Northern Court 北朝 Hokuchō | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1331/1336–1392 | |||||||||||
| Capital | Heian-kyō | ||||||||||
| Common languages | Late Middle Japanese | ||||||||||
| Religion | Shinbutsu shūgō | ||||||||||
| Government | Monarchy | ||||||||||
| Emperor | |||||||||||
• 1331–1333 | Kōgon | ||||||||||
• 1336–1348 | Kōmyō | ||||||||||
• 1348–1351 | Sukō | ||||||||||
• 1352–1371 | Go-Kōgon | ||||||||||
• 1371–1382 | Go-En'yū | ||||||||||
• 1382–1392/1412 | Go-Komatsu | ||||||||||
| History | |||||||||||
• Established | 1331/1336 | ||||||||||
• Re-unification of Imperial courts | August 11 1392 | ||||||||||
| |||||||||||
TheNorthern Court (北朝,hokuchō), also known as theAshikaga Pretenders orNorthern Pretenders, were a set of sixpretenders to the throne of Japan during theNanboku-chō period from 1336 through 1392.[1] Even though the presentImperial House of Japan is descended from the Northern Court emperors,The Southern Court is considered the legitimate line, with the argument being that it was the Southern court which possessed theImperial Regalia, which was later handed over to the Northern court, thus makingEmperor Go-Komatsu the 100th Emperor of Japan. It was in 1911 thatEmperor Meiji passed an edict which made the Southern line the legitimate one.[2] Before this, pre-Meiji scholars considered the Northern line as the legitimate line.
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 emperorsGo-Fukakusa andFushimi.[3]
The origins of the Northern Court go back toEmperor Go-Saga, who reigned from 1242 through 1246.[4] Go-Saga was succeeded in turn by two of his sons,Emperor Go-Fukakusa[5] andEmperor Kameyama.[6] 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.[7] This plan proved to be unworkable, resulting in rival factions and rival claimants to the throne.
In 1333, when the SouthernEmperor Go-Daigo staged theKenmu Restoration and revolted against theHōjōKamakura shogunate, the newly mintedshōgunAshikaga Takauji (ironically, by Emperor Go-Daigo himself) responded by declaringEmperor Kōgon, Go-Daigo'ssecond cousin once removed and the son of an earlier emperor,Emperor Go-Fushimi of the Jimyōin-tō, as the new emperor. After 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 newAshikagashōguns 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 the Imperial throne, whereby the Ashikagashōguns 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 theSouthern 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 the emperors' seat did change, it was often identified as simplyYoshino. 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 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 the Pacific War. He claimed that EmperorHirohito was a fraud, arguing that Hirohito's entire line is descended from the Northern Court. Despite this, he was not arrested forlèse majesté, even when donning the Imperial Crest. He could and did produce akoseki detailing his bloodline back toEmperor Go-Daigo in Yoshino, but his claims and rhetoric failed to inspire anything other than sympathy.[8]
Go-Kameyama reached an agreement with Go-Komatsu to return to 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 theMeiji period, an Imperial decree dated March 3, 1911, established that the legitimate reigning monarchs of this period were the direct descendants ofEmperor Go-Daigo throughEmperor Go-Murakami, whose Southern Court had been established in exile inYoshino, near Nara.[2]
These are theHokuchō or Northern Court emperors:
These are theNanchō or Southern Court emperors:
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