Kangi

Kangi (寛喜^?), also romanized as Kanki, was a Japanese era name (年号,, nengō,^?, lit. "year name") after Antei and before Joei. This period spanned the years from March 1229 to April 1232. The reigning emperor was Go-Horikawa-tennō (後堀河天皇^?).

"Between 1229 and 1232, the Kangi famine struck. Possibly the worst famine in Japanese history, it was caused by unusually cold, damp weather related to world-wide volcanic activity. The weather was so severe that snow fell in central Japan in the summer of 1230, while aristocrats noted days when the sun did not shine and complained because they had to wear heavy clothing even in the spring and summer. The death toll was high—in 1231, in one estate in central Japan about twenty percent of cultivators died in less than a month.

Both governments attempted to ameliorate the harsh conditions but to little avail. Law and order broke down; countermeasures against nocturnal marauders and “evil monks” were largely ineffectual. Outlawry even affected relations with the Korean kingdom of Koryō when hungry residents of Kyushu raided the neigh boring peninsula for food. The famine also led to numerous quarrels between on-site warrior landlords and urban proprietors, with many estates unable to pay taxes or organize labor gangs. When harvests were inadequate, warriors also pressured and abused hapless cultivators, driving them from their fields. Both Kyoto and Kamakura took steps to make more grain available to commoners, but the results of their actions were only modest.

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Wikipedia