[3]: 67–68  Some of his greatest and most famous work was performed during the reign of Emperor Go-Daigo, under whom he proposed a series of reforms, amounting to a revival or restoration of political and economic systems of several centuries earlier.

In addition to authoring a history of Japan and a number of works defending the right of Go-Daigo's line to the throne, Kitabatake fought in defense of the Southern Court as a member of the Murakami branch of the Minamoto clan.

The siege of Hitachi lasted four years, and though his fortress ultimately fell to the supporters of the shogunate, Kitabatake escaped to Yoshino, the capital of the Southern Court, where he advised the Emperor until his own death in 1354.

In one document he denounces the Provincial Shugo and Jitō (Constables and Stewards) as land-hungry, and writes that the creation of this system in 1190 altered the traditional state of the country, and caused it to lose the art of government.

[3]: 23 Though the full details of his ideas for reform are unknown, it is likely that Kitabatake sought a return to the governmental structures set down during the Taihō Era, in 702, before the rise of feudalism and military rule.