Editing Emperor Go-Daigo (section)

==Biography==
Before his ascension to the [[Chrysanthemum Throne]], his personal name (''[[imina]]'') was Takaharu''-shinnō'' (尊治親王).<ref>Titsingh, {{Google books|18oNAAAAIAAJ|p. 281|page=281}}; Varley, p. 241.</ref>

He was the second son of the Daikakuji-tō emperor, [[Emperor Go-Uda]]. His mother was [[Fujiwara no Chūshi|Fujiwara no ''Chūshi''/Tadako]] (''藤原忠子''), daughter of [[Fujiwara no Tadatsugu]] (Itsutsuji Tadatsugu) (''藤原忠継/五辻忠継''). She became Nyoin called Dantenmon-in (談天門院). His older brother was [[Emperor Go-Nijō]].
<gallery>
File:Emperor Go-Daigo.jpg|Emperor Go-Daigo portrait in [[Tennō Sekkan Daijin Eizukan]].
Image:Emperor-Go-Daigo-by-Ogata-Gekko-1904.png|Woodblock print triptych by [[Ogata Gekkō]]; Emperor Go-Daigo dreams of [[ghost]]s at his palace in Kasagiyama
File:Godaigo tenno ryo.jpg|Memorial Shinto shrine and mausoleum honoring Emperor Go-Daigo
</gallery>
Emperor Go-Daigo's ideal was the [[Engi (era)|Engi]] [[Japanese era name|era]] (901–923) during the reign of [[Emperor Daigo]], a period of direct imperial rule.  An emperor's posthumous name was normally chosen after his death, but Emperor Go-Daigo chose his personally during his lifetime, to share it with Emperor Daigo.

===Events of Go-Daigo's life===

* '''1308''' (''[[Enkyō (Kamakura period)|Enkyō]] 1''): At the death of [[Emperor Go-Nijō]], Hanazono accedes to the [[Chrysanthemum Throne]] at age 12 years; and Takaharu''-shinnō'', the second son of former-[[Emperor Go-Uda]] is elevated as Crown Prince and heir apparent under the direction of the [[Kamakura shogunate]].<ref>Titsingh, {{Google books|18oNAAAAIAAJ|p. 278|page=278}}; Ponsonby-Fane, Richard. (1959) ''The Imperial House of Japan'', p. 204.</ref>
* '''29 March 1318''' (''[[Bunpō]] 2, 26th day of 2nd month'')<!-- NengoCalc 文保二年二月二十六日 -->: In the 11th year of Hanazono's reign (花園天皇十一年), the emperor abdicated; and the succession (''senso'') was received by his cousin, the second son of former-Emperor Go-Uda.  Shortly thereafter, Emperor Go-Daigo is said to have acceded to the throne (''sokui'').<ref>Titsingh, {{Google books|18oNAAAAIAAJ|p. 281|page=281}}; Varley, p. 44; a distinct act of ''senso'' is unrecognized prior to [[Emperor Tenji]]; and all sovereigns except [[Empress Jitō|Jitō]], [[Emperor Yōzei|Yōzei]], [[Emperor Go-Toba|Go-Toba]], and [[Emperor Fushimi|Fushimi]] have ''senso'' and ''sokui'' in the same year until the reign of [[Emperor Go-Murakami]].</ref>
* '''1319''' (''Bunpō 3, 4th month''): Emperor Go-Daigo caused the ''[[nengō]]'' to be changed to ''[[Gen'ō]]'' to mark the beginning of his reign.<ref>Varley, p. 243.</ref>
In 1324, with the discovery of Emperor Go-Daigo's plans to overthrow the [[Kamakura shogunate]], the [[Rokuhara Tandai]] disposed of his close associate Hino Suketomo in the {{ill|Shōchū Incident|ja|正中の変|vertical-align=sup}}.


In the [[Genkō War|Genkō Incident]] of 1331, Emperor Go-Daigo's plans were again discovered, this time by a betrayal by his close associate Yoshida Sadafusa.  He quickly hid the [[Japanese imperial regalia|Sacred Treasures]] in a secluded castle in Kasagiyama (the modern town of [[Kasagi, Kyoto|Kasagi]], [[Soraku District, Kyoto|Sōraku District]], [[Kyoto Prefecture|Kyōto Prefecture]]) and raised an army, but the castle fell to the [[shogunate]]'s army the following year, and they enthroned [[Emperor Kōgon]], exiling Daigo to [[Oki Province]] (the [[Oki Islands]] in modern-day [[Shimane Prefecture]]),<ref name=Sansom2>{{Cite book |last=Sansom |first=George |title=A History of Japan, 1334–1615 |url=https://archive.org/details/historyofjapan00sans |url-access=registration |publisher=Stanford University Press |year=1961 |isbn=0804705259 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/historyofjapan00sans/page/7 7]–11}}</ref> the same place to which [[Emperor Go-Toba]] had been exiled after the [[Jōkyū War]] of 1221.

In 1333, Emperor Go-Daigo escaped from Oki with the help of [[Nawa Nagatoshi]] and his family, raising an army at Senjo Mountain in [[Hōki Province]] (the modern town of Kotoura in [[Tōhaku District]], [[Tottori Prefecture]]). [[Ashikaga Takauji]], who had been sent by the [[Kamakura shogunate|shogunate]] to find and destroy this army, sided with the emperor and captured the [[Rokuhara Tandai]].  Immediately following this, [[Nitta Yoshisada]], who had raised an army in the east, laid siege to Kamakura. When the city finally fell to Nitta, [[Hōjō Takatoki]], the [[Shikken|shogunal regent]], fled to [[Tōshō-ji|Tōshō temple]], where he and his entire family committed suicide. This ended Hōjō power and paved the way for a new [[Ashikaga shogunate|military regime]].<ref name=Sansom2/>{{rp|15–21}}

Upon his triumphal return to Kyoto, Daigo took the throne from Emperor Kōgon and began the [[Kenmu Restoration]]. The Restoration was ostensibly a revival of the older ways, but, in fact, the emperor had his eye set on an imperial dictatorship like that of the [[Chinese sovereign|emperor of China]]. He wanted to imitate the Chinese in all their ways and become the most powerful ruler in the East. Impatient reforms, litigation over land rights, rewards, and the exclusion of the samurai from the political order caused much complaining, and his political order began to fall apart. In 1335, [[Ashikaga Takauji]], who had travelled to eastern Japan without obtaining an imperial edict in order to suppress the Nakasendai Rebellion, became disaffected. Daigo ordered Nitta Yoshisada to track down and destroy Ashikaga. Ashikaga defeated Nitta Yoshisada at the Battle of Takenoshita, Hakone. [[Kusunoki Masashige]] and [[Kitabatake Akiie]], in communication with Kyoto, smashed the Ashikaga army. Takauji fled to [[Kyūshū]], but the following year, after reassembling his army, he again approached Kyōto. Kusunoki Masashige proposed a reconciliation with Takauji to the emperor, but Go-Daigo rejected this. He ordered Masashige and Yoshisada to destroy Takauji. Kusunoki's army was defeated at the [[Battle of Minatogawa]].

When Ashikaga's army entered Kyōto, Emperor Go-Daigo resisted, fleeing to [[Mount Hiei]], but seeking reconciliation, he sent the [[Japanese imperial regalia|imperial regalia]] to the Ashikaga side. Takauji enthroned the Jimyōin-tō emperor, [[Emperor Kōmyō|Kōmyō]], and officially began his shogunate with the enactment of the Kenmu Law Code.<ref name=Sansom2/>{{rp|54–58}}



Go-Daigo escaped from the capital in January 1337, the regalia that he had handed over to the Ashikaga being counterfeit, and set up the [[Southern Court]] among the mountains of [[Yoshino, Nara|Yoshino]], beginning the [[Nanboku-cho|Period of Northern and Southern Courts]] in which the [[Northern Court|Northern Dynasty]] in [[Kyoto]] and the Southern Dynasty in Yoshino faced off against each other.<ref name=Sansom2/>{{rp|55,59}}

Emperor Go-Daigo ordered Imperial Prince Kaneyoshi to Kyūshū and Nitta Yoshisada and Imperial Prince Tsuneyoshi to [[Hokuriku region|Hokuriku]], and so forth, dispatching his sons all over, so that they could oppose the Northern Court.

* '''18 September 1339''' (''[[Ryakuō]] 2, 15th day of the 8th month'')<!-- NengoCalc 暦応二年八月十五日 -->:  In the 21st year of Go-Daigo's reign, the emperor abdicated at Yoshino in favor of his son, Noriyoshi''-shinnō,'' who would become [[Emperor Go-Murakami]].<ref>Varley, p. 270.</ref>
* '''19 September 1339''' (''[[Ryakuō]] 2, 16th day of the 8th month'')<!-- NengoCalc 暦応二年八月十六日 -->: Go-Daigo died;<ref>Titsingh, {{Google books|18oNAAAAIAAJ| p. 295.|page=295}}</ref>

The actual site of Go-Daigo's [[grave (burial)|grave]] is settled.<ref name="kunaicho"/>  This emperor is traditionally venerated at a [[memorial]] [[Shinto]] [[shrine]] (''misasagi'') at Nara.

The [[Imperial Household Agency]] designates this location as Go-Daigo's [[mausoleum]].  It is formally named ''Tō-no-o no misasagi''.<ref>Ponsonby-Fane, p. 420.</ref>