Kemmu Restoration

The Kemmu Restoration (Kemmu no shinsei) was Emperor Go-Daigo's attempt, from Genkō 3 (1333) to Kenmu 3 (1336), to establish a government of direct imperial rule after the overthrow of the Kamakura shogunate. Because the regime continued policies that betrayed the expectations of the warrior class, it collapsed through the revolt of Ashikaga Takauji, opening a new era of the Nanbokuchō period and the founding of the Muromachi shogunate.

Fall of the Kamakura Shogunate: the Genkō War and the Overthrow of the Bakufu

Since his accession, Emperor Go-Daigo had sought to restore direct imperial rule and tried to resist the Kamakura shogunate. After failures in the Shōchū Incident of Shōchū 1 (1324) and the Genkō Incident of Genkō 1 (1331), he was exiled to the Oki Islands but did not abandon his intention to overthrow the shogunate. In Genkō 3 (1333), while Kusunoki Masashige resisted the shogunate's forces at Chihaya Castle and Akasaka Castle, warriors across the country rose against the shogunate in response to Go-Daigo's call. Ashikaga Takauji, a prominent gokenin of the Kamakura shogunate, defected to Go-Daigo and captured Rokuhara Tandai. Nitta Yoshisada raised an army in the Kantō and attacked Kamakura. Hōjō Takatoki and the rest of the Hōjō clan killed themselves at Tōshō-ji, and the Kamakura shogunate fell. During this overthrow, the legend of the "Miracle of Inamuragasaki" arose: Nitta Yoshisada threw a gold-mounted tachi into the sea at Inamuragasaki and prayed to the gods. The legend that the tide receded and allowed him to cross Inamuragasaki is a well-known anecdote showing that swords carried the religious meaning of offerings to the gods.

The Kemmu Restoration: Favoritism Toward Court Nobles and Warrior Discontent

After the fall of the Kamakura shogunate, Emperor Go-Daigo established a government centered on the emperor, known as the Kemmu Restoration. However, Go-Daigo's policies favored court nobles (kuge), and the insufficient and unequal rewards given to warriors who had contributed to the overthrow of the shogunate provoked widespread discontent among the warrior class. Newly established organs such as the Kirokusho and the Zasso Ketsudansho also failed to function in practice, and confusion continued. The sword Kiku-ichimonji, said to have been a treasured possession of Kusunoki Masashige, has been handed down at Matsuho Shrine on Awaji. In later ages it was retold again and again as a story of a loyal retainer.

Kusunoki Masashige and Swords: The Blade as a Symbol of Loyalty

During the Kemmu Restoration, Kusunoki Masashige stood out as a warrior who embodied absolute loyalty to Emperor Go-Daigo. Among the swords said to have been worn by Masashige is Koryū Kagemitsu, a work of the Bizen Osafune smith Kagemitsu, which is in the collection of the Tokyo National Museum. Later, at the Battle of Minatogawa (Kenmu 3 / 1336), Masashige was defeated by Ashikaga Takauji's forces and killed himself together with his younger brother Masasue. This "sashichigae" (mutual stabbing) of Masashige and Masasue is a scene in which the brothers are said to have simultaneously plunged their swords into each other's chests and died. The Taiheiki describes it in detail as one of the most moving scenes symbolizing the honor of the warrior and the bond between brothers. In this scene the sword rises in meaning from a weapon of combat to a means of honorable death, and it shows the ultimate union of death and honor in Japanese sword culture.

The Rise of Ashikaga Takauji: The Collapse of the Kemmu Regime and the Dawn of the Muromachi Period

In Kenmu 2 (1335), Ashikaga Takauji suppressed the Nakasendai Rebellion (the uprising of Hōjō Tokiyuki, which aimed to restore Kamakura). He then began to act independently, defying Emperor Go-Daigo's orders. Takauji gathered the discontent of the warrior class and rose in revolt against Go-Daigo. In Kenmu 3 (1336), he defeated Kusunoki Masashige at the Battle of Minatogawa and drove Go-Daigo to Mount Hiei. Takauji then installed a new emperor, Emperor Kōmyō, founded the Northern Court, and laid the foundations of the Muromachi shogunate. Go-Daigo fled to Yoshino and established the Southern Court, and the turbulent Nanbokuchō period began.

The Nanbokuchō Turmoil and the Golden Age of Swordmaking: The Age That Produced the ō-kissaki

The turmoil of the failed Kemmu Restoration and the Nanbokuchō conflict sharply increased the demand for swords and made the spiritual meanings invested in them more complex and profound. In an era divided between loyalty and treachery, and between the Southern and Northern Courts, warriors kept fighting, each putting their own "justice" into their swords. Amid this upheaval, swordsmiths of Bizen Osafune, Sōshū, Yamato, and Mino met the strong demand by producing enormous numbers of blades, and the sword styles of the Nanbokuchō period were established: large points (ō-kissaki), bold blades, and changes in taihai. In particular, the ō-kissaki tachi made by renowned Nanbokuchō masters, such as Kanemitsu and Motoshige of Bizen Osafune and Hiromitsu and Akihiro of Sōshū, were prized in later ages as "Nanbokuchō-mono," and their grand beauty is regarded as the pinnacle of the warrior age. The Kemmu Restoration lasted only three years, but the long-term Nanbokuchō turmoil it set off is an era that sword historians regard as an important turning point, one that produced one of the richest periods of blade production in Japanese history.

Taiheiki and Swords: The Blades of the Nanbokuchō Heroes

The war chronicle Taiheiki, which depicts the Kemmu Restoration and the Nanbokuchō turmoil, is an important literary work that describes in detail the relationship between swords and warriors. It portrays many dramatic scenes involving swords, including Kusunoki Masashige's valiant fighting, his mutual stabbing with Masasue, and Nitta Yoshisada's casting of his sword at Inamuragasaki. These depictions had a major influence on later views of bushidō and of swords.

Kemmu Regime and Sword Production: Surging Demand and the Birth of a New Style

From the Kemmu Restoration (1333–1336) through the Nanbokuchō turmoil (to 1392), Japanese sword production reached an unprecedented level in both quality and quantity. Because fighting continued across the country, large numbers of swords were needed by warriors, court nobles, and temples and shrines alike. Among the swordsmiths who met this demand, the most famous is Masamune of Sōshū. Masamune is renowned in later ages as "the greatest swordsmith under heaven," and his disciples and grand-disciples spread the Sōshū-den throughout the country as the Masamune Juttetsu (the Ten Disciples of Masamune). Some of Masamune's works are designated National Treasures and are held in museums. That the political upheaval of the Kemmu Restoration was the direct background to the age that produced the greatest masterpieces of Japanese swords is an irony of history, and a symbolic fact showing the paradoxical richness of sword culture.