The Kenmu Restoration, and an Exit from Kyoto
人物史
Having brought down the Kamakura shogunate, Emperor Go-Daigo began the Kenmu Restoration, ruling directly from Kyoto. But rewards for the fighting went disproportionately to court nobles rather than the samurai who had done the fighting, and discontent among the warriors rose fast. Even his former ally Ashikaga Takauji eventually turned against him, and in 1336 the emperor was defeated in battle in Kyoto and driven from the capital. Fleeing to Yoshino in Yamato province, Go-Daigo asserted his own claim to legitimate rule and founded a rival court — the Southern Court — standing alongside the Northern Court in Kyoto in what became the Nanboku-chō period. In a twist of history, it was Takauji himself, his one-time rival, who after Go-Daigo's death built Tenryū-ji to console his spirit, enshrining his statue in the temple's Tahōden hall.
Characters
Emperor Go-Daigo
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Tenryū-ji, Tahōden Hall
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