Japanese Civil Wars of 1331–1392
The Japanese Civil Wars of 1331–1392, also known as the Nanboku-chō Wars, were a series of conflicts that emerged from a struggle for power between the imperial family and the ruling shogunate. After the Kamakura shogunate weakened and Emperor Go-Daigo sought to regain authority, tensions escalated. Notably, Ashikaga Takauji, initially sent by the shogunate to suppress the emperor, switched allegiance and established his own power base. By 1338, Ashikaga declared himself shogun, leading to a division between two rival imperial courts: the northern court in Kyoto and the southern court in Yoshino.
This division sparked over fifty years of intermittent warfare, with both factions vying for legitimacy and control over Japan. Despite the political turmoil, this period also saw cultural developments, including the flourishing of arts such as Noh drama and the tea ceremony, alongside increased trade and regional prosperity. Ultimately, in 1392, diplomatic efforts led to the reunification of Japan under the northern emperor Go-Kamatsu, solidifying the northern line of the imperial family as the legitimate rulers. This complex era highlights the intricate interplay of military and cultural dynamics that shaped Japan's history.
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Japanese Civil Wars of 1331–1392
At issue: Control of the Japanese imperial throne
Date: 1331–1392
Location: Japan
Combatants: Emperor vs. Kamakura shogunate; southern emperor vs. northern emperor/Ashikaga shogunate
Principal commanders:Southern emperor, Go-Daigo (1288–1339); Northern emperor, Shogun Ashikaga Takauji (1305–1358)
Result: The northern emperor won and the Ashikaga shogunate retained power
Background
In 1192, after defeating the emperor Go-Toba’s forces, Minamoto Yoritomo became the first shogun, or military ruler of Japan. He set up headquarters at Kamakura about thirty miles south of Tokyo, while the much-weakened emperor remained with his court at Kyoto. At first, the shogun took absolute control only of military matters, but eventually he controlled all aspects of the Japanese government.
When Yoritomo died in 1199, his wife, Hōjō Masako, took control, and power passed from the Minamoto to the Hōjō with the establishment of the Kamakura shogunate. The Hōjō family ruled Japan for more than one hundred years, but many other Japanese families, including the imperial family, resented its power. This resentment, coupled with growing poverty in Japan, caused widespread discontent and constant fighting among the leading daimyo, or feudal barons. In 1331, the emperor Go-Daigo decided to regain control of the Japanese government.
Action
In 1331, fighting broke out between the forces of Emperor Go-Daigo and those of the Kamakura shogunate. The shogunate sent Hōjō general Ashikaga Takauji to fight the emperor’s army. However, Ashikaga, seeing more potential power for himself as an ally of the emperor than as an ally of the shogun, switched sides and fought against the shogun. Many generals and samurai followed Ashikaga, and the Kamakura shogunate fell.
Go-Daigo regained power, but the Kemmu Restoration lasted only from 1334 to 1338. In 1336, Ashikaga named himself shogun, and in 1337, he revolted against Emperor Go-Daigo. That year, the emperor fled Kyoto and took his court to Yoshino, where he established a southern court. When leaving Kyoto, Go-Daigo took with him the traditional symbols of the Japanese imperial line, including the sword, the jewel, and the mirror. In 1338, Ashikaga located his government in Muromachi in Kyoto and placed a second emperor on the throne in Kyoto. Japan’s imperial powers were split between the northern emperor in Kyoto and the southern emperor in Yoshino.
For more than fifty years, the northern Japanese and southern Japanese empires waged war. The northern emperors hoped to regain the traditional symbols of the Japanese imperial line and, thus, establish themselves as the legitimate imperial house. Although the northern armies were generally stronger, the southern armies were able to invade Kyoto and destroy it regularly.
While the southern and northern emperors battled, the leading families of Japan were also engaged in fighting. Although the various sections of Japan had been relatively independent under the Hōjō, the Ashikaga shogunate centralized power in Japan and created a federation of states. Each state was ruled by a daimyo, who functioned as a military governor. The daimyo, who owned huge estates and were the patriarchs of Japan’s leading families, retained samurai, or hired warriors, for the constant battles with each other for land, power, and the possibility of controlling the shogunate.
In 1392, through the diplomacy of Ashikaga Yoshimitsu, the southern empire yielded to the northern empire, and Japan was reunited under the northern emperor Go-Kamatsu and his court.
Aftermath
Although there was constant fighting between the northern and southern empires and between the major families of Japan during the latter part of the fourteenth century, it was a time of relative prosperity and a flowering of the arts. The daimyo received tribute from farmers who grew rice on their lands, and they made arms and armor for the samurai. Merchants began to trade with Chinese and Korean businesspeople. Various regions became known for producing pottery, paper, textiles, and lacquerware. Trade grew between the regions of Japan, and artisan guilds were created. Art forms such as the tea ceremony, Noh drama, and ikebana, or flower arranging, were developed during this period.
However, the most important outcome of the Japanese Civil Wars of the fourteenth century was the determination that the Japanese imperial family would descend from the northern emperors, not the southern ones.
Bibliography
Friday, Karl F. Hired Swords: The Rise of Private Warriors: Power in Early Japan. Stanford, Calif.: Stanford University Press, 1996.
Martin, Peter, and James Melville. Chrysanthemum Throne: A History of Emperors of Japan. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 1998.
Mass, Jeffrey B., and William B. Hauser, eds. The Bakufu in Japanese History. Stanford, Calif.: Stanford University Press, 1993.
Samurai Japan. Documentary. Films for the Humanities and Sciences, 1999.
Sansom, George B. A History of Japan, 1334–1615. Stanford, Calif.: Stanford University Press, 1991.
Sato, Hiroaki. Legends of the Samurai. New York: Overlook Press, 1996.
Shogun: The Supreme Samurai. Documentary. A&E Television Networks, 1997.