Emperor Go-Kameyama

Emperor Go-Kameyama (died 1424), a son of Go-Murakami, succeeded his brother Chōkei around 1383 as ruler of the Southern Court. Its residences lay south of Kyoto, while the rival court in Kyoto had Ashikaga support. His birth year is uncertain. He inherited a weakened military position, but his court still possessed the regalia and a separate claim to imperial succession. [S01]

In 1392 he accepted a settlement brokered by Ashikaga Yoshimitsu, returned to Kyoto and transferred the regalia to Go-Komatsu. The arrangement included an expectation that the two imperial lines would alternate on the throne, together with provisions concerning revenue for the Southern line. Ending the separate court was therefore a negotiated exchange with conditions, although the stronger Ashikaga side controlled the setting in which they would operate. [S01]

Go-Kameyama received recognition as a retired emperor and lived at Daikaku-ji in Saga. The promised alternation did not occur. Dissatisfied with his treatment and the unfulfilled arrangement, he left for Yoshino in 1410, then returned to Kyoto in 1416. He died in 1424. Reunification preserved a place for him within the courtly order while leaving his descendants without the access to succession on which the agreement had rested. [S01]