Emperor Kogon of Japan
|
|
Emperor Kōgon (光厳天皇) (1313-1364) was the first of what are now called the northern Ashikaga pretenders to the the throne of Japan, although this designation is technically inaccurate in his case. In 1331, when Emperor Go-Daigo staged the Kemmu restoration and revolted against the Kamakura shogunate, the shogun responded by declaring Kōgon, Go-Daigo's third cousin and the son of an earlier emperor, Go-Fushimi, as the new emperor. After the destruction of the Kamakura shogunate in 1333, Kōgon lost his claim, but his brother, Kōmyō, and two of his sons were supported by the new Ashikaga shoguns as the rightful claimants to the throne. Kōgon's family thus formed a northern court which was rivalled by the southern court of Go-Daigo and his descendents. In 1392, the southern court emperor was defeated and abdicated in favor of Kōgon's great-grandson, Go-Komatsu, thus ending the divide. Because they were the ancestors of all the subsequent emperors, the northern court was for centuries afterward officially described as the true imperial family. However, since 1911, the Japanese government has declared the southern claimants were actually the rightful emperors, making Kōgon officially a pretender.
