Shōhei (正平) 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 Emperor Go-Murakami (後村上天皇) and Emperor Chōkei (長慶天皇). The emperors in Kyoto were Emperor Kōmyō (光明天皇), Emperor Sukō (崇光天皇) and Emperor Go-Kōgon (後光嚴天皇) in the north.

Nanboku-chō overview

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 Southern Court (南朝) 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. This illegitimate Northern Court (北朝) had been established in Kyoto by Ashikaga Takauji.

Events of the Shohei Era

Northern Court Equivalents