which was declared to have forfeited the throne. For a period of sixty years there were two rival Emperors in Japan--the Southern Line, that of Go-daigo, which was clearly the legitimate one, holding its own in Kyushu and the South; while the Northern line, which was the usurping one, was recognized throughout the North. The strife ended in a compromise, which was, however, clearly to the advantage of the usurping North, for it was Go-Komatsu, of the Northern line, who re-united the two dynasties on the abdication of Go-Kameyama of the South, and after the death of his son Shoko, the inheritance passed, with Go-Hanazono, Go-Tsuchimikado, etc., to the descendants of Suko, the third Emperor of the Northern line. Go-Komatsu reigned from 1392-1412; but his power was only what the Shogun Yoshimochi permitted him to have.

Let us follow the history of the country closely for a few years longer.

The Emperor Shoko (1413-1428) was raised to the throne by Yoshimochi on the abdication of his father Go-Komatsu. By this act Yoshimochi deliberately broke his faith; for the understanding between the two dynasties had been that the Emperors should be chosen alternately from the North and the South, and it was now the turn of the South. The appointment was not made without opposition, and many of the supporters of the Southern Dynasty rose in rebellion at the breach of faith; but the South had allowed the Sacred Treasures to pass into the keeping of the North, and so long as the North held them they felt themselves to be safe. Amongst the supporters

of the North there were also dissensions, for the Ashikaga Shoguns had offices of power and emolument to bestow upon their followers, and there were many rivalries and jealousies among the great families who desired to increase their territories and wealth. Yoshimochi was not such a great man as his father Yoshimitsu, who had reduced the country in favour of Go-Komatsu, had built the beautiful Kinkakuji at Kyoto, and treated with the Mings, the Chinese successors of the Mongols; but he had inherited a large amount of authority and influence, which he used without scruple. In 1418 he slew his own brother, whom he suspected of aiming at the Shogunate. In 1423 he became a monk, but continued to be the power behind the throne until his death five years later.