frequently happened that men were ousted from all share in their
paternal estates, and these men, carrying their genealogical tables
constantly in their pockets, were ready to join in any enterprise
that might better their circumstances. Hence the Shokyu struggle may
be said to have been, politically, a collision between the Imperial
Court and the Bakufu, and, socially, a protest against family
autocracy."

The murder of Sanetomo inspired the Court with strong hope that a
suicidal feud had commenced at Kamakura, and when the Fujiwara baby,
Yoritsune, was sent thither, peace-loving politicians entertained an
idea that the civil and the military administration would soon be
found co-operating. But neither event made any change in the
situation. The lady Masa and her brother remained as powerful as ever
and as careless of the Court's dignity.

Two events now occurred which materially hastened a rupture. One was
connected with an estate, in the province of Settsu, conferred by
Go-Toba on a favourite--a shirabyoshi, "white measure-marker," as a
danseuse of those days was called. The land-steward of this estate
treated its new owner, Kamegiku, with contumely, and Go-Toba was
sufficiently infatuated to lodge a protest, which elicited from
Kamakura an unceremonious negative. One of the flagrant abuses of the
time was the sale of offices to Court ladies, and the Bakufu's
attitude in the affair of the Settsu estates amounted to an indirect
condemnation of such evil practices. But Go-Toba, profoundly
incensed, applied himself from that day to mustering soldiers and
practising military tactics. The second incident which precipitated
an appeal to arms was the confiscation of a manor owned by a bushi
named Nishina Morito, who, though a retainer (keriin) of the Bakufu,
had taken service at the Imperial Court. Go-Toba asked that the
estate should be restored, but Yoshitoki flatly refused. It was then
(1221) that Go-Toba contrived the abdication of his son, Juntoku, a
young man of twenty-four, possessing, apparently, all the qualities
that make for success in war, and thereafter an Imperial decree
deprived Yoshitoki of his offices and declared him a rebel. The die
was now cast. Troops were summoned from all parts of the Empire to
attack Kamakura, and a motley crowd mustered in Kyoto.

STEPS TAKEN BY THE BAKUFU

It was on June 6, 1221, that the Imperial decree outlawing Hojo
Yoshitoki appeared, and three days later Kamakura was inf