Within those walls reigned the emperor — Emperor Go-Daigo from 1318 to 1339, Kenko’s peak years — and the question immediately arises: How can the seat of rule be “uncontaminated by the ...

In 1333 an obscure, ambitious general deserted the once potent Hoji family of military tyrants and threw his army on the side of the exiled Emperor Go Daigo. The Emperor’s side won. Having set ...