Kenmu ( 建武 ) was a Japanese era name of the Northern Court during the Era of Northern and Southern Courts after Shōkei and before Ryakuō . Although Kemmu is understood by the Southern Court as having begun at the same time, the era was construed to have begun after Genkō and before Engen .
13-746: This period spanned the years from January 1334 through August 1338 in the North , and until only February 1336 in the Southern Court. The reigning Emperors were Emperor Go-Daigo in the south and Emperor Kōmyō in the north. During the Meiji period , an Imperial decree dated March 3, 1911, established that the legitimate reigning monarchs of this period were the direct descendants of Emperor Go-Daigo through Emperor Go-Murakami , whose Southern Court been established in exile in Yoshino , near Nara. Until
26-720: The Ashikaga Pretenders or Northern Pretenders , were a set of six pretenders to the throne of Japan during the Nanboku-chō period from 1336 through 1392. The present Imperial House of Japan is descended from the Northern Court emperors. The Northern dynasty is also referred to as the "senior line" or the Jimyōin line ( 持明院統 , Jimyōin-tō ) ; Jimyō-in was a temple and retirement residence of this line's emperors Go-Fukakusa and Fushimi . The origins of
39-512: The Hokuchō or Northern Court emperors: These are the Nanchō or Southern Court emperors: Kumazawa Hiromichi Kumazawa Hiromichi ( 熊沢 寛道 , December 18, 1889 – June 11, 1966) , also known as the "Kumazawa emperor", was a Japanese businessman and Buddhist priest from Nagoya who publicly disputed the legitimacy of Emperor Hirohito 's bloodline in the period shortly after the end of
52-545: The Second World War . He claimed to be the 19th direct descendant of Emperor Go-Kameyama . In 1946–1947, Hiromichi was only the first of roughly nineteen men who put themselves forward as Japan's rightful Emperor. As a direct descendant of the Southern Court emperors of the Nanboku-chō period , he argued that Emperor Hirohito was illegitimate. He pointed out that Hirohito's entire line is descended from
65-523: The Imperial throne, whereby the Ashikaga shōguns were able to wrestle any remaining power away from position of Emperor. Shōguns ruled Japan until 1867. The Imperial Court supported by the Ashikaga shoguns was rivaled by the Southern Court of Go-Daigo and his descendants. This came to be called the Southern Court because its seat was in a location south of its rival. Although the precise location of
78-445: The Northern Court go back to Emperor Go-Saga , who reigned from 1242 through 1246. Go-Saga was succeeded in turn by two of his sons, Emperor Go-Fukakusa and Emperor Kameyama . On his death bed in 1272, Go-Saga insisted that his sons adopt a plan in which future emperors from the two fraternal lines would ascend the throne in alternating succession. This plan proved to be unworkable, resulting in rival factions and rival claimants to
91-649: The Pacific War. He claimed that Emperor Hirohito was a fraud, arguing that Hirohito's entire line is descended from the Northern Court. Despite this, he was not arrested for lèse majesté , even when donning the Imperial Crest. He could and did produce a koseki detailing his bloodline back to Emperor Go-Daigo in Yoshino, but his claims and rhetoric failed to inspire anything other than sympathy. Go-Kameyama reached an agreement with Go-Komatsu to return to
104-540: The Southern Imperial Court have been considered the legitimate Emperors of Japan. Moreover, the Southern Court controlled the Japanese imperial regalia. The Northern Court members are not considered legitimate Japanese emperors. They are called "Northern Court Emperors" now. One Southern Court descendant, Kumazawa Hiromichi , declared himself to be Japan's rightful emperor in the days after the end of
117-545: The destruction of the Kamakura shogunate in 1333, Kōgon lost his claim, but his brother, Emperor Kōmyō , and two of his sons were supported by the new Ashikaga shōguns as the rightful claimants to the throne. Kōgon's family thus formed an alternate Imperial Court in Kyoto, which came to be called the Northern Court because its seat was in a location north of its rival. Cloistered Emperor Go-Daigo failed to control succession to
130-456: The emperors' seat did change, it was often identified as simply Yoshino . In 1392, Emperor Go-Kameyama of the Southern Court was defeated and abdicated in favor of Kōgon's great-grandson, Emperor Go-Komatsu , thus ending the divide. The Northern Court was under the power of the Ashikaga shoguns and had little real independence. Partly because of this, since the 19th century, the Emperors of
143-661: The end of the Edo period , the militarily superior pretender-Emperors supported by the Ashikaga shogunate had been mistakenly incorporated in Imperial chronologies despite the undisputed fact that the Imperial Regalia were not in their possession. This illegitimate Northern Court had been established in Kyoto by Ashikaga Takauji . Northern Court (Japan) The Northern Court ( 北朝 , hokuchō ) , also known as
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#1732772067435156-501: The old alternations on a ten-year plan. However, Go-Komatsu broke this promise, not only ruling for 20 years, but being succeeded by his own son, rather than by one from the former Southern Court. During the Meiji period , an Imperial decree dated March 3, 1911, established that the legitimate reigning monarchs of this period were the direct descendants of Emperor Go-Daigo through Emperor Go-Murakami , whose Southern Court had been established in exile in Yoshino , near Nara. These are
169-667: The throne. In 1333, when the Southern Emperor Go-Daigo staged the Kenmu Restoration and revolted against the Hōjō Kamakura shogunate , the newly minted shōgun Ashikaga Takauji (ironically, by Emperor Go-Daigo himself) responded by declaring Emperor Kōgon , Go-Daigo's second cousin once removed and the son of an earlier emperor, Emperor Go-Fushimi of the Jimyōin-tō, as the new emperor. After
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