Читать книгу Kamakura: Fact & Legend - Iso Mutsu - Страница 12

Historical Sketch

IN THE PRESENT tranquil days it seems almost incredible to recall that the plain of Kamakura—with its green valleys intersecting the enclosing hills, was once the theater of a vast and densely populated city, thickly intersected with busy streets; studded with the splendid mansions of officials and retainers of the ruler; abounding in rich architecture and beautiful temples— in fact the most important city of the realm, the military capital of Japan.

Yet it is a fact that some seven centuries ago this peaceful spot witnessed some of the most thrilling events in the feudal history of the nation: for, partly owing to the value of its strategic position—being entirely surrounded by mountains on three sides, with the ocean on the south—an important consideration in those bellicose days, it was selected by the great Yoritomo as the base of his operations, and in the year 1192, the first shogun of the Minamoto family was established at Kamakura.

This part moreover had long been specially connected with the house of Minamoto. Here Yoritomo's father Yoshitomo had resided; also his famous ancestors Yoriyoshi and his son Yoshiie— governors of this district, had exercised great influence and had played a most effective role in their military capacity.

To the former valiant warrior the temple of Hachiman owes its existence, Yoriyoshi having originally caused it to be established in Kamakura in the hope that invocations at the shrine would propitiate the war god and secure success for his exploits upon the field of battle.

As the achievements of Yoritomo are so inseparably associated with the history of Kamakura it may be of interest to recount a brief sketch of this strange and dominant personality, whose name shines out with such luster as one of the giants of medieval times; the magician whose wand caused the obscure little fishing hamlet to blossom into the most famous city of the day.

For many years Japan had been torn by the civil wars of the rival factions Taira and Minamoto, but toward the latter half of the twelfth century the country lay practically beneath the sway of the Taira. Its chief, Kiyomori—a man of dauntless courage and brilliant military capacity—had succeeded in crushing the enemy and establishing the supremacy of his party. This despot ruled with a rod of iron. All the important posts of the government were occupied by prominent members of his great family; indeed their power was so absolute that a common saying of the time was to the effect that not to be of the Taira was to be deemed unworthy of belonging to the human race. So soaring was Kiyomori's ambition that even the cloistered Son of Heaven, the emperor himself, declared that his own position was not secure.

Yoshitomo, head of the rival faction, had been cruelly trapped and butchered by his enemies (1160); his adherents were scattered in flight and practically without a leader. His two elder sons had also fallen victims and shared the fate of their parent, but the third son Yoritomo had managed to escape with his life. From his exceptional sagacity this boy had always been his father's favorite, and although so young—only thirteen years of age—he is said to have advised Yoshitomo to take the initiative in this battle instead of waiting for the Taira's attack. However fate was against them: while escaping on horseback from their pursuers the over-wearied lad fell asleep in the saddle, and thus was left behind by his father and brothers. As he was passing through Moriyama (Omi province), the villagers recognized and attempted to seize the young Yoritomo, but the boy showed such unexpected spirit—cutting down two of his would-be captors with his sword— that the rest fell back and Yoritomo was able to continue his way unmolested, shortly afterward falling in with the retainer who had been sent to search for him, and thus was enabled to rejoin his party in safety.

But later, on account of a heavy snowstorm, the fugitives were compelled to dismount and walk through the blinding sleet, this effort causing such distress to the fatigued and exhausted boy that again he fell behind. This time he was rescued by a sympathizer who lived in that district named Sadayasu, and by him was concealed, first in a temple and later in the house of his preserver. Meanwhile his father Yoshitomo and his two elder brothers had all perished.

Soon afterward Yoritomo, leaving his temporary abode, went to the province of Mino, and from thence attempted to make his way to the Kanto plain. But the boy was unable to elude the vigilance of the enemy, and fell into the hands of Munekiyo, the Taira commander, who bore off his prey in triumph to Kyoto. By order of Kiyomori he was entrusted to the care of Munekiyo until his ultimate fate should be decided.

At this crisis the noble bearing of the young captive stood him in good stead. The lad's calm self-possession and fearless demeanor in the face of almost certain death softened the heart of his captor: when asked if he were ready for his fate, the young Yoritomo tactfully replied that he would prefer to live, since he alone was left to pray for the souls of his relatives.

Through the intervention of Kiyomori's stepmother, the boy's life was spared. At Munekiyo's suggestion she detected in him a resemblance to her own son who had died in early youth, so with tears and prayers she passionately besought that the child's doom might be averted. Her supplications at last met with success. Kiyomori consented that the boy's sentence should be banishment, and he was entrusted to the guardianship of two Taira adherents whose estates lay beyond Hakone, at Hirugashima in the province of Izu.

This act of benevolence was deplored as a lack of sagacity and sign of weakness by Kiyomori's entourage—a criticism to be amply justified by later events.

The lady to whom he owed his life sagely counseled the boy to spend his time in the study of the Scriptures and to refrain from shooting or the practice of any warlike sports lest he might incur suspicion: the retainers of Yoshitomo, moreover, on hearing the joyful news that their young lord was to be spared, suggested to him that the best way of ensuring his safety was to enter the priesthood. But as he was starting upon his journey into banishment, one Moriyasu Hanabusa secretly whispered into Yoritomo's ear to the effect that as the young master was saved, surely it must be the will of the Almighty that he should not become a priest, but the future hope of his party. This hint was not lost upon the shrewd boy, he nodded his assent in silence: the populace who witnessed his departure unanimously agreed that the young exile was quite apart from ordinary mortals, and to send him away thus was "letting loose a tiger-cub in the wilds."

The two guardians to whose safe custody the young exile was confided were Ito Sukechika of the Fujiwara family, and Hojo Tokimasa, who later was to become the famous head of the Hojo clan—to whose never-failing assistance and advice much of the success of Yoritomo's career has been attributed, and whose counsels exercised so much influence upon the early history of Kamakura.

The boy first found a home in the establishment of Sukechika. Later on, during the absence of her parent his daughter succumbed to the fascinations of the youthful Minamoto scion; tender relations were established, which flourished for a time in secret, until the birth of a son to the amorous pair brought discovery and retribution in its wake. The girl's stepmother betrayed this state of affairs to Sukechika, who promptly shattered the little drama with the bolt of his paternal ire. The unfortunate babe was cast into the water and drowned; his erring daughter was promptly united in marriage to another aspirant, and thus accorded the protection of a lawful lord and master. Vengeance was about to descend upon the head of the delinquent Yoritomo, but before his doom could be compassed he managed to flee from the scene, and escaped successfully to the domain of his other guardian, Tokimasa.

Although ostensibly a loyal supporter of the Taira clan, from various causes Tokimasa's partisanship for his faction had become secretly weakened and alienated: moreover a man of his acute penetration doubtless divined the impending downfall of the Taira ascendancy. By degrees the entire confidence and devotion of the older man was gained by his protege, and their relations underwent a change, Tokimasa becoming the counselor, supporter, and prime minister of his illustrious son-in-law— a state of things that lasted unchanged until the day of Yoritomo's death.

Now Tokimasa had two daughters. The elder, Masako—who at this time was twenty-one years of age—was not only beautiful, but had inherited her father's sagacity and high order of intelligence. The younger one, the child of a second wife, was reputed of more ordinary capacity, and somewhat plain of feature to boot.

The young Yoritomo desired to strengthen his position with his guardian by espousing one of his daughters, and from motives of policy deemed it expedient to pay his addresses to the less attractive of the pair. Hence he composed a love-letter, and instructed his messenger to deliver it secretly to the younger of the two maidens. Coming events would seem to have cast their shadows before. According to the well-known tradition, the slumbers of the prospective recipient had been visited by a strange dream, in which she had beheld herself toiling up a mountainside with the sun and moon shining from her long sleeves, and holding on high an orange-bough laden with ripe fruit (tachibana). The shrewd Masako was well versed in legendary lore, signs, bodings, and portents. At once deeming this incident of an auspicious nature she coveted it for herself, and worked upon the credulity of the younger girl by pronouncing it an evil omen: moreover should a dream of good luck be related before seven years, or one of sinister portent before seven days had elapsed, the good results would be neutralized and the evil intensified.

To her alarmed sister Masako proposed a solution of the difficulty—she would buy the dream herself. "But how can one buy or sell what can neither be seen nor handled?" inquired the reluctant possessor of the dream. Masako fixed her sister with a searching gaze and overruled her objections as to the ill effects of such a transaction upon the purchaser: "I will buy it!" she proclaimed. As the price of her intangible bargain she paid to the younger girl a set of silken robes and a silver mirror. It is recorded that the latter was a valuable family heirloom which Tokimasa had given into the keeping of his eldest child owing to his affection and admiration for the character of Masako.

This strange barter seems to have exercised some occult influence upon its purchaser, for the same night Masako dreamed that a white dove* approached her, offering a golden box containing a letter. The next morning this prophetic omen was realized, and Yoritomo's message was delivered: from that time it was not long before relations of a romantic and illicit nature were established.

Meanwhile Tokimasa was absent, being engaged in the execution of his duties as guard in Kyoto. He returned from the distant capital in company with Taira no Kanetaka, a relative of Kiyomori and governor of the province of Izu, and moreover to whom Tokimasa promised the hand of his eldest daughter in marriage.

But after his arrival, when tidings of this liaison that had flourished during his absence reached his ears, he was placed in a difficult position, and one that required delicate handling. However exalted might be his opinion of Yoritomo's talents and probabilities of a brilliant future, he hardly cared to risk incurring the odium of the whole Taira faction—including Kanetaka, the governor and prospective bridegroom—by uniting his daughter with their deadly enemy, the exiled scion of the hated Minamoto!

But the crafty Tokimasa proved equal of the occasion. Ostensibly ignoring the amour, he caused all preparations to be made for the celebration of the marriage with the governor, according to the original arrangement, but meanwhile there is no doubt that he was secretly conniving at his daughter's disappearance with her lover.

The nuptial festivities were celebrated with all due ceremony. But the same evening, under cover of the darkness and a convenient storm of wind and rain, the bride disappeared into the mountains, in which congenial retreat she was joined by the partner of her affection—the pair lying concealed until the father's pardon was accorded, and which was not long withheld.

From this time, assisted by Tokimasa, Yoritomo began to communicate in secret with the clansmen round about, and the military families in sympathy with his part. Meanwhile, a rising against the Taira was gathering strength in the south, under the auspices of Prince Mochihito, second son of the Emperor Go-Shirakawa. An order from this prince was dispatched to Yoritomo, requesting him to call to arms the Minamoto adherents, and to deliver the imperial family, as well as the country at large, from the selfish arrogance and tyrannous misrule of the Taira. This appeal was delivered to Yoritomo in the late spring of 1180; but while engaged in his preparations to comply, the fatal news arrived announcing the defeat and death of the prince in the battle on the Uji. Elated with this victory, the Taira were plotting to follow it up by exterminating the whole remainder of the Minamoto faction.

Yoritomo, being warned of this prospect, determined to take the field without loss of time, and as an initial attempt the stronghold of the governor Kanetaka—his former rival in the arts of love—was attacked. The fort was stormed, set on fire, and the unfortunate governor was beheaded.

This preliminary success decided the wavering adherents of the districts to rally around their new leader with contributions of men and arms, and war was soon declared. Supported by his little force of three hundred warriors, and bearing the prince's mandate attached to his standard, Yoritomo marched upon the foe at the historic hill of Ishibashi—a wooded eminence on the northern outskirts of the Hakone mountains. However, this valiant but premature attempt was doomed to failure. Woefully outnumbered by the enemy—who were encamped three thousand strong, and who attacked simultaneously from the front and from the rear—the Minamoto band suffered a crushing defeat and were almost annihilated, their leader only escaping from death by a hair's-breadth.

When Yoritomo was able to take cover in a grove of trees, his supporters had dwindled to the sorry remnant of six men. Acting upon their leader's advice these took refuge in flight: Yoritomo, with a single attendant, concealed himself in the hollow trunk of a tree. In this predicament signal service was rendered by Kajiwara Kagetoki—a secret sympathizer with the Minamoto cause—who indicated to the pursuers that their quarry had taken an opposite route. However the Taira commander, Oba Kagechika, in riding past the hollow tree thrust his spear into the aperture, according to some accounts actually grazing the sleeve of Yoritomo's armor! At this dramatic moment the god Hachiman did not desert his protege: two woodpigeons fluttered out from the tree—deluding the enemy into the assumption that no human being could be sheltering within—and the life of the fugitive was saved.

After this complete defeat at Ishibashi-yama Yoritomo became almost a solitary figure, leading a precarious existence concealed in the forests of that mountainous district. After some time he reached the seacoast, where he boarded a ship at Manazurugasaki and crossed over into the province of Awa. Here the tide of fortune speedily turned. Undaunted by the late fiasco, he was met and welcomed with utmost enthusiasm by crowds of followers, both old and new rallying to the white banner of their chief. The latter included the Taira clansman Hirotsune, who offered his allegiance to Yoritomo with an army of twenty thousand troops.

Before the arrival of the Minamoto scion, Hirotsune had been in a state of indecision whether to join forces with the newcomer, or whether to oppose and seize him. But again the force of Yoritomo's magnetic personality rescued him in the crucial hour. The Taira commander succumbed to the spell of the young hero, placing his forces at his disposal and becoming himself one of Yoritomo's loyal and important retainers. Throughout the eight provinces of the Kanto region manifestoes were circulated, to which the Minamoto adherents responded with alacrity, flocking to the standard in such large numbers that before long their chief found himself at the head of a mighty army. For strategic as well as political reasons he was advised to decide on establishing his military headquarters at Kamakura, and there he lost no time in propitiating the guardian deity of his ancestors by the erection of an imposing shrine to the war god Hachiman.

Naturally these demonstrations had not escaped the notice of Kiyomori. By this time, from his advancing age and the condition of his health, the crafty old Taira chief was unable to conduct an expedition in person to quell the foe; however, his nearest relatives were appointed for the undertaking, and they proved anything but efficient substitutes. On October 20,1180, a body of fifty thousand troops was dispatched from Kyoto under the leadership of Tadamori, Kiyomori's youngest brother, and his grandson Koremori, to attack the upstart Yoritomo, scatter his followers, and dislodge him from Kamakura, his newly established stronghold. Yoritomo, at the head of a vast army two hundred thousand strong, went forth to meet the foe, whom early in November they confronted, encamped upon the southern bank of the Fujikawa—the broad and rapidly flowing torrent that rushes down to the sea from the slopes of the great mountain, and whose crossing presented so many obstacles in ancient times.

Now the Taira generals, in addition to being ill fitted for the campaign by their effete and luxurious manner of living in Kyoto, were alarmed and thrown into a state of consternation by the sudden notoriety of the newly arisen champion of the Minamoto cause; moreover, the unexpectedly imposing scale of the host that was drawn up upon the opposite bank of the river was ill calculated to allay their apprehensions. Yoritomo decided to attack by night. As the detachments of soldiers silently crossed the dark flood, landing in the swamp below the enemy's encampment, their appearance disturbed the multitudes of waterfowl that were roosting in the reeds. To the enemy the loud whirring of the birds' wings sounded like galloping hordes of war steeds rushing upon their prey; the ominous sound working such havoc upon the over-strained nerves of the Taira that the entire force was soon in full flight at precipitate haste, without the exchange of a single arrow! Yoritomo's first impulse was to hurl himself upon the foe and chase the fugitive army to Kyoto, but he was dissuaded from the project by the advice of his generals. It was held dangerous to withdraw the protection of so large a body of troops from the Kanto region while it was not yet clear of the enemy, thus leaving the military base open to attack; moreover, the Minamoto force was hardly equipped for a lengthy campaign against an adversary who were retiring to their own stronghold. So in the interests of caution the chief consented to waive vengeance for the present and withdraw.

During this retirement, and while the troops were encamped upon the banks of the Kisogawa, a dramatic incident occurred. A youthful samurai of dignified and noble mien suddenly appeared in the camp and requested an interview with Yoritomo. The new arrival proved to be the famous Yoshitsune, ninth son of Yoshitomo, and under these circumstances Yoritomo beheld for the first time the face of his youngest brother.

This most popular hero of medieval times—around whose name tradition has interwoven such countless thrilling and romantic incidents—was the son of Yoshitomo by his beautiful mistress Tokiwa Gozen. When her lord was slain, Tokiwawith her three children—Yoshitsune being a babe in arms—took flight from the vengeance of the enemy. On a bitter winter's night she escaped from the luxurious life at the palace into the storm without, enduring cruel hardships in the snowy mountains until shelter was found in a little hamlet of that remote region, where she and the three little ones were enabled to lie low and successfully evade detection.

But the agents of Kiyomori—determined to exterminate the whole brood of Yoshitomo, and foiled in their attempts to fathom her place of concealment—seized her mother as a hostage, threatening to inflict upon the unfortunate parent a cruel death, unless her daughter Tokiwa gave herself up. This ruse proved effective. When the fugitive—so beautiful and so forlorn—appeared before Kiyomori, her fascinations made such a strong appeal to the fierce old warrior that he vowed her life should be spared, as well as her three children, if she would consent to transfer her allegiance from her dead lord to himself and submit to the blandishments of her sworn enemy! Poor Tokiwa was brought to bay: she held out for a time, but such merciless pressure was brought to bear upon her, in the doom that threatened her defenseless family, that loyalty became impossible and submission was the only course.

Thus the fate was averted that menaced her mother and her little sons; but with a view to rendering their future careers as innocuous as possible, the latter were deposited in monasteries, vowed to celibacy, and educated for the priesthood.

Possessed of great physical strength and almost superhuman activity, the fiery temperament of the young Yoshitsune was soon made manifest. At the age of fifteen (1174), he determined to elude the vigilance of his pious guardians, and with the assistance of a friendly merchant succeeded in effecting an escape to the province of Mutsu in the far north, a district too remote and too difficult of access to warrant pursuit. Here he was hospitably received, and lived for some years under the protection of Hidehira, governor of the whole province. The boy had inherited his father's spirit: passionately desirous of avenging his murder and espousing the family cause, he spent his day in equipping himself to that end, practicing warlike arts and acquiring a wide reputation for his feats of skill and valor. When the stirring news penetrated to those northern regions that the Minamoto were in arms and had taken the field against the Taira, Yoshitsune deemed the hour was ripe for action. So with a little band of twenty loyal and trusted followers—including the faithful giant Benkei, hero of a thousand tales of wild adventure—he started for the south, and thus the historic meeting came about.

This valuable recruit became a general in his brother's new army, where his brilliant exploits resulted in defeat after defeat of the enemy, culminating in the final destruction and annihilation of the Taira in the famous and oft-sung battle of Dan no Ura (1185).

Meanwhile the Taira chief Kiyomori had died in 1181; his last request upon his deathbed being that before any prayers or religious rites were performed for the repose of his soul, the head of his bitter foe Yoritomo should be placed upon his tomb. However, since the advent of the new Minamoto leader upon the horizon the star of the Taira had considerably waned, and no aspirant was bold enough to pacify the spirit of the departed with the longed-for trophy.

For the next few years Yoritomo remained at his base in Kamakura, gradually building it up into the great capital it later became, while his armies were adding laurel after laurel to his prestige: the decisive victory of Dan no Ura—when the sea was dyed red with blood, and even the infant emperor perished beneath the waves—leaving the Minamoto chief complete master of the situation.

However this tragic struggle proved the undoing of the conqueror as well as the conquered; for in spite of his brilliant achievements and the valuable aid he had rendered to the cause, Yoshitsune became the object of Yoritomo's jealousy and suspicion.

After evading various attempts upon his life, the former managed to escape to his old refuge and sanctuary in the north; but there an army followed him at the command of his pitiless brother. Further retreat being impossible, and his devoted band of comrades having all perished in the cause of loyalty, the trapped hero put an end to his wife and children and then died upon his own sword, his head being sent to Yoritomo as proof that the fallen victor was no more. Yoritomo utilized this occasion to dispatch more armies to the north, thus adding vast and rich additions to his conquered territory; and from the year 1189 practically the whole of Japan lay at his feet.

Now that his supremacy was established upon a firm basis, and Yoritomo was virtual ruler of the country, his first efforts were to restore peace and prosperity to the war-devastated land. Justice was dispensed by a good and sound administrative system, and the judicious encouragement of agriculture, industry, and trade were potent factors in transforming "men's misery into happiness."

Kamakura became the finest and most flourishing city of the empire, presenting in every respect the strongest contrast to the effete and luxurious condition of society that prevailed in Kyoto, the imperial capital. Simplicity and frugality were Yoritomo's watchwords, the greatest encouragement being given to the sports that promoted manliness and physical vigor. Great hunting parties were organized—indeed proficiency in archery, swords­manship, feats on horseback etc., were so highly estimated that instances are recorded of even criminals being occasionally granted a pardon on this account.

In the year 1192 Yoritomo was at the pinnacle of his fame. The title of sei-i-tai-shdgun (literally barbarian-subduing generalissimo) was conferred upon him by the emperor; thus the dual system of government was established by which the emperor's authority was completely overshadowed, and which lasted for almost seven centuries, until the restoration of imperial power in 1868. But now that the zenith of his ambition was attained, the first shogun only wielded the scepter for a brief seven years, his death occurring in the spring of 1199. No records regarding the mode of his demise have been preserved, the actual facts concerning the passing of this illustrious man being clouded in the mists of obscurity. But tradition credits him with a dramatic exit from the scene of his triumphs. The legend states that toward evening, as Yoritomo was returning from the function of opening a new bridge across the Sagami River—whither he had repaired with all pomp and ceremony, and attended by a regal retinue—suddenly the pallid specters of his murdered relatives appeared before him. The shogun passed this disconcerting apparition, but as his cortege was approaching Inamuragasaki, the figure of a young child arose from the sea. This phantom proclaimed itself the departed spirit of the emperor Antoku, in search of his enemy and slayer. The procession passed on, but the ghostly throng had fanned their destroyer with their shadowy wings; a few days later the great Yoritomo was dead.

This event took place January 13, 1199. He was succeeded in turn by his two sons, both meeting with violent deaths, but with the assassination of Sanetomo upon the steps of the Hachiman Shrine in Kamakura, the direct line of the Minamoto shoguns— that its illustrious founder hoped would last for all time—came to an end in the year 1219, a brief twenty years after the death of Yoritomo. Regarding his personal characteristics, Yoritomo's head is said to have been specially large in proportion to his height, his demeanor calm and suave. Profoundly penetrating, shrewd and cautious, he possessed the magnetic power of influencing others to an extraordinary degree, and was invariably magnanimous to those who served him loyally.

Many instances prove his gratitude to those who had helped him in the hour of need, but to the members of his own family falling under the ban of his suspicion and displeasure he proved merciless, and exterminated them without compunction. There is no doubt that Yoritomo was of a sincerely religious nature. It is recorded that upon the field of battle he carried a small statue of Kannon (the goddess of mercy) below his helmet, inserted in his mage, or topknot of hair, while his rosary invariably encircled his wrist. At the battle of Ishibashi-yama this latter pious emblem became detached and was lost, greatly to its owner's concern, but the beads were ultimately discovered and restored by his retainer. To his veneration for things spiritual he attributed his many triumphs, regarding the downfall of his enemies as mainly due to their disregard and contempt for the powers above, a condition specially manifested in their sacrilegious treatment of shrines and monasteries. To this attitude Kamakura owed the large number of beautiful and important temples that were erected and restored after the establishment of the military capital. Moreover, throughout the whole country Yoritomo exerted his influence as the patron of temples and shrines, thus incidentally affording a strong impetus to the development of many forms of art—painting, architecture, sculpture, etc.—a condition invariably attendant upon a religious awakening.

When the line of Yoritomo became extinct, the power was usurped by the family of his wife, the next chapter of history being known as the Hojo period. These rulers continued to reside in Kamakura, but although exercising absolute power, none of them assumed the title of shogun—they were known as the shikken, (literally power-holders) or regents.

An important event occurred under the regime of Yoshitoki, the second shikken, and son of Tokimasa. Owing to various causes the bakufu had become on strained terms with Kyoto. The emperor Go-Toba availed himself of disturbances in the military government to attempt to overthrow the usurpers and reinstate the imperial power: to that end he issued a decree denouncing the Hojo as traitors, and assembled an army with the object to destroying Kamakura (1221).

A large force was promptly dispatched from the military capital to deal with the situation; the imperial troops were speedily overthrown by the seasoned warriors of the Kanto region, and Kamakura's triumph was complete. All the nobles and courtiers that had taken part in this uprising were shown scant mercy, their estates being confiscated, and many met with violent deaths. Even the imperial family were accorded ruthless treatment; while the sacred person of the emperor Go-Toba himself was exiled to the rocky and barren island of Oki—where he suffered great hardships and died some three years later; a disloyal and sacrilegious action hitherto unheard of in Japan.

Another event of deep significance, and one that brought his rule into great prominence, occurred under Tokimune, sixth Hojo regent, in the defeat of the Mongolian invasion in 1281. This was the first occasion in her long history that Japan was attacked by a foreign foe. The huge armada arrived off the coast of Japan in May—the campaign lasting some two months, and the aggressors being finally scattered on August 14 of that momentous year.

The earlier Hojo regents ruled wisely and well. A council was organized by which strict justice was dispensed; the condition of the populace was ameliorated, their wrongs and oppressions being righted, while they enjoyed the benefits of an admirable government and kind treatment, as well as the blessings of peace and tranquillity after long devastation of war and bloodshed. However, after the death of the wise and pious Tokimune (1284) the Hojo prosperity began to wane.

The ascendancy of this family gradually dwindled until Takatoki (tenth regent, and last of the line) degenerated into a mere cipher and voluptuary, who devoted his time to the gratification of his own pleasures taking little heed of the affairs of state.

A quaint and entertaining description of this decadent condition of Takatoki's time is given in the Taiheiki, the so-called classical record of the time. On one occasion some fierce dogs started a fight in the ground adjoining the Hojo mansion. This incident afforded such gratification to the sporting instinct of the regent that he instituted dogfights as a regular pastime. Orders were issued for a vast number of powerful dogs to be collected: these huge beasts were housed in kennels richly decorated with gold and silver, fed upon dainty fare, and even carried abroad for exercise in kago, or palanquins! The number of these luxurious animals amounted to between four and five thousand: they were clad in garments of brocade and glittering tinsel, their presence causing the city of Kamakura to assume a new and unfamiliar aspect to the surprised inhabitants.

Any sort of amusement appealed to this indolent and dissipated man. Two companies of popular actors were summoned from Kyoto, and absorbed in their performances he was all indifferent to the flight of time, relegating the duties of his high position entirely to unworthy and corrupt ministers. These actors he quartered upon various noble families in Kamakura, compelling the latter to supply the mountebanks with gorgeous costumes and valuable equipment for their shows. Moreover, during the performances, the regent and the other spectators would mark their appreciation by divesting themselves of their robes of costly brocade and hurling them at their favorites! Naturally, this state of things could not last. A Japanese historian describes the Kamakura of those decadent days as a tree still green and beautiful to the eye, but crumbling and rotten at the core: the days of the Hojo dynasty were numbered.

At the command of the emperor Go-Daigo loyalist troops were raised to attack the rebels—as the military government was described: two of the leading spirits of this movement being the famous Kusunoki Masashige and Nitta Yoshisada. The campaign was waged with varying success until the fall and destruction of Kamakura was accomplished by Nitta Yoshisada. This great general hurled his troops upon the city in three divisions—the army commanded by himself advancing across the sands from Inamuragasaki; the death-knell of the military capital was sounded on July 5, 1333—a day traced in blood and ashes upon the pages of Kamakura's past.

Takatoki, although so wanting and worthless as a ruler, gave ample proof at the time of this catastrophe that the warrior spirit of his race was still alive. Together with almost a thousand of his officers and adherents he died the hero's death upon his sword that was the inevitable sequel of a ruined cause from the viewpoint of medieval chivalry: all perished in a scene of dauntless valor that stands out in high relief from the pages of history, even in those heroic days. When the people of Kamakura became aware of this tragedy that marked the overthrow of the Hojo line, so strong and unwavering was their fidelity to their fallen ruler that large numbers of them resolved to accompany the spirit of their lord in his journey to the land of shades. Over six thousand of them thus died the death of loyalty upon this dreadful day, whole families destroying themselves, and numerous priests participating in the general orgy of slaughter and extinction.

These events resulted in the emperor's restoration to power for a short time, but the military regime was not destined to suffer a long eclipse. Another of his generals—one who had been effective in fighting for the imperial cause, and who enjoyed the emperor's confidence in a marked degree—turned traitor, and determined to succeed the Hojo as head of the military rule at Kamakura: this was Ashikaga Takauji. His demands being naturally reputhated at Kyoto, this bold and treacherous usurper determined to assert his claim to the shogunate by force, and at the head of a vast army attacked the western capital. This campaign resulted in the flight of the emperor Go-Daigo, (who afterward died in exile), and the establishment of Takauji as shogun and founder of the Ashikaga dynasty, which lasted for fourteen generations, extending over a period of almost 240 years (1335-1573).

When Takauji proclaimed himself shogun he installed his residence upon the same site that had formerly been occupied by Yoritomo's mansion; but during the next year (1336), the new bakufu ruler left Kamakura in charge of a kanryo, or governor-general, and set up his own headquarters in Kyoto, where he established himself on a scale of great luxury and magnificence, in marked contrast to the austere simplicity and economy that had been the leading motives of the Hojo.

By this time Kamakura was beginning to rise from the holocaust of Nitta Yoshisada's invasion, and became a sort of secondary base where the laws and regulations were drawn up, and the administrative code was dispensed along the lines of Takauji's predecessors. But the Kamakura period was at an end. The erstwhile brilliant capital never really recovered from the chaos of Nitta's attack, and the conflagration started upon that day proved the funeral pyre of Kamakura's greatness, the renaissance under the Ashikaga regime being but a pale reflection of its departed glories, and barely exceeding the duration of a century.

During that period, a condition of great and increasing strife existed between the governors of Kamakura (kanryo) and their representatives (shitsuji): members of great Uesugi family holding the latter office, which became so powerful that it would be difficult to decide which wielded the greater authority, kanryo or shitsuji. This truculent state of affairs culminated in 1445, when the representative openly attacked the governor Nariuji. The latter fled to Koga in Shimousa (now Chiba-Ibaraki prefectures), Kamakura losing much prestige by this undignified condition of internal discord. The populace, hoping that the fugitive governor would return and be reinstated in office, preserved his estates in readiness and kept the land cultivated; but the departed kanryo died in exile, this fact constituting a potent factor in the final decline of Kamakura.

The city suffered extensive damage in the siege of 1454, and later on was again almost reduced to ashes by the great fire of 1526. Large numbers of its inhabitants transferred their residence to Odawara when the latter town rose into prominence as the seat of the powerful Hojo family, Kamakura receiving its final coup de grace in the year 1603, when Edo was founded as the capital of the Tokugawa shogun.

The former brilliant city gradually declined into the little fishing village of the pre-Yoritomo period. However, the fortunes of this historic spot were not doomed to retrograde into permanent obscurity, and later on another renaissance was to develop, although based upon more prosaic lines.

The Restoration of 1868, with Tokyo established as the imperial capital; the rapid expansion of other adjacent towns into large and flourishing cities; increased facilities of communication; and various other reasons, all conduced to call attention to Kamakura's obvious and indestructible assets—its charming and picturesque scenery; the glorious sweep of blue ocean fringed by its crescent of sandy beach; its easiness of access; its teeming associations with ancient history—of which, like Rome, it has been said that "legends and romances cluster around every stone, and every cave is heavy with the bones of dead heroes"; its innumerable walks and excursions in every direction; and finally its pure bracing air and exceptionally fine climate.

However, the Restoration was not an unmixed blessing, for at that time the temples were dispossessed of their lands, and consequently fell upon very hard times; the high-water mark of their distress being reached about the year 1886 or 1887, when it is even said that some of the great structures were demolished and the timbers sold for firewood.

In 1890 the railroad, which before then had not come nearer than Ofuna—the junction upon the main line four miles distant—directly linked Kamakura with the capital, this fact being naturally conducive to a new era of prosperity. Since that time the besso (seaside villas) of residents of Tokyo and Yokohama have increased and multiplied apace—Yuigahama gaining wide celebrity as a bathing resort and acquiring a high degree of popularity with the swarms of summer visitors, who transform the beach into a scene of liveliest animation. Three years after the advent of the railway the shihan gakko (school for the training of primary school teachers) was removed from Yokohama to its present quarters at Kamakura on the eastern side of Hachiman. According to tradition the spacious playground of this academy is said to be the identical site of Takatoki's dogfights. Other scholastic institutions are the girls' school in the main avenue, with some 150 pupils; the large primary school almost opposite, two kindergartens, an orphanage for poor children, etc.

Although so many temples and shrines have been overtaken by various calamities and have disappeared since Kamakura's palmy days, yet there still remain the considerable number of forty Buddhist, and nineteen Shinto temples: eighteen of the former being associated with the Nichiren doctrines, and from their intimate connection with the life and teachings of the saint attract large numbers of the devotees of this most popular sect.

Two versions are extant regarding to origin of the name Kamakura. According to one theory the first emperor, Jinmu, visited this district during the course of his punitive expeditions in the eastern part of Japan. The enemy to the number of some thousands were slain by the imperial warriors—the corpses being piled up like mountains: hence this district acquired the name of kabanekura, or repository for dead bodies, which later became Kamakura. But a less sanguinary derivation, and the one that is generally accepted is the following. Fujiwara no Kamatari, the celebrated soldier and statesman of the seventh century, while on a pilgrimage to a distant shrine, passed one night at the little hamlet of Yui. Here he dreamed a sacred dream in which he was instructed by the powers above to bury his emblem, the kama, or large sickle that he carried, upon a hill in the district. This height is said to be the eminence behind Hachiman and which to the present day bears the name of Daijin-yama, or Hill of the Minister: thus the district became known as the repository of the kama, or Kamakura.

Footnote

* It will be remembered that Hachiman was the special protector and tutelary deity of the Minamoto family. The messengers of the god were supposed to be the sacred doves that, even at the present day, are always in evidence at the shrines dedicated to Hachiman. Amongst other instances, at the battle of Ishibashi-yama the life of Yoritomo was saved by two woodpigeons: later on, during the battle of Dan no Ura, at a crucial moment a pair of doves alighted upon the flagstaff of Yoshitsune's vessel, inspiring the hard-pressed warriors to further feats of courage and heroism.