Kitabatake Chikafusa

Kitabatake Chikafusa (1293–1354) was a court noble and military leader who represented the Southern Court during the Northern and Southern Courts period. He is remembered by later generations as the author of the historical work “Jinnō Shōtōki,” which argues for the legitimate succession to the Japanese throne. Born into the Kitabatake family, which traces its descent from the Murakami Genji line, he held considerable weight at court as a close adviser to Emperor Go-Daigo.

When the Kenmu Restoration (1333) began under Emperor Go-Daigo, Chikafusa returned to political life. Together with his eldest son, Kitabatake Akiie, he escorted Prince Noriyoshi (later Emperor Go-Murakami) north to Taga Castle in Mutsu Province. However, the Kenmu Restoration ended within a short time, and when Ashikaga Takauji established the Muromachi shogunate, Chikafusa devoted his life to establishing the organization of the Southern Court and proclaiming its legitimacy. In 1338, Chikafusa attempted to travel by sea to the eastern provinces and on to Ōshū, but a storm drove his ship onto the shore of Hitachi Province. He based himself at Oda Castle and other strongholds and fought against the forces of the Northern Court. It was at Oda Castle in Hitachi that he wrote “Jinnō Shōtōki” (1339). This work traces the imperial lineage from the age of the gods to the accession of Emperor Go-Murakami, while discussing the legitimacy of the emperor and the essential nature of Japan as a nation. It is highly regarded as a classic of kokutai and imperial theory. The opening passage, “Ō-Yamato wa kami no kuni nari” (Great Japan is the land of the gods), had a profound influence on later Japanese historical consciousness.

In military affairs, Chikafusa called on warriors of the Kantō and Ōshū regions to gather, beginning with Yūki Chikatomo of Shirakawa in Mutsu, and he labored to maintain the Southern Court’s sphere of influence. Even in a disadvantaged position, he sustained the survival of the Southern Court through skillful diplomacy and strategy. In terms of Japanese swords, the Northern and Southern Courts period was a time when large tachi, as represented by the “Enbun–Jōji tachi,” were in fashion. The Southern Court continued for about 40 years after Chikafusa’s death (until the reunification of the Northern and Southern Courts in 1392), and his ideas also had a great influence on sonnō thought after the Meiji Restoration.