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An idea of the confusion existing at that time in Kamakura may be gathered from the fact that, during the five years between the death of Sadatoki and the accession of his son Takatoki , no less than four members of the Hojo family held the regency in succession. Takatoki was destined to be the last of the Hojo regents.
Takatoki handed the cup to Takashige, and he, after draining it thrice, as was the samurai's wont, passed it to Settsu Dojun, disembowelled himself, and tore out his intestines. "That gives a fine relish to the wine," cried Dojun, following Takashige's example. Takatoki, being of highest rank, was the last to kill himself.
This Tokiyuki was a son of Takatoki. He escaped to Shinano province at the time of the Hojo downfall, and being joined there by many of his family's vassals, he found himself strong enough to take the field openly in July, 1335, and sweeping away all opposition, he entered Kamakura in August. Ashikaga Takauji's brother was then in command at Kamakura.
Takatoki, hearing of this, summoned two rival troupes of Dengaku players to Kamakura and witnessed their performances without regard to the passage of time. He distributed the members of the troupes among the noble families related to the Hojo, and made these nobles compete to furnish the performers with magnificent costumes.
Thus, this second order to take the field found him disposed to join in the overthrow of the Hojo rather than in their support. Learning something of this mood, Takatoki demanded that the Ashikaga chief, before commencing his march, should hand in a written oath of loyalty, and further, should leave his wife, his children, and his brother-in-law as hostages in Kamakura.
At Rokuhara the demand for the insignia was repeated and the Emperor handed over duplicates, secretly retaining the genuine articles himself. Takatoki now issued orders for Go-Daigo to be removed to the island of Oki, sent all the members of his family into exile elsewhere, and banished or killed his principal supporters.
Followed by a hundred desperate men, he plunged into the thick of the fight and had almost come within reach of Yoshisada when he was forced back. Galloping to Tosho-ji, he found Takatoki and his comrades drinking their farewell cup of sake.
Takashige, a skilled soldier of enormous physical power, returned from the battle when all hope of beating back Nitta Yoshisada's army had disappeared, and having warned the regent, Takatoki, that the bushi's last resource alone remained, asked for a few moments' respite to strike a final stroke.
Takatoki retreated to his ancestral cemetery at the temple Tosho-ji, and there committed suicide with all the members of his family and some eight hundred officers and men of his army. Thus, Kamakura fell on the 5th of July, 1333, a century and a half after the establishment of the Bakufu by Yoritomo.
Takatoki, appreciating that a crisis had now arisen in the fortunes of the Hojo, ordered Ashikaga Takauji to lead a powerful army westward. Takauji represented a junior branch of the Minamoto family. He was descended from the great Yoshiiye, and when Yoritomo rose against the Taira, in 1180, he had been immediately joined by the then Ashikaga chieftain, who was his brother-in-law.
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