was a Japanese era (年號, ''nengō'', lit. year name) of the

Southern Court The were a set of four emperors ( Emperor Go-Daigo and his line) whose claims to sovereignty during the Nanboku-chō period spanning from 1336 through 1392 were usurped by the Northern Court. This period ended with the Southern Court definitivel ...

during the Era of Northern and Southern Courts after Kōkoku and before Kentoku. This period spanned the years from December 1346 to July 1370. The

emperors in Yoshino were and . The emperors in Kyoto were , and in the north.

Nanboku-chō overview

During the

Meiji period The was an era of Japanese history that extended from October 23, 1868, to July 30, 1912. The Meiji era was the first half of the Empire of Japan, when the Japanese people moved from being an isolated feudal society at risk of colonizatio ...

, an Imperial decree dated March 3, 1911 established that the legitimate reigning monarchs of this period were the direct descendants of Emperor Go-Daigo through Emperor Go-Murakami, whose had been established in exile in Yoshino, near Nara.Thomas, Julia Adeney. (2001)
''Reconfiguring modernity: concepts of nature in Japanese political ideology'', p. 199 n57
citing Mehl, Margaret. (1997). ''History and the State in Nineteenth-Century Japan.'' pp. 140-147. Until the end of the

Edo period The , also known as the , is the period between 1600 or 1603 and 1868 in the history of Japan, when the country was under the rule of the Tokugawa shogunate and some 300 regional ''daimyo'', or feudal lords. Emerging from the chaos of the Sengok ...

, the militarily superior pretender-Emperors supported by the Ashikaga shogunate had been mistakenly incorporated in Imperial chronologies despite the undisputed fact that the

Imperial Regalia The Imperial Regalia, also called Imperial Insignia (in German ''Reichskleinodien'', ''Reichsinsignien'' or ''Reichsschatz''), are regalia of the Holy Roman Emperor. The most important parts are the Imperial Crown of the Holy Roman Empire, C ...

were not in their possession. This illegitimate had been established in

Kyoto Kyoto ( or ; Japanese language, Japanese: , ''Kyōto'' ), officially , is the capital city of Kyoto Prefecture in the Kansai region of Japan's largest and most populous island of Honshu. , the city had a population of 1.46 million, making it t ...

Ashikaga Takauji also known as Minamoto no Takauji was the founder and first ''shōgun'' of the Ashikaga shogunate."Ashikaga Takauji" in ''Encyclopædia Britannica, The New Encyclopædia Britannica''. Chicago: Encyclopædia Britannica Inc., 15th edn., 1992, Vol. ...

Events of the Shohei Era

* 1346 (''Shōhei 1''): The '' kampaku'' Takatsukasa Morohira was relieved of his duties; and he was replaced by

Nijō Yoshimoto , son of regent Nijō Michihira, was a Japanese '' kugyō'' (court noble), waka poet, and renga master of the early Nanboku-chō period (1336–1392). Yoshimoto's wife gave birth to Nijō Moroyoshi. With another woman, he had sons Nijō Morots ...

.Titsingh, p. 297. * 1347 (''Shōhei 2''): Nijō Yoshimoto was demoted from his high office as ''Kampaku;'' and he was instead given the title and responsibilities of ''

sadaijin The ''Kenkyusha's New Japanese-English Dictionary'', Kenkyusha Limited, was a government position in Japan during the Asuka to Meiji era. The Asuka Kiyomihara Code of 689 marks the initial appearance of the ''Sadaijin'' in the context of a cent ...

.'' * 1349 (''Shōhei 4''): Go-Murakami flees to A'no;

Ashikaga Tadayoshi "Ashikaga Tadayoshi" in ''Encyclopædia Britannica, The New Encyclopædia Britannica''. Chicago: Encyclopædia Britannica Inc., 15th edn., 1992, Vol. 1, p. 624. was a general of the Nanboku-chō period, Northern and Southern Courts period (1337� ...

and Kō no Moronao quarrel; Ashikaga Motouji, son of Takauji, appointed Kamakura

Kanrei or, more rarely, ''kanryō'', was a high political post in feudal Japan; it is usually translated as ''shōguns deputy''. After 1349, there were actually two ''Kanrei'', the ''Kyoto Kanrei'' and the ''Kantō Kanrei''. But originally from 1219 unt ...

Ackroyd, Joyce. (1982) ''Lessons from History: the Tokushi Yoron'', p.329. * 1350 (''Shōhei 5''): Yoshinori guarded Kyoto. * 1350 (''Shōhei 5''): Tadayoshi, excluded from administration, turns priest; Tadayoshi's adopted son, Ashikaga Tadafuyu is wrongly repudiated as a rebel. * 1351 (''Shōhei 6''): Tadayoshi joins Southern Court, southern army takes Kyoto; truce, Takauji returns to Kyoto; Tadayoshi and Takauji reconciled; Kō no Moronao and Kō no Moroyasu are exiled. * 1350–1352 ((''Shōhei 5–Shōhei 7''): Armed conflict, variously known as the or ''Kannō no juran'', developed from antagonism between Shōgun

and his brother,

. Disagreement about the influence of Kō no Moronao diminished after death of Moronao. Tadayoshi was ordered to relocate to Kamakura. The brothers eventually reconciled before Tadayoshi's death in 1352. * 1352 (''Shōhei 7''): The grandfather of the emperor is advanced from the rank of ''

dainagon was a counselor of the first rank in the Imperial court of Japan. The role dates from the 7th century. This advisory position remained a part of the Imperial court from the 8th century until the Meiji period in the 19th century.Nussbaum, "Dainag ...

to ''

nadaijin The , literally meaning "Inner Minister", was an ancient office in the Japanese Imperial Court. Its role, rank and authority varied throughout the pre- Meiji period of Japanese history, but in general remained as a significant post under the Ta ...

.''Titsingh, p. 302. * 1353 (''Shōhei 8''): Kyoto occupied by southern forces under Yamana Tokiuji; and the capital was retaken by the Ashikaga. * 1354 (''Shōhei 9''): Takauji flees with Go-Kōgon;

Kitabatake Chikafusa was a Japanese court noble and writer of the 14th century who supported the Southern Court in the Nanboku-cho period, serving as advisor to five Emperors. Some of his greatest and most famous work was performed during the reign of Emperor ...

dies. * 1355 (''Shōhei 10''): Kyoto taken by southern army; Kyoto retaken again by the Ashikaga forces. * 1356 (''Shōhei 11''): Minamoto no Michisuke was advanced from the court rank of ''

'' to ''

.'' * 1356 ''Shōhei 11''): Ashikaga Yoshinori is raised to the second rank of the third class in the court hierarchy.Titsingh, p. 303. * 1357 (''Shōhei 12''): Emperor Go-Murakami, who had captured former- Emperor Kōgon, former- Emperor Kōmyō and former- Emperor Sukō in 1352, released all three of them and permitted their return from Yoshino to Kyoto. * 1358 (''Shōhei 13''): Death of

;

Ashikaga Yoshiakira was the second ''shōgun'' of the Ashikaga shogunate who reigned from 1358 to 1367 during the Muromachi period of Japan. Yoshiakira was the son of the founder and first ''shōgun'' of the Muromachi shogunate, Ashikaga Takauji. His mother was Ak ...

appointed shōgun; dissention and defections in shogunate.Ackroyd, p.329. * 1361 (''Shōhei 16''): Snowfall was unusually heavy; and there was also a disastrous fire in Kyoto as well as a violent earthquake. * 1361 (''Shōhei 16''):

Eigen-ji is a Buddhist temple in the Eigenji-Takano neighborhood of the city of Higashiōmi, Shiga Prefecture, Japan. It is the head temple of one of the 14 autonomous branches of the Rinzai school of Japanese Zen History Eigen-ji was founded in 1361 b ...

, a

Zen Zen (; from Chinese: ''Chán''; in Korean: ''Sŏn'', and Vietnamese: ''Thiền'') is a Mahayana Buddhist tradition that developed in China during the Tang dynasty by blending Indian Mahayana Buddhism, particularly Yogacara and Madhyamaka phil ...

Buddhist Buddhism, also known as Buddhadharma and Dharmavinaya, is an Indian religion and List of philosophies, philosophical tradition based on Pre-sectarian Buddhism, teachings attributed to the Buddha, a wandering teacher who lived in the 6th or ...

temple located in modern-day

Shiga prefecture is a landlocked prefecture of Japan in the Kansai region of Honshu. Shiga Prefecture has a population of 1,398,972 as of 1 February 2025 and has a geographic area of . Shiga Prefecture borders Fukui Prefecture to the north, Gifu Prefecture to th ...

, was founded Sasaki Ujiyori; and its first Abbot was Jakushitsu Genko.Eigen-ji
Dumoulin, Heinrich. (2005). ''Zen Buddhism: A History'', p. 205. * 1362 (''Shōhei 17''): Hosokawa Kiyouji and Kusunoki Masanori attack Kyoto,

flees, but regains the capital in twenty days.

Northern Court Equivalents

* Jōwa * Kan'ō * Bunna * Enbun *

Kōan A ( ; ; zh, c=公案, p=gōng'àn ; ; ) is a narrative, story, dialogue, question, or statement from Chan Buddhism, Chinese Chan Buddhist lore, supplemented with commentaries, that is used in Zen Buddhism, Buddhist practice in different way ...

Jōji was a Japanese era name (年号, ''nengō'', lit. year name) of the Northern Court during the Era of Northern and Southern Courts after ''Kōan'' and before ''Ōan''. This period spanned the years from September 1362 through February 1368. T ...

Ōan , also romanized as Ō-an, was a Japanese era name (年号, ''nengō'', lit. year name) of the Northern Court during the Era of Northern and Southern Courts after '' Jōji'' and before '' Eiwa.'' This period spanned the years from February 1368 ...

Notes

References

* Ackroyd, Joyce. (1982) ''Lessons from History: The Tokushi Yoron.'' Brisbane:

University of Queensland Press University of Queensland Press (UQP) is an Australian publishing house based in Brisbane, Queensland. Founded in 1948 as a traditional university press, UQP now publishes books for general readers across fiction, non-fiction, poetry, children's ...

.
OCLC 7574544
* Mehl, Margaret. (1997). ''History and the State in Nineteenth-Century Japan.'' New York: St Martin's Press.
OCLC 419870136
* Nussbaum, Louis Frédéric and Käthe Roth. (2005). ''Japan Encyclopedia.'' Cambridge:

Harvard University Press Harvard University Press (HUP) is an academic publishing house established on January 13, 1913, as a division of Harvard University. It is a member of the Association of University Presses. Its director since 2017 is George Andreou. The pres ...

.
OCLC 48943301
* Thomas, Julia Adeney. (2001). ''Reconfiguring Modernity: Concepts of Nature in Japanese Political Ideology.'' Berkeley:

University of California Press The University of California Press, otherwise known as UC Press, is a publishing house associated with the University of California that engages in academic publishing. It was founded in 1893 to publish scholarly and scientific works by faculty ...

. ; * Titsingh, Isaac, ed. (1834). iyun-sai Rin-siyo/Hayashi Gahō, 1652">Hayashi_Gahō.html" ;"title="iyun-sai Rin-siyo/ iyun-sai Rin-siyo/Hayashi Gahō, 1652 ''Nipon o daï itsi ran">Hayashi Gahō">iyun-sai Rin-siyo/Hayashi Gahō, 1652">Hayashi_Gahō.html" ;"title="iyun-sai Rin-siyo/Hayashi Gahō">iyun-sai Rin-siyo/Hayashi Gahō, 1652 ''Nipon o daï itsi ran; ou
Annales des empereurs du Japon.
' Paris: Royal Asiatic Society">Oriental Translation Fund of Great Britain and Ireland
OCLC 84067437

External links

National Diet Library The is the national library of Japan and among the largest libraries in the world. It was established in 1948 for the purpose of assisting members of the in researching matters of public policy. The library is similar in purpose and scope to ...

, "The Japanese Calendar
-- historical overview plus illustrative images from library's collection
{{DEFAULTSORT:Shohei Japanese eras 1340s in Japan 1350s in Japan 1360s in Japan 1370s in Japan 14th-century neologisms