful whether he could
have saved the situation. Corruption had eaten deeply into the heart
of the Bakufu. In 1323, a question concerning right of succession to
the Ando estate was carried to Kamakura for adjudication, and the
chief judge, Nagasaki Takasuke, son of the old lay priest mentioned
above, having taken bribes from both of the litigants, delivered an
inscrutable opinion. Save for its sequel, this incident would merely
have to be catalogued with many cognate injustices which disfigured
the epoch. But the Ando family being one of the most powerful in
northern Japan, its rival representatives appealed to arms in support
of their respective claims, and the province of Oshu was thrown into
such confusion that a force had to be sent from Kamakura to restore
order. This expedition failed, and with its failure the prestige of
the Hojo fell in a region where hitherto it had been untarnished--the
arena of arms. The great Japanese historian, Rai Sanyo, compared the
Bakufu of that time to a tree beautiful outwardly but worm-eaten at
the core, and in the classical work, Taiheiki, the state of affairs
is thus described:
The Dengaku mime was then in vogue among all classes in Kyoto.
Takatoki, hearing of this, summoned two rival troupes of Dengaku
players to Kamakura and witnessed their performances without regard
to the passage of time. He distributed the members of the troupes
among the noble families related to the Hojo, and made these nobles
compete to furnish the performers with magnificent costumes. At a
banquet when a Dengaku mime was acted, the regent and his guests vied
with one another in pulling off their robes and throwing them into a
heap, to be redeemed afterwards for heavy sums which were given to
the actors. The custom thus inaugurated became perpetual. One day, a
number of dogs gathered in the garden of Takatoki's mansion and had a
fight. This so amused the regent that orders were despatched to
collect dogs by way of taxes, the result being that many people in
the provinces took steps to breed dogs and presented them by tens or
scores to Kamakura, where they were fed on fish and fowl, kept in
kennels having gold and silver ornaments, and carried in palanquins
to take the air. When these distinguished animals were borne along
the public thoroughfares, people hastening hither and thither on
business had to dismount and kneel in obeisance, and farmers, instead
of cultivating the fields, had to act as bearers of the dogs'
sedan-chairs. Thus, the city of Kamakura presented the curious
spectacle of a town filled with well-fed dogs, clothed in tinsel and
brocades, and totalling from four to five thousand. Twelve days in
every month used to be devoted to dog-fights, and on these occasions,
the regent, the nobles, and the people inside and outside the mansion
used to assemble as spectators, sitting on the verandas or the
ground.
THE COURT IN KYOTO
All these things were watched with keen interest in Kyoto. It has
been shown in Chapter XXVI that the Imperial family had been divided
into two branches ever since the days of Go-Saga (1242-1246), one
descended from his elder son, Go-Fukakusa, the other from his
younger, Kameyama. These two branches may be conveniently
distinguished as the senior and the junior, respectively. It has also
been shown that the princes of the senior branch uniformly relied on
Kamakura and kept the Bakufu informed of all intrigues devised in
Kyoto, whereas those of the junior branch constantly cherished the
hope of reasserting the independence of the throne. A representative
of the junior branch, Go-Daigo (1318-1339), happened to be on the
throne when Takatoki, holding the regency at Kamakura, scandalized
the nation by his excesses and discredited the Hojo by his
incompetence.
Go-Daigo was an able sovereign. He dispensed justice scrupulously and
made the good of the country his prime aim. It appeared to him that
the time had come for Kyoto to shake off the fetters of Kamakura.
With that object he took into his confidence two Fujiwara nobles,
Suketomo, a councillor of State, and Toshimoto, minister of Finance.
These he despatched on a secret tour of inspection through the
provinces, instructing them at the same time to canvass for adherents
among the local samurai. They met with considerable success. Among
the provincial families there were some of Taira origin who cherished
traditional hatred towards the Minamoto; there were some of Minamoto
blood who chafed at the supremacy of the Hojo, and there were some
who, independently of lineage, longed for a struggle and its
contingent possibilities. Leading representatives of these classes
began to hold conclaves in Kyoto. The meetings were marked by
complete absence of ceremony, their object being to promote free
interchange of ideas. Presently, suspicions were suggested to
Kamakura. The regent, Takatoki, who, though a careless libertine in
his habits, living in the society of his thirty concubines, his
troops of dancing mimes, and his packs of fighting dogs, was capable
of stern resolution on occasions, threatened to dethrone the Emperor.
In this sore strait, Go-Daigo did not hesitate to make solemn avowal
of the innocence of his purpose, and Kamakura refrained from any
harsh action towards the Throne. But it fared ill with the
sovereign's chief confidant, Fujiwara no Suketomo. He was exiled to
Sado Island and there killed by Takatoki's instructions. This
happened in 1325. Connected with it was an incident which illustrates
the temper of the bushi. In spite of his mother's tearful
remonstrances, Kunimitsu, the thirteen-year-old son of the exiled
noble, set out from Kyoto for Sado to bid his father farewell. The
governor of the island was much moved by the boy's affection, but,
fearful of Kamakura, he refused to sanction a meeting and
commissioned one Homma Saburo, a member of his family, to kill the
prisoner. Kunimitsu determined to avenge his father, even at the
expense of his own life. During a stormy night, he effected an entry
into the governor's mansion, and, penetrating to Saburo's chamber,
killed him. The child then turned his weapon against his own bosom.
But, reflecting that he had his mother to care for, his sovereign to
serve, and his father's will to carry out, he determined to escape if
possible. The mansion was surrounded by a deep moat which he could
not cross. But a bamboo grew on the margin, and climbing up this, he
found that it bent with his weight so as to form a bridge. He reached
Kyoto in safety and ultimately attained the high post (chunagon)
which his father had held.
THE SUCCESSION TO THE THRONE
The year 1326 witnessed the decease of the Crown Prince, Kuninaga,
who represented the senior branch of the Imperial family. Thereupon,
Go-Daigo conceived the project of appointing his own son, Morinaga,
to be Prince Imperial. That would have given the sceptre twice in
succession to the junior branch, and the Bakufu regent, insisting
that the rule of alternate succession must be followed, proposed to
nominate Prince Kazuhito, a son of the cloistered Emperor,
Go-Fushimi, who belonged to the senior branch. The question was
vehemently discussed at Kamakura, Go-Daigo being represented by
Fujiwara no Fujifusa, and Go-Fushimi by another noble. The former
contended that never since the days of Jimmu had any subject dared to
impose his will on the Imperial family. Go-Saga's testament had
clearly provided the order of succession to the throne, yet the
Bakufu had ventured to set that testament aside and had dictated the
system of alternate succession. Thus, the princes of the elder branch
not only became eligible for the throne, but also enjoyed great
revenues from the Ghokodo estate, though it had been bequeathed as a
solatium for exclusion from the succession; whereas the princes of
the junior branch, when not occupying the throne, were without a foot
of land or the smallest source of income. Fujifusa was instructed to
claim that the usufruct of the Chokodo estate should alternate in the
same manner as the succession, or that the latter should be
perpetually vested in the junior branch. To this just demand the
regent, Takatoki, refused to accede. Kazuhito was named Prince
Imperial, and thus the seeds of a sanguinary struggle were sown.
CONSPIRACY IN KYOTO
Go-Daigo now conspired actively for the overthrow of the Hojo. He
took Prince Morinaga into his confidence, and, under the name Oto no
Miya, made him lord-abbot of the great monastery of Hiei-zan, thus
securing at once a large force of soldier cenobites. To the same end
other religious establishments were successfully approached. During
the space of five years this plot escaped Kamakura's attention. But,
in 1331, the Bakufu, becoming suspicious, laid hands on several of
the plotters and, subjecting them to judicial examination after the
merciless fashion of the age, soon elicited a part, at any rate, of
the truth. Yet Kamakura does not appear to have appreciated the
situation until, Go-Daigo having summoned the Enryaku monks to his
assistance, the cloistered Emperor of the senior branch, Go-Fushimi,
despatched an urgent message to the Bakufu, declaring that unless
prompt action were taken the situation would elude control.
Hasty council was now held in Kamakura. Nagasaki Takasuke, the
corrupt kwanryo, advised that Go-Daigo should be dethroned and sent
into exile, together with Oto no Miya, and that all implicated in the
plot should be severely punished. This violent course was opposed by
Nikaido Sadafusa, who pleaded eloquently for the respect due to the
Throne, and contended that without the sovereign's favour the Bakufu
could not exist. But Takasuke's advice prevailed, re-enforced as it
was by reference to the Shokyu disturbance when vigorous daring had
won the day. With all possible expedition an army under the command
of Sadafusa marched from Kamakura for Kyoto. Advised of these doings,
Prince Morinaga persuaded the Emperor to change costumes with
Fujiwara Morokata; whereafter the latter, riding in the Imperial
palanquin, took ostensible refuge at Hiei-zan, and the sovereign,
travelling in a Court lady's ox-car, made his way, first, to Nara and
thence to Kasagi in Yamato, guarded by the troops of Fujiwara
Fujifusa. Rokuhara was then under the command of Hojo Nakatoki, and
upon him devolved the duty of seizing the Emperor's person. He
directed an army against Hiei-zan, where Go-Daigo was believed to
have found asylum. But Fujiwara Morokata, who personified the
sovereign, managed to escape, as did also Prince Morinaga (Oto no
Miya). Go-Daigo then sent to Kusunoki Masashige a mandate to raise
troops and move against the "rebels," for to that category the Hojo
now belonged in the absence of an Imperial commission.
This Kusunoki Masashige (called Nanko) is one of Japan's ideal types
of loyalty and courage. He and Nitta Yoshisada are the central
figures in the long campaign upon which Japan now entered. Masashige
belonged to the Tachibana family, which stood second among the four
great septs of Japan--the Fujiwara, the Tachibana, the Minamoto, and
the Taira--and Yoshisada claimed kinship with the Minamoto. Receiving
Go-Daigo's order, Kusunoki Masashige quickly collected a troop of
local bushi and constructed entrenchments at Akasaka, a naturally
strong position in his native province of Kawachi. Takatoki now
caused Prince Kazuhito to be proclaimed sovereign under the name of
Kogon. But this monarch was not destined to find a place among the
recognized occupants of the throne. For a time, indeed, fortune
smiled on the Hojo. Within a few days after Kogon's assumption of the
sceptre, Go-Daigo's retreat at Kasagi became untenable, and he fled,
still escorted by the faithful Fujiwara Fujifusa. It must be
recognized that, whatever the Fujiwara family's usurpations in the
past, their loyalty to the Throne throughout this era of cruel
vicissitudes redeems a multitude of sins.
During his flight from Kasagi, the Emperor was without food for three
days, and had to sleep with a rock for pillow. Overtaken by the
Rokuhara troops, his Majesty was placed in a bamboo palanquin and
carried to the temple Byodoin, where, after the battle of the Uji
Bridge, the aged statesman and general, Yorimasa, had fallen by his
own hand, a century and a half previously. Here Go-Daigo received a
peremptory order to surrender the Imperial insignia to the Hojo
nominee, Kogon. He refused. The mirror and gem, he alleged, had been
lost, and there remained only the sacred sword, which he kept to
defend himself against the traitors when they fell upon him. The high
courage of this answer would have been finer had Go-Daigo's statement
been true; but in reality the three insignia were intact. It was then
announced to his Majesty that he should be removed to Rokuhara where
he would be entirely in the power of the Hojo. Nevertheless, he
maintained his lofty bearing, and refused to make the journey unless
all appropriate forms of etiquette were observed. At Rokuhara the
demand for the insignia was repeated and the Emperor handed over
duplicates, secretly retaining the genuine articles himself. Takatoki
now issued orders for Go-Daigo to be removed to the island of Oki,
sent all the members of his family into exile elsewhere, and banished
or killed his principal supporters.
RAISING OF A LOYAL ARMY
Kusunoki Masashige had but five hundred men under his command when he
entrenched himself at Akasaka. There for twenty days he held out
against the attacks of the greatly superior Hojo forces, until
finally, no help arriving and his provisions being exhausted, he
would have committed suicide had he not realized that his life
belonged to the Imperial cause. He contrived to escape through the
enemy's lines, and thus the only organized loyal force that remained
in the field was that operating in Bingo under the command of
Sakurayama Koretoshi. Thither a false rumour of Masashige's death
having been carried, Koretoshi's troops dispersed and he himself
committed suicide. Kojima Takanori, too, commonly known as Bingo no
Saburo, was about to raise the banner of loyalty when the false news
of Masashige's death reached him. This Takanori is the hero of an
incident which appeals strongly to the Japanese love of the romantic.
Learning that the Emperor was being transported into exile in the
island of Oki, and having essayed to rescue him en route, he made his
way during the night into the enclosure of the inn where the Imperial
party had halted, and having scraped off part of the bark of a cherry
tree, he inscribed on the trunk the couplet:
Heaven destroy not Kou Chien,
He is not without a Fan Li.
This alluded to an old-time Chinese king (Kou Chien) who, after
twenty years of exile, was restored to power by the efforts of a
vassal (Fan Li). The Emperor's guards, being too illiterate to
comprehend the reference, showed the writing to Go-Daigo, who thus
learned that friends were at hand. But Takanori could not accomplish
anything more, and for a season the fortunes of the Throne were at a
very low ebb, while at Kamakura the regent resumed his life of
debauchery. Neither Prince Morinaga nor Masashige was idle, however.
By skilful co-operation they recovered the entrenchments at Akasaka
and overran the two provinces of Izumi and Kawachi, gaining many
adherents. The fall of 1332 saw Masashige strongly posted at the
Chihaya fortress on Kongo Mountain; his lieutenants holding Akasaka;
Prince Morinaga in possession of Yoshino Castle, and Akamatsu
Norimura of Harima blocking the two highways called the Sanindo and
the Sanyodo.
In other words, the Imperialists held the group of provinces forming
the northern littoral of the Inland Sea and commanded the approaches
from the south. But now again Kamakura put forth its strength. At the
close of February, 1333, a numerous force under the Hojo banners
attacked Yoshino and its fall became inevitable. Prince Morinaga,
wounded in several places, had resolved to make the castle his
"death-pillow," when he was saved by one of those acts of heroic
devotion so frequently recorded in the annals of the Japanese bushi.
Murakami Yoshiteru insisted on donning the prince's armour and
personating him so as to cover his retreat. At the supreme moment,
Yoshiteru ascended the tower of the entrenchments and loudly
proclaiming himself the prince, committed suicide. His son would fain
have shared his fate, but Yoshiteru bade him live for further
service. Subsequently, he fell fighting against Morinaga's pursuers,
but the prince escaped safely to the great monastery of Koya in
Kishu.* The victorious Hojo then turned their arms against Akasaka,
and having carried that position, attacked Chihaya where Masashige
commanded in person. But the great soldier held his foes successfully
at bay and inflicted heavy losses on them. Thus, the early months of
1333 witnessed a brighter state of affairs for the Imperial cause. It
was supported by Kusunoki Masashige, in Yamato, with Chihaya for
headquarters; Prince Morinaga, at Koya-san in Kishu; Akamatsu
Norimura, in Harima and Settsu, whence his fortress of Maya menaced
Rokuhara, and by Doi Michiharu and Tokuno Michikoto, in Iyo, whence,
crossing to Nagato, they had attacked and defeated Hojo Tokinao, the
tandai of the province.
*Yoshiteru's loyal sacrifice received official recognition, in 1908,
on the occasion of military manoeuvres in the neighbourhood of the
scene of the tragedy. The Emperor honoured his memory by bestowing on
him high posthumous rank.
ESCAPE OF THE EMPEROR FROM OKI
The Oki group of islands lie in the Sea of Japan forty miles from the
coast of the provinces Izumo and Hoki. Beppu, in Nishi-no-shima, one
of the smallest of the group, was Go-Daigo's place of exile. By
employing the services of a fishing-boat, Prince Morinaga succeeded
in conveying to his Majesty some intelligence of the efforts that
were being made in the Imperial cause. This was early in 1333, and
when the news spread among the guards at Beppu, they began to talk of
the duties of loyalty. Narita Kosaburo and the Nawa brothers,
Yasunaga and Nagataka--the name of the last was afterwards changed by
the Emperor to Nagatoshi--thus became associated in a scheme for
assisting the exile to recover his freedom. To remove him from
Nishi-no-Shima was not difficult to contrive, but to traverse the
provinces of Izumo or Hoki en route for a safe asylum seemed at first
impossible, for in Izumo not only the governor but also the chief
official of the great Shinto shrine were hostile, and in Hoki the
strictest watchfulness had been enjoined from Rokuhara.
Nevertheless, it became necessary to make the attempt at once or
refrain altogether. On the 8th of April, 1333, the guards at Beppu
were given a quantity of sake on the plea that the accouchement of a
Court lady was imminent. Custom prescribed that in such a case the
lady should be removed to a different house, and therefore when the
guards had well drunk, a palanquin was carried out, bearing
ostensibly this lady only, but in reality freighted with the
sovereign also. The night was passed in the village, and at daybreak
the little party, leaving the lady behind, set out on foot for the
nearest seaport, Chiba. The Emperor could scarcely walk, but happily
a man was encountered leading a pack-horse, and on this Go-Daigo
rode. The next three days were devoted to seeking a safe landing in
Izumo and endeavouring to procure provisions. On one occasion, being
pursued by servants of the great shrine, they had to re-embark and
put out to sea, the Emperor and his sole attendant, Tadaaki, lying
hid in the bottom of the boat beneath a quantity of seaweed and under
the feet of the sailors. Finally, on the 13th of April, they made
Katami port in the province of Hoki, and, being cordially welcomed by
Nawa Nagataka, Go-Daigo was ultimately taken to a mountain called
Funanoe, which offered excellent defensive facilities. It is recorded
that on the first stage of this journey from Nagataka's residence to
the mountain, the Emperor had to be carried on the back of Nagataka's
brother, Nagashige, no palanquin being available. Very soon many
bushi flocked to the Imperial standard and Funanoe was strongly
entrenched. It was on this occasion that Go-Daigo changed Nagataka's
name to Nagatoshi, and conferred on him the title of "captain of the
Left guards" (saemon-no-jo).
DOWNFALL OF THE HOJO
When the Emperor's escape from Oki became known, loyal samurai in
great numbers espoused the Imperial cause, and a heavy blow was given
to the prestige of the Hojo by Akamatsu Norimura who, after several
successful engagements with the Rokuhara army in Settsu, pushed
northward from the fortress of Maya, where his forces were almost
within sight of Kyoto. Takatoki, appreciating that a crisis had now
arisen in the fortunes of the Hojo, ordered Ashikaga Takauji to lead
a powerful army westward. Takauji represented a junior branch of the
Minamoto family. He was descended from the great Yoshiiye, and when
Yoritomo rose against the Taira, in 1180, he had been immediately
joined by the then Ashikaga chieftain, who was his brother-in-law.
Takau ji, therefore, had ambitions of his own, and his mood towards
the Hojo had been embittered by two recent events; the first, that,
though in mourning for the death of his father, he had been required
to join the attack on Masashige's fortress at Kasagi; the second,
that his own illness after returning from that campaign had not
availed to save him from frequent summonses to conference with
Takatoki.
ENGRAVING: ASHIKAGA TAKAUJI
Thus, this second order to take the field found him disposed to join
in the overthrow of the Hojo rather than in their support. Learning
something of this mood, Takatoki demanded that the Ashikaga chief,
before commencing his march, should hand in a written oath of
loyalty, and further, should leave his wife, his children, and his
brother-in-law as hostages in Kamakura. Takauji, who shrunk from no
sacrifice on the altar of his ambition, complied readily, and the
confidence of the Bakufu having thus been restored, a parting banquet
was given in his honour, at which the Hojo representative presented
him with a steed, a suit of armour, a gold-mounted sword, and a white
flag, this last being an heirloom from the time of Hachiman
(Yoshiiye), transmitted through the hands of Yoritomo's spouse, Masa.
All these things did not turn Takauji by a hair's-breadth from his
purpose. His army had not marched many miles westward before he
despatched a message to the entrenchments in Hoki offering his
services to the Emperor, who welcomed this signal accession of
strength and commissioned Takauji to attack the Bakufu forces.
Entirely ignorant of these things, Hojo Takaiye, who commanded at
Rokuhara, made dispositions to move against the Hoki fortress in
co-operation with Takauji. The plan of campaign was that Takaiye's
army should march southward through Settsu, and, having crushed
Akamatsu Norimura, who occupied that province, should advance through
Harima and Mimasaka into Hoki; while Takauji, moving northward at
first by the Tamba highway, should ultimately turn westward and reach
Hoki by the littoral road of the Japan Sea. In addition to these two
armies, the Hojo had a powerful force engaged in beleaguering the
fortress of Chihaya, in Yamato, where Kusunoki Masashige commanded in
person.
It will thus be seen that, at this time (May, 1333), the Imperialists
were everywhere standing on the defensive, and the Bakufu armies were
attacking on the southeast, south, and north of Kyoto. Nothing seemed
less probable than that the Imperial capital itself should become the
object of an assault by the partisans of Go-Daigo. But the unexpected
took place. Hojo Takaiye was killed and his force shattered in the
first collision with Norimura, who immediately set his troops in
motion towards Kyoto, intending to take advantage of Rokuhara's
denuded condition. Meanwhile, Takauji, whose march into Tamba had
been very deliberate, learned the course events had taken in Settsu,
and immediately proclaiming his allegiance to the Imperial cause,
countermarched for Kyoto, his army receiving constant accessions of
strength as it approached the city. Rokuhara, though taken by
surprise, fought stoutly. Attacked simultaneously from three
directions by the armies of Norimura, Takauji, and Minamoto Tadaaki,
and in spite of the death of their commandant, Hojo Tokimasu, they
held out until the evening, when Hojo Nakatoki escaped under cover of
darkness, escorting the titular sovereign, Kogon, and the two
ex-Emperors. Their idea was to flee to Kamakura, but taking an escort
too large for rapid movement, they were overtaken; the three leaders
together with four hundred men killed, and Kogon together with the
two ex-Emperors seized and carried back to Kyoto.
THE FALL OF KAMAKURA
These things happened at the close of June, 1333, and immediately
after the fall of Rokuhara, Nitta Yoshisada raised the Imperial
standard in the province of Kotsuke. Yoshisada represented the tenth
generation of the great Yoshiiye's family. Like Ashikaga Takauji he
was of pure Minamoto blood, though Takauji belonged to a junior
branch. The Nitta estates were in the district of that name in the
province of Kotsuke; that is to say, in the very heart of the Kwanto.
Hitherto, the whole of the eastern region had remained loyal to the
Hojo; but the people were growing weary of the heavy taxes and
requisitions entailed by this three-years' struggle, and when Nitta
Yoshisada declared against the Hojo, his ranks soon swelled to
formidable dimensions. It has been stated by some historians that
Yoshisada's resolve was first taken on receipt of news that Rokuhara
was lost to the Hojo. But there can be no doubt that, like others of
his sept, he had long resented the comparatively subordinate position
occupied by Yoritomo's descendants, and the most trustworthy annals
show that already while engaged in besieging Masashige in Chihaya
fortress, he conceived the idea of deserting the Hojo's cause.
Through one of his officers, Funada Yoshimasa, he obtained a mandate
from Prince Morinaga, and then, feigning sickness, he left the camp
in Yamato and returned to Kotsuke, where he lost no time in making
preparations for revolt.
This actual declaration did not come, however, until the arrival of
an officer from Kamakura, carrying a requisition for a great quantity
of provisions to victual an army which the Hojo were hastily
equipping to recover Rokuhara. The officer was put to death, and
Yoshisada with his brother, Yoshisuke, set their forces in motion for
Kamakura. Menaced thus closely, the Hojo made a supreme effort. They
put into the field an army said to have numbered one hundred thousand
of all arms. But their ranks were perpetually reduced by defections,
whereas those of the Imperialists received constant accessions. The
campaign lasted only a fortnight. For the final attack Yoshisada
divided his army into three corps and advanced against Kamakura from
the north, the east, and the west. The eastern column was repulsed
and its general slain, but the western onset, commanded by Yoshisada
himself, succeeded. Taking advantage of a low tide, he led his men
over the sands and round the base of a steep cliff,* and carried the
city by storm, setting fire to the buildings everywhere. The Hojo
troops were shattered and slaughtered relentlessly. Takatoki
retreated to his ancestral cemetery at the temple Tosho-ji, and there
committed suicide with all the members of his family and some eight
hundred officers and men of his army. Thus, Kamakura fell on the 5th
of July, 1333, a century and a half after the establishment of the
Bakufu by Yoritomo. Many heroic incidents marked the catastrophe and
showed the spirit animating the bushi of that epoch. A few of them
will find a fitting place here.
*This cliff--Inamura-ga-saki--may be seen at Kamakura to-day.
Tradition says that Yoshisada threw his sword into the waves,
supplicating the god of the Sea to roll back the water and open a
path for the loyal army. At dawn on the following day the tide was
found to have receded sufficiently.
HEROIC DEATHS
It has been related above that, when Ashikaga Takauji marched
westward from Kamakura, he left his family and his brother-in-law as
hostages in the hands of the Bakufu. Subsequently, on the occasion of
the assault by Nitta Yoshisada, this brother-in-law (Akabashi
Moritoki) resisted stoutly but was defeated at the pass of Kobukoro.
He committed suicide, remarking calmly, "It is better to die trusted
than to live doubted."
Osaragi Sadanao, one of the Hojo generals, was in danger of defeat by
Odate Muneuji at the defence of Kamakura, when Homma Saemon, a
retainer of the former, who was under arrest for an offence, broke
his arrest and galloping into the field, restored the situation by
killing the enemy's general, Odate Muneuji. Carrying the head of
Muneuji, Saemon presented it to his chief and then disembowelled
himself in expiation of his disobedience. Sadanao, crying that his
faithful follower should not go unaccompanied to the grave, dashed
into the enemy's ranks and fell, covered with wounds.
Ando Shoshu, returning from the successful defence of the eastern
approaches to Kamakura on the 5th of July, 1333, found the Government
buildings a mass of charred ruins, and being ignorant of the
multitude of suicides that had taken place in the cemetery at
Tosho-ji, cried out: "The end of a hundred years! How is it that none
was found to die the death of fidelity?" Dismounting he prepared to
take his own life when a messenger arrived carrying a letter from his
niece, the wife of Nitta Yoshisada. This letter counselled surrender.
Shoshu exclaimed furiously: "My niece is a samurai's daughter. How
could she venture to insult me with words so shameless? And how was
it that Yoshisada allowed her to do such a thing?" Then, wrapping the
letter round the hilt of his sword, he disembowelled himself.
THE LAST SCENE
The last act of the Hojo tragedy, which took place in the cemetery of
the temple Tosho-ji, showed the fidelity of the samurai character at
its best. Among the Kamakura warriors was one Takashige, son of that
Nagasaki Takasuke who had made himself notorious by corrupt
administration of justice. Takashige, a skilled soldier of enormous
physical power, returned from the battle when all hope of beating
back Nitta Yoshisada's army had disappeared, and having warned the
regent, Takatoki, that the bushi's last resource alone remained,
asked for a few moments' respite to strike a final stroke. Followed
by a hundred desperate men, he plunged into the thick of the fight
and had almost come within reach of Yoshisada when he was forced
back. Galloping to Tosho-ji, he found Takatoki and his comrades
drinking their farewell cup of sake. Takatoki handed the cup to
Takashige, and he, after draining it thrice, as was the samurai's
wont, passed it to Settsu Dojun, disembowelled himself, and tore out
his intestines. "That gives a fine relish to the wine," cried Dojun,
following Takashige's example. Takatoki, being of highest rank, was
the last to kill himself.
Eight hundred suicides bore witness to the strength of the creed held
by the Kamakura bushi. An eminent Japanese author* writes: "Yoritomo,
convinced by observation and experience that the beautiful and the
splendid appeal most to human nature, made it his aim to inculcate
frugality, to promote military exercises, to encourage loyalty, and
to dignify simplicity. Moral education he set before physical. The
precepts of bushido he engraved on the heart of the nation and gave
to them the honour of a precious heirloom. The Hojo, by exalting
bushido, followed the invaluable teaching of the Genji, and
supplemented it with the doctrines of Shinto, Confucianism, and
Buddhism. Thus every bushi came to believe that the country's fate
depended on the spirit of the samurai." Another and more renowned
annalist** wrote: "The Hojo, rising from a subordinate position,
flourished for nine generations. Their success was due to observing
frugality, treating the people with kindness, meting out strict
justice, and faithfully obeying the ancestral behest to abstain from
seeking high titles." They took the substance and discarded the
shadow. The bushido that they developed became a model in later ages,
especially in the sixteenth century.
*Yamada Tesshu (modern).
**Rai Sanyo (1780-1832).
LAST HOJO ARMY
When Kamakura fell the only Hojo force remaining in the field was
that which had been engaged for months in the siege of Chihaya, where
Kusunoki Masashige held his own stoutly. This army had retired to
Nara on receipt of the news of Rokuhara's capture, and when Kamakura
met with the same fate, the leaders of the last Hojo force
surrendered at the summons of Ashikaga Takauji's emissaries.
Subsequently, fifteen of these leaders were led out at midnight and
beheaded.
THE RESTORATION OF THE KEMMU ERA
The conditions that now resulted are spoken of in Japanese history as
"the Restoration of the Kemmu era" (1334-1336). It will be presently
seen that the term is partly misleading. After his escape from Oki,
Go-Daigo remained for some time in the fortress of Funanoe, in Hoki.
Kamakura fell on the 5th of July, and his Majesty entered Kyoto on
the 17th of that month. While in Hoki he issued various rescripts
having special significance. They may be summarized as follows:
From bushi down to priests, any man who performs meritorious deeds in
battle will be duly recompensed, in addition to being confirmed in
the possession of his previously held domain, and that possession
will be continued in perpetuity to his descendants. In the case of
persons killed in fight, suitable successors to their domains will be
selected from their kith and kin.
With regard to Court officials and bushi down to temple priests and
functionaries of Shinto shrines, any that come immediately to join
the Imperial forces will be rewarded, in addition to being confirmed
in the tenure of their original estates.
Similar consideration will be shown to all who, though unable to come
in person, supply provisions or military necessaries, submit
suggestions with loyal intent, or otherwise work in the interests of
the Imperial army. Men surrendering in battle will be pardoned for
their previous offences, and will be rewarded for services
subsequently rendered.
The fate of the eastern outlaws (i.e. the Hojo) being sealed, their
destruction is imminent. They have slain many innocent people;
plundered the property of all classes, despoiled temples, burned
houses, and conducted themselves with extreme wickedness. Unless they
be punished, public peace cannot be restored. Our army has to remove
those evils, and therefore all in its ranks, while uniting to attack
the rebels, will be careful not to inflict any suffering on the
people or to plunder them and will treat them with all benevolence.
If prisoners be common soldiers, they shall be released at once, and
if officers, they shall be held in custody pending Imperial
instructions. They shall not be punished without judgment. No
buildings except the enemy's fortresses and castles shall be burned,
unless the conditions of a battle dictate such a course, and it is
strictly forbidden to set fire to shrines and temples. When the
Imperial forces enter a city and have to be quartered in private
houses, the owners of the latter shall be duly recompensed. If these
injunctions be obeyed, the deities of heaven and earth and the
ancestral Kami will protect the virtuous army in its assault upon the
wicked traitors.
These edicts make it clear that in one most important respect,
namely, the terms of land tenure, there was no idea of reverting to
the old-time system which recognized the right of property to be
vested in the Throne and limited the period of occupation to the
sovereign's will.
THE NEW GOVERNMENT
When Go-Daigo entered Kyoto on the 17th of July, 1333, it was
suggested by some of his advisers that a ceremony of coronation
should be again held. But the sa-daijin, Nijo Michihira, opposed that
course. He argued that although his Majesty had not resided in the
capital for some time, the sacred insignia had been always in his
possession, and that his re-entering the capital should be treated as
returning from a journey. This counsel was adopted. It involved the
exclusion of Kogon from the roll of sovereigns, though the title of
"retired Emperor" was accorded to him.
There were thus three ex-Emperors at the same time. Go-Daigo assigned
the Chokodo estates for their support, retaining for himself only the
provincial taxes of Harima. The Bakufu no longer having any official
existence, the machinery of the Government in Kyoto was organized on
the hypothesis of genuine administrative efficiency. There was no
chancellor (dajo daijiri) or any regent (kwampaku). These were
dispensed with, in deference to the "Restoration" theory, namely,
that the Emperor himself should rule, as he had done in the eras of
Engi and Tenryaku (901-957). But for the rest, the old offices were
resuscitated and filled with men who had deserved well in the recent
crisis or who possessed hereditary claims. Prince Morinaga, the
sometime lord-abbot of Hiei-zan, was nominated commander-in-chief
(tai-shoguri), and for the sake of historical lucidity hereafter the
following appointments should be noted:
Prince Narinaga to be governor-general (kwanryo) of the Kwanto, with
his headquarters at Kamakura, and with Ashikaga Tadayoshi (brother of
Takauji) for second in command.
Prince Yoshinaga to be governor-general of O-U (Mutsu and Dewa),
assisted by Kitabatake Chikafusa (an able statesman and a historian),
and the latter's son, Akiiye, as well as by the renowned warrior,
Yuki Munehiro.
Nijo Michihira to be sa-daijin.
Kuga Nagamichi to be u-daijin.
Doin Kinkata to be nai-daijin.
It is observable that the occupants of all these great offices were
Court nobles. The creed of the Kemmu era was that the usurping buke
(military families) had been crushed and that the kuge (Court
nobility) had come to their own again. As for the provinces, the main
purpose kept in view by the new Government was to efface the traces
of the shugo system. Apparently the simplest method of achieving that
end would have been to appoint civilian governors (kokushi)
everywhere. But in many cases civilian governors would have been
powerless in the face of the conditions that had arisen under
military rule, and thus the newly nominated governors included
Ashikaga Takauji, governor of Musashi, Hitachi, and Shimosa.
Ashikaga Tadayoshi (brother of Takauji), governor of Totomi.
Kusunoki Masashige, governor of Settsu, Kawachi, and Izumi.
Nawa Nagatoshi, governor of Inaba and Hoki.
Nitta Yoshisada, governor of Kotsuke and Harima.
Nitta Yoshiaki (son of Yoshisada), governor of Echigo.
Wakiya Yoshisuke (brother of Yoshisada), governor of Suruga.
One name left out of this list was that of Akamatsu Norimura, who had
taken the leading part in driving the Hojo from Rokuhara, and who had
been faithful to the Imperial cause throughout. He now became as
implacable an enemy as he had previously been a loyal friend. The
fact is significant. Money as money was despised by the bushi of the
Kamakura epoch. He was educated to despise it, and his nature
prepared him to receive such education. But of power he was supremely
ambitious--power represented by a formidable army of fully equipped
followers, by fortified castles, and by widely recognized authority.
The prime essential of all these things was an ample landed estate To
command the allegiance of the great military families without placing
them under an obligation by the grant of extensive manors would have
been futile. On the other hand, to grant such manors in perpetuity
meant the creation of practically independent feudal chiefs.
The trouble with the restored Government of Go-Daigo was that it
halted between these two alternatives. Appreciating that its return
to power had been due to the efforts of certain military magnates, it
rewarded these in a measure; but imagining that its own
administrative authority had been replaced on the ancient basis, it
allowed itself to be guided, at the same time, by capricious
favouritism. Even in recognizing the services of the military
leaders, justice was not observed. The records clearly show that on
the roll of merit the first place, after Prince Morinaga, should have
been given to Kusunoki Masashige's name. When Kasagi fell and when
the Emperor was exiled, Masashige, alone among the feudatories of
sixty provinces, continued to fight stoutly at the head of a small
force, thus setting an example of steadfast loyalty which ultimately
produced many imitators. Nitta Yoshisada ought to have stood next in
order; then Akamatsu Norimura; then Nawa Nagatoshi, and finally
Ashikaga Takauji.* In the case of Takauji, there was comparatively
little merit. He had taken up arms against the Imperial cause at the
outset, and even in the assault on Rokuhara he had been of little
service. Yet to him the Crown allotted the greatest honour and the
richest rewards. Some excuse may be found in Takauji's lineage, but
in that respect he was inferior to Nitta Yoshisada.
*Arai Hakuseki (1656-1725).
Still more flagrant partiality was displayed in other directions.
Relying on the promises of the Funanoe edicts epitomized above,
thousands of military officers thronged the Court in Kyoto,
clamouring for recognition of their services. Judges were appointed
to examine their pleas, but that proved a tedious task, and in the
meanwhile all the best lands had been given away by favour or
affection. Go-Daigo himself appropriated the manors of Hojo Takatoki;
those of Hojo Yasuie were assigned to Prince Morinaga; those
of Osaragi Sadanao went to the Imperial consort, Renko. The
immediate attendants of the sovereign, priests, nuns, musicians,
littérateurs--all obtained broad acres by the Imperial fiat, and
when, in the tardy sequel of judicial procedure, awards were made to
military men, no spoil remained to be divided. Soon a cry went up,
and gained constantly in volume and vehemence, a cry for the
restoration of the military regime. As for Go-Daigo, whatever ability
he had shown in misfortune seemed to desert him in prosperity. He
neglected his administrative duties, became luxurious and arrogant,
and fell more and more under the influence of the lady Ren. Of
Fujiwara lineage, this lady had shared the Emperor's exile and
assisted his escape from Oki. It had long been her ambition to have
her son, Tsunenaga, nominated Crown Prince, but as Prince Morinaga
was older and had established a paramount title by his merits, his
removal must precede the accomplishment of her purpose. Fate
furnished a powerful ally. Prince Morinaga, detecting that Ashikaga
Takauji concealed a treacherous purpose under a smooth demeanour,
solicited the Emperor's mandate to deal with him. Go-Daigo refused,
and thereafter the lady Ren and the Ashikaga chief, whose influence
increased daily, entered into a league for the overthrow of Prince
Morinaga.
It was at this time, when symptoms of disorder were growing more and
more apparent, that Fujiwara Fujifusa, a high dignitary of the Court
and one of the great statesmen of his era, addressed a solemn warning
to Go-Daigo. The immediate occasion was curious. There had been
presented to the Court by the governor of Izumo a horse of
extraordinary endurance, capable of travelling from Tomita, in that
province, to Kyoto, a distance of one hundred and sixty miles,
between dawn and darkness. The courtiers welcomed the appearance of
this horse as an omen of peace and prosperity, but Fujiwara Fujifusa
interpreted it as indicating that occasion to solicit speedy aid from
remote provinces would soon arise. He plainly told the Emperor that
the officials were steeped in debauchery; that whereas, in the early
days of the restoration, the palace gates had been thronged with
warriors, to-day none could be seen, thousands upon thousands having
left the capital disgusted and indignant to see Court favourites
enriched with the rewards which should have fallen to the military;
that the already distressed people were subjected to further heavy
exactions for building or beautifying Imperial palaces; that grave
injustice had been done to Akamatsu Norimura, and that unless the
sovereign refrained from self-indulgence and sought to govern
benevolently, a catastrophe could not be averted. But Go-Daigo was
not moved, and finally, after repeating his admonition on several
occasions, Fujifusa left the Court and took the tonsure. It says much
for the nobility of the Emperor's disposition that he commissioned
Nobufusa, father of Fujifusa, to seek out the persistent critic and
offer him a greatly higher office if he would consent to return, and
it says much for Fujifusa's sincerity that, hoping to give weight to
his counsels, he embraced the life of a recluse and was never seen in
public again.
DEATH OF PRINCE MORINAGA
Things now went from bad to worse in Kyoto, while in the provinces
the remnants of the Hojo's partisans began to raise their heads. The
ever-loyal Kusunoki Masashige and Nawa Nagatoshi entered the capital
to secure it against surprise; Ashikaga Takauji, ostensibly for the
same purpose, summoned large forces from the provinces, and Prince
Morinaga occupied Nawa with a strong army. Takauji saw that the time
had come to remove the prince, in whom he recognized the great
obstacle to the consummation of his ambitious designs. Securing the
co-operation of the lady Ren by a promise that her son, Narinaga,
should be named Crown Prince and commander-in-chief (shoguri) in
succession to Morinaga, he informed the Emperor that Prince Morinaga
was plotting Go-Daigo's deposition and the elevation of his own son
to the throne. The Emperor credited the accusation, summoned the
usurping Morinaga to the palace, and caused him to be arrested. This
happened in November, 1334. Morinaga vehemently declared his
innocence. In a memorial to the Throne he recounted the loyal service
he had rendered to his sovereign and father, and concluded with these
words:
In spite of all this I have unwittingly offended. I would appeal to
heaven, but the sun and moon have no favour for an unfilial son. I
would bow my head and cry to the earth for help, but the mountains
and the rivers do not harbour a disloyal subject. The tie between
father and son is severed, and I am cast away. I have no longer
anything to hope in the world. If I may be pardoned, stripped of my
rank, and permitted to enter religion, there will be no cause for
regret. In my deep sorrow I cannot say more.
Had this piteous appeal reached Go-Daigo, he might have relented. But
just as the memorial addressed by Yoshitsune to his brother,
Yoritomo, was suppressed by Hiromoto, so the chamberlain to whom
Prince Morinaga entrusted his protest feared to carry it to the
sovereign. Before the close of the year, the prince was exiled to
Kamakura, and there placed in charge of Takauji's brother, Tadayoshi,
who confined him in a cave dug for the purpose. He never emerged
alive. Seven months later, Tadayoshi, on the eve of evacuating
Kamakura before the attack of Hojo Tokiyuki, sent an emissary to
assassinate Morinaga in the cave. The unfortunate prince was in his
twenty-eighth year. His name must be added to the long list of noble
men who fell victims to slander in Japan. A Japanese annalist*
contends that Morinaga owed his fate as much to his own tactlessness
as to the wiles of his enemies, and claims that in accusing Takauji
to the throne, the prince forgot the Emperor's helplessness against
such a military magnate as the Ashikaga chief. However that may have
been, subsequent events clearly justified the prince's suspicions of
Takauji's disloyalty. It must also be concluded that Go-Daigo
deliberately contemplated his son's death when he placed him in
charge of Takauji's brother.
*Raj Sanyo.
ASHIKAGA TAKAUJI OCCUPIES KAMAKURA
The course of events has been somewhat anticipated above in order to
relate the end of Prince Morinaga's career. It is necessary, now, to
revert to the incident which precipitated his fate, namely, the
capture of Kamakura by Hojo Tokiyuki. This Tokiyuki was a son of
Takatoki. He escaped to Shinano province at the time of the Hojo
downfall, and being joined there by many of his family's vassals, he
found himself strong enough to take the field openly in July, 1335,
and sweeping away all opposition, he entered Kamakura in August.
Ashikaga Takauji's brother was then in command at Kamakura. It
seemed, indeed, as though the Emperor deliberately contemplated the
restoration of the old administrative machinery in the Kwanto,
changing only the personnel; for his Majesty appointed his tenth son,
Prince Narinaga, a boy of ten, to be shogun at Kamakura, and placed
Ashikaga Tadayoshi in a position amounting, in fact though not in
name, to that of regent (shikken). Probably these measures were
merely intended to placate the Kwanto. Before there had been time to
test their efficacy, the Hojo swept down on Kamakura, and Tadayoshi
and the young shogun found themselves fugitives. Meanwhile, Ashikaga
Takauji in Kyoto had been secretly fanning the discontent of the
unrecompensed bushi, and had assured himself that a reversion to the
military system would be widely welcomed. He now applied for a
commission to quell the Hojo insurrection, and on the eve of setting
out for that purpose, he asked to be nominated shogun, which request
being rejected, he left the capital without paying final respects to
the Throne, an omission astutely calculated to attract partisans.
The Hojo's resistance was feeble, and in a few weeks the Ashikaga
banners were waving again over Kamakura. The question of returning to
Kyoto had now to be considered. Takauji's brother, Tadayoshi,
strongly opposed such a step. He compared it to putting one's head
into a tiger's mouth, and in fact information had already reached
Kamakura in the sense that the enemies of the Ashikaga were busily
slandering the victorious general. It may fairly be assumed, however,
that Takauji had never intended to return to Kyoto except as
dictator. He assumed the title of shogun; established his mansion on
the site of Yoritomo's old yashiki; undertook control of the whole
Kwanto; confiscated manors of his enemies; recompensed meritorious
deeds liberally, and granted pardons readily. In fact, he presented
to public gaze precisely the figure he desired to present, the strong
ruler who would unravel the perplexities of a distraught age. From
all quarters the malcontent bushi flocked to his flag.
TAKAUJI AND YOSHISADA
A serious obstacle to the achievement of the Ashikaga chief's purpose
was Nitta Yoshisada. Both men were of the Minamoto family, but
Yoshisada's kinship was the closer and his connexion with the Hojo
had always been less intimate. Further, he had never borne arms
against Go-Daigo's cause, as Takauji had done, and his unswerving
loyalty made him an inconvenient rival. Therefore, the Ashikaga
leader took an extreme step. He seized the domains of the Nitta
family in the Kwanto and distributed them among his own followers; he
caused his brother, Tadayoshi, to send letters inviting the adherence
of many bushi; he addressed to the Throne a memorial impeaching
Yoshisada on the ground that, whereas the latter's military successes
had been the outcome entirely of opportunities furnished by the
prowess of the Ashikaga, he did not hesitate to slander Takauji to
the sovereign, and he asked for an Imperial commission to destroy the
Nitta leader, whom he dubbed a "national thief."
Yoshisada, when he learned of the presentation of this memorial,
seized the Ashikaga manors within his jurisdiction and addressed to
the Throne a countermemorial in which he conclusively proved the
falsehood of Takauji's assertion with reference to military affairs;
charged him with usurping the titles of governor-general of the
Kwanto, and shogun; declared that Prince Morinaga, the mainstay of
the restoration, had become the victim of Takauji's slanders, and
asked for an Imperial mandate to punish Takauji and his brother,
Tadayoshi. It is significant that the leal and gallant Yoshisada did
not hesitate thus openly to assert the innocence and merits of Prince
Morinaga, though only a few months had elapsed since the Emperor
himself had credited his most unhappy son's guilt. While Go-Daigo
hesitated, news from various provinces disclosed the fact that
Takauji had been tampering with the bushi in his own interests. This
settled the question. Takauji and Tadayoshi were proclaimed rebels,
and to Nitta Yoshisada was entrusted the task of chastising them
under the nominal leadership of Prince Takanaga, the Emperor's second
son, to whom the title of shogun was granted.
TAKAUJI ENTERS KYOTO
In the beginning of November, 1335, the Imperial force moved
eastward. It was divided into two armies. One, under Yoshisada's
direct orders, marched by the Tokaido, or eastern littoral road; the
other, under Yoshisada's brother, Wakiya Yoshisuke, with Prince
Takanaga for titular general, advanced along the Nakasen-do, or
inland mountain-road. The littoral army, carrying everything before
it, pushed on to the capital of Izu, and had it forced its attack
home at once, might have captured Kamakura. But the Nitta chief
decided to await the arrival of the Nakasen-do army, and the respite
thus afforded enabled the Ashikaga forces to rally. Tadayoshi reached
the Hakone Pass and posted his troops on its western slopes in a
position of immense natural vantage, while Takauji himself occupied
the routes on the north, his van being at Takenoshita.
The Imperialists attacked both positions simultaneously. Takauji not
only held his ground, but also, being joined by a large contingent of
the Kyoto men who, under the leadership of Enya Takasada, had
deserted in the thick of the fight, he shattered his opponents, and
when this news reached Hakone on the following morning, a panic
seized Yoshisada's troops so that they either fled or surrendered.
The Nitta chieftain himself retired rapidly to Kyoto with a mere
remnant of his army, and effected a union with the forces of the
ever-loyal Kusunoki Masashige and Nawa Nagatoshi, who had given
asylum to Go-Daigo at the time of the escape from Oki. The cenobites
of Hiei-zan also took the field in the Imperial cause. Meanwhile,
Takauji and Tadayoshi, utilizing their victories, pushed rapidly
towards Kyoto. The heart of the samurai was with them, and they
constantly received large accessions of strength. Fierce fighting now
took place on the south and east of the capital. It lasted for
several days and, though the advantage was with the Ashikaga, their
victory was not decisive.
An unlooked-for event turned the scale. It has been related above
that, in the struggle which ended in the restoration of Go-Daigo,
Akamatsu Norimura was chiefly instrumental in driving the Hojo from
Rokuhara; and it has also been related that, in the subsequent
distribution of rewards, his name was omitted for the slight reason
that he had, at one period, entered religion. He now moved up from
Harima at the head of a strong force and, attacking from the south,
effected an entry into Kyoto, just as he had done three years
previously. Go-Daigo fled to Hiei, carrying the sacred insignia with
him, and on the 24th of February, 1336, the Ashikaga armies marched
into the Imperial capital.
TAKAUJI RETIRES TO KYUSHU
At this stage succour arrived for the Imperialists from the extreme
north. In the arrangement of the local administration after Go-Daigo
re-occupied the throne, the two northern provinces of Mutsu and Dewa
had been separated from the Kwanto and placed under the control of
Prince Yoshinaga, with Kitabatake Akiiye for lieutenant. The latter,
a son of the renowned Chikafusa, was in his nineteenth year when the
Ashikaga revolted. He quickly organized a powerful army with the
intention of joining Yoshisada's attack upon Kamakura, but not being
in time to carry out that programme, he changed the direction of his
march and hastened towards Kyoto. He arrived there when the Ashikaga
troops were laying siege to Hiei-zan, and effecting a union with the
Imperialists, he succeeded in raising the siege and recovering the
city.
It is unnecessary to follow in detail the vicissitudes that ensued.
Stratagems were frequent. At one time we find a number of Yoshisada's
men, officers and privates alike, disguising themselves, mingling
with the Ashikaga army, and turning their arms against the latter at
a critical moment. At another, Kusunoki Masashige spreads a rumour of
Yoshisada's death in battle, and having thus induced Takauji to
detach large forces in pursuit of the deceased's troops, falls on
him, and drives him to Hyogo, where, after a heavy defeat, he has to
flee to Bingo. Now, for a second time, the Ashikaga cause seemed
hopeless when Akamatsu Norimura again played a most important role.
He provided an asylum for Takauji and Tadayoshi; counselled them to
go to the west for the purpose of mustering and equipping their
numerous partisans; advised them to obtain secretly a mandate from
the senior branch of the Imperial family so that they too, as well as
their opponents, might be entitled to fly the brocade banner, and
having furnished them with means to effect their escape, returned to
Harima and occupied the fortress of Shirahata with the object of
checking pursuit. At this point there is a break in the unrelenting
continuity of the operations. It should obviously have been the aim
of the Imperialists to strike a conclusive blow before the Ashikaga
leaders had time to assemble and organize their multitudinous
supporters in Shikoku, Kyushu, and the provinces on the north of the
Inland Sea. This must have been fully apparent to Kusunoki Masashige,
an able strategist. Yet a delay of some weeks occurred.
A quasi-historical record, the Taiheiki, ascribes this to Yoshinaga's
infatuated reluctance to quit the company of a Court beauty whom the
Emperor had bestowed on him. Probably the truth is that the
Imperialists were seriously in want of rest and that Yoshisada fell
ill with fever. Something must also be attributed to a clever ruse on
the part of Akamatsu Norimura. He sent to Yoshisada's headquarters a
message promising to give his support to the Imperialists if he was
appointed high constable of Harima. Ten days were needed to obtain
the commission from Kyoto, and Norimura utilized the interval to
place the defenses of Shirahata fortress in a thoroughly secure
condition. Thus, when his patent of high constable arrived, he
rejected it with disdain, saying that he had already received a
patent from the shogun, Takauji, and was in no need of an Imperial
grant which "could be altered as easily as turning one's hand."
Yoshisada, enraged at having been duped, laid siege to Shirahata but
found it almost invulnerable. It was on March 11, 1336, that Takauji
went westward from Bingo; it was on the 2nd of April that Yoshisada
invested Shirahata, and it was on the 3rd of July that the siege was
raised. The Ashikaga brothers had enjoyed a respite of more than
three months, and had utilized it vigorously. They were at the
Dazai-fu in Chikuzen in June when a message reached them that
Shirahata could not hold out much longer. Immediately they set their
forces in motion, advancing by land and water with an army said to
have numbered twenty thousand and a fleet of transports and war-junks
totalling seven thousand. At the island, Itsukushima, they were met
by a Buddhist priest, Kenshun, bearer of a mandate signed by the
ex-Emperor Kogon of the senior branch, and thus, in his final
advance, the Ashikaga chief was able to fly the brocade banner. In
the face of this formidable force the Imperialists fell back to
Hyogo--the present Kobe--and it became necessary to determine a line
of strategy.
DEATH OF MASASHIGE
Go-Daigo, in Kyoto, summoned Kusunoki Masashige to a conference. That
able general spoke in definite tones. He declared it hopeless for the
Imperialists with their comparatively petty force of worn-out
warriors to make head against the great Ashikuga host of fresh
fighters. The only wise course was to suffer the enemy to enter
Kyoto, and then, while the sovereign took refuge at Hiei-zan, to
muster his Majesty's partisans in the home provinces for an unceasing
war upon the Ashikaga's long line of communications--a war
culminating in an attack from the front and the rear simultaneously.
Thus, out of temporary defeat, final victory would be wrested.
All present at the conference, with one exception, endorsed
Masashige's view as that of a proved strategist. The exception was a
councillor, Fujiwara Kiyotada. He showed himself a veritable example
of "those whom the gods wish to destroy." Declaring that all previous
successes had been achieved by divine aid, which took no count of
numerical disparity, he urged that if the sovereign quitted the
capital before his troops had struck a blow, officers and men alike
would be disheartened; and if refuge was again taken at Hiei-zan, the
Imperial prestige would suffer. To these light words the Emperor
hearkened. Masashige uttered no remonstrance. The time for
controversy had passed. He hastened to the camp and bid farewell to
his son, Masatsura: "I do not think that I shall see you again in
life. If I fall to-day, the country will pass under the sway of the
Ashikaga. It will be for you to judge in which direction your real
welfare lies. Do not sully your father's loyalty by forgetting the
right and remembering only the expedient. So long as a single member
of our family remains alive, or so much as one of our retainers, you
will defend the old castle of Kongo-zan and give your life for your
native land."
ENGRAVING: THE PARTING OF KUSONOKI MASASHIGE AND HIS SON MASATSURA
He then handed to his son a sword which he himself had received from
the Emperor. Passing thence to Hyogo, Masashige joined Nitta
Yoshisada, and the two leaders devoted the night to a farewell
banquet. The issue of the next day's combat was a foregone
conclusion. Masashige had but seven hundred men under his command. He
posted this little band at Minato-gawa, near the modern Kobe, and
with desperate courage attacked the van of the Ashikaga army.
Gradually he was enveloped, and being wounded in ten places he, with
his brother and sixty followers, entered the precincts of a temple
and died by their own hands.* Takauji and his captains, lamenting the
brave bushi's death, sent his head to his family; and history
recognizes that his example exercised an ennobling influence not only
on the men of his era but also on subsequent generations. After
Masashige's fall a similar fate must have overtaken Yoshisada, had
not one of those sacrifices familiar on a Japanese field of battle
been made for his sake. Oyamada Takaiye gave his horse to the Nitta
general and fell fighting in his stead, while Yoshisada rode away. At
first sight these sacrifices seem to debase the saved as much as they
exalt the saver. But, according to Japanese ethics, an institution
was always more precious than the person of its representative, and a
principle than the life of its exponent. Men sacrificed themselves in
battle not so much to save the life of a commanding officer, as to
avert the loss his cause would suffer by his death. Parity of
reasoning dictated acceptance of the sacrifice.
*Kusunoki Masashige is the Japanese type of a loyal and true soldier.
He was forty-three at the time of his death. Three hundred and
fifty-six years later (1692), Minamoto Mitsukuni, feudal chief of
Mito, caused a monument to be erected to his memory at the place of
his last fight. It bore the simple epitaph "The Tomb of Kusunoki, a
loyal subject."
ENGRAVING: OSONAE (New Year Offering to Family Tutelary Deity)
ENGRAVING: PALANQUINS (Used in Old Japan Only by the Nobility)