Emperor Go-Daigo of Japan
Emperor Go-Daigo (後醍醐天皇) (1288 - September 19, 1339) was the 96th Emperor of Japan. He was named after Emperor Daigo (Go means "latter" in Japanese, and is used to differentiate between two Emperors of the same name).
Emperor Go-Daigo was the uncontested emperor from 1318 until 1331. However, at that time, the emperor was merely a figurehead for the shoguns and their supporters, who held real political power. In 1331, Go-Daigo staged a rebellion, overthrew the Kamakura shogunate, and seized power in 1333, which was known as the Kemmu restoration. Go-Daigo appointed two of his sons Prince Morinaga and Prince Narinaga as shoguns. However, Go-Daigo's victory was short-lived, as one of his generals, Ashikaga Takauji, revolted in 1336 and established the Ashikaga shogunate.
The Kamakura shoguns had proclaimed Go-Daigo's third cousin, Kōgon, emperor in 1331, and Ashikaga supported the claim of Kōgon's brother, Kōmyō. This began a sixty year period in which two rival courts laid claim to the Japanese throne. The Japanese government now officially considers Go-Daigo's family, the southern court, to have been the true emperors, rather than the Ashikaga-backed northern court. However, in 1392, Go-Daigo's grandson, Go-Kameyama, was defeated and abdicated in favor of the northern dynasty claimant, Go-Komatsu, making Kōgon the ancestor of the subsequent emperors.
