Kentoku (建徳) was a Japanese era of the Southern Court during the Era of Northern and Southern Courts after Shà Âhei and before Bunchà «, lasting from July 1370 to April 1372. The reigning emperors were Chà Âkei in the south and Go-En'yà « in the north.
During the Meiji period, an imperial decree dated March 3, 1911, established that the legitimate reigning monarchs of this period were the direct descendants of Emperor Go-Daigo through Emperor Go-Murakami, whose had been established in exile in Yoshino, near Nara.
Until the end of the Edo period, the militarily superior pretender-emperors supported by the Ashikaga shogunate had been mistakenly incorporated in imperial chronologies despite the undisputed fact that the Imperial Regalia were not in their possession.
This illegitimate had been established in Kyoto by Ashikaga Takauji.