When Godaigo initiated the Genko Incident which was the second movement to topple the Kamakura bakufu (Japanese feudal government headed by a shogun) in 1331, he quit the priesthood and joined the war.
元弘元年（1331年）、後醍醐が2度目の鎌倉幕府討幕運動である元弘の変を起こすと、還俗して参戦する。