Siege of Kasagi

Infobox Military Conflict
conflict=Siege of Kasagi
partof=Genkō War


caption=Woodblock print triptych by Ogata Gekkō. Emperor Go-Daigo dreams of ghosts at Kasagiyama.
date=1331
place= Kasagi-dera, near Kyoto, Japan
casus=
territory=
result=Hōjō victory
combatant1=Temple garrison
combatant2=Hōjō clan forces
commander1=Emperor Go-Daigo
commander2=Suyama Yoshitaka, Komiyama Jirō
strength1=
strength2=
casualties1=
casualties2=

The 1331 siege of Kasagi was among the first battles of the Genkō War, which brought an end to Japan's Kamakura period. Emperor Go-Daigo, who had been plotting against the shogunate and the Hōjō clan regents, had hidden the Japanese imperial regalia in Kasagi-dera, a fortified Buddhist temple, atop Kasagiyama, just outside Kyoto, and was secretly raising an army from there.

The temple was raided in the night by Hōjō forces under Suyama Yoshitaka and Komiyama Jirō, who climbed the cliffs surrounding the fortress, and set it aflame. The Emperor, however, escaped and fled.

The temple was rebuilt in 1381, and destroyed by fire again less than twenty years later. Today, only a few buildings remain.

References

*Frederic, Louis (2002). "Japan Encyclopedia." Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press.
*Turnbull, Stephen (1998). 'The Samurai Sourcebook'. London: Cassell & Co.