100-516: Minamoto no Yoritomo ( 源 頼朝 , May 9, 1147 – February 9, 1199) was the founder and the first shogun of the Kamakura shogunate , ruling from 1192 until 1199, also the first ruling shogun in the history of Japan . He was the husband of Hōjō Masako who acted as regent ( shikken ) after his death. Yoritomo was the son of Minamoto no Yoshitomo and belonged to Seiwa Genji 's prestigious Kawachi Genji family. After successfully maneuvering himself to
200-461: A conflict arose among the shugo daimyo as to whether Yoshimi or Yoshihisa would be the next shogun. The Hatakeyama and Shiba clans were also divided into two opposing factions over succession within their own clans, and Hosokawa Katsumoto and Yamana Sōzen , who were father-in-law and son-in-law, were politically at odds with each other. In 1467, these conflicts finally led to the Ōnin War between
300-458: A descendant of the Taira clan , was approached for the position of shogun a month before his death. The shogun's officials were collectively referred to as the bakufu ( 幕府 , IPA: [baꜜkɯ̥ɸɯ] ; "tent government") ; they were the ones who carried out the actual duties of administration, while the imperial court retained only nominal authority. The tent symbolized the shogun's role as
400-728: A hero unit in Total War: Shogun 2 . A character named "Yoritomo" appears in Book 6: "The Lords of the Rising Sun" in the Fabled Lands adventure gamebook series, where Yoritomo is the self-proclaimed shōgun and on the verge of war with "Lord Kiyomori". He appears as the final boss in Genpei Toma Den , an arcade game created by Namco in which the player character is Taira no Kagekiyo , another Japanese historical figure. He also appears as
500-669: A linear canon of Japanese art . This point, considered to be the genesis of Japanese art history, saw art historians Ernest Francisco Fenollosa and Okakura Ten Shin bring this nascent field to the United States. Taking root in Boston at Harvard University and the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Fenollosa reportedly may have paid hush money to the dealer who sold him the Night Attack on Sanjō Palace . The dealer wanted 500 yen- an excellent bargain for
600-523: A member of the sekkan family , as the fourth shogun. In 1232, the Goseibai Shikimoku was enacted, the first codified law by a warrior class government in Japan. In 1246, Hojo Tokiyori became the fifth shikken , and in 1252 he installed Prince Munetaka as the sixth shogun. The appointment of a member of the imperial family as shogun made the shogun more and more like a puppet. After retiring from
700-647: A messenger to his wife Masako, but Masako sent the messenger back, saying that a military commander's son being able to shoot a deer is nothing to celebrate. The Revenge of the Soga Brothers took place on May 28 of the same year at the Fuji no Makigari hunting event. The brothers Soga Sukenari and Soga Tokimune murdered the killer of their father, Kudō Suketsune . The brothers managed to kill 10 other participants until Nitta Tadatsune killed Sukenari. Then, Tokimune raided Yoritomo's mansion attempting to attack Yoritomo, but
800-462: A new feudal state organized around Kamakura while Kyoto was relegated to the role of "national ceremony and ritual". Yoritomo gathered his gokenin in May 1193 and arranged a grand hunting event, Fuji no Makigari . On May 16, Yoritomo's 12-year-old son Yoriie shot a deer for the first time. Hunting was stopped and a festival was held in the evening. Yoritomo rejoiced in his son's achievement and sent
900-399: A new palace and established four new administrative bodies. However, the nobles who had long been out of politics and the newly appointed samurai were unfamiliar with administrative practices, and the court was unable to handle the drastic increase in lawsuits. Emperor Go-Daigo gave high positions and rewards only to the nobles, and the warriors began to swear allegiance to Ashikaga Takauji, who
1000-441: A prominent character in the 2021 anime series The Heike Story . The years in which Yoritomo was shōgun are more specifically identified by more than one era name or nengō . Shogun Shogun ( English: / ˈ ʃ oʊ ɡ ʌ n / SHOH -gun ; Japanese : 将軍 , romanized : shōgun , pronounced [ɕoːɡɯɴ] ), officially sei-i taishōgun ( 征夷大将軍 , " Commander-in-Chief of
1100-496: A raid, defeating many of his enemies, but eventually ran out of strength and was killed. The Azuchi-Momoyama period refers to the period when Oda Nobunaga and Toyotomi Hideyoshi were in power. They and Tokugawa Ieyasu are the three unifiers of Japan. The name "Azuchi-Momoyama" comes from the fact that Nobunaga's castle, Azuchi Castle , was located in Azuchi, Shiga , and Fushimi Castle , where Hideyoshi lived after his retirement,
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#17330848545781200-504: Is civilized." Kujō no Kanezane writes in his diary Tamaha that "Yoritomo's body is of rigorous power, and his fierce nature is accompanied with a clear distinction and firm resolution of the judgement of right and wrong." Yoritomo practiced shudō with Yoshinao, a member of the Imperial Guard. Historian Hideo Kuroda organized and examined the portraits and statues of Minamoto no Yoritomo and has concluded as follows. When comparing
1300-476: Is no consensus among the various authors since some sources consider Tajihi no Agatamori the first, others say Ōtomo no Otomaro , other sources assure that the first was Sakanoue no Tamuramaro , while others avoid the problem by just mentioning from the first Kamakura shogun Minamoto no Yoritomo . Originally, the title of sei-i taishōgun ("Commander-in-Chief of the Expeditionary Force Against
1400-654: Is often said that one must be of the Minamoto lineage to become a shogun, but this is not true. While it is true that the Minamoto lineage was respected as a lineage suitable for the position of shogun, the fourth and fifth shoguns of the Kamakura shogunate were from the Fujiwara lineage (although their mothers were from the Minamoto lineage), and the sixth through ninth shoguns were from the imperial lineage. Oda Nobunaga , who claimed to be
1500-543: Is often translated generalissimo and is also used for such military leaders of foreign nations by the Japanese. Though shogun ( 将軍 ) now predominantly refers to the historical position sei-i taishōgun ( 征夷大将軍 ) in Japanese, this term simply means "a general" in other East Asian languages, such as Chinese ( simplified Chinese : 将军 ; traditional Chinese : 將軍 ; pinyin : jiāngjūn ; Jyutping : zoeng1 gwan1 ). In fact, since sei-i taishōgun ( 征夷大将軍 )
1600-475: Is the abbreviation of the historical title sei-i taishōgun ( 征夷大将軍 ): Thus, a literal translation of sei-i taishōgun would be 'Commander-in-Chief of the Expeditionary Force Against the Barbarians'. The term originally referred to the general who commanded the army sent to fight the tribes of northern Japan, but after the twelfth century, the term was used to designate the leader of the samurai . The term
1700-551: Is the most prominent of the three extant Illustrated Scrolls and belongs to The Museum of Fine Arts, Boston , in Boston, Massachusetts , where it currently resides on display. Seeking greater government position, Fujiwara no Nobuyori 's request was denied by the then de facto leader of Japan, cloistered ex-Emperor Go-Shirakawa , acting on the counsel of his trusted advisor, Fujiwara no Michinori (also known as Shinzei). In response, Nobuyori joined with Minamoto Yoshitomo , head of
1800-445: Is the only accurate depiction of Minamoto no Yoritomo. In the words of George Bailey Sansom , "Yoritomo was a truly great man … his foresight was remarkable, but so was his practical good sense in setting up machinery to match his own expanding power." Yoritomo's wife's family, the Hōjō , took control after his death at Kamakura , maintaining power over the shogunate until 1333, under
1900-550: The Heiji rebellion and became the first samurai-born aristocratic class, eventually becoming daijō-daijin ( 太政大臣 , Chancellor of the Realm) , the highest position of the aristocratic class, and the Taira clan monopolized important positions at the imperial court and wielded power. The seizure of political power by Taira no Kiyomori was the first instance of the warrior class leading politics for
2000-553: The Hōjō clan and kanrei ( 管領 ) of the Hosokawa clan . In addition, Taira no Kiyomori and Toyotomi Hideyoshi were leaders of the warrior class who did not hold the position of shogun, the highest office of the warrior class, yet gained the positions of daijō-daijin ( 太政大臣 , Chancellor of the Realm) and kampaku ( 関白 , Imperial Regent) , the highest offices of the aristocratic class. As such, they ran their governments as its de facto rulers. The office of shogun
2100-458: The Taira clan at the time), while Cloistered Emperor Sutoku sided with Tadazane's younger son, Fujiwara no Yorinaga . This is known as the Hōgen Rebellion . The Minamoto clan were split. The head of the clan, Tameyoshi, sided with Sutoku. However, his son, Yoshitomo (father of Yoritomo), sided with Toba and Go-Shirakawa, as well as Kiyomori. In the end, the supporters of Go-Shirakawa won
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#17330848545782200-491: The Taira clan, now under the leadership of Kiyomori, and the Minamoto clan, under the leadership of Yoshitomo, began to factionalize again. Four years later, Kiyomori supported Fujiwara no Michinori , also known as Shinzei. However, Yoshitomo supported Fujiwara no Nobuyori . This was known as the Heiji Rebellion . Nonetheless, the Minamoto were not well prepared, and the Taira took control of Kyoto . Shinzei's mansion
2300-541: The Taira clan became Kokushi ( 国司 ) , or overseers of various regions, and accumulated wealth by taking samurai from various regions as their retainers. In the struggle to succeed Emperor Toba, former Emperor Sutoku and Emperor Go-Shirakawa , each with his samurai class on his side, fought the Hōgen rebellion , which was won by Emperor Go-Shirakawa, who had Taira no Kiyomori and Minamoto no Yoshitomo on his side. Later, Taira no Kiyomori defeated Minamoto no Yoshitomo in
2400-618: The Three Sacred Treasures (Imperial regalia , 三種の神器). On the other hand, Ashikaga Takauji installed Emperor Kōmyō as the new emperor without the Three Sacred Treasures in 1336. Ashikaga Takauji tried to make peace with Emperor Go-Daigo, but the negotiations failed when Emperor Go-Daigo refused. Emperor Go-Daigo moved to Yoshino , and the country entered the Nanboku-cho period (1336-1392), in which two emperors existed at
2500-403: The daimyo of various regions fought to expand their own power. Daimyo who became more powerful as the shogunate's control weakened were called sengoku daimyo ( 戦国大名 ) , and they often came from shugo daimyo , shugodai ( 守護代 , deputy shugo) , and kokujin or kunibito ( 国人 , local masters) . In other words, sengoku daimyo differed from shugo daimyo in that sengoku daimyo
2600-509: The feudal age in Japan , which lasted until the 17th century. Yoritomo was the third son of Minamoto no Yoshitomo , heir of the Minamoto ( Seiwa Genji ) clan, and his official wife, Yura-Gozen , daughter of Fujiwara no Suenori , High Priest of Atsuta Shrine and a member of the powerful Fujiwara clan . Yoritomo was born in the family villa, on the western side of Atsuta Shrine, in Atsuta , Nagoya , Owari Province (present-day Seigan-ji ). At
2700-457: The 13th shogun, Ashikaga Yoshiteru , the shogun already had few direct fiefs and direct military forces, and his sphere of influence was limited to a few lands around Kyoto, losing both economic and military power. As a result, Ashikaga Yoshiteru was often chased out of Kyoto by the sengoku daimyo Miyoshi Nagayoshi and his forces, and was finally killed in an attack by the forces of Miyoshi Yoshitsugu and Matsunaga Hisahide . Ashikaga Yoshiteru
2800-478: The 5th shogun, died of illness at the age of 19, so the 6th shogun was chosen from among Yoshimochi's four brothers, and to ensure fairness, a lottery was held. The sixth shogun was Ashikaga Yoshinori . However, he was not educated to be a shogun, and his temperamental and despotic behavior caused resentment, and he was assassinated by Akamatsu Mitsusuke during the Kakitsu Rebellion . This led to instability in
2900-453: The Ashikaga shogunate system. Ashikaga Yoshimasa , the 8th shogun, tried to strengthen the power of the shogun, but his close associates did not follow his instructions, leading to political chaos and increasing social unrest. Since he had no sons, he tried to install his younger brother Ashikaga Yoshimi as the ninth shogun, but when his wife Hino Tomiko gave birth to Ashikaga Yoshihisa ,
3000-512: The Barbarians") was given to military commanders during the early Heian period for the duration of military campaigns against the Emishi , who resisted the governance of the Kyoto -based imperial court. Sakanoue no Tamuramaro (758–811) was a Japanese general who fought against the Emishi tribes of northern Japan (settled in the territory that today integrates the provinces of Mutsu and Dewa). Tamarumaro
3100-512: The Eastern Army, led by Hosokawa Katsumoto and including Hatakeyama Masanaga , Shiba Yoshitoshi, and Ashikaga Yoshimi, and the Western Army, led by Yamana Sōzen and including Hatakeyama Yoshinari, Shiba Yoshikado, and Ashikaga Yoshihisa. In 1469, the war spread to the provinces, but in 1473, Hosokawa Katsumoto and Yamana Sōzen, the leaders of both armies, were dead, and in 1477, the war ended when
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3200-478: The Expeditionary Force Against the Barbarians") , was the title of the military rulers of Japan during most of the period spanning from 1185 to 1868. Nominally appointed by the Emperor , shoguns were usually the de facto rulers of the country, except during parts of the Kamakura period and Sengoku period when the shoguns themselves were figureheads, with real power in the hands of the shikken ( 執権 ) of
3300-585: The Fujiwara regime. Taira no Masakado , who rose to prominence in the early 10th century, was the first of the local warrior class to revolt against the imperial court. He had served Fujiwara no Tadahira as a young man, but eventually won a power struggle within the Taira clan and became a powerful figure in the Kanto region . In 939, Fujiwara no Haruaki , a powerful figure in the Hitachi province , fled to Masakado. He
3400-562: The Hakone mountains, stayed in Yugawara , then escaped from Manazuru -Iwa to Awa (south of present-day Chiba ). Yoritomo spent the next six months raising a new army. Taira no Kiyomori died in 1181 and the Taira clan was now led by Taira no Munemori . Munemori took a much more aggressive policy against the Minamoto and attacked Minamoto bases from Kyoto in the Genpei War . Nonetheless, Yoritomo
3500-665: The Minamoto decisively at the Battle of Rokuhara . The Night Attack on Sanjō Palace Handscroll is the most prominent of the three extant works remaining of the Illustrated Scrolls of the Tales of the Heiji Era. The massive scroll is based on the text of The Tale of Heiji and depicts Minamoto Yoshitomo's conquest and burning of the Imperial palace. At over 22 feet long and 16 inches tall,
3600-507: The Minamoto warrior clan, and prepared their coup d'état. In late December 1159, the first year of the Heiji Era, Taira no Kiyomori , head of the Taira clan who militarily supported the throne and Shinzei, left Kyoto on a religious pilgrimage. Exploiting the opportunity, Fujiwara no Nobuyori and Minamoto no Yoshitomo brought a force of roughly five hundred men, attacked in the night, kidnapped cloistered ex- Emperor Go-Shirakawa , and set fire to Sanjō palace. They imprisoned Go-Shirakawa with
3700-480: The Realm) , reaching their peak at the end of the 10th century under Fujiwara no Michinaga and Fujiwara no Yorimichi . Later, in the mid-11th century, Emperor Go-Sanjo weakened the power of the sesshō and kampaku by presiding over politics himself, and when the next emperor, Shirakawa , abdicated and became a cloistered emperor and began a cloistered rule , the sesshō and kampaku lost their real political authority and became nominal, effectively ending
3800-484: The Southern court, ending the 58-year Nanboku-cho period. Yoshimitsu continued to hold power after passing the shogunate to his son Ashikaga Yoshimochi in 1395, becoming daijō-daijin ( 太政大臣 , Chancellor of the Realm) , the highest rank of the nobility, and remaining in power until his death in 1408. In 1428, Ashikaga Yoshimochi , the fourth shogun, was ill and the question of his succession arose. Ashikaga Yoshikazu ,
3900-485: The Taira clan from Kyoto, and although initially welcomed by the hermit Emperor Go-Shirakawa, he became estranged and isolated due to the disorderly military discipline and lack of political power under his command. He staged a coup, overthrew the emperor's entourage, and became the first of the Minamoto clan to assume the office of Sei-i Taishōgun (shogun) . In response, Minamoto no Yoritomo sent Minamoto no Noriyori and Minamoto no Yoshitsune to defeat Yoshinaka, who
4000-431: The Taira clan were now the undisputed leaders of Japan. Yoritomo, the new head of the Minamoto, was not executed by Kiyomori because of pleas from Kiyomori's stepmother but was exiled. Yoritomo's brothers, Minamoto no Noriyori and Minamoto no Yoshitsune were also allowed to live. Yoritomo grew up in exile. He married into the Hōjō clan , led by Hōjō Tokimasa , marrying Tokimasa's daughter, Hōjō Masako . Meanwhile, he
4100-510: The Taira-dominated court allowed Yoritomo the time to build an administration of his own, centered on his military headquarters in Kamakura. In the end he triumphed over his rival cousins, who sought to steal control of the clan from him, and over the Taira , who suffered a terrible defeat at the Battle of Dan-no-ura in 1185. Yoritomo established the supremacy of the samurai caste and the first shogunate ( bakufu ) at Kamakura, thus beginning
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4200-408: The areas they controlled. The shugo shared their newfound wealth with the local samurai, creating a hierarchical relationship between the shugo and the samurai, and the first early daimyo ( 大名 , feudal lords) , called shugo daimyo ( 守護大名 ) , appeared. Ashikaga Yoshimitsu , the third shogun, negotiated peace with the Southern court, and in 1392 he reunited the two courts by absorbing
4300-407: The capital, the former headquarters of the Taira clan. When his old rival, Emperor Go-Shirakawa died in the spring of 1192, there was no longer anyone standing in the way of his ultimate ambition. Thus, Yoritomo gave himself the title of Sei-i Tai Shōgun (Barbarian-quelling Generalissimo) which formally placed all the feudal lords and both the jitō and shugo under his direct control. Thus creating
4400-464: The civil war, thus ensuring victory for Yoshitomo and Kiyomori. Sutoku was placed under house arrest, and Yorinaga was fatally wounded in battle. Tameyoshi was executed by the forces of Yoshitomo. Nonetheless, Go-Shirakawa and Kiyomori were ruthless, and Yoshitomo found himself as the head of the Minamoto clan, while Yoritomo became the heir. Yoritomo and the Minamoto clan descended from the imperial family on his father's side. Nonetheless, in Kyoto ,
4500-545: The common people, he rapidly expanded his power, defeating a series of sengoku daimyo and armed Buddhist temple forces to unify the central part of Japan. Siege of Sanj%C5%8D Palace The siege of the Sanjō Palace was the inciting incident of the Heiji Rebellion (平治の乱, Heiji no ran , January 19 – February 5, 1160) during the late Heian period of Japan . The conflict arose from feud between court advisors Fujiwara no Nobuyori and Fujiwara no Michinori , both of
4600-412: The current emperor, Emperor Nijō , Go-Shirakawa's son and puppet ruler . They next attacked the manor house of Shinzei, setting it too aflame and killing all those inside, with the exception of Shinzei himself, who escaped only to be soon found hiding south of Kyoto in hole and decapitated. Nobuyori forced Emperor Nijō to name him both State Minister and General of the Imperial Guard, completing one of
4700-488: The feudal age in Japan, which lasted until the 17th century. As he rose to a position of power, Yoritomo began to defy and undermine the authority of Emperor Go-Shirakawa by appointing his own jitō (district stewards) and shugo (constables), thus eroding the central government's local administrative power. In the summer of 1189, Yoritomo invaded and subjugated the northern provinces of Mutsu and Dewa . In December 1190 Yoritomo took up residence in his Rokuhara mansion at
4800-438: The first shikken ( 執権 , Regent) and assuming actual control of the shogunate. Hojo Yoshitoki later assassinated Minamoto no Yoriie. However, Hojo Tokimasa lost influence in 1204 when he killed Hatakeyama Shigetada , believing false information that his son-in-law Shigetada was about to rebel, and lost his position in 1205 when he tried to install his son-in-law Hiraga Tomomasa as the fourth shogun. Hojo Yoshitoki became
4900-434: The first important steps toward growing his political power. The illustrated handscroll depicts the burning of the palace, and an inscription discussed the subsequent burning of Shinzei's manor: On the same day, at the hour of the tiger [four o’clock in the morning], the insurgents attacked and set fire to the residence of Shinzei, located on the streets Anegakōji and Nishi-no-tōin. For the past three or four years, because
5000-597: The forces of Emperor Go-Daigo, turned to the emperor's side and attacked Rokuhara Tandai . Then, in 1333, Nitta Yoshisada invaded Kamakura and the Kamakura shogunate fell, and the Hōjō clan was destroyed. Around 1334–1336, Ashikaga Takauji helped Emperor Go-Daigo regain his throne in the Kenmu Restoration . Emperor Go-Daigo rejected cloistered rule and the shogunate and abolished the sesshō and kampaku in favour of an emperor-led government. He also began building
5100-459: The growing fame of Ashikaga Takauji and ordered Nitta Yoshisada and others to defeat Ashikaga Takauji. In response, Takauji led a group of samurai against the new government and defeated the imperial court forces. This ended Emperor Go-Daigo's new regime in 1336 after only two years. After the failure of the Kenmu Restoration, Emperor Go-Daigo fled to Enryaku-ji Temple on Mount Hiei with
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#17330848545785200-516: The handscroll epitomizes the Yamato-é (literally, Japanese Pictures) style of art. Despite no known author, the scroll is dated to the mid-thirteenth century, during the Kamakura period . The scroll has previously been attributed to a classical Japanese artist named Keion (or Kenin), a member of the Kasuga family of painters, who possibly lived and worked during the mid-late thirteenth century. However,
5300-422: The help of samurai called gokenin ( 御家人 ) , lords in the service of the shogunate. However, since the war was a war of national defense and no new territory was gained, the shogunate was unable to adequately reward the gokenin , and their dissatisfaction with the shogunate grew. In 1285, during the reign of Hojo Sadatoki , the ninth shikken and eighth tokusō , Adachi Yasumori and his clan, who had been
5400-423: The imperial court was in charge of politics. From the mid-9th century to the mid-11th century, the Fujiwara clan controlled political power. They excluded other clans from the political center and monopolized the highest positions in the court, such as sesshō ( 摂政 , Imperial Regent for Minor Emperors) , kampaku ( 関白 , Imperial Regent fo Adult Emperors) , and daijō-daijin ( 太政大臣 , Chancellor of
5500-402: The infusion of intersectional lenses onto art history, such as Shinobu's gendered deconstruction, have placed the work in a more nuanced light. According to Shinobu, the "sexualized imprint" of the female bodies portrayed in the scroll, emphasized by the outsized number of female to male victims (20 female victims to 3 male), many of which are corpses with exposed breasts, forces reconsideration of
5600-424: The main vassals of the Kamakura shogunate, were destroyed by Taira no Yoritsuna, further strengthening the ruling system of the tokusō , which emphasized blood relations. As tokusō's ruling system was strengthened, the power of the title of naikanrei ( 内管領 ) , tokusō' s chief retainer, increased, and when tokusō was young or incapacitated, naikanrei took control of the shogunate. Taira no Yoritsuna during
5700-552: The military's field commander but also denoted that such an office was meant to be temporary. Nevertheless, the institution, known in English as the shogunate ( / ˈ ʃ oʊ ɡ ə n eɪ t / SHOH -gə-nayt ), persisted for nearly 700 years, ending when Tokugawa Yoshinobu relinquished the office to Emperor Meiji in 1867 as part of the Meiji Restoration . The term shogun ( 将軍 , lit. ' army commander ' )
5800-495: The next 700 years. However, when Taira no Kiyomori used his power to have the child of his daughter Taira no Tokuko and Emperor Takakura installed as Emperor Antoku , there was widespread opposition. Prince Mochihito , no longer able to assume the imperial throne, called upon the Minamoto clan to raise an army to defeat the Taira clan, and the Genpei War began. In the midst of the Genpei War, Minamoto no Yoshinaka expelled
5900-471: The original statue of Yoritomo was lost, an altered statue of Tokiyori was used as a replacement. On the other hand, he considers the inscription on the statue of Minamoto no Yoritomo in Kai Province , Zenkō-ji to be the name of the repairer instead of the name of the sculptor, and that it was made at the request of Hōjō Masako in the first quarter of the 13th century. Thus, Kuroda concludes that this statue
6000-475: The political system he developed with a succession of shoguns as the head became known as a shogunate. Hojo Masako 's (Yoritomo's wife) family, the Hōjō , seized power from the Kamakura shoguns. In 1199, Yoritomo died suddenly at the age of 53, and the 18-year-old Minamoto no Yoriie took over as second shogun. To support the young Yoriie, the decisions of the shogunate were made by a 13-man council, including Hojo Tokimasa and his son Hojo Yoshitoki , but this
6100-424: The position of rightful heir of the Minamoto clan , he led his clan against the Taira from his capital in Kamakura , beginning the Genpei War in 1180. After five years of civil war, the Minamoto clan finally defeated the Taira in the Battle of Dan-no-ura in 1185. Yoritomo established the supremacy of the samurai caste and the first shogunate ( bakufu ) which was to be centered around Kamakura, thus beginning
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#17330848545786200-548: The powerful Fujiwara clan , with each respectively allied alongside the warrior clans of the Minamoto (Genji) and Taira (Heiki). The Siege is the focal point of the Japanese war epic (軍記物語, Gunki monogatari ) The Tale of Heiji ( 平治物語 , Heiji monogatari) and the corresponding Illustrated Scrolls of the Tales of the Heiji ( 平治物語絵巻 , Heiji monogatari emaki ). The Night Attack on Sanjō Palace (Sanjō-den yo-uchi no maki) handscroll
6300-405: The prevailing theory was that the year was 1185, when Yoritomo established the shugo ( 守護 ) , which controlled military and police power in various regions, and the jitō ( 地頭 ) , which was in charge of tax collection and land administration. Japanese history textbooks as of 2016 do not specify a specific year for the beginning of the Kamakura period, as there are various theories about
6400-450: The reign of Hojo Sadatoki, and Nagasaki Takatsuna and Nagasaki Takasuke during the reign of Hojo Takatoki , the fourteenth shikken and ninth tokusō , were naikanrei who took control of the Kamakura shogunate. In other words, Japanese politics was a multiple puppet structure: Emperor, shogun, shikken, tokusō, and naikanrei. In response to gokenin' s dissatisfaction with the shogunate, Emperor Go-Daigo planned to raise an army against
6500-511: The rightful heir of the Minamoto clan and set up a capital in Kamakura to the east. Not all Minamoto thought of Yoritomo as rightful heir, however. His uncle, Minamoto no Yukiie , and his cousin Minamoto no Yoshinaka , conspired against him. In September 1180, Yoritomo was defeated at the Battle of Ishibashiyama , his first major battle, when Ōba Kagechika led a rapid night attack. After his defeat in Mt. Ishibashiyama, Minamoto no Yoritomo fled into
6600-609: The rising power of the Samurai in the wake of the Heiji Rebellion and its subsequent decades leading into the Kamakura Period, Shinobu asserts, the martial order of the warriors in the painting in conjunction with the lack of aristocratic depictions mount a compelling argument for the recipient being an upper-class court scholar. Coupled with evidence of aristocrats of the era entertaining E-awasé ("picture contests") for amusement,
6700-740: The same time in two different imperial courts, the Southern Court in Yoshino and the Northern Court in Kyoto. In 1338, Ashikaga Takauji , like Minamoto no Yoritomo, a descendant of the Minamoto princes, was awarded the title of sei-i taishōgun by Emperor Kōmyō and established the Ashikaga shogunate , which nominally lasted until 1573. The Ashikaga had their headquarters in the Muromachi district of Kyoto, and
6800-496: The scroll as depicting a "form of pornography to male viewers." This assertion also reinforces the notion of the barbaric invaders as an inferior "other" to be seen as uncivilized brutes contrasting aristocratic sophistication. Amidst the Japanese Imperial Household Museum 's nationalist acquisition of historical treasures at the turn to the 20th century, a number of backroom deals were undertaken to finalize
6900-531: The second shikken , and the shogunate was administered under the leadership of Hojo Masako . In 1219, the third shogun, Minamoto no Sanetomo, was assassinated for unknown reasons. In 1221, war broke out for the first time in Japan between the warrior class government and the imperial court, and in this battle, known as the Jōkyū War , the shogunate defeated former Emperor Go-Toba . The shogunate exiled former Emperor Go-Toba to Oki Island for waging war against
7000-550: The shikkens, he used his position as head of the Hojo clan's main family, tokusō ( 得宗 ) , to dominate politics, thus shifting the source of power in the shogunate from the shikken to tokusō . During the reign of Hojo Tokimune , the eighth shikken and seventh tokusō , the shogunate twice defeated the Mongol invasion of Japan in 1274 and 1281. The shogunate defeated the Mongols with
7100-457: The shogun a puppet of the Hosokawa clan . Hosokawa Takakuni , who came to power later, installed Ashikaga Yoshiharu as the 12th shogun in 1521. In 1549, Miyoshi Nagayoshi banished the 12th shogun and his son Ashikaga Yoshiteru from Kyoto and seized power. From this point on, the Miyoshi clan continued to hold power in and around Kyoto until Oda Nobunaga entered Kyoto in 1568. By the time of
7200-413: The shogunate, but his plan was leaked and he was exiled to Oki Island in 1331. In 1333, Emperor Go-Daigo escaped from Oki Island and again called on gokenin and samurai to raise an army against the shogunate. Kusunoki Masashige was the first to respond to the call, sparking a series of rebellions against the shogunate in various places. Ashikaga Takauji , who had been ordered by the shogunate to suppress
7300-502: The shogunate. The shogunate learned its lesson and set up an administrative body in Kyoto called the Rokuhara Tandai ( 六波羅探題 ) to oversee the imperial court and western Japan. After the sudden death of Hojo Yoshitoki in 1224, Hojo Yasutoki became the third shikken , and after the death of Hojo Masako in 1225, the administration of the shogunate returned to a council system. In 1226, Hojo Yasutoki installed Kujo Yoritsune ,
7400-526: The statues of Minamoto no Yoritomo in Higashihirozo and Hōjō Tokiyori in Kenchō-ji , from the facial expression to size, they are almost identical, and there is evidence that the kariginu was remodeled into a sokutai , the formal dress of the shogun, by adding a hirao and sekitai. Kuroda argues that the statue was originally a statue of Hōjō Tokiyori sculpted in Kamakura in the 14th century, but after
7500-552: The stylistic composition and the magnificence of the Night Attack can be traced to a unique atmosphere among high-class commissioners pushing artists toward more inventive, ambitious Yamato-é compositions. This has led some art historians, such as Kojiro Tomita former head of the Asiatic Arts collection of the Museum of Fine Arts, to laud the handscroll, saying "whether the roll was by Keion or an artist now forgotten, its greatness will remain forever unquestioned." More recently,
7600-409: The term bakufu to the shogunate government was therefore heavy with symbolism, connoting both the explicitly military character of the shogunal regime and its (at least theoretically) ephemeral nature. Historically, similar terms to sei-i taishōgun were used with varying degrees of responsibility, although none of them had equal or more importance than sei-i taishōgun . Some of them were: There
7700-457: The time during which they ruled is also known as the Muromachi period . Between 1346 and 1358, the Ashikaga shogunate gradually expanded the authority of the shugo ( 守護 ) , the local military and police officials established by the Kamakura shogunate, giving the shugo jurisdiction over land disputes between gokenin ( 御家人 ) and allowing the shugo to receive half of all taxes from
7800-453: The time, his grandfather Minamoto no Tameyoshi was the head of the Minamoto clan. His childhood name was Oniwakamaru (鬼武丸). He was a descendant of Emperor Seiwa . In 1156, factional divisions in the court erupted into open warfare within the capital . The cloistered Emperor Toba and his son Emperor Go-Shirakawa sided with the son of Fujiwara regent Fujiwara no Tadazane , Fujiwara no Tadamichi as well as Taira no Kiyomori (heir of
7900-540: The time- but Fenollosa paid an extra 500 yen. Art historian Segi Shin’ichi believes Fenollosa paid extra to avoid censure by Japanese authorities. Since then the scroll has and remains property of the Boston Museum of Fine Arts. One of other two extant scrolls is owned by the Tokyo National Museum and was designated a National Treasure in 1955. The third remained in private collections until its final owners,
8000-488: The title of shikken (regent to the shōgun ). One of his brothers-in-law was Ashikaga Yoshikane . The stone pagoda traditionally believed to be his grave is still maintained today, adjacent to Shirahata Shrine, a short distance from the spot believed to be the site of the so-called Ōkura Bakufu , his shogunate's administrative-governmental offices. He appears as a hero unit in Age of Empires II: The Age of Kings , and as
8100-416: The unsubstantiated facts surrounding both his work and his connection to the handscrolls make definitive claims near impossible. Art historian Ikeda Shinobu of Chiba University theorizes that given the grandiosity of the scroll, its sexualized depiction of female bodies amidst violence, and the ordered uniformity of the belligerents, the original commissioner or intended recipient was a male aristocrat. Given
8200-528: The use of weapons has been prohibited, peace has now reigned throughout the country; but now, owing to the sudden outbreak of these riots, the Imperial Palace, as well as the capital city, is filled with frightened men. People therefore, both high and low, are grieved and uncertain of what will befall them next. Subsequently Kiyomori would return, effecting the escape of the Emperor and retired Emperor, and defeat
8300-453: The western lords, including Hatakeyama Yoshinari and Ōuchi Masahiro , withdrew their armies from Kyoto. The war devastated Kyoto, destroying many aristocratic and samurai residences, Shinto shrines , and Buddhist temples, and undermining the authority of the Ashikaga shoguns, greatly reducing their control over the various regions. Thus began the Sengoku period , a period of civil war in which
8400-431: The year the Kamakura shogunate was established. Minamoto no Yoritomo seized power from the central government and aristocracy and by 1192 established a feudal system based in Kamakura in which the private military, the samurai , gained some political powers while the Emperor and the aristocracy remained the de jure rulers. In 1192, Yoritomo was awarded the title of sei-i taishōgun by Emperor Go-Toba and
8500-463: Was "more adult-like than others of his age", and the figure of a young warrior Yoritomo appears in the picture scroll of The Tale of Heiji . Genpei Jōsuiki describes Yoritomo saying "his face is large and appearance is beautiful." The imperial messenger Nakahara no Yasusada, who met Yoritomo in Kamakura in August 1183, said that "he is short and his face is large, his appearance is graceful and language
8600-405: Was able to rule the region on his own, without being appointed by the shogun. In 1492, Hosokawa Masamoto , the kanrei ( 管領 ) , second in rank to the shogun in the Ashikaga shogunate, and the equivalent of Shikken ( 執権 ) in the Kamakura shogunate, staged a coup, banished the 10th shogun, Ashikaga Yoshitane , from Kyoto, and installed Ashikaga Yoshizumi as the 11th shogun, making
8700-400: Was attacked by the Taira; Shinzei escaped, only to be captured and decapitated shortly thereafter. The Taira then burned the ex-emperor's palace, defeating the Minamoto. Yoshitomo fled the capital but was later betrayed and executed by a retainer. In the aftermath, harsh terms were imposed on the Minamoto and their allies. Only Yoshitomo's three young boys remained alive, so that Kiyomori and
8800-510: Was effectively dismantled shortly afterwards when one of the key members lost his political position and two others died of illness. When Minamoto no Yoriie fell ill in 1203, a power struggle broke out between the Hojo clan and Hiki Yoshikazu , and Hojo Tokimasa destroyed the Hiki clan . Tokimasa then installed the 12-year-old Minamoto no Sanetomo as the third shogun, puppeting him while himself becoming
8900-491: Was finally taken down by Gosho no Gorōmaru , thus saving Yoritomo from a possible assassination attempt and ending the massacre. After this, Yoritomo took Tokimune in for questioning and had him executed later. Yoritomo was ordained as a Buddhist monk in 1199 and left his home. He received the Buddhist name Bukōshōgendaizenmon (武皇嘯厚大禅門). He died two days later at the age of 51. According to The Tale of Heiji , Yoritomo
9000-472: Was in practice hereditary, although over the course of the history of Japan several different clans held the position. The title was originally held by military commanders during the Heian period in the eighth and ninth centuries. When Minamoto no Yoritomo gained political ascendency over Japan in 1185, the title was revived to regularize his position, making him the first shogun in the usually understood sense. It
9100-507: Was independent of the imperial court and called himself the Shinnō ( 新皇 , New Emperor) . In response, the imperial court sent a large army led by Taira no Sadamori to kill Masakado. As a result, Masakado was killed in battle in February 940. He is still revered as one of the three great onryō ( 怨霊 , vengeful spirits) of Japan. During the reigns of Emperor Shirakawa and Emperor Toba ,
9200-408: Was killed within a year of becoming shogun. In 1185, the Taira clan was finally defeated in the Battle of Dan-no-ura , and the Minamoto clan came to power. There are various theories as to the year in which the Kamakura period and Kamakura shogunate began. In the past, the most popular theory was that the year was 1192, when Minamoto no Yoritomo was appointed sei-i taishōgun ( 征夷大将軍 ) . Later,
9300-473: Was known as a great swordsman and was a student of Tsukahara Bokuden , who was known as one of the strongest swordsmen. According to Yagyū Munenori , a swordsmanship instructor in the Tokugawa Shogunate, Ashikaga Yoshiteru was one of the five best swordsmen of his time. According to several historical books, including Luís Fróis ' Historia de Japam , he fought hard with naginata and tachi during
9400-567: Was located in Momoyama. Although the two leaders of the warrior class during this period were not given the title of sei-i taishōgun ( 征夷大将軍 , shogun) , Oda Nobunaga was given a title almost equal to it, and Toyotomi Hideyoshi a higher one. This era began when Oda Nobunaga expelled Ashikaga Yoshiaki from Kyoto and destroyed the Ashikaga shogunate. Adopting an innovative military strategy using tanegashima ( 種子島 , matchlock gun) and an economic policy that encouraged economic activity by
9500-443: Was notified of events in Kyoto . Parents Consorts and issues In 1180, Prince Mochihito , a son of Cloistered Emperor Go-Shirakawa , made a national call to arms of the Minamoto clan all over Japan to rebel against the Taira . Yoritomo took part in this, especially after tensions escalated between the Taira and Minamoto after the death of Minamoto no Yorimasa and Prince Mochihito himself. Yoritomo established himself as
9600-459: Was originally a specific type of general, this is an example of semantic widening . The shogunate's administration was known as the bakufu ( 幕府 ) , literally meaning "government from the curtain ". In this context, "curtain" is a synecdoche for a type of semi-open tent called a maku , a temporary battlefield headquarters from which a samurai general would direct his forces, and whose sides would be decorated with his mon . The application of
9700-515: Was the first general to bend these tribes, integrating their territory to that of the Yamato State . For his military feats he was named sei-i taishōgun and probably because he was the first to win the victory against the northern tribes he is generally recognized as the first shogun in history. (Note: according to historical sources Ōtomo no Otomaro also had the title of sei-i taishōgun). The shoguns of this period had no real political power, and
9800-467: Was wanted for tyranny by Fujiwara no Korechika , a Kokushi ( 国司 , imperial court official) who oversaw the province of Hitachi province, and Fujiwara no Korechika demanded that Masakado hand over Fujiwara no Haruaki. Masakado refused, and war broke out between Masakado and Fujiwara no Korechika, with Masakado becoming an enemy of the imperial court. Masakado proclaimed that the Kanto region under his rule
9900-413: Was well protected in Kamakura . His brothers Minamoto no Yoshitsune and Minamoto no Noriyori defeated the Taira in several battles, but they could not stop Minamoto no Yoshinaka , Yoritomo's rival, from entering Kyoto in 1183 and chasing the Taira south. The Taira took Emperor Antoku with them. In 1184, the Minamoto replaced Antoku with Emperor Go-Toba . From 1181 to 1184, a de facto truce with
10000-418: Was willing to give up his personal fortune to give them such rewards. During the Kenmu Restoration, after the fall of the Kamakura shogunate in 1333, another short-lived shogun arose. Prince Moriyoshi (Morinaga), son of Go-Daigo, was awarded the title of sei-i taishōgun . However, Prince Moriyoshi was later put under house arrest and, in 1335, killed by Ashikaga Tadayoshi . Emperor Go-daigo did not like
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