Kōō Explained

, also romanized as Kō-ō, was a Japanese era name (年号, nengō, lit. year name) of the Northern Court during the Era of Northern and Southern Courts after Kakei and before Meitoku. This period spanned the years from February 1389 to March 1390.^[1] The emperor in Kyoto was ^[2] The Southern Court rival in Yoshino during this time-frame was .

Nanboku-chō overview

This illegitimate was established in Kyoto by Ashikaga Takauji in 1336. Until the end of the Edo period, the militarily superior pretender-Emperors supported by the Ashikaga shogunate were incorporated in Imperial chronologies, even though the Imperial Regalia were never in their possession.

During the Meiji period, an Imperial decree dated March 3, 1911 established that the legitimate reigning monarchs of this period were the direct descendants of Emperor Go-Daigo through Emperor Go-Murakami, whose had been established in exile in Yoshino, near Nara.^[3]

Change of era

• 1389, also called : The new era name was created to mark an event or series of events. The previous era ended and the new one commenced in Kakei 3.

In this time frame, Genchū (1384–1393) was the Southern Court equivalent nengō.^[4]

Events of the Kōō era

• 1389 (Kōō 1): Dissension continues in Toki family in Mino.^[5]
• 1389 (Kōō 1): Yoshimitsu pacifies Kyūshū and distributes lands; Yoshimitsu opposed by Kamakura kanrei Ashikaga Ujimitsu.^[5]
• 1389 (Kōō 1, 7th month): The udaijin Saioinji Sanetoshi died at the age of 56.^[6]
• 1390 (Kōō 2): Kusunoki defeated; Yamana Ujikiyo chastises Tokinaga.^[5]

References

• Ackroyd, Joyce. (1982) Lessons from History: The Tokushi Yoron. Brisbane: University of Queensland Press.
• Mehl, Margaret. (1997). History and the State in Nineteenth-Century Japan. New York: St Martin's Press. ; OCLC 419870136
• Nussbaum, Louis Frédéric and Käthe Roth. (2005). Japan Encyclopedia. Cambridge: Harvard University Press. ; OCLC 48943301
• Thomas, Julia Adeney. (2001). Reconfiguring Modernity: Concepts of Nature in Japanese Political Ideology. Berkeley: University of California Press. ;
• Titsingh, Isaac. (1834). Nihon Odai Ichiran; ou, Annales des empereurs du Japon. Paris: Royal Asiatic Society, Oriental Translation Fund of Great Britain and Ireland. OCLC 5850691

External links

• National Diet Library, "The Japanese Calendar" -- historical overview plus illustrative images from library's collection

Notes and References

1. Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005). "Kō-ō" in Japan encyclopedia, p. 560; n.b., Louis-Frédéric is pseudonym of Louis-Frédéric Nussbaum, see Deutsche Nationalbibliothek Authority File .
2. Titsingh, Isaac. (1834). Annales des empereurs du japon, pp. 317-318.
3. Thomas, Julia Adeney. (2001). Reconfiguring modernity: concepts of nature in Japanese political ideology, p. 199 n57, citing Mehl, Margaret. (1997). History and the State in Nineteenth-Century Japan. p. 140-147.
4. Titsingh, p. 317.
5. Ackroyd, Joyce. 1982) Lessons from History: The "Tokushi Yoron", p. 329.
6. Titsingh, p. 318; Mass, Jeffrey P. (2002). The Origins of Japan's Medieval World: Courtiers, Clerics, Warriors, and Peasants in the Fourteenth Century, p. 410.