The Hōgen Rebellion (1156)

Committee Profile

Following the unexpected death of the young Japanese Emperor Konoe, Sutoku, who had in his earlier years ruled over the region as emperor, expected to once again step in and take power over the empire until his son was of age to assume command and properly continue the royal line of succession. However, fearing Sutoku would use the opportunity as a ploy for power to reign for longer than required, his father, an additional emperor emeritus, protested that Go-Shirakawa, another one of his sons and the younger brother of Sutoku, should serve as interim emperor, as he too possessed a son who could shortly transition into the role of emperor, even if his eventual appointment would disturb traditional succession movements. As the newly appointed and widely accepted Emperor Go-Shirakawa assumed his role, an enraged and deeply offended Sutoku fled town, accumulating a substantial number of alliances within varying ranks of the regime as he left. Before long, Sutoku decided he and his loyal band of followers would right the alleged wrongs committed against proper succession; on the evening of July 28, he pledged his forces would aim to take the empire by force and implement Sutoku as emperor. This fateful night is where our committee begins. Over the course of the two day conference, the committee will mirror the two day conflict of the actual Hogen Rebellion. Delegates, composed of the influential Japanese government and military, will first carefully decide which brother to support. Following a history-making decision, the committee will spend the remaining of the forty-eight hours working strategically to ensure power is either retained or restored. Regardless of the decision, BruinMUN weekend will be brimming with war games, political theory, government bureaucracy, and very personal family disputes, all while attempting to maintain order throughout the Japanese empire. 

Chair Letter

Dear Delegates,

My name is Linde Spear (she/her) and I am very excited to be your Chair for the Hogen Rebellion committee! I am a current third year at UCLA double majoring in history and Arabic. On campus, I am not only involved with Model UN, but I also serve as the External Vice President for Bruin Democrats at UCLA. Outside of school, I enjoy hiking, swimming, cooking elaborate meals with friends, and traveling anywhere and everywhere. I am greatly looking forward to time traveling with you all back to 1156 and exploring the complexities of Japan’s fragile government amidst a period of incredible chaos and uncertainty.

I have participated in Model UN since my first year of high school, where I represented Kuwait in a GA environmental committee. While I was exclusively a GA delegate and a GA chair before participating in MUN at the collegiate level, I have discovered my love for crisis committees since joining Model UN at UCLA. As a history major, I particularly enjoy working with historical committees. As such, I am elated to be working with a committee that takes place in the twelfth century! 

The Hogen Rebellion crisis committee will explore a multitude of issues pertaining to safeguarding Goshirakawa’s government following his rise to power. Over the course of the weekend, delegates must navigate an intricate political landscape all while addressing the challenges posed by Goshirakawa’s threatening, nearby brother Sutoku in order to ensure the protection and future sovereignty of Japan. I hope you all find great joy in exploring the complexities of twelfth century Japanese politics, and wish you all the best of luck on your journeys. I look forward to working with all of you soon!

Warmly,

Linde Spear | Chair, Hogen Rebellion | BruinMUN 32

hogen@bruinmun.org

CD Letter

Dear Delegates,

Hello! My name is Sofia Behzadi (she/her) and I am a second-year majoring in Computer Science and Engineering (think 70% computer science, 30% electrical engineering).

I’m a born and bred LA native (so I never got to escape LA public school) but my family hails from Bulgaria. In my (limited) free time I enjoy running, listening to Taylor Swift and watching detective shows.

Outside of MUN I have most unfortunately embraced the engineering lifestyle, participating in the AI branch of UCLA’s Computer Science organization, engineering/cs honor societies and spending the majority of my time drowning in my course load.

Although I wanted to join Model UN in 9th grade, thanks to COVID and cross country I didn’t get to until junior year, from which point on I competed in all the conferences (read: 2) my school attended every year. So, as one of the aforementioned two conferences, BruinMUN has always been close to my heart, and as soon as I committed to UCLA I knew I wanted to help run it. I’ve spent almost all my time in crisis, as I started in it, tried GA once and never went back. Even here at UCLA, I’ve exclusively staffed crisis committees, both at BruinMUN (the Medicis committee) and LAMUN (our college conference, on the Mongol invasion of Korea) - where I actually was a staffer for our incredible chair, Linde.

Speaking of our committee, I know it may be on a rebellion most of you don’t know about, but that’s part of the fun of it. As someone from Bulgaria, a place with a rich history really only Bulgarians learn about, I can’t wait to explore with you the nuances of a country that everyone has heard about, without actually knowing all the details. You see, the Hogen Rebellion, despite being a relatively short event, was such an impactful part of early Japanese history, laying the foundation for the Japan most of you have learned about/will learn about in your history classes, and I hope you’ll have fun maneuvering through the tumultuous and revolutionary changes that were happening.

See you all in November!

Best,

Sofia Behzadi | Crisis Director, Hogen Rebellion | BruinMUN 32

hogen@bruinmun.org