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Prince Kanenaga, also known as Kaneyoshi,<ref>The ''kanji'' (characters) comprising the prince's name can be read as either Kanenaga or Kaneyoshi. He is more commonly known as Kanenaga in the English-language scholarship.</ref> was a son of [[Emperor Go-Daigo]] and the head of the ''[[Seiseifu]]'' (Office of the Subjugation of the West), the headquarters of the [[Southern Court]]'s forces in Kyushu.

Prince Kanenaga, also known as Kaneyoshi,<ref>The ''kanji'' (characters) comprising the prince's name can be read as either Kanenaga or Kaneyoshi. He is more commonly known as Kanenaga in the English-language scholarship.</ref> was a son of [[Emperor Go-Daigo]] and the head of the ''[[Seiseifu]]'' (Office of the Subjugation of the West), the headquarters of the [[Southern Court]]'s forces in Kyushu.

Acting as ''seisei shôgun''<ref>lit. "General of the Subjugation of the West"</ref>, Kanenaga received official envoys from [[Ming Dynasty]] China on several occasions. The first such envoy arrived at [[Hakata]] in [[1369]]. In response to the Chinese request that efforts be made to stem the tide of ''[[wako|wakô]]'' attacks, Kanenaga had the envoy detained, killed some of the members of the embassy, and refused to agree to any diplomatic ties. The following year, however, Kanenaga reversed his stance. When a new envoy arrived in [[1370]], Prince Kanenaga, representing himself as "Yoshikane" (a reversal of his name, Kaneyoshi), sent the envoy back to China with horses and other [[tribute|gifts]], and roughly seventy Chinese men who had been captured by ''wakô'' and were in this way freed and repatriated. "Yoshikane" then received official investiture as "King of Japan" in the eyes of the Ming Court, and became the sole authority authorized to participate in the tribute trade, or any other formal diplomatic relations, with Ming China. Historian [[Amino Yoshihiko]] describes this as Kanenaga attempting (and perhaps succeeding, to some extent, however briefly) "to establish an independent country in Kyushu."<ref>Amino, 270.</ref>

Appointed ''seisei shôgun''<ref>lit. "General of the Subjugation of the West"</ref>, Kanenaga was ostensibly an agent of the Southern Court and of the [[Ashikaga shogunate]]; however, he quickly began to claim power for himself, securing the allegiance of the samurai clans of Kyushu, and control of the island by [[1365]].

 

Acting as an independent authority, he then began to receive official envoys from [[Ming Dynasty]] China. The first such envoy arrived at [[Hakata]] in [[1369]]. In response to the Chinese request that efforts be made to stem the tide of ''[[wako|wakô]]'' attacks, Kanenaga had the envoy detained, killed some of the members of the embassy, and refused to agree to any diplomatic ties. The following year, however, Kanenaga reversed his stance. When a new envoy arrived in [[1370]], Prince Kanenaga, representing himself as "Yoshikane" (a reversal of his name, Kaneyoshi), sent the envoy back to China with horses and other [[tribute|gifts]], and roughly seventy Chinese men who had been captured by ''wakô'' and were in this way freed and repatriated. "Yoshikane" then received official investiture as "King of Japan" in the eyes of the Ming Court, and became the sole authority authorized to participate in the tribute trade, or any other formal diplomatic relations, with Ming China. Historian [[Amino Yoshihiko]] describes this as Kanenaga attempting (and perhaps succeeding, to some extent, however briefly) "to establish an independent country in Kyushu."<ref>Amino, 270.</ref>

[[Ashikaga shogunate|Shogun]] [[Ashikaga Yoshimitsu]], displeased with this turn of events, rapidly took action to unseat Kanenaga as the recognized authority. He dispatched [[Imagawa Ryoshun|Imagawa Ryôshun]] to negotiate with the Ming emissaries, while he himself negotiated with the [[kuge|court aristocracy]] for permission to assemble and submit the necessary documents to have himself (the shogun, not the emperor) recognized as the King of Japan and the Ming's rightful partner in the tribute trade. Eventually, he simply went over the heads of the Court, so to speak, and submitted a formal letter to the Ming envoys acknowledging the authority and superiority of the Ming Emperor, who in turn recognized Yoshimitsu as the King of Japan, stripping Prince Kanenaga of that position.

[[Ashikaga shogunate|Shogun]] [[Ashikaga Yoshimitsu]], displeased with this turn of events, rapidly took action to unseat Kanenaga as the recognized authority. He dispatched [[Imagawa Ryoshun|Imagawa Ryôshun]] to negotiate with the Ming emissaries, while he himself negotiated with the [[kuge|court aristocracy]] for permission to assemble and submit the necessary documents to have himself (the shogun, not the emperor) recognized as the King of Japan and the Ming's rightful partner in the tribute trade. Eventually, he simply went over the heads of the Court, so to speak, and submitted a formal letter to the Ming envoys acknowledging the authority and superiority of the Ming Emperor, who in turn recognized Yoshimitsu as the King of Japan, stripping Prince Kanenaga of that position.

*Amino Yoshihiko, Alan Christy (trans.) ''Rethinking Japanese History'', Center for Japanese Studies, University of Michigan (2012), 269-270.

*Amino Yoshihiko, Alan Christy (trans.) ''Rethinking Japanese History'', Center for Japanese Studies, University of Michigan (2012), 269-270.

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