Page:Brinkley - Japan - Volume 2.djvu/36

 died, and the Emperor sought once more to obtain the succession for his favourite mistress's son. But the Hōjō ruled that the spirit of the law of alternate succession would be violated unless the representative of each line actually occupied the Throne in turn. A new conspiracy resulted from this failure, and a strong force was sent from Kamakura to destroy the plotters and dethrone the Emperor. Then commenced the most sanguinary era in Japanese history. The Emperor, disguised as a woman, eluded his enemies for a time, but was soon captured and sent into exile in the little island of Oki. Nevertheless, the Imperial cause still found many supporters, and although the Hōjō were able to put a large and splendidly equipped force into the field, it lacked a leader. One man only among the Hōjō generals possessed all the necessary qualities, Takauji, the representative of the Ashikaga clan. But he had inherited a sacred legacy, handed down from generation to generation in his family, the task of avenging his ancestor, Yoritomo's son, and restoring the rule of the Minamoto. When, therefore, he found himself at the head of a large section of the Hōjō's forces, he immediately opened communications with the Emperor, received an Imperial mandate to destroy the enemies of the Throne, and stormed the Hōjō stronghold in Kyōtō, while Nitta Yoshisada, another of the most renowned