tern region had remained loyal to the
Hojo; but the people were growing weary of the heavy taxes and
requisitions entailed by this three-years' struggle, and when Nitta
Yoshisada declared against the Hojo, his ranks soon swelled to
formidable dimensions. It has been stated by some historians that
Yoshisada's resolve was first taken on receipt of news that Rokuhara
was lost to the Hojo. But there can be no doubt that, like others of
his sept, he had long resented the comparatively subordinate position
occupied by Yoritomo's descendants, and the most trustworthy annals
show that already while engaged in besieging Masashige in Chihaya
fortress, he conceived the idea of deserting the Hojo's cause.
Through one of his officers, Funada Yoshimasa, he obtained a mandate
from Prince Morinaga, and then, feigning sickness, he left the camp
in Yamato and returned to Kotsuke, where he lost no time in making
preparations for revolt.

This actual declaration did not come, however, until the arrival of
an officer from Kamakura, carrying a requisition for a great quantity
of provisions to victual an army which the Hojo were hastily
equipping to recover Rokuhara. The officer was put to death, and
Yoshisada with his brother, Yoshisuke, set their forces in motion for
Kamakura. Menaced thus closely, the Hojo made a supreme effort. They
put into the field an army said to have numbered one hundred thousand
of all arms. But their ranks were perpetually reduced by defections,
whereas those of the Imperialists received constant accessions. The
campaign lasted only a fortnight. For the final attack Yoshisada
divided his army into three corps and advanced against Kamakura from
the north, the east, and the west. The eastern column was repulsed
and its general slain, but the western onset, commanded by Yoshisada
himself, succeeded. Taking advantage of a low tide, he led his men
over the sands and round the base of a steep cliff,* and carried the
city by storm, setting fire to the buildings everywhere. The Hojo
troops were shattered and slaughtered relentlessly. Takatoki
retreated to his ancestral cemetery at the temple Tosho-ji, and there
committed suicide with all the members of his family and some eight
hundred officers and men of his army. Thus, Kamakura fell on the 5th
of July, 1333, a century and a half after the establishment of the
Bakufu by Yoritomo. Many heroic incidents marked the catastrophe and
showed the spirit animating the bushi of th