Siege of Kamakura

The 1333 siege of Kamakura was a battle of the Genkō War, and marked the end of the power of the Hōjō clan, which had dominated the regency of the Kamakura shogunate for over a century. Forces loyal to Emperor Go-Daigo and led by Nitta Yoshisada entered the city from multiple directions and destroyed it; in the end, the Hōjō leaders retreated to Tōshō-ji, the Hōjō family temple, where they committed suicide with the rest of the clan.

Background

For ten days, Nitta had been leading the imperial loyalists on a rapid cross country campaign before reaching the outskirts of Kamakura. After the Battle of Bubaigawara ended two days prior, the Hōjō forces rushed back to Kamakura to consolidate defenses. Nitta aggressively pursued and divided his forces into three prongs, thus completely surrounding the landward sides of the city. Only the seaward side, which was fortified by Hōjō ships, remained open.

Battle for Kamakura

The hills surrounding Kamakura contained seven passes, (the so-called Seven Entrances or Mouths), each with guarded checkpoints. Nitta Yoshisada attacked from the west, east and the north through the Gokuraku Pass, the Nagoe Pass and the Kewaizaka Pass, dividing his forces in three. However, after many hours of fighting, little progress had been made towards the city, particularly on the western passes near Gokuraku-ji, which was guarded with rows upon rows of wooden shielding. Nitta realized the Gokuraku-ji could be bypassed by marching around the cape, where the Inamuragasaki promontory juts out into the water. However, the waters were fortified by Hōjō ships making the approach impossible without heavy losses. According to the chronicles, Nitta threw his sword into the sea as an offering to the sun goddess, Amaterasu, and the sea parted as if by a miracle clearing a beach wide enough for Nitta's army to traverse. Though in fact they were taking advantage of a very low tide.

Thus the imperial loyalists were able to enter the city, and began to force back the Hōjō forces. The Hōjō were eventually forced to retreat to a cave behind the Tōshō-ji, where they committed suicide.

Outline of the Genkō War (1331-1333)

HISTORIC BATTLES

Genkō War (1331-1333)

Genkō War was a civil war in Japan which marked the fall of the Kamakura shogunate and end of the power of the Hōjō clan. The war thus preceded the Nanboku-chō period and the rise of the Ashikaga shogunate. Genkō is the name of the Japanese era corresponding to the period 1331-1334. View Historic Battle »

Siege of Kasagi: The temple was raided in the night by Hōjō forces under Suyama Yoshitaka and Komiyama Jirō, who climbed the cliffs surrounding the fortress, and set it aflame. The Emperor, however, escaped and fled.

Siege of Akasaka: The Siege of Akasaka was one of the earlier battles of the Genkō War between the figurehead Emperor Godaigo and the largely Hōjō controlled Kamakura shogunate during the final years of the Kamakura period in Japan.

Siege of Chihaya: Successfully defended the following year, by the Imperial forces led by Kusunoki Masashige. It would eventually fall to the Ashikaga shogunate in 1390.

Battle of Bubaigawara: It was fought on the banks of the Tama River in central Musashi province in what is now part of the city of Fuchū, Tokyo on May 15 and 16, 1333, it pitted the anti-shogunate imperial forces led by Nitta Yoshisada against the forces of the Hōjō-led Kamakura shogunate.

Siege of Kamakura: Forces loyal to Emperor Go-Daigo and led by Nitta Yoshisada entered the city from multiple directions and destroyed it; in the end, the Hōjō leaders retreated to Tōshō-ji, the Hōjō family temple, where they committed suicide with the rest of the clan.

HISTORY

Genkō War (1331-1333)

Genkō War was a civil war in Japan which marked the fall of the Kamakura shogunate and end of the power of the Hōjō clan. The war thus preceded the Nanboku-chō period and the rise of the Ashikaga shogunate. Genkō is the name of the Japanese era corresponding to the period 1331-1334.