The Northern and Southern Dynasties: The Yoshino Period, 1336-1392

The Japanese Emperor Go Daigo in 1336 placed before Japanese historians a most difficult problem for solution when he refused to abdicate the throne at the suggestion of Ashikaga Takauji, so that noble military personage could cause to be selected another Mikado who would more readily do his bidding. Further complications were added to this situation when the Emperor fled to Yoshino, in Yamato Province, now Nara Province, some sixty miles southeast of Kyoto, carrying with him the Imperial Regalia, consisting of the Sword, Mirror, and "Jewel"; these articles were his badge of office, handed down from an earlier age.