d, and with its failure the prestige of
the Hojo fell in a region where hitherto it had been untarnished--the
arena of arms. The great Japanese historian, Rai Sanyo, compared the
Bakufu of that time to a tree beautiful outwardly but worm-eaten at
the core, and in the classical work, Taiheiki, the state of affairs
is thus described:

The Dengaku mime was then in vogue among all classes in Kyoto.
Takatoki, hearing of this, summoned two rival troupes of Dengaku
players to Kamakura and witnessed their performances without regard
to the passage of time. He distributed the members of the troupes
among the noble families related to the Hojo, and made these nobles
compete to furnish the performers with magnificent costumes. At a
banquet when a Dengaku mime was acted, the regent and his guests vied
with one another in pulling off their robes and throwing them into a
heap, to be redeemed afterwards for heavy sums which were given to
the actors. The custom thus inaugurated became perpetual. One day, a
number of dogs gathered in the garden of Takatoki's mansion and had a
fight. This so amused the regent that orders were despatched to
collect dogs by way of taxes, the result being that many people in
the provinces took steps to breed dogs and presented them by tens or
scores to Kamakura, where they were fed on fish and fowl, kept in
kennels having gold and silver ornaments, and carried in palanquins
to take the air. When these distinguished animals were borne along
the public thoroughfares, people hastening hither and thither on
business had to dismount and kneel in obeisance, and farmers, instead
of cultivating the fields, had to act as bearers of the dogs'
sedan-chairs. Thus, the city of Kamakura presented the curious
spectacle of a town filled with well-fed dogs, clothed in tinsel and
brocades, and totalling from four to five thousand. Twelve days in
every month used to be devoted to dog-fights, and on these occasions,
the regent, the nobles, and the people inside and outside the mansion
used to assemble as spectators, sitting on the verandas or the
ground.

THE COURT IN KYOTO

All these things were watched with keen interest in Kyoto. It has
been shown in Chapter XXVI that the Imperial family had been divided
into two branches ever since the days of Go-Saga (1242-1246), one
descended from his elder son, Go-Fukakusa, the other from his
younger, Kameyama. These two branches may be conveniently
distinguished as the senior and