The Fall of Kamakura in 1333
Kamakura on land is completely surrounded by steep hills, making an army attack very difficult. Nitta first tried to enter through the Gokurakuji Pass and the Kewaizaka Pass, but concentrated Hōjō forces stopped him. Judging it impossible to enter by land, Nitta decided to try by sea bypassing the Inamuragasaki Cape on Sagami Bay, west of Kamakura. Once there, Nitta took advantage of a low tide and moved his men in through the beaches to the south but, according to the Taiheiki, he threw his sword into the surf and prayed to Ryūjin, who parted the waters for him.
The stele at Sode no Ura (袖の浦?), the tiny bay west of Inamuragaki, says:
666 years ago on May 21, 1333 Nitta Yoshisada, judging an invasion on land to be difficult, decided to try to bypass this cape. This is the place where, according to tradition, he threw his golden sword into the waves, praying the sea-god to withdraw them and let him pass. (Erected in 1917)
The city was taken, and the Hōjō clan's influence destroyed.
Following the fall of Kamakura (and of the Hōjō regency), Nitta was appointed Governor of Echigo and Vice-Governor of Harima and Kozuke Provinces, as Emperor Go-Daigo redistributed the Hōjō lands. Moreover, he courted Emperor Go-Daigo's secretary Kōtō-Naishi (匂当内侍), and married through the Emperor's mediation.
Read more about this topic: Nitta Yoshisada
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