Article · Wikipedia archive · Last revised Jul 1, 2026

Genchū

Genchū (元中) was a Japanese era of the Southern Court during the Era of Northern and Southern Courts lasting from April 1384 to October 1392. The reigning Emperors were Go-Kameyama in the south and Go-Komatsu in the north.

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Genchū (元中) was a Japanese era of the Southern Court during the Era of Northern and Southern Courts lasting from April 1384 to October 1392.1 The reigning Emperors were Go-Kameyama in the south and Go-Komatsu in the north.

Nanboku-chō overview

The Imperial seats during the Nanboku-chō period were in relatively close proximity, but geographically distinct. They were conventionally identified as:
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During the Meiji period, an Imperial decree dated March 3, 1911, established that the legitimate reigning monarchs of this period were the direct descendants of Emperor Go-Daigo through Emperor Go-Murakami, whose Southern Court (南朝, nanchō) had been established in exile in Yoshino, near Nara.2

Until the end of the Edo period, the militarily superior pretender-Emperors supported by the Ashikaga shogunate had been mistakenly incorporated in Imperial chronologies despite the undisputed fact that the Imperial Regalia were not in their possession.2

This illegitimate Northern Court (北朝, hokuchō) had been established in Kyoto by Ashikaga Takauji.2

Events of the Genchū Era

Northern Court Equivalents

Notes

Notes

  1. Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005). "Genchū" in Japan encyclopedia, p. 236; n.b., Louis-Frédéric is pseudonym of Louis-Frédéric Nussbaum, see Deutsche Nationalbibliothek Authority File.
  2. Thomas, Julia Adeney. (2001). Reconfiguring modernity: concepts of nature in Japanese political ideology, p. 199 n57, citing Mehl, Margaret. (1997). History and the State in Nineteenth-Century Japan. pp. 140–147.
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