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| 1224 |
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Shinran Sh nin (1173–1262), a disciple of Genk , founded the True Pure Land sect of Buddhism, as an offshoot of the Pure Land sect of his master. The True Pure Land sect introduced such innovations as marriage for the clergy. It became the most popular of all Japanese Buddhist sects, with Zen its only close rival. | 1 |
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| 1224–52 |
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| Fujiwara nobles served as figurehead shoguns. | 2 |
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| 1229 |
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| Dgen (1200–1253) introduced the St branch of Zen after his return from study in China. | 3 |
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| 1232 |
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| The Jei Formulary, a legal code based primarily on custom rather than on earlier, Sinicized law codes, was adopted for all those directly under Kamakura feudal rule. A military code, among its provisions were property rights for women. | 4 |
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| 1252–1333 |
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| Imperial princes served as figurehead shoguns. | 5 |
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| 1253 |
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| Nichiren (1222–82) founded the Lotus (Hokke) sect, popularly known as Nichiren Buddhism. In it the Lotus Sutra was venerated, much as the Amidist sects venerated Amida. A fiery religious and political reformer, Nichiren was an ardent nationalist, and his writings illustrate the gradual emergence of a national consciousness at the time. Imbued with the turbulent nature of its founder, the sect had a stormy career. | 6 |
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| 1274 |
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| First Mongol invasion (See 1274, 1281). The Mongols, having conquered Korea and most of China, repeatedly sent embassies (1268–73) enjoining Japan to submit, but the Kamakura government, under the bold leadership of regent Hj Tokimune (1251–84), refused. In 1274 the Mongols dispatched an expeditionary fleet from Korea. The islands of Tsushima and Iki were taken, a landing was made in Hakata (Hakozaki) Bay in northern Kysh, and an inconclusive encounter, in which superior weapons and military organization gave the Mongols the advantage, was fought with local warriors. That same night, the invaders set sail back to Korea because of their insecure position and the threat of a storm. | 7 |
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| 1281 |
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| Second Mongol invasion. Mongol envoys sent to Japan in 1275 and 1280 were summarily executed, and the bakufu hastily prepared defensive works in western Japan. In 1281 the Mongols sent a huge force in two large fleets, one Korean and one Chinese, and again, after capturing Tsushima and Iki, landed in northern Kysh. Although the invaders numbered some 150,000, the Japanese checked their advance on land with walls they had prepared for this emergency, and they defeated them at sea through the great mobility of their smaller craft in close quarters. After almost two months of fighting a great storm defeated a large portion of the invading armada, and the remainder departed with serious losses. The Mongols continued plans for another invasion of Japan until the death of Khubilai (1294), and the Japanese continued their defense preparations for a still longer time. | 8 |
| The Mongol invasions no doubt spurred on Japan's nascent national consciousness and also contributed greatly to the final collapse of the Kamakura bakufu. Military preparations against the Mongols seriously taxed the nation's resources, and after the two invasions the bakufu, lacking land confiscated from the enemy, was without its usual means of rewarding its vassals for their efforts. This state of affairs helped to undermine the loyalty of the warrior retainers for the bakufu. At the same time, the monasteries were becoming increasingly restive, the ruling nobility was again beginning to intrigue with disaffected warriors against the Hj, and the Hj themselves had lost their earlier reputation for frugality and justice. | 9 |
| The Hj, during the final decades of their rule, began to resort to Acts of Grace (Tokusei), canceling certain indebtedness in an effort to save the lands of their vassals from mortgages, but such clearly biased measures antagonized certain powerful interests and failed adequately to protect the Kamakura vassals. | 10 |
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| 1331–33 |
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| The Imperial Restoration of Godaigo (r. 1318–39) and the fall of the Hj. The energetic emperor Godaigo, after bringing to an end (1322) the domination of the court by retired emperors, organized an abortive plot to overthrow the Hj as early as 1324. In 1331 open warfare broke out between Godaigo (supported by his able sons), some of the large monasteries in the capital region, and various local nobles and warriors, such as Kitabatake Chikafusa (1293–1354) and Kusunoki Masashige (1294–1336), two outstanding patriotic heroes of medieval Japan. The following year the emperor was captured and exiled to Oki Island, but in 1333 he escaped. Most of western Japan declared for the imperial cause. Ashikaga Takauji (1305–58), one of the two chief generals dispatched by the Hj from eastern Japan, deserted to support Godaigo, and the sudden capture of Kamakura by another prominent Hj vassal, Nitta Yoshisada (1301–38), brought the Kamakura bakufu to an end. | 11 |
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| 1333–36 |
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| Godaigo, in a short period of personal rule, failed to face economic and political realities and attempted to revive the civil imperial rule of the 8th century. However, he did make his able son Morinaga (1308–35) shogun, and he appointed his leading generals as military governors of large sections of the land. | 12 |
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| 1335 |
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| Because of his dissatisfaction with his share of the spoils in northeastern Japan, Takauji revolted against the throne, defeating the Nitta, Kitabatake, and other loyal families. | 13 |
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| 1336 |
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| Takauji drove Godaigo from Kyoto and set up a new emperor from a branch of the imperial family that had been jealously contending for the throne with Godaigo's branch for several decades. Takauji thereby became the virtual dictator of the central government, although he was not appointed shogun until 1338, when he captured Kyoto. | 14 |
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