so
became a salient element of feudalism. Originally liable to frequent
transfers of locality, some of them subsequently came to hold their
office hereditarily, and these, together with the great majority of
their confreres who had been appointed by the Bakufu, espoused the
Ashikaga cause; a choice which impelled many of the military families
in their jurisdiction to declare for the Southern Court. The Ashikaga
shugo ultimately became leading magnates, for they wielded twofold
authority, namely, that derived from their power as owners of broad
estates, and that derived from their commission as shogun's delegates
entitled to levy taxes locally. The provincial governors, at the
outset purely civil officials, occasionally developed military
capacity and rivalled the hereditary shugo in armed influence, but
such instances were rare.

*Murdoch's History of Japan.

THE COURSE OF THE WAR

After the death of Kusunoki Masashige, of Nitta Yoshisada, and of
Kitabatake Akiiye, the strategical direction of the war devolved
mainly upon Kitabatake Chikafusa, so far as the Southern Court was
concerned. The greater part of the nation may be said to have been in
arms, but only a small section took actual part in the main campaign,
the troops in the distant provinces being occupied with local
struggles. Chikafusa's general plan was to menace Kyoto and Kamakura
simultaneously. Just as the eight provinces of the Kwanto formed the
base of the Ashikaga armies, so the eight provinces constituting the
Kii peninsula--Yamato, Kawachi, Izumi, Ise, Iga, Shima, Kii (in
part), and Omi (in part)--served as bases for the partisans of the
South. To strike at Kyoto from this base required the previous
subjugation of Settsu, and, on the other hand, a strong army in
Settsu menaced Yoshino.

Chikafusa's plan, then, was to marshal in Kawachi force sufficient to
threaten, if not to overrun, Settsu, and then to push on into the
metropolitan province from Omi and Iga, the Ashikaga having been
previously induced to uncover Kyoto by the necessity of guarding
Kamakura. From the Kii peninsula the obvious route to the Kwanto is
by sea. Therefore, the Southerners established a naval base at
Shingu, on the east coast of the peninsula, and used it for the
purpose not only of despatching a force northward, but also of
maintaining communications with Shikoku and Kyushu, where they had
many partisans. Chikafusa himself led the oversea expedition to the
Kwanto, but