Around the middle of China's Yuan Dynasty, a warrior named Minamoto no Yoritomo established the shogunate in Kamakura. From then on, a situation of confrontation between the Imperial Court and the shogunate emerged in Japan. The Emperor's authority rapidly declined, and major state affairs were effectively decided by the shogunate. For nearly 700 years, the Emperor was almost merely a puppet of the shogunate.
However, during this period, several Emperors made efforts to eliminate the shogunate's interference and attempted to restore imperial authority. The 96th Emperor, Emperor Go-Daigo, was one such figure.
Born in 1288, Emperor Go-Daigo was named Crown Prince at the age of 21 and did not ascend the Chrysanthemum Throne until he was 31. For a long time, Japanese Emperors typically ascended around the age of 10 and abdicated around 20. Most Emperors, due to their youth during their reigns, found it difficult to achieve much. Before his ascension, Emperor Go-Daigo had served as a court official. During his ten years as Crown Prince, he gained extensive experience in state governance and gathered a group of learned and talented individuals around him, laying a solid foundation for his resistance against the shogunate. After assuming power, he promoted virtuous and capable individuals, abolished outdated and harmful policies and laws, implemented clean and upright governance, and often worked day and night to hear the grievances of common people, alleviating their difficulties. Both the court and the populace praised Emperor Go-Daigo highly.
However, Emperor Go-Daigo was well aware that to truly govern the country effectively, he must first overthrow the shogunate.
At that time, after the death of its founder Minamoto no Yoritomo, real power in the Kamakura shogunate quickly fell into the hands of the Hojo clan. The shogunate's regent, Hojo Takatoki, neglected state affairs, spending his days in leisure, feasting, and dog fights, earning him the nickname "Dog General." This led to administrative chaos, growing discontent among lower-ranking samurai, and disloyalty among the upper echelons, resulting in widespread alienation. Emperor Go-Daigo believed the shogunate's authority and strength had significantly weakened, making it the perfect time to topple it, and thus he began active preparations. He secretly gathered nobles, monks, and warriors opposed to the shogunate, using poetry and music gatherings as a cover to discuss plans for overthrowing the shogunate. To avoid suspicion, participants would remove their hats upon entering, monks would take off their robes, and tables would be filled with food and drink, creating the appearance of wild revelry. Under this guise, they formulated increasingly refined action plans and sent people to contact anti-shogunate forces across the country, preparing for war. Unfortunately, a warrior named Takeda Yasuharu outwardly supported the Emperor's plan but secretly doubted their chances of defeating the shogunate and informed the shogunate. The shogunate, shocked by the news, immediately sent envoys to Kyoto to arrest Emperor Go-Daigo's trusted ministers, such as Hino Toshisue and Hino Toshikata, and transported them to Kamakura for interrogation. Seeing his plot exposed, Emperor Go-Daigo, to preserve his strength, quickly sent someone to Kamakura to declare that the Emperor was not involved and had no intention of opposing the shogunate. As a result, the shogunate merely exiled Hino Toshisue. However, people at the time still referred to the incident as the "Emperor's Rebellion," indicating that in their minds, it was not the Emperor leading the shogunate, but the shogunate leading the Emperor.
After this unsuccessful coup, both the shogunate and the Emperor became more vigilant. In 1326, Crown Prince Morikuni died. Emperor Go-Daigo wished to name his own son as the new Crown Prince, but the shogunate firmly insisted on Prince Morinari. The struggle ended in the shogunate's victory. Prince Morinari's father, eager for his son to ascend the throne quickly, constantly prayed to deities for protection, effectively cursing Emperor Go-Daigo's downfall. The Emperor's hatred toward the shogunate deepened, and his determination to overthrow it grew stronger. This time, his anti-shogunate plan was more cautious and comprehensive. He successively appointed his sons, Prince Muneyoshi and Prince Munetomo, as heads of the Tendai Buddhist sect to control monastic power; he personally visited Nanto (the southern capital, Nara) to build relationships with local forces and plan a military uprising. Simultaneously, he convened monks Enkan and Mongaku, along with trusted aide Hino Toshikata, to study the details of utilizing monastic armed forces to attack the shogunate. However, in April 1331, the Emperor's trusted senior minister, Yoshida Sadakata, suddenly betrayed him to the shogunate. The shogunate swiftly arrested Enkan, Mongaku, and Hino Toshikata. Although the shogunate did not directly confront the Emperor, he realized the danger of the situation. In August, he disguised himself as a woman, took the three sacred treasures symbolizing the imperial throne, and fled to Kasagi-dera Temple in Nanto (Nara), deciding to use Mount Kasagi as a base to call upon warriors and people across the land to rise against the shogunate and defend the Emperor.
Upon learning of the Emperor's uprising, the shogunate dispatched Ashikaga Takauji and others to lead troops against him. Ashikaga Takauji occupied Kyoto and installed Prince Morinari as Emperor Kogon. At this time, Japan had two Emperors—one in the north (Emperor Go-Daigo in Kasagi) with the sacred treasures, and one in the south (Emperor Kogon in Kyoto) without them. However, many within the country responded to Emperor Go-Daigo's call and raised the banner of resistance against the shogunate. The earliest and most influential among them was Kusunoki Masashige, a powerful local lord from the Osaka region.
Kusunoki Masashige had lofty ambitions from a young age. As a youth, he defeated his family's enemies and later effectively controlled the Osaka region, amassing considerable power. Upon receiving Emperor Go-Daigo's call, Kusunoki saw it as a great opportunity to enter the political stage and quickly raised an army in response. He personally rushed to Mount Kasagi to pledge his loyalty to the Emperor. When the Emperor asked him what strategy he would use to defeat the Hojo clan, he replied, "To unify the realm, one relies on military prowess and strategy. Victory and defeat are common in warfare; one or two defeats are insignificant and should not be dwelled upon. As long as I, Kusunoki Masashige, live, I will certainly assist the Emperor in achieving his great cause!"
Among the many generals who rallied to Mount Kasagi, Kusunoki Masashige immediately gained the Emperor's favor. It is said that in a time of crisis, the Emperor had a dream: he saw a large evergreen tree to the south, with a jade throne placed beside it, court officials lined up on both sides, and two children told him, "In today's world, only that jade throne is the safest place for Your Majesty." After waking, the Emperor asked someone to interpret the dream. The interpreter told him that the evergreen tree to the south meant "Kusunoki" (the kanji for "kusu" means camphor tree, and "noki" means ridge), and only the person named Kusunoki was the best warrior the Emperor could rely on. Thus, as soon as Kusunoki Masashige arrived, he became Emperor Go-Daigo's trusted confidant.
When Kusunoki Masashige ascended Mount Kasagi, the mountain's forces were small and lacked combat effectiveness. Anticipating that Mount Kasagi could not be held, after paying his respects to the Emperor, he immediately returned to his base in Osaka to urgently reinforce Chihaya Castle, preparing to welcome the Emperor there once Mount Kasagi fell. Soon, Mount Kasagi was indeed captured by the shogunate's army. Emperor Go-Daigo hastily fled toward Chihaya Castle but, due to getting lost en route, was captured alive by the shogunate's forces and returned to the capital, where he was placed under house arrest. Ten days later, the shogunate's army began besieging Chihaya Castle. At that time, Kusunoki Masashige's forces numbered only two or three hundred, but disregarding the overwhelming odds, he employed various tactics to engage the shogunate's army in fierce combat—throwing stones from the walls, pouring boiling water on enemies with long-handled ladles, and even dumping excrement into enemy ranks. These unconventional tactics greatly troubled the shogunate's forces. By the time the shogunate's army finally breached Chihaya Castle, Kusunoki Masashige and Prince Muneyoshi had already cleverly escaped into the Kongo Mountains.
Under the shogunate's immense pressure, Emperor Go-Daigo was forced to hand over the three sacred treasures symbolizing imperial authority to Emperor Kogon. In March 1332, he was exiled to the Oki Islands by the shogunate, and other key figures in the anti-shogunate movement were severely punished. On the surface, Emperor Go-Daigo's second attempt to overthrow the shogunate had failed again. However, those within the country determined to resist the shogunate still placed great hope in him. On the journey to his exile in Oki, a warrior attempted to rescue him, but the shogunate's guards were too tight, leaving no opportunity. The warrior then carved two lines of poetry onto the trunk of a cherry tree in the courtyard where the Emperor lodged: "Heaven does not abandon Goujian; the time is not devoid of Fan Li." Using the story of Fan Li assisting King Goujian of Yue to endure hardship and restore his kingdom during China's Spring and Autumn period as a metaphor, he told Emperor Go-Daigo, "Do not think you are the only one striving like Goujian; there are still people like Fan Li who can help you!" Upon learning of this, the Emperor was deeply moved, and his resolve to fight the shogunate grew even stronger. Though isolated on a remote island, he never ceased contact with the outside world and never stopped his anti-shogunate activities.
Meanwhile, Kusunoki Masashige and Prince Muneyoshi were acting in Emperor Go-Daigo's name, quietly expanding their base and urging warriors across the country to rise against the shogunate. After more than a year of secret activities, the situation against the shogunate improved significantly. In 1332, Kusunoki Masashige recaptured Chihaya Castle; in January of the following year, he won several consecutive major victories. Anti-shogunate forces across the country responded in unison, creating the first peak of the movement to overthrow the shogunate. The shogunate also viewed Kusunoki Masashige as its most dangerous enemy, deploying three large armies to suppress him—boasting an army of "one million," though actually around 20,000, which was the maximum force the shogunate could muster. They also issued a bounty, declaring that anyone who killed Kusunoki Masashige could be granted land and title. With over a thousand troops, Kusunoki Masashige used strategy and courage to hold off the enemy for over three months. Because Kusunoki Masashige tied down the shogunate's main forces, anti-shogunate armies across the country seized the opportunity to launch attacks on Kyoto and Kamakura, and Emperor Go-Daigo also escaped from his exile on the Oki Islands, once again issuing an edict to the entire nation, calling on everyone to rise up and overthrow the shogunate. In this situation, two of the shogunate's top generals, Ashikaga Takauji and Nitta Yoshisada, successively defected, joining Emperor Go-Daigo and turning their attacks against the shogunate. On May 7, Ashikaga Takauji captured Kyoto; on the 22nd, Nitta Yoshisada took Kamakura. The Kamakura shogunate, which had ruled Japan for over a century and a half, collapsed.
In June 1333, Emperor Go-Daigo reascended the Chrysanthemum Throne in Kyoto and deposed Emperor Kogon. He ordered his advisors to reference Chinese history and select an appropriate Chinese era name to express his intention of "restoring order from chaos." The advisors proposed three era names: Kenmu, Daimu, and Bumu. Emperor Go-Daigo chose Kenmu. This was the era name used by Emperor Guangwu of Han, Liu Xiu, when he overthrew Wang Mang and restored the Han dynasty. He had finally realized his long-held dream