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Divided Loyalties and Shifting Perceptions The Jōkyū Disturbance and Courtier-Warrior Relations in Medieval Japan Michael McCarty Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY 2013 © 2013 Michael McCarty All rights reserved ABSTRACT Divided Loyalties and Shifting Perceptions The Jōkyū Disturbance and Courtier-Warrior Relations in Medieval Japan Michael McCarty The Kamakura period in Japan (1185-1333) was the first time that aristocratic rule in Kyoto was confronted by a competing warrior power in Kamakura, known as the Kamakura Bakufu. Historians in recent decades have cogently redefined this period as a transitional age between Japan’s classical and medieval periods, but in their studies have restricted historical analysis to documentary evidence while rejecting the value of more belletristic texts. This dissertation engages critically with a wider range of source material, including texts often categorized as literature, to investigate cultural and social implications of the Kamakura-period that cannot be gleaned from documents. In particular, my study engages with the history of warrior and courtier relations seen in the lead-up, outbreak, and aftermath of a war known as the Jōkyū Disturbance of 1221. In this event, the powerful retired emperor Go-Toba instigated a war against Hōjō Yoshitoki, the de facto leader of the newly emergent Kamakura Bakufu. Disastrously defeated within the span of a month, Go-Toba and his sons were all sent into exile by the Bakufu, which emerged from its victory more powerful than before. The shock waves Go-Toba’s defeat sent through medieval society reveal the complexity of thirteenth-century Japan, characterized by divided loyalties, overlapping networks of interpersonal ties, and changing perceptions of social identity. By explaining, justifying, or condemning Go-Toba’s actions in 1221, medieval writers explored new ways of understanding imperial authority, loyalty and honor, and the roles of court and warrior government, providing deeper insight into early medieval Japanese history. Table of Contents Divided Loyalties and Shifting Perceptions: The Jōkyū Disturbance and Courtier-Warrior Relations in Medieval Japan List of Charts and Illustrations …………………………………………………iii Acknowledgments …………………………………………………………….. iv Introduction ……………………………………………………………………. 1 Chapter 1 – A New Approach to Pre-Modern Japanese Texts ………………...18 I. The Problem of Sources………………...………………...……….. 18 II. The Texts………………...………………...………………...…….32 III. An Illustration—Masako’ Speech………………...………………41 Chapter 2 – Japan on the Eve of the Jōkyū Disturbance…………………….…67 I. The Legacy of Yoritomo………………...………………...………..70 II. Internal Conflict: Court Division………………...………………...80 III. Internal Conflict: Challenges to the Bakufu………………...……89 IV. Sanetomo, Yoritsune and the Future of Compromise……………..98 Chapter 3 – How Did the Jōkyū Disturbance Happen? ………………………110 I. Go-Toba: The Last insei Ruler? ………………...………………...112 II. The Numbers Game ………………...………………...………….132 III. Battle Tactics………………...………………...………………...144 Chapter 4 – Shock Waves……………………………………………………..156 I. Making Sense of Tragedy………………...………………...……...158 II. The “Debate” Texts………………...………………...…………...169 Chapter 5 – Changing Perceptions of Warriors and Courtiers ……………….180 i I. The Ambiguous Way of the Warrior………………...……………..183 II. The “Decline” of the Court………………...………………...…...199 Conclusion ……………………………………………………………………213 Works Cited …………………………………………………………………..217 Appendix: “Record of the Surprising Events in Six Reigns” A translation of the narrative Rokudai Shōjiki………………………...224 ii List of Charts and Illustrations Chart or Illustration Page number 1. Fujiwara Regents: Late Heian-Early Kamakura Period……………..83 2. Minamoto and Hōjō Clans: Kamakura Period………………………91 3. Ichijō Family: Kamakura Period…………………………………...122 4. Map of Jōkyū Battles………………………………………………132 5. Army Sizes in Jikōjibon Jōkyūki …………………………………..138 6. The Battle of Ōi Crossing in Rufubon and Maedabon Jōkyūki…….146 iii Acknowledgments I came to the specific project of the Jōkyū Disturbance relatively late in my graduate coursework, but my basic interest in late Heian-early Kamakura Japan began much earlier. I want to thank, first and foremost, David Mungello who, though a Sinologist, ignited my interest in Japanese history and this period in particular at Baylor University and encouraged me to continue my studies in graduate school. At Columbia David Lurie has been an energetic and insightful advisor at every step of my graduate career, and his support and advice has been particularly dependable and motivating during my final year of writing. His analytical mind and appetite for knowledge has given me the most solid background in pre-modern Japanese history I could imagine. Haruo Shirane, though not my official advisor, has also given me very personal mentorship; his intensive “Tale of Genji” seminar solidified my knowledge of classical Japanese and gave me the initial chance to investigate the Jōkyū Disturbance through a paper on the Masukagami. I would also be remiss without mentioning two inspiring professors whose courses helped me develop my interest in history through more literary sources, Wiebke Denecke and the late JaHyun K. Haboush. Martin Collcutt also graciously took me under his wing in a seminar at Princeton, giving encouragement on the early drafts of what would become my dissertation proposal. A special thanks to my committee members and many others at Columbia who made my experience there so positive. My research in Japan was supported by generous grants and fellowships from the Foreign Language and Area Studies Fellowship, the Fulbright-Hays Doctoral Dissertation Research Abroad, the Shincho Fellowship for Graduate Study in Japan, and the Konosuke Matsushita Memorial Fund Grant. I want to thank the Inter-University Center for Japanese Language Study in Yokohama for their quality language instruction and patience. I am also very grateful that iv Professor Kanayama Yasuko from International Christian University was able to work one-on- one with me during my time in Yokohama, helping me investigate Rokudai Shōjiki for my IUC final presentation. The bulk of my research period was spent at the Shiryō Hensanjo (Historiographical Institute) of Tokyo University, taking advantage of its wonderful library and electronic resources. I want to thank Professor Yoshida Sanae for being my sponsor and guiding me through Tokyo University’s often confusing bureaucratic system; Christina Laffin who aided me ceaselessly with her knowledge of the campus and medieval research methods in general; and Professor Hongō Keiko, whose seminar on the Gyokuyō pushed me toward greater mastery of kanbun diaries. Kinoshita Ryōma, a graduate student at Tokyo University, worked with me regularly for over a year reading through the difficult Rufubon and Maedabon variants of the Jōkyūki, putting up with my often inarticulate Japanese along the way. Also I want to thank my fellow visiting researchers at the Hensanjo who provided a lively exchange of ideas, support, and good humor— especially, but not exclusively, Kristina Buhrman, Michelle Damian, Wayne Farris, Sherry Funches, Sachiko Kawai, and Daniel Schley. Additional interest and support for my project have come from many directions over the years (and too many people to name!) but I especially want to thank David Atherton, Erin Brightwell, Jennifer Guest, and Yumi Kim for their input and friendship. Scott O’Bryan and Matthew Thompson also provided helpful feedback on more formal presentations I gave based on various chapters of the dissertation. Finally, I want to thank my wife, Heather, for her tireless support—whether by encouraging me to write, giving me third-party feedback, eroding my doubts, or simply by offering to take all future critics of my work to task. You are one in a million. v 1 Introduction As sudden as the Disturbance was, and since it lasted for barely a month, there is all the more danger of error in over-emphasizing the inevitability of its circumstances. -Uwayokote Masataka, “Jōkyū no ran,” 1962.1 The Jōkyū Disturbance In the third year of Jōkyū, 1221, the powerful retired emperor Go-Toba (後鳥羽, 1180- 1239) perceived cracks in the fragile compromise between the court and the Bakufu which he deemed to his advantage. Ever since the Genpei War brought about the formation of the warrior government known as the Kamakura Bakufu in 1185, warrior elites in Kamakura had fostered an uneasy alliance with partisans of the imperial court in Kyoto. Now Go-Toba circumvented any further cooperation between the two governments and began to act completely on his own. He mobilized his personal army, attacking a local Bakufu representative, and sent out a proclamation for warriors throughout Japan to help him defeat Hōjō Yoshitoki (北条義時, 1163-1224), the de- facto leader of the Bakufu. But Go-Toba’s plan backfired; most noble families ignored his call to arms, and the Bakufu chain of command mobilized quickly to defeat his fledgling army in a matter of weeks. Bakufu leaders exiled Go-Toba and his sons, installed rival imperial claimants to the throne, and emerged from their victory more powerful and unrestricted than ever before. In the eyes of contemporary observers, the landscape of their government and society had irrevocably changed in the brief span of a month. Go-Toba’s failed campaign, known as the Jōkyū Disturbance (承久の乱), will be the focus of this