The military of Kamakura bakufu (Japanese feudal government headed by a shogun) defeated the Imperial forces in the Jokyu War and the retired Emperor Gotoba and his followers were exiled, and such unprecedented events shook the authority of the Imperial Court and the Shinkoku-shiso (the thought of Japan as the land of the gods) at the time "Rokudai Shojiki" was written.
当時、承久の乱で朝廷軍が敗北して鎌倉幕府軍が勝利して、後鳥羽上皇らが流されると言う前代未聞の事態が生じて、朝廷の権威や神国思想が大きく揺らいだ時期であった。