CHAPTER VI.

Ten years had elapsed since Mutto and his son had first come to Kuwana, and the great struggle so long impending was now fairly breaking out. That the crisis had not occurred sooner was a matter of sufficient wonder, and was owing altogether to the strong measures of repression, to the undoubted ability for governing possessed in general by those who were still the actual rulers of the land. But although the overthrow of the Hōjō might be delayed, it could not be averted. The insolent pride of these chieftains, not content with setting up and pulling down Shôguns at will, and punishing with death all who incurred their displeasure, had even heaped indignities upon the imperial family; and from this, more than from all other causes combined, their hold upon the people was weakened beyond hope of recovery.

In Japan the divinity which hedges the king owes nothing to the poet’s flowery imagery, but has always been accepted as a living fact by high and low, by rich and poor, by the strong and by the weak. The government of the country hadde factoalways been wielded by some chieftain whose genius, naturally in those times mainly of a military character, had enabled him to arrogate position and power. If at the same time he possessed administrative and organizing qualities, then the prestige and influence exerted by his name, added to thesupport of his clansmen, would often secure this power for several generations to his descendants. In this way the Sugiwara, Fujiwara, Taira, the Minamoto, and others whose names and exploits are familiar to every child in Japan, had risen to fame and to the control of the State.

All these chiefs, nevertheless, however absolute their power might have been, were extremely careful, so far as outward show and ceremony went, to profess the deepest reverence for, and implicit obedience to, the ruling Emperor. The genius which could rise to pre-eminence in spite of the valor and opposition of numerous rivals, would have been useless if it could not obtain recognition of its arrogated offices from the Throne. Military or civil ascendency could not make a man Kwambaku, Dajodaijin, or Shôgun; it was only investiture by the ruling Mikado, the descendant of the gods, which in the opinion of the public could confer these titles. At this time the Shôgunate and the nominal control of national affairs were in the hands of the Minamoto family. In times gone by, from the tenth to the twelfth century, they and the Taira were the two leading clans of the Empire. They were, however, both too great to exist by the side of each other; and a fierce and desperate warfare was waged between them, which lasted for many decades, and in which the Minamotos were at last utterly vanquished and almost extirpated.

Among the very few survivors was a young boy named Yoritomo, who had been carried to the rugged and barren mountain fastnesses of Idzu, where he was brought up in the charge of a faithful old servant. This boy was destined to take vengeance upon the despoilers of his race. Becoming himself the most illustrious figure that Japanese history up to that time hadknown, he raised the Minamoto name and power to a higher pinnacle of fame and prestige than it had ever attained. Appointed Shôgun by the Mikado in the year 1192, he firmly established the Shôgunate with its seat at Kamakura, and made himself virtual dictator of the country. He died in 1199, and the genius for war and statesmanship which had distinguished him seemed to have died with him.

YORITOMO LIBERATING A THOUSAND CRANES IN HONOR OF HIS VICTORIES.

Although he bequeathed his power and the prestige of his name to his descendants, thus securing for the latter the possession of the Shôgunate, the office became a purely nominal affair. Like the illustrious dead Yoritomo, who had wrested all real authority from the imperial throne, leaving it only the bare show and pomp of power, so now the Hōjō stepped in, and in their hands the Minamoto Shôguns were but puppets moving at the will of their so-called guardians. Daily the Hōjō adherents grew in strength and numbers, and every position of trust and influence was soon occupied by them and their creatures. In the arrogance of their pride, engendered by a long continuance of absolute power, they at last did what even the great Yoritomo himself had never dared to do,—they failed to pay even outward reverence to the Emperor, and openly showed the mailed hand by which he was ruled. Mikado after Mikado was forced to abdicate in favor of some other member of the imperial family whom the Hōjō thought more devoted to their interests, and the ex-Emperors who had provoked their resentment—banished, sent into exile, or forced into cloisters—were treated with rigor, often with humiliating severity.

Such a course could not last. Neither the prestige gained for the Hōjō by their military talents,—which in the year 1279 had repelled the invasion of the great Mongol Chieftain Kublai Khan, with its myriads of ships and its numberless army,—nor the merits of their civil administration, which preserved internal peace, promoted agriculture, industry, and trade, and showed harshness only in what might be thought to trench upon their assumed prerogatives, could reconcile the people to the disrespect shown to their Emperors. The gods from whom thelatter descended must sooner or later take vengeance not only upon the desecrators, but also upon the people who stood passively by and permitted this unholy work to proceed without interfering.

MAN IN ARMOR.

Although hardly probable, it is yet perhaps barely possible, that the Hōjōs harbored the thought of being able some day to usurp the imperial throne; and it may have been this hope which dictated their policy. They could not but know that such a consummation might be looked for only after long years of preparation, and they therefore tried to lessen the imperial prestige by forcing successive Mikados to abdicate, and making light of their sacred rights and prerogatives. But if some such deep-laid scheme really animated their course, events proved that they had miscalculated the force of the feeling which inspired the people, and which made love and reverence for their Emperors the foundation of their patriotism and religion. Repeated outbreaks against the Hōjō domination had occurred within the last decade; but they had been quelled before assuming any serious dimensions, and summary punishment dealt outto those concerned in them. One of these, which had been instigated in secret by the son of the reigning Emperor, had caused the father to lose his throne and be banished to a distant island, while the son was forced to shave his head and enter a convent, and eventually to leave even that retreat and flee to the mountains to save his life.

Ono ga Sawa, although he hated the Hōjō at heart, was too prudent, without seeing a reasonable chance of success, to commit himself to any movement which might endanger his house and his life. The great want of the disaffected was a leader,—one who by birth, position, and personal qualities might command the confidence and esteem of all classes among them. At last, however, news arrived at Kuwana in the fall of the year that Nitta Yoshisada had raised the standard of revolt and called upon the whole country to assist him. This new champion of the Mikado was lord of the castle of Nitta; and he as well as his brother, the lord of the castle of Ashikaga, who had joined him in the rising, were direct descendants of a celebrated Minamoto chief, their fiefs, which lay in contiguous provinces, within easy distance of the Hōjō stronghold Kamakura, having been in uninterrupted possession of themselves and their forefathers for nearly four hundred years.

Nitta had earned a high military reputation while serving as captain in the Hōjō armies. He had been deputed with a large force to subdue Kusunoki Masashige, who had thrice within three years raised the flag of revolt, and although defeated each time, had still managed to escape to unfurl anew the imperial standard and assemble soldiers in its defence. Although Nitta had always been ready to support the Hōjō chiefs against rivals, or even inschemes of personal aggrandizement, he yet had no wish to fight against the supporters of the Mikado. He dared not refuse the command offered to him, as he would thus lay himself open to suspicion, and suspicion then meant death. His resolution in this dilemma was soon made. Having started with his troops, he carefully sounded the temper of the officers and men; and finding it what he expected, exhibited a commission which he had procured from the exiled Emperor, at the same time describing to them in an eloquent and affecting speech the condition of their rightful rulers. They one and all agreed to fight for the cause which they had been sent to overthrow.

All previous outbreaks had been confined to distant provinces, and the lack of unity and concerted action, together with the want of military ability among many of the would-be leaders, had resulted in their easy suppression by the disciplined forces sent against them. Nitta was resolved to carry the war into the enemy’s country, where he knew the disaffected would muster in great numbers as soon as a favorable opportunity should present itself; but for a time he pitched his camp at his own castle. Before setting out, however, he sent proclamations to the different provinces, stating his intention of restoring the wrongfully exiled Mikado to the possession of the throne and to the enjoyment of that supreme power which belonged to him, and calling upon all loyal subjects to aid in carrying out this sacred mission. Nitta’s emissaries were everywhere received with joy and acclamation, and with promises of aid in men, money, and war material,—promises which, as the immediate future showed, were religiously kept.

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