THE FALL OF THE KAMAKURA BAKUFU 169
line powerless without a central figure. In the following year, 1318, the
bakufu proposed to designate the son of Gonijo as the heir apparent
and to place Godaigo on the throne. Gouda, the father of Godaigo and
Gonijo, thus began his rule as retired emperor. The Daikakuji line
thus came to dominate the highest levels of the imperial hierarchy.
But it was not the bakufu's intention to tip the balance permanently.
At the same time as the Daikakuji surge, Kamakura set down specific
conditions for that line to follow. Later documents reveal the terms of
this "bumpo mediation": (i)The next succession was to be secured for
the Jimyo-in line by designating the son of Gofushimi, Prince Kazu-
hito (later Emperor Kogon), as crown prince as soon as the incumbent
Prince Kuniyoshi became emperor; (2) the reign of each emperor was
not to exceed ten years; and (3) the offspring of Godaigo were not to
seek the throne.
69
At his enthronement, therefore, Godaigo faced sev-
eral limitations. It was particularly unsatisfactory that Godaigo, then
in his prime at age thirty-one, should have to surrender all hope of
having an imperial heir. And he feared that without an heir, his grandi-
ose plans for reviving "the golden age" of Daigo, an early Heian
emperor, would not bear fruit. His strong personality only reinforced
the dissatisfaction caused by the circumstances surrounding him. As a
first step out of this quandary he sought to become the supreme ruler
himself.
The resignation of Gouda-in from active politics in 1321 gave
Godaigo the opportunity to both reign and rule.
Godaigo began his rule by staffing his court with men of ability.
His interest in Sung Confucianism led him to select such famed
scholar-politicians as Yoshida Sadafusa and Kitabatake Chikafusa,
both of the Daikakuji line, and Hino Suketomo and Hino Toshimoto,
men of less prestigious family backgrounds but of equal ability. More-
over, reflecting the changed conditions after Gouda's withdrawal
from public life, Godaigo shifted the teichu appeals court from the
fudono of the retired emperor's government back to the kirokujo of
his own imperial government. Here, Godaigo himself sometimes par-
ticipated in judging cases.
70
A noteworthy aspect of the Godaigo's rule was his attempt to consoli-
69 For an extensive description of the "Bumpo no wadan," see Yashiro, "Chokodo-ryo no
kenkyu," pp.
72-81.
70 A number of works treat topics such as these as the essential historical ingredients presaging
the Kemmu restoration. See, for example, Miura, Kamakura jidaishi; Tanaka Yoshinari,
Nambokucho jidaishi (Tokyo: Meiji shoin, 1922), pp. 23-82; Hiraizumi Kiyoshi, "Nihon
chuko," in Kemmu chuko roppyakunen kinenkai, comp., Kemmu chuko (Tokyo: Kemmu
chuko roppayakunen kinenkai, 1934), pp.
1
—177;
and Nakamura Naokatsu, "Godaigo tenno
no shinsei," in Nakamura Naokatsu chosaku shit, vol. 3: Nancho no kenkyu (Kyoto: Tankosha,
1978),
PP. 55-67-
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