Jōkyū War (承久の乱, jōkyū no ran), also known as the Jōkyū Disturbance or the Jōkyū Rebellion, was fought in Japan between the forces of Retired Emperor Go-Toba and those of the Hōjō clan, regents of the Kamakura shogunate, whom the retired emperor was trying to overthrow.
The decisive battle of the conflict was fought at Uji in 1221, the third year of the Jōkyū era, just outside the imperial capital of Kyōto. It was the third battle to be fought there in less than half a century.
The Kamakura shogunate (Japanese: 鎌倉幕府, Hepburn: Kamakura bakufu) was the feudal military government of Japan during the Kamakura period from 1185 to 1333.
The Kamakura shogunate was established by Minamoto no Yoritomo after victory in the Genpei War and appointing himself as shōgun. Yoritomo governed Japan as military dictator from the eastern city of Kamakura with the emperor of Japan and his Imperial Court in the official capital city of Heian-kyō (Kyoto) as figureheads. The Kamakura shōguns were members of the Minamoto clan until 1226, the Fujiwara clan until 1252, and the last six were minor princes of the imperial family. The Hōjō clan were the de facto rulers of Japan as shikken (regent) of the shōgun from 1203. The Kamakura shogunate saw the Jōkyū War in 1221 and the Mongol invasions of Japan under Kublai Khan in 1274 and 1281. The Kamakura shogunate was overthrown in the Kenmu Restoration under Emperor Go-Daigo in 1333, re-establishing Imperial rule until Ashikaga Takauji and his offspring overthrew the imperial government and founded the Ashikaga shogunate in 1336 (Nanboku-chō period).
Rokuhara Tandai (六波羅探題) was the post of the chiefs of the Kamakura shogunate in imperial capital Kyoto whose agency, the Rokuhara (六波羅), kept responsibility for security in Kinai and judicial affairs on western Japan, and negotiated with the imperial court. Despite keeping security, the Rokuhara were also a sort of secret police and widely feared.
Rokuhara Tandai was set up after the Jōkyū Incident in 1221. The two chiefs were called Kitakata (北方) and Minamikata (南方), respectively. Kitakata was higher-ranking than Minamikata. Like shikken and rensho, both posts were monopolized by the powerful Hōjō clan. The agency was destroyed with the fall of Kamakura shogunate in 1333.
The third battle at the Uji River was the primary battle of the Jōkyū War in Japan. Bakufu forces led by Hōjō Yoshitoki, shikken (regent) of the Kamakura shogunate, sought to enter Kyoto and overthrow Emperor Go-Toba, using Uji and Seta as their gateways.
The Emperor's forces, alongside warrior monks from Mount Hiei, attempted to make a final stand at the bridge into Kyoto, defending it from the Shōgun's armies.