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{{Short description|Period of Japanese history (1336–1340)}}
{{other}}
{{History of Japan|Shoso-in.jpg| Image explanation = [[Shōsōin]]}}

'''Engen''' (延元) was a [[Japanese era name|Japanese era]] of the Southern Court during the [[Nanboku-cho|Era of Northern and Southern Courts]] after [[Kenmu]] and before [[Kōkoku]], lasting from February 1336 to April 1340.<ref name="nussbaum961">Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005). "''Engen''" in [https://books.google.com/books?id=p2QnPijAEmEC&pg=PA178  ''Japan encyclopedia'', p. 178]; n.b., Louis-Frédéric is pseudonym of Louis-Frédéric Nussbaum, ''see'' [https://archive.today/20120524174828/http://dispatch.opac.ddb.de/DB=4.1/PPN?PPN=128842709 Deutsche Nationalbibliothek Authority File].</ref>  The reigning Emperors were [[Emperor Go-Daigo]] and [[Emperor Go-Murakami]] in the south and [[Emperor Kōmyō]] in the north.

==Nanboku-chō overview==
[[Image:Nanbokucho-capitals.svg|thumb|140px|The Imperial seats during the ''Nanboku-chō'' period were in relatively close proximity, but geographically distinct.  They were conventionally identified as: {{unordered list|Northern capital : [[Kyoto]]| Southern capital : [[Yoshino, Nara|Yoshino]].}}]]   
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 {{nihongo|Southern Court|南朝|''nanchō''}} had been established in exile in [[Yoshino District|Yoshino]], near Nara.<ref name="concise">Thomas, Julia Adeney. (2001). [https://books.google.com/books?id=Re4djF3oaTMC&dq=1911+texbook+controversy&pg=RA1-PA199  ''Reconfiguring modernity: concepts of nature in Japanese political ideology,'' p. 199 n57], citing Mehl, Margaret. (1997). ''History and the State in Nineteenth-Century Japan.'' p. 140-147.</ref>

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 of Japan|Imperial Regalia]] were not in their possession.<ref name="concise"/>

This illegitimate {{nihongo|[[Northern Court]]|北朝|''hokuchō''}} had been established in [[Kyoto]] by [[Ashikaga Takauji]].<ref name="concise"/>

==Northern Court Equivalents==
*[[Kenmu]] (continued)
*[[Ryakuō]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
* [[National Diet Library]], "The Japanese Calendar" [http://www.ndl.go.jp/koyomi/e/ – historical overview plus illustrative images from library's collection]
* [[Isaac Titsingh|Titsingh, Isaac]]. (1834). ''[[Nihon Ōdai Ichiran]]''; ou, [https://books.google.com/books?id=18oNAAAAIAAJ&q=nipon+o+dai+itsi+ran  ''Annales des empereurs du Japon''.]  Paris: Royal Asiatic Society, Oriental Translation Fund of Great Britain and Ireland. [https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/5850691 OCLC 5850691]

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{{succession box
|before=[[Kenmu]]
|title=[[Japanese era name|Era or ''nengō'']]<br>Engen
|years=1336–1340
|after=[[Kōkoku]]
}}
{{s-end}}

{{Japanese era name}}

[[Category:Japanese eras]]
[[Category:1330s in Japan]]
[[Category:1340s in Japan]]
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