Events that occurred at or right after the end of the Kamakura period such as the Genko War and the Kenmu Restoration are usually considered part of the period of the Northern and Southern Courts, but strictly speaking, the term refers only to the span of time between 1336, when Takauji ASHIKAGA raised Emperor Komyo to the Chrysanthemum throne, thus leading to a schism in the Imperial Court after Emperor Godaigo departed Kyoto and established his Court at Yoshino, and 1392 when the two courts were again unified; it overlaps with the early Muromachi period.
一般的には鎌倉時代の後で、元弘の変や建武の新政も南北朝時代の出来事として扱うが、正確には1336年（延元元年/建武(日本)3年）に足利尊氏による光明天皇の践祚、後醍醐天皇の吉野遷幸により朝廷が分裂してから、1392年（元中9年/明徳3年）に両朝が合一するまでの期間を指し、室町時代の初期に当たる。