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[[Image:GoDaigo.jpg|right|thumb|320px|Grave of Emperor Go-Daigo]]
* ''Birth: [[1288]]''
* ''Birth: [[1288]]''
* ''Death: [[1339]]''
* ''Death: [[1339]]''
*''Japanese:'' 後醍醐天皇 ''(Go-Daigo tennou)''
*''Japanese:'' 後醍醐天皇 ''(Go-Daigo tennou)''
Emperor Go-Daigo is known for his short-lived [[Kemmu Restoration]], which for a brief time in the 1330s brought a break in samurai (shogunate) rule over Japan.
Succeeding [[Emperor Hanazono]] in [[1318]], in [[1331]] Go-Daigo led a rebellion against the [[Kamakura shogunate]]; after some heated battle, Go-Daigo was eventually apprehended by forces of the shogunate in [[1332]] and exiled to [[Oki Island]]. The following year, as forces led by [[Kusunoki Masashige]] and others continued to fight in his name, Go-Daigo escaped from exile and returned; while [[Hojo Takatoki|Hôjô Takatoki]] and others led forces against him, Go-Daigo gained a major advantage as [[Ashikaga Takauji]] switched sides, declaring his support for Go-Daigo, against the Kamakura shogunate, in 1333. Takauji took Kyoto, and [[Nitta Yoshisada]] took [[Kamakura]], that year, marking the fall of the shogunate and the beginning of the Kemmu Restoration.
Go-Daigo then attempted to re-establish an Imperial government, with the samurai class in a truly secondary position, as they had been prior to the establishment of the Kamakura shogunate in [[1192]] (or prior to [[Taira no Kiyomori|Taira no Kiyomori's]] rise to power in the 1150s). He named Imperial [[Prince Morinaga]] (and later [[Prince Norinaga]]) [[Shogun]], passing over Ashikaga Takauji for the title. Takauji and others are said to have felt the emperor's rewards for their loyal service to have been insufficient, as well.
When the [[Hojo clan (Hojo Regents)|Hôjô clan]] rose up again in [[1335]], Takauji took it upon himself to crush their rebellion, and then set himself up in Kamakura. After some other power plays, Go-Daigo eventually decided to label Takauji a traitor and call for his destruction; not willing to declare himself in opposition to an emperor, Takauji named [[Nitta Yoshisada]], his former ally and one of Go-Daigo's chief generals, his enemy. After much fighting, Go-Daigo handed over the [[Imperial Regalia]] to the Ashikaga and fled Kyoto for Yoshino, while Takauji took up residence in Kyoto and declared the establishment of the [[Ashikaga shogunate]]. Later claiming those regalia to be forgeries, and claiming to still possess the true regalia, Go-Daigo continued to assert his claim to the throne against the Ashikaga's choice, thus marking the beginning of the [[Nanboku-cho|Nanboku-chô]], or Northern and Southern Courts period.
Go-Daigo died in [[1339]]. [[Tenryu-ji|Tenryû-ji]] in the Arashiyama area of Kyoto was established by Takauji in his memory. His sons included Prince Morinaga and [[Prince Kanenaga]].
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