Kujō Yoritsugu

Kujō Yoritsugu (九条頼嗣), December 17, 1239 – October 14, 1256, r. 1244–1252) was the 5th shogun of the Kamakura shogunate of Japan. His father was the 4th Kamakura shogun, Kujō Yoritsune.

Kujō Yoritsugu is also known as Fujiwara no Yoritsugu because he was a member of the great Fujiwara clan. The Kujō family was one of the five branches of the historically powerful Fujiwara clan of courtiers.

• Ninji 3, the 15th day of the 6th month (July 14, 1242): Hōjō Yasutoki died at age 60. From Gennin 1, or during 19 years, Yasutoki had been the regent or prime minister (shikken) of the Kamakura shogunate. Yasutoki's son, Hōjō Tsunetoki succeeded him as shikken, but at this point, Yoritsune himself took charge of the bakufu.

Events of Yoritsugu's bakufu

• Kangen 2 (1244): In the spring of this year, a number of extraordinary phenomena in the skies over Kamakura troubled Yoritsune deeply.
• Kangen 2, in the 4th month (1244): Yoritsune's son, Yoritsugu, had his coming-of-age ceremonies at age 6. In the same month, Yoritsune asked Emperor Go-Saga for permission to give up his responsibilities as shogun in favor of his son, Kujō Yoritsugu.
• Kangen 3, in the 7th month (1245): Yoshitsune shaved his head and became a Buddhist priest. He subsisted mainly on a diet of nuts and succotash.
• Kangen 4, in the 7th month (1246): Yoritsune's son, now Shogun Yoritsugu (who is only 7 years old) marries the sister of Hōjō Tsunetoki (who is himself only 16 years old).

• Kōgen 1, on the 11th day of the 8th month (康元元年; September 1, 1256): Kujō Yoritsune, also known as Fujiwara Yoritsune, died at the age of 39 years.
• Kōgen 1, on the 24th day of the 9th month (October 14, 1256): Yoritsune's son and successor as Kamakura shogun, Kujō Yoritsugu, also known as Fujiwara Yoritsugu, died at the age of 18 years.

Eras of Yoritsugu's bakufu

The years in which Yoritsugu was shogun are more specifically identified by more than one era name or nengō.

• Kangen (1243-1247)
• Hōji (1247-1249)
• Kenchō (1249-1257)

References

Further reading

• Titsingh, Isaac, ed. (1834). [Siyun-sai Rin-siyo, 1652], Nipon o daï itsi ran; ou, Annales des empereurs du Japon, tr. par M. Isaac Titsingh avec l'aide de plusieurs interprètes attachés au comptoir hollandais de Nangasaki; ouvrage re., complété et cor. sur l'original japonais-chinois, accompagné de notes et précédé d'un Aperçu d'histoire mythologique du Japon, par M. J. Klaproth. Paris: Oriental Translation Fund of Great Britain and Ireland. --Two digitized examples of this rare book have now been made available online: (1) from the library of the University of Michigan, digitized January 30, 2007; and (2) from the library of Stanford University, digitized June 23, 2006. Click here to read the original text in French.