ABSTRACT
In 1331 the Emperor Godaigo escaped from Kyoto and found an asylum at Kasagi, when Kusunoki Masashige raised troops for the cause of the sovereign. The Hojo of Kamakura sent a large expedition; and though all their men were not in a fighting mood, and therefore the campaign was a long one, Masashige was finally overwhelmed, and after Godaigo was exiled to the island of Oki, the Hojo elected the Emperor Kooen. Takauji was a commander in the Hojo army. Some time after, Godaigo escaped from Oki and landed at Izumo, where he raised loyal troops with the help of Nawa Nagatoshi, a powerful grandee of Hoki Province, and then proceeded to Tamba Province, joined on the way by Akamatsu Morimura of Harima Province, Kojima Takanori of Bizen Province, etc. Many provincial families rose in response to the call of the sovereign and raised troops in different districts. Faced with this situation, the Hojo needed a general of both high reputation and great ability to lead their main forces against Godaigo. Nagoshi Takaiye, representing a family of the Hojo clan, was made the commander-in-chief of the expedition, and Ashikaga Takauji was chosen as the lieutenant-commander. Takatoki, the chief of the Hojo at the time, paid Takauji a great compliment by personally offering him the white flag in the hereditary possession of the Minamoto family, as well as a set of gilded swords. In this expedition Takauji was accompanied by thirty-two families of his clan as well as his chief retainers, Ko Moronao and his brother and others, and headed a contingent composed of 3,000 soldiers. It may well be imagined how great his clan was at the time. Takauji already entertained the ambition to become independent of the Hojo and had secretly sent an emissary to the Emperor. Declaring that he would conquer the Imperialists on the Tamba highway, he marched down from Kyoto, but at the Katsura River he halted, and, joining hands with Akamatsu Morimura, returned to Kyoto
and attacked the headquarters of the Hojo, finally overthrowing the Hojo army.
