Northern Court

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The Northern Court (北朝, Hokuchō^?), also known as the Ashikaga Pretenders or Northern Pretenders, were a set of six pretenders to the throne of Japan.

The origins of the Northern Court go back to Emperor Go-Saga, reigning from 1242 to 1246. Go-Saga was succeeded in turn by two of his sons, Emperor Go-Fukakusa and Emperor Kameyama. The descendants of these two competed with each other for the throne. Go-Fukakusa's descendants were referred to as the Jimyōin-tō (持明院統, Jimyōin-tō^?) while Kameyama's descendants were known as the Daikakuji-tō (大覚寺統, Daikakuji-tō^?).

In 1333, when Emperor Go-Daigo (from the Daikakuji-tō) staged the Kemmu Restoration and revolted against the Kamakura shogunate, the Shōgun responded by declaring Emperor Kōgon, Go-Daigo's second 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 new Ashikaga shoguns as the rightful claimants to the throne. Kōgon's family thus formed a northern court which was rivalled by the southern court of Go-Daigo and his descendants. 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. Go-Kameyama signed 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. Because they were the ancestors of all the subsequent emperors, the Northern Court was for centuries afterward officially described as the true Imperial Family. However, since 1911, the Japanese government has declared the southern claimants were actually the rightful emperors because they retained possession of the three sacred treasures, making these six officially pretenders.

[edit] Northern Pretenders

Emperor Kōgon 1332-1333
No Northern Court
Emperor Kōmyō 1336-1348
Emperor Sukō 1348-1351
Brief interregnum
Emperor Go-Kōgon 1352-1371
Emperor Go-En'yū 1371-1382
Emperor Go-Komatsu 1382-1392 (then went on to reign as legitimate emperor 1392-1412)