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The Emperor Who Reclaimed the Realm from Exile — Go-Daigo and the Escape from Oki
Emperor Go-Daigo plotted to overthrow the Kamakura shogunate, failed, and was exiled to Oki Island. But he escaped, and with warriors like Kusunoki Masashige and Nitta Yoshisada, he destroyed the shogunate in 1333. The story of an emperor who reclaimed power through sheer will.
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Emperor Go-Daigo, determined to restore direct imperial rule, plotted twice to overthrow the Kamakura shogunate. After his 1331 failure he was exiled to Oki Island — but in 1333 he escaped. With the anti-shogunate tide rising (Kusunoki at Chihaya), Ashikaga Takauji defected to take Rokuhara and Nitta Yoshisada captured Kamakura. The shogunate fell, and Go-Daigo began the Kenmu Restoration.
Portrait of Emperor Go-Daigo — the determined emperor who escaped exile in Oki, toppled the Kamakura shogunate, and restored direct imperial rule
Wikimedia Commons / Public Domain
Winter Sea of Japan and Oki — the remote island where Go-Daigo was exiled, from which he escaped to topple the shogunate
Wikimedia Commons / CC BY-SA 3.0
Kinpusenji, Yoshino, Nara — central temple of Yoshino where Go-Daigo founded the Southern Court, linked to the emperor of unyielding will
Wikimedia Commons / CC BY-SA 3.0
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Emperor Go-Daigo
Architect of the Kenmu Restoration
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