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