But notwithstanding this heroic episode the affairs of Japan remained in the same deplorable condition. As a rule children continued to occupy the imperial throne and to abdicate whenever their Hōjō masters deemed it best. Children of the imperial house or of the family of Fujiwara were sent to Kamakura to become shōguns. And now at last the Hōjō regency had by successive steps come down to the same level, and children were made regents, whose actions and conduct were controlled by their inferiors. In the midst of this state of things, which continued till A.D. 1318, Go-Daigo became emperor. Contrary to the ordinary usage, he was a man thirty-one years old, in the full maturity of his powers. He was by no means free from the vices to which his surroundings inevitably tended. He was fond of the gayety and pomp which the court had always cultivated. But he realized the depth of the degradation to which the present condition of affairs had dragged his country. A famine brought great suffering upon the people, and the efforts which the emperor made to assist them added to his popularity, and revealed to him the reverence in which the imperial throne was held. His son Moriyoshi, as early as A.D. 1307, was implicated in plans against the Hōjō, which they discovered, and in consequence compelled Go-Daigo to order his retirement into a monastery. Later Go-Daigo undertook to make a stand against the arrogance and intolerance of the Hōjō and induced the Buddhist monks to join him in fortifying Kasagi in the province of Yamato. But this effort of the emperor was fruitless. Kasagi was attacked and destroyed and the emperor taken prisoner. As a punishment for his attempt he was sent as an exile to the island of Oki. The Hōjō Regent Takatoki put Go-Kōgen on the throne as emperor. But Go-Daigo from his exile continued his exertions against the Hōjō, and assistance came to him from unexpected quarters. He effected his escape from the island and, having raised an army, marched upon Kyōto. Kusunoki Masashigé, who had given his aid to the emperor on former occasions, now exerted himself to good purpose. He is held in admiring remembrance to this day by his grateful country as the model of patriotic devotion, to whom his emperor was dearer than his life. Another character who stands out prominently in this trying time was Nitta Yoshisada. He was a descendant of Yoshiiye, who, for his achievements against the Emishi, had received the popular title of Hachiman-tarō. Nitta was a commander in the army of the Hōjō, which had been sent against Kusunoki Masashigé. But at the last moment he refused to fight against the army of the emperor and retired with his troops and went over to the side of Masashigé. He returned to his own province of Kōtsuke and raised an army to fight against the Hōjō. With this force he marched at once against Kamakura through the province of Sagami. His route lay along the beach. But at