Part of a series on the
History of Japan
Shōsōin
Periods Paleolithic 35,000–14,000 BC Jōmon 14,000–1000 BC Yayoi 1000 BC – 300 AD Kofun 300–538 AD Asuka 538–710 Nara 710–794 Heian Former Nine Years' War Later Three-Year War Genpei War 794–1185 Kamakura Jōkyū War Mongol invasions Genkō War Kenmu Restoration 1185–1333 Muromachi Nanboku-chō period Sengoku period 1336–1573 Azuchi–Momoyama Nanban trade Imjin War Battle of Sekigahara 1573–1603 Edo (Tokugawa) Tokugawa shogunate Invasion of Ryukyu Siege of Osaka Sakoku Perry Expedition Convention of Kanagawa Bakumatsu Meiji Restoration Boshin War 1603–1868 Meiji Ryūkyū Disposition Invasion of Taiwan (1874) Satsuma Rebellion First Sino-Japanese War Treaty of Shimonoseki Triple Intervention Invasion of Taiwan (1895) Colonization of Taiwan Boxer Rebellion Russo-Japanese War Treaty of Portsmouth Japan–Korea Treaty Colonization of Korea 1868–1912 Taishō World War I Intervention in Siberia Great Kantō earthquake 1912–1926 Shōwa Militarism Financial crisis Nanking incident Mukden Incident Invasion of Manchuria May 15 incident February 26 incident Anti-Comintern Pact Tripartite Pact Second Sino-Japanese War World War II Attack on Pearl Harbor Pacific War Atomic bombings Soviet–Japanese War Surrender of Japan Occupation of Japan Postwar Japan Anpo protests Economic miracle Asset price bubble 1926–1989 Heisei Lost Decades Great Hanshin earthquake Cool Japan Tōhoku earthquake Imperial transition 1989–2019 Reiwa COVID-19 pandemic Abe assassination Noto earthquake 2019–present
Topics Capital punishment Currency Earthquakes Economy Era names Education Empire Foreign relations Geography Historiography Religion Buddhism Christianity Islam Judaism Shinto Military Naval Politics Post-war Science and technology Sports World Heritage Sites
Glossary History Timeline
v t e

Kangen (寛元) was a Japanese era name (年号, nengō, lit. "year name") after Ninji and before Hoji. This period spanned the years from February 1243 to February 1247.^[1] The reigning emperor was Go-Saga-tennō (後嵯峨天皇).^[2]

• Kangen gannen (寛元元年); 1243: The new era name was created to mark an event or a number of events. The previous era ended and a new one commenced in Ninji 4.

• 1244 (Kangen 2): In the spring of this year, a number of extraordinary phenomena in the skies over Kamakura troubled Yoritsune deeply.^[3]
• 1244 (Kangen 2, 4th month): Yoritsune's son, Yoritsugu, had his coming-of-age ceremonies at age six. In the same month, Yoritsune asked Emperor Go-Saga for permission to give up his responsibilities as shōgun in favor of his son, Kujō Yoritsugu.^[3]
• September 11, 1245 (Kangen 3, 7th month): Yoshitsune shaved his head and became a Buddhist priest.^[3]
• 1246 (Kangen 4, 7th month): Yoritsune's son, now Shōgun Yoritsugu (who is only 7 years old) marries the sister of Hōjō Tsunetoki (who is himself only 16 years old).^[3]
• 1246 (Kangen 4): In the 4th year of Go-Saga-tennō's reign (後嵯峨天皇4年), he abdicated; and despite the succession (senso) was received by his 4-year-old son. Shortly thereafter, Emperor Go-Fukakusa is said to have acceded to the throne (sokui).^[4]

• Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric and Käthe Roth. (2005). Japan encyclopedia. Cambridge: Harvard University Press. ISBN 978-0-674-01753-5; OCLC 58053128
• Titsingh, Isaac. (1834). Nihon Odai Ichiran; ou, Annales des empereurs du Japon. Paris: Royal Asiatic Society, Oriental Translation Fund of Great Britain and Ireland. OCLC 5850691
• Varley, H. Paul. (1980). A Chronicle of Gods and Sovereigns: Jinnō Shōtōki of Kitabatake Chikafusa. New York: Columbia University Press. ISBN 978-0-231-04940-5; OCLC 6042764

• National Diet Library, "The Japanese Calendar" -- historical overview plus illustrative images from library's collection