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Emperor Go-Daigo: The Emperor Who Escaped Oki and Toppled Kamakura
Emperor Go-Daigo (1288-1339) was exiled to Oki Island in 1332 after his second failed coup against the Kamakura shogunate. He escaped within a year, rallied warriors at Mt. Senjo, and within three months toppled the shogunate (1333). His Kenmu Restoration was overthrown by Ashikaga Takauji in 1336, leading to the Northern and Southern Courts era.
Emperor Go-Daigo (1288-1339), of the Daikakuji branch of the imperial family, repeatedly attempted to overthrow the Kamakura shogunate. After two failed plots (Shochu Incident 1324, Genko Incident 1331), he was captured and exiled to Oki Island in 1332 — the same island where his ancestor Go-Toba had died. But Go-Daigo refused to share that fate. With local supporter Nawa Nagatoshi, he escaped within a year, fortified Mt. Senjo in Hoki, and called all warriors to rise. Within just three months — May 1333 — Kusunoki Masashige, Nitta Yoshisada, and Ashikaga Takauji had toppled the Kamakura shogunate. Go-Daigo’s subsequent Kenmu Restoration was unpopular among warriors and overthrown by Takauji in 1336. He fled to Yoshino, founding the Southern Court, and died there in 1339 at age 52, vowing his soul would gaze forever toward Kyoto.
Last updated: May 2, 2026
Portrait of Emperor Go-Daigo — escaped Oki to topple Kamakura
Wikimedia Commons / Public Domain
Mt. Senjo in Hoki — Go-Daigo's base after escape
Wikimedia Commons / CC BY-SA 3.0
Nyoirinji at Yoshino — center of Southern Court, where Go-Daigo died
Wikimedia Commons / CC BY-SA 3.0
Tosho-ji ruins — where Hojo Takatoki committed suicide in 1333
Wikimedia Commons / CC BY-SA 3.0
Oki Islands — Go-Daigo escaped in just one year
Wikimedia Commons / CC BY-SA 3.0
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