In 1333, when the Southern
Emperor Go-Daigo staged the
Kenmu Restoration and revolted against the
Kamakura shogunate, the
shōgun responded by declaring
Emperor Kōgon, Go-Daigo's
second cousin once removed and the son of an earlier emperor,
Emperor Go-Fushimi of the
Jimyōin-tō, as the new emperor. After the destruction of the Kamakura shogunate in 1333, Kōgon lost his claim, but his brother,
Emperor Kōmyō, and two of his sons were supported by the new
Ashikaga shōguns as the rightful claimants to the throne. Kōgon's family thus formed an alternate Imperial Court in Kyoto, which came to be called the Northern Court because its seat was in a location north of its rival. During the
Meiji period, an Imperial decree dated April 3, 1911 established that the legitimate reigning monarchs of this period were the direct descendants of
Emperor Go-Daigo through
Emperor Go-Murakami, whose Southern Court had been established in exile in
Yoshino, near Nara. The
Northern Court established in
Kyoto by
Ashikaga Takauji is therefore considered illegitimate. • – •
Emperor Kōmyō 1336–1348. •
Emperor Sukō 1348–1351. • – •
Emperor Go-Kōgon 1352–1371. •
Emperor Go-En'yū 1371–1382. •
Emperor Go-Komatsu 1382–1392 (then went on to reign as legitimate emperor 1392–1412) The Imperial Court supported by the Ashikaga
shōguns was rivaled by the Southern Court of Go-Daigo and his descendants. This came to be called the Southern Court because its seat was in a location south of its rival. Although the precise location of the emperors' seat did change, it was often identified as simply
Yoshino. In 1392,
Emperor Go-Kameyama of the Southern Court was defeated and abdicated in favor of Kōgon's great-grandson,
Emperor Go-Komatsu, thus ending the divide. But the Northern Court was under the power of the Ashikaga
shōguns and had little real independence. Partly because of this, since the 19th century, the Emperors of the Southern Imperial Court have been considered the legitimate Emperors of Japan. Moreover, the Southern Court controlled the Japanese imperial regalia. The Northern Court members are officially called
pretenders. One Southern Court descendant,
Kumazawa Hiromichi, declared himself to be Japan's rightful Emperor in the days after the end of the Pacific War in
World War II. He claimed that Emperor
Hirohito was a fraud, arguing that Hirohito's entire line is descended from the Northern Court. Despite this, he was not arrested for
lèse-majesté, even when donning the Imperial Crest. He could and did produce a
koseki detailing his bloodline back to Go-Daigo in Yoshino, but his claims and rhetoric failed to inspire anything other than sympathy. ==Southern Court emperors==