was a Japanese era (年號, nengō, lit. year name) of the Southern Court during the Era of Northern and Southern Courts after Kōkoku and before Kentoku. This period spanned the years from December 1346 to July 1370. The Southern Court emperors in Yoshino were and . The emperors in Kyoto were , and in the north.

Nanboku-chō overview

thumb|140px|The Imperial seats during the Nanboku-chō period were in relatively close proximity, but geographically distinct. They were conventionally identified as:

During the Meiji period, an Imperial decree dated March 3, 1911 established that the legitimate reigning monarchs of this period were the direct descendants of Emperor Go-Daigo through Emperor Go-Murakami, whose had been established in exile in Yoshino, near Nara.

Until the end of the Edo period, the militarily superior pretender-Emperors supported by the Ashikaga shogunate had been mistakenly incorporated in Imperial chronologies despite the undisputed fact that the Imperial Regalia were not in their possession.

  • 1347 (Shōhei 2): Nijō Yoshimoto was demoted from his high office as Kampaku; and he was instead given the title and responsibilities of sadaijin.
  • 1350 (Shōhei 5): Yoshinori guarded Kyoto.
  • 1350 (Shōhei 5): Tadayoshi, excluded from administration, turns priest;
  • 1351 (Shōhei 6): Tadayoshi joins Southern Court, southern army takes Kyoto; truce, Takauji returns to Kyoto; Tadayoshi and Takauji reconciled; Kō no Moronao and Kō no Moroyasu are exiled.
  • 1352 (Shōhei 7): The grandfather of the emperor is advanced from the rank of dainagon to nadaijin.
  • 1353 (Shōhei 8): Kyoto occupied by southern forces under Yamana Tokiuji; and the capital was retaken by the Ashikaga.
  • 1356 Shōhei 11): Ashikaga Yoshinori is raised to the second rank of the third class in the court hierarchy.
  • 1357 (Shōhei 12): Emperor Go-Murakami, who had captured former-Emperor Kōgon, former-Emperor Kōmyō and former-Emperor Sukō in 1352, released all three of them and permitted their return from Yoshino to Kyoto. Ashikaga Yoshiakira appointed shōgun; dissention and defections in shogunate.
  • 1361 (Shōhei 16): Snowfall was unusually heavy; and there was also a disastrous fire in Kyoto as well as a violent earthquake.
  • 1361 (Shōhei 16): Eigen-ji, a Zen Buddhist temple located in modern-day Shiga prefecture, was founded Sasaki Ujiyori; and its first Abbot was Jakushitsu Genko.
  • 1362 (Shōhei 17): Hosokawa Kiyouji and Kusunoki Masanori attack Kyoto, Ashikaga Yoshiakira flees, but regains the capital in twenty days.