A history of the Japanese people

by F. Brinkley; Dairoku Kikuchi

The Shokyu era (1219-1222) gave its name to a memorable conflict between Kyoto and Kamakura. Affairs in the Imperial capital were ruled at that time by the ex-Emperor, Go-Toba. We have seen how, in 1198, he abdicated in favour of his eldest son, Tsuchimikado. It is not impossible that the idea of rebelling, sooner or later, against the Bakufu had begun to germinate in the mind of Go-Toba at that date, but the probability is that, in laying aside the sceptre, his dominant aim was to enjoy the sweets of power without its responsibilities, and to obtain leisure for pursuing polite accomplishments in which he excelled. His procedure, however, constituted a slight to the Bakufu, for the change of sovereign was accomplished without any reference whatever to Kamakura. Tsuchimikado was a baby of three at the time of his accession. He had been chosen by lot from among three sons of Go-Toba, but the choice displeased the latter, and in 1210, Tsuchimikado, then in his fifteenth year, was compelled to abdicate in favour of his younger brother, Juntoku, aged thirteen, the eighty-fourth occupant of the throne. Again, Kamakura was not consulted; but the neglect evoked no remonstrance, for Sanetomo held the post of shogun at the time, and Sanetomo always maintained an attitude of deference towards the Imperial Court which had nominated him to high office.

Juntoku held the sceptre eleven years, and then (1221) he, too, abdicated at his father's request. Very different considerations, however, were operative on this occasion. Go-Toba had now definitely resolved to try armed conclusions with the Bakufu, and he desired to have the assistance of his favourite son, Juntoku. Thus three cloistered Emperors had their palaces in Kyoto simultaneously. They were distinguished as Hon-in (Go-Toba), Chu-in (Tsuchimikado) and Shin-in* (Juntoku). As for the occupant of the throne, Chukyo (eighty-fifth sovereign) he was a boy of two, the son of Juntoku. Much has been written about Go-Toba by romanticists and little by sober historians. The pathos of his fate tends to obscure his true character. That he was gifted with exceptional versatility is scarcely questionable; but that he lacked all the qualities making for greatness appears equally certain. That his instincts were so cruel as to make him derive pleasure from scenes of human suffering, such as the torture of a prisoner, may have been due to a neurotic condition induced by early excesses, but it must always stand to his discredit that he had neither judgment to estimate opportunities nor ability to create them.

*Shin-in signifies the "original recluse;" Chu-in, the "middle recluse;" and Shin-in "the new recluse."

Briefly summarized, the conditions which contributed mainly to the Shokyu struggle had their origin in the system of land supervision instituted by Yoritomo at the instance of Oye no Hiromoto. The constables and the stewards despatched by the Bakufu to the provinces interfered irksomely with private rights of property, and thus there was gradually engendered a sentiment of discontent, especially among those who owed their estates to Imperial benevolence. A well-known record (Tai-hei-ki) says: "In early morn the stars that linger in the firmament gradually lose their brilliancy, even though the sun has not yet appeared above the horizon. The military families did not wantonly show contempt towards the Court. But in some districts the stewards were more powerful than the owners of the estates, and the constables were more respected than the provincial governors. Thus insensibly the influence of the Court waned day by day and that of the military waxed."

There were other causes also at work. They are thus summarized by the Kamakura Jidaishi: "The conditions of the time called two parties into existence: the Kyoto party and the military party. To the former belonged not only many officials of Shinto shrines, priests of Buddhist temples, and managers of private manors, but also a few nominal retainers of the Bakufu. These last included men who, having occupied posts in the Imperial capital for a long time, had learned to regard the Court with gratitude; others who had special grievances against the Bakufu, and yet others who, having lost their estates, were ready to adopt any means of recovering them. The family system of the time paid no heed to primogeniture. Parents fixed the succession by favouritism, and made such divisions as seemed expedient in their eyes. During a parent's lifetime there could be no appeal nor any remonstrance. But no sooner was a father's tombstone about to be erected, than his children engaged in disputes or appealed to the courts. Therefore the Bakufu, seeking to correct this evil state of affairs, issued an order that the members of a family should be subservient to the directions of the eldest son; which order was followed, in 1202, by a law providing that disputes between brothers must be compromised, and by another, in 1214, ruling that applications for official posts must have the approval of the members of the applicants' family in conclave instead of being submitted direct, as theretofore. Under such a system of family autocracy it frequently happened that men were ousted from all share in their paternal estates, and these men, carrying their genealogical tables constantly in their pockets, were ready to join in any enterprise that might better their circumstances. Hence the Shokyu struggle may be said to have been, politically, a collision between the Imperial Court and the Bakufu, and, socially, a protest against family autocracy."

The murder of Sanetomo inspired the Court with strong hope that a suicidal feud had commenced at Kamakura, and when the Fujiwara baby, Yoritsune, was sent thither, peace-loving politicians entertained an idea that the civil and the military administration would soon be found co-operating. But neither event made any change in the situation. The lady Masa and her brother remained as powerful as ever and as careless of the Court's dignity.

Two events now occurred which materially hastened a rupture. One was connected with an estate, in the province of Settsu, conferred by Go-Toba on a favourite—a shirabyoshi, "white measure-marker," as a danseuse of those days was called. The land-steward of this estate treated its new owner, Kamegiku, with contumely, and Go-Toba was sufficiently infatuated to lodge a protest, which elicited from Kamakura an unceremonious negative. One of the flagrant abuses of the time was the sale of offices to Court ladies, and the Bakufu's attitude in the affair of the Settsu estates amounted to an indirect condemnation of such evil practices. But Go-Toba, profoundly incensed, applied himself from that day to mustering soldiers and practising military tactics. The second incident which precipitated an appeal to arms was the confiscation of a manor owned by a bushi named Nishina Morito, who, though a retainer (keriin) of the Bakufu, had taken service at the Imperial Court. Go-Toba asked that the estate should be restored, but Yoshitoki flatly refused. It was then (1221) that Go-Toba contrived the abdication of his son, Juntoku, a young man of twenty-four, possessing, apparently, all the qualities that make for success in war, and thereafter an Imperial decree deprived Yoshitoki of his offices and declared him a rebel. The die was now cast. Troops were summoned from all parts of the Empire to attack Kamakura, and a motley crowd mustered in Kyoto.

STEPS TAKEN BY THE BAKUFU

It was on June 6, 1221, that the Imperial decree outlawing Hojo Yoshitoki appeared, and three days later Kamakura was informed of the event. The lady Masa at once summoned the leading generals of the Bakufu to her presence and addressed them thus: "To-day the time of parting has come. You know well what kind of work the late shogun, my husband, accomplished. But slanderers have misled the sovereign and are seeking to destroy the Kwanto institutions. If you have not forgotten the favours of the deceased shogun, you will join hearts and hands to punish the traducers and to preserve the old order. But if any of you wish to proceed to the west, you are free to do so."

This astute appeal is said to have moved the generals greatly. There was not one instance of disaffection; a sufficiently notable fact when we remember that the choice lay between the Throne and the Bakufu. A military council was at once convened by Yoshitoki to discuss a plan of campaign, and the view held by the great majority was that a defensive attitude should be adopted by guarding the Ashigara and Hakone passes.