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Emperor Go-Daigo

Type Figure Region Japan Time 1288–1339 Also known as Emperor Go-Daigo、Go-Daigo、后醍醐

96th emperor of Japan (r. 1318–1339), central figure in the late Kamakura shogunate's overthrow and the Kenmu Restoration.

Timeline

  1. 1321–1324Kyoto · KinkiAround 1321, Emperor Go-Daigo secretly contacted courtiers and samurai dissatisfied with the shogunate in Kyoto, seeking to restore direct imperial rule; in the Shōchū Disturbance of 1324 the plot was exposed and some conspirators were punished, but the emperor himself suffered no substantive penalty and continued to lay plans in secret.
  2. 1325–1330Kyoto · KinkiAfter Hōjō Takatoki became regent in 1326, relations between the court and Kamakura grew more tense; Emperor Go-Daigo continued to cultivate an overthrow network, contacting potential allies such as Kusunoki Masashige and Ashikaga Takauji. Although the Shōchō Disturbance of 1328 was suppressed by the shogunate, his resolve to overthrow it did not waver, and around 1330 preparations entered a substantive phase.
  3. 1331–1336Kyoto · KinkiThe Genkō War broke out in 1331 and the emperor was briefly exiled to Oki; after the shogunate's overthrow succeeded in 1333 he returned to Kyoto, launching the Kenmu Restoration in 1334 in an attempt to replace the shogunate system with direct imperial rule, but the new regime quickly collapsed due to improper rewards and punishments and Takauji's defection.

Sources