View source for Shogun

{{Short description|Military nobility of Japan (1185–1868)}}
{{other uses}}
{{Distinguish|Shotgun}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2024}}
{{History of Japan}}

{{nihongo|'''Shogun'''|将軍|shōgun|{{IPAc-en|lang|ˈ|ʃ|oʊ|.|g|ʌ|n}} {{respell|SHOH|gun}},<ref name=longman>{{cite book|last=Wells|first=John|author-link=John C. Wells|title=Longman Pronunciation Dictionary|publisher=Pearson Longman|edition=3rd|date=3 April 2008|isbn=978-1-4058-8118-0}}</ref> {{IPA|ja|ɕoː.ɡɯɴ, -ŋɯɴ|lang|Ja-将軍.oga}}<ref name=NHK>{{cite book|script-title=ja:NHK日本語発音アクセント新辞典|publisher=NHK Publishing|editor=NHK Broadcasting Culture Research Institute|date=24 May 2016|lang=ja}}</ref>}}, officially {{Nihongo||征夷大将軍|'''seii taishōgun'''|{{IPA|ja|seꜜi.i {{pipe}} tai.ɕo(ꜜ)ː.ɡɯɴ, seꜜː-, -ŋɯɴ|lang}}<ref name=NHK/> {{lit|[[Commander-in-Chief]] of the Expeditionary Force Against the Barbarians}}}},<ref name="modern-reader"/> was the title of the military rulers of Japan during most of the period spanning from 1185 to 1868.<ref>Spafford, D. "Emperor and Shogun, Pope and King: The Development of Japan's Warrior Aristocracy." Bulletin of the Detroit Institute of Arts, Vol. 88, No. 1/4, (2014), pp. 10–19.</ref> Nominally appointed by the  [[Emperor of Japan|Emperor]], shoguns were usually the ''[[de facto]]'' rulers of the country,<ref>{{cite encyclopedia|url=http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/541431/shogunate|title=Shogun|encyclopedia=Encyclopædia Britannica|access-date=19 November 2014}}</ref> except during parts of the [[Kamakura period]] and [[Sengoku period]] when the shoguns themselves  were  figureheads, with real power in the hands of the {{nihongo3||執権|[[shikken]]}} of the [[Hōjō clan]] and {{nihongo3||管領|[[kanrei]]}} 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 {{nihongo3|Chancellor of the Realm|太政大臣|[[daijō-daijin]]}} and {{nihongo3|Imperial Regent|関白|[[Sesshō and Kampaku|kampaku]]}}, the highest offices of the aristocratic class. As such, they ran their governments as its ''de facto'' rulers.<ref name="nhkgenpei"/><ref name="asahi240923"/><ref name="nikkei140117"/>

The office of shogun 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 is often said that one must be of the [[Minamoto clan|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 clan|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 a descendant of the [[Taira clan]], was approached for the position of shogun a month before his death.<ref name="ni191123">{{cite web|url=https://www.nippon.com/ja/japan-topics/c12011/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231206192620/https://www.nippon.com/ja/japan-topics/c12011/|script-title=ja:豊臣体制の解体へと家康が利用した「征夷大将軍」という権威|language=ja|publisher=nippon.com|date=19 November 2023|archive-date=6 December 2023|access-date=21 March 2024}}</ref><ref name="hon111223"/><ref name="jk190224"/>

The shogun's officials were collectively referred to as the {{Nihongo|'''''bakufu'''''|幕府||{{IPA|ja|baꜜ.kɯ̥.ɸɯ, ba.kɯ̥.ɸɯ|lang}}<ref name=NHK/>}} ('tent-government'). They were the ones who carried out the actual duties of administration, while the imperial court retained only nominal authority.<ref name="b321">Beasley, William G. (1955). ''Select Documents on Japanese Foreign Policy, 1853–1868'', p. 321.</ref> The tent symbolized the shogun's role as 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''' ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|ʃ|oʊ|.|g|ə|n|.|eɪ|t|,_|-|@|t|,_|-|I|t}} {{respell|SHOH|gən|ayt|,_|-ət|,_|-it}}<ref name=longman/>), persisted for nearly 700 years, ending when [[Tokugawa Yoshinobu]] relinquished the office to [[Emperor Meiji]] in 1867 as part of the [[Meiji Restoration]].<ref>{{cite journal |title=Political Succession in The Tokugawa Bakufu: Abe Masahiro's Rise to Power, 1843–1845 |first=Conrad |last=Totman |journal=Harvard Journal of Asiatic Studies |volume=26 |year=1966 |pages=102–124 |doi=10.2307/2718461 |jstor=2718461}}</ref> This term ''bakufu'' only began to be actively used in the 1800s to emphasize that the emperor was the legitimate ruler of the country. During the Tokugawa shogunate the shogunate was officially called {{nihongo|'''''kōgi'''''|公儀}}.<ref name="hiroshi100722"/><ref name="asahi030722"/>

==Etymology==
[[File:Kanji shogun.png|thumb|80px|[[Kanji]] that make up the word shogun]]
The term {{nihongo|''shōgun''|{{linktext|将軍}}|extra={{literal|army commander}}}} is the abbreviation of the historical title ''sei-i taishōgun'' ({{linktext|征夷大将軍}}): 
* 征 (''sei'', せい) means "conquer" or "subjugate", and 
* 夷 (''i'', い) means "barbarian" or "savage"; 
* 大 (''dai'', だい) means "great"; 
* {{lang|ja|将}} (''shō'', しょう) means "commander",<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.yamasa.cc/members/ocjs/kanjidic.nsf/542e273e7326836c49256b0400118691/5806e0490bfe5e2d49256a90002ec196!OpenDocument|title=Yamasa Online Kanji Dictionary|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090415201458/http://www.yamasa.cc/members/ocjs/kanjidic.nsf/542e273e7326836c49256b0400118691/5806e0490bfe5e2d49256a90002ec196!OpenDocument|archive-date=15 April 2009 |access-date=20 January 2009}}</ref> and 
* 軍 (''gun'', ぐん) means "army".<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.yamasa.cc/members/ocjs/kanjidic.nsf/542e273e7326836c49256b0400118691/b38b19bee7c7817749256a90002ebfc7!OpenDocument|title=Yamasa Online Kanji Dictionary|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090201174455/http://yamasa.cc/members/ocjs/kanjidic.nsf/542e273e7326836c49256b0400118691/b38b19bee7c7817749256a90002ebfc7!OpenDocument|archive-date=1 February 2009|access-date=20 January 2009}}</ref> 
Thus, a literal translation of ''sei-i taishōgun'' would be 'Commander-in-Chief of the Expeditionary Force Against the Barbarians'.<ref name="modern-reader" />

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]]''.<ref>Turnbull, 2006a:21 & 22.</ref> The term is often translated ''[[generalissimo]]'' and is also used for such military leaders of foreign nations by the Japanese.

Though {{nihongo|''shōgun''|{{linktext|将軍}}}} now predominantly refers to the historical position ''sei-i taishōgun'' ({{linktext|征夷大将軍}}) in Japanese, the term is generically used for the rank of [[general (military rank)|general]] in other East Asian languages, such as Chinese ({{lang-zh|t=[[wikt:將軍|將軍]]|s=[[wikt:将军|将军]]|p=jiāngjūn|j=zoeng1 gwan1}}), in which it is secondarily used for the historical Japanese position.

The [[macron (diacritic)|macron]] in the [[rōmaji|romanization]] "shōgun" depicts the [[Japanese language#Phonology#Vowels|Japanese long "o" vowel]] sound in ''し<b>ょう</b>ぐん'', though because of the common tendency to drop [[diacritics]] in [[English orthography|written English]], "shogun" has become a common spelling of the English word.

In the western world, he was referred to as ''[[Taikun|Tycoon]]''.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Satow |first=Ernest |title=A Diplomat in Japan |location=Berkeley, Calif. |publisher=Stone Bridge Press |year=2006}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Alcock |first=Rutherford |title=The capital of the tycoon: a narrative of a three years' residence in Japan |publisher=New York: Bradley Co. |year=1863}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Kinnear Ballagh |first=Margaret Tate |title=Glimpses Of Old Japan, 1861-1866 |year=1908}}</ref> It was not until later that the proper term of ''Sei-i-tai'' or ''sei-i taishōgun'' was used.

==Titles==
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''.{{Citation needed|date=February 2020}} Some of them were:

* {{nihongo|''[[Seitō Taishōgun]]''|征東大将軍|extra=lit. "Commander-in-chief for the pacification of the East"}}<ref name="Friday108">Friday, 2007:108.</ref>
* {{nihongo|''[[Seisei Taishōgun]]''|征西大将軍|extra=lit. "Commander-in-chief for the pacification of the West"}}<ref>Hall, 1991:241.</ref>
* {{nihongo|''[[Chinjufu-shōgun|Chinjufu Shōgun]]''|鎮守府将軍|extra=lit. "Commander-in-chief of the central peacekeeping headquarters"}}<ref>Adolphson, 2007:341.</ref>
* {{nihongo|''[[Seiteki Taishōgun]]''|征狄大将軍|extra=lit. "Commander-in-chief Subjugator of the barbarians"}}{{Citation needed|date=February 2020}}
* {{nihongo|''[[Mochisetsu Taishōgun]]''|持節大将軍|extra=lit. "Commander-in-chief of the Temporary Office"}}{{Citation needed|date=February 2020}}
* {{nihongo|''[[Mutsu Chintōshōgun]]''|陸奥鎮東将軍|extra=lit. "Great General of Subduing Mutsu"}}{{Citation needed|date=February 2020}}

==History==
{{See also|Samurai|History of Japan}}

{| class="toccolours" border="1" cellpadding="4" style="float: right; margin: 0 0 1em 1em; width: 25em; border-collapse: collapse; font-size: 95%; clear: right;"
|-
! colspan=4 align=center bgcolor=CornflowerBlue | Shoguns in the history of Japan
|-style="background:LightSteelBlue; align:center"
|align="center"| S#
|align="center"| Name
|align="center"| Birth/Death
|align="center"| Government
|-
! colspan=4 align=center bgcolor=LightGrey | First shoguns<ref>There is no consensus among the various sources on this list, since some authors consider Tajihi no Agatamori to be the original shogun, whereas others regard Ōtomo no Otomaro or even Sakanoue no Tamuramaro as being the first, and still others avoid the problem entirely by starting from the first Kamakura shogun only.</ref>
|-style="background:Gainsboro"
|
| [[Tajihi no Agatamori]]
|align="center"| 668–737<ref>Cranston, 1998:361.</ref>
|align="center"| 720<ref name="samuraiarchives">{{Cite web |url=http://www.samurai-archives.com/earlyjapan.html |title=Early Japan |access-date=20 January 2009 |author=Samurai Archives |language=en |archive-date=31 January 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090131084127/http://samurai-archives.com/earlyjapan.html  }}</ref>
|-style="background:Gainsboro"
|
| [[Ōtomo no Yakamochi]]
|align="center"| 718?–785<ref>Cranston, 1998:427.</ref>
|align="center"| 784–785<ref name="Yakamochi">Sansom, 1931:201.</ref> [[Ki no Kosami]] in the year 789<ref name="Kosami">Takekoshi, 2004:96.</ref>
|-style="background:Gainsboro"
|
| [[Ki no Kosami]]
|align="center"| 733–797
|align="center"| 789<ref name="Kosami"/>
|-style="background:Gainsboro"
|
| [[Ōtomo no Otomaro]]
|align="center"| 731–809<ref>Caiger, 1997:339.</ref>
|align="center"| 794<ref name="Shivelyiii">Shively, 1999:xviii.</ref>
|-style="background:Gainsboro"
|
| [[Sakanoue no Tamuramaro]]
|align="center"| 758–811<ref name="Bary266">De Bary ''et al.'', 2001:266.</ref>
|align="center"| 797–811?<ref name="historyfiles">{{Cite web |url=http://www.historyfiles.co.uk/KingListsFarEast/JapanShoguns.htm |title=Shoguns of Japan |access-date=20 January 2009 |author=The history files |language=en }}</ref>
|-style="background:Gainsboro"
|
| [[Fun'ya no Watamaro]]
|align="center"| 765–823<ref name="Watamaro">Shively ''et al.'', 1999:30.</ref>
|align="center"| 813<ref name="historyfiles" />
|-style="background:Gainsboro"
|
| [[Fujiwara no Tadabumi]]
|align="center"| 873–947<ref name="Adolphson">Adolphson ''et al'', 2007:334.</ref>
|align="center"| 940<ref name="historyfiles" />
|-style="background:Gainsboro"
|
| [[Minamoto no Yoshinaka]]
|align="center"| 1154–1184<ref name="Yoshinaka">Turnbull, 2005:16.</ref>
|align="center"| 1184<ref name="historyfiles" />
|-
! colspan=4 align=center bgcolor=pink | Kamakura Shogunate<ref name="mayoríatabla">Deal, 2007:100–101.</ref>
|-style="background:#EED8D2"
| 1
| [[Minamoto no Yoritomo]]
|align="center"| 1147–1199
|align="center"| 1192–1199
|-style="background:#EED8D2"
| 2
| [[Minamoto no Yoriie]]
|align="center"| 1182–1204
|align="center"| 1202–1203
|-style="background:#EED8D2"
| 3
| [[Minamoto no Sanetomo]]
|align="center"| 1192–1219
|align="center"| 1203–1219
|-style="background:#EED8D2"
| 4
| [[Kujō Yoritsune]]
|align="center"| 1218–1256
|align="center"| 1226–1244
|-style="background:#EED8D2"
| 5
| [[Kujō Yoritsugu]]
|align="center"| 1239–1256
|align="center"| 1244–1252
|- style="background:#EED8D2"
| 6
|[[Prince Munetaka]]
|align="center"| 1242–1274
|align="center"| 1252–1266
|-style="background:#EED8D2"
| 7
|[[Prince Koreyasu]]
|align="center"| 1264–1326
|align="center"| 1266–1289
|-style="background:#EED8D2"
| 8
|[[Prince Hisaaki]]
|align="center"| 1276–1328
|align="center"| 1289–1308
|-style="background:#EED8D2"
| 9
|[[Prince Morikuni]]
|align="center"| 1301–1333
|align="center"| 1308–1333
|-
! colspan=4 align=center bgcolor=BlanchedAlmond | Kenmu Restoration
|-style="background:AntiqueWhite"
|
|[[Prince Moriyoshi]]
| 1308–1335<ref name="Moriyoshi">Perkins, 1998b:292.</ref> He was named shogun by his father Emperor Go-Daigo in 1333<ref name="Varley243">Varley, 1994:243.</ref>
| 1333–1335<ref name="Varley243" />
|-style="background:AntiqueWhite"
|
|[[Prince Nariyoshi]]
| 1326–1344?<ref name="Clear295">Perkins, 1998b:295.</ref>
| 1334–1338<ref name="Clear295" />
|-
! colspan=4 align=center bgcolor=Moccasin | Ashikaga Shogunate<ref name="mayoríatabla" />
|- style="background:#FFEECC"
| 1
| [[Ashikaga Takauji]]
|align="center"| 1305–1358
|align="center"| 1338–1358
|-style="background:#FFEECC"
| 2
| [[Ashikaga Yoshiakira]]
|align="center"| 1330–1367
|align="center"| 1358–1367
|-style="background:#FFEECC"
| 3
| [[Ashikaga Yoshimitsu]]
|align="center"| 1358–1408
|align="center"| 1368–1394
|-style="background:#FFEECC"
| 4
| [[Ashikaga Yoshimochi]]
|align="center"| 1386–1428
|align="center"| 1394–1423 / 1425–1429
|-style="background:#FFEECC"
| 5
| [[Ashikaga Yoshikazu]]
|align="center"| 1407–1425
|align="center"| 1423–1425
|-style="background:#FFEECC"
| 6
| [[Ashikaga Yoshinori]]
|align="center"| 1394–1441
|align="center"| 1429–1441
|-style="background:#FFEECC"
| 7
| [[Ashikaga Yoshikatsu]]
|align="center"| 1434–1443
|align="center"| 1442–1443
|-style="background:#FFEECC"
| 8
| [[Ashikaga Yoshimasa]]
|align="center"| 1436–1490
|align="center"| 1449–1473
|-style="background:#FFEECC"
| 9
| [[Ashikaga Yoshihisa]]
|align="center"| 1465–1489
|align="center"| 1473–1489
|-style="background:#FFEECC"
| 10
| [[Ashikaga Yoshitane]]
|align="center"| 1466–1523
|align="center"| 1490–1493
|-style="background:#FFEECC"
| 11
| [[Ashikaga Yoshizumi]]
|align="center"| 1480–1511
|align="center"| 1494–1508
|-style="background:#FFEECC"
| 10
| [[Ashikaga Yoshitane]]
|align="center"|1466–1523
|align="center"| 1508–1521
|-style="background:#FFEECC"
| 12
| [[Ashikaga Yoshiharu]]
|align="center"| 1511–1550
|align="center"| 1521–1546
|-style="background:#FFEECC"
| 13
| [[Ashikaga Yoshiteru]]
|align="center"| 1536–1565
|align="center"| 1546–1565
|-style="background:#FFEECC"
| 14
| [[Ashikaga Yoshihide]]
|align="center"| 1538–1568
|align="center"| 1568
|-style="background:#FFEECC"
| 15
| [[Ashikaga Yoshiaki]]
|align="center"| 1537–1597
|align="center"| 1568–1573
|-style="background:#FFEECC"
! colspan=4 align=center bgcolor=lightsteelblue | Tokugawa Shogunate<ref name="mayoríatabla" />
|-style="background:#DDEEFF"
| 1
| [[Tokugawa Ieyasu]]
|align="center"| 1542–1616
|align="center"| 1603–1605
|-style="background:#DDEEFF"
| 2
| [[Tokugawa Hidetada]]
|align="center"| 1579–1632<ref name="Murdoch791">Murdoch, 1996:791.</ref>
|align="center"| 1605–1623
|-style="background:#DDEEFF"
| 3
| [[Tokugawa Iemitsu]]
|align="center"| 1604–1651
|align="center"| 1623–1651
|-style="background:#DDEEFF"
| 4
| [[Tokugawa Ietsuna]]
|align="center"| 1641–1680
|align="center"| 1651–1680
|-style="background:#DDEEFF"
| 5
| [[Tokugawa Tsunayoshi]]
|align="center"| 1646–1709
|align="center"| 1680–1709
|-style="background:#DDEEFF"
| 6
| [[Tokugawa Ienobu]]
|align="center"| 1662–1712<ref name="Murdoch791" />
|align="center"| 1709–1712
|-style="background:#DDEEFF"
| 7
| [[Tokugawa Ietsugu]]
|align="center"| 1709–1716
|align="center"| 1713–1716
|-style="background:#DDEEFF"
| 8
| [[Tokugawa Yoshimune]]
|align="center"| 1684–1751
|align="center"| 1716–1745
|-style="background:#DDEEFF"
| 9
| [[Tokugawa Ieshige]]
|align="center"| 1711–1761
|align="center"| 1745–1760
|-style="background:#DDEEFF"
| 10
| [[Tokugawa Ieharu]]
|align="center"| 1737–1786
|align="center"| 1760–1786
|-style="background:#DDEEFF"
| 11
| [[Tokugawa Ienari]]
|align="center"| 1773–1841<ref name="Murdoch791" />
|align="center"| 1787–1837
|-style="background:#DDEEFF"
| 12
| [[Tokugawa Ieyoshi]]
|align="center"| 1793–1853
|align="center"| 1837–1853
|-style="background:#DDEEFF"
| 13
| [[Tokugawa Iesada]]
|align="center"| 1824–1858
|align="center"| 1853–1858
|-style="background:#DDEEFF"
| 14
| [[Tokugawa Iemochi]]
|align="center"| 1846–1866
|align="center"| 1858–1866
|-style="background:#DDEEFF"
| 15
| [[Tokugawa Yoshinobu]]
|align="center"| 1837–1913
|align="center"| 1867–1868<ref>Deal, 2007:48.</ref>
|-
|}

===First shogun===
There is no consensus among the various authors since some sources consider [[Tajihi no Agatamori]] the first, others say [[Ōtomo no Otomaro]],<ref>{{cite web|url=http://bookweb.kinokuniya.co.jp/htm/4121008332.html|script-title=ja:征夷大将軍―もう一つの国家主権|publisher=[[Books Kinokuniya]]|access-date=7 March 2011|language=ja}}</ref> other sources assure that the first was [[Sakanoue no Tamuramaro]], while others avoid the problem by just mentioning from the first [[Kamakura period|Kamakura]] shogun [[Minamoto no Yoritomo]].
Originally, the title of ''sei-i taishōgun'' ("Commander-in-Chief of the Expeditionary Force Against the Barbarians")<ref name="modern-reader">''The Modern Reader's Japanese-English Character Dictionary'', {{ISBN|0-8048-0408-7}}</ref> 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.

===Heian period (794–1185)===
{{Further|Heian period}}

====Sakanoue no Tamuramaro====
{{Further|Sakanoue no Tamuramaro}}
[[File:Sakanoue Tamuramaro.jpg|thumb|left|[[Sakanoue no Tamuramaro]] (758–811) was one of the first shoguns of the early [[Heian period]].]]
Sakanoue no Tamuramaro (758–811)<ref name="Bary266"/> 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 was the first general to bend these tribes, integrating their territory to that of the [[Yamato Kingship|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.<ref name="Bary266" /><ref>Andressen & Osborne, 2002:48.</ref><ref>Ramirez-faria, 283.</ref> (Note: according to historical sources [[Ōtomo no Otomaro]] also had the title of sei-i taishōgun).

====The regency political system and cloistered rule====
{{Further|Sesshō and Kampaku|Fujiwara clan}}
The shoguns of this period had no real political power, and 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 {{nihongo3|Imperial Regent for Minor Emperors|摂政|[[Sesshō and Kampaku|sesshō]]}}, {{nihongo3|Imperial Regent fo Adult Emperors|関白|[[Sesshō and Kampaku|kampaku]]}}, and {{nihongo3|Chancellor of the Realm|太政大臣|[[daijō-daijin]]}}, reaching their peak at the end of the 10th century under [[Fujiwara no Michinaga]] and [[Fujiwara no Yorimichi]].<ref name="tomonokai">{{cite web|url=https://www.juku.st/info/entry/1349|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220511095734/https://www.juku.st/info/entry/1349|script-title=ja:【藤原道長はなぜ躍進？】摂関政治をわかりやすく説明する方法|language=ja|publisher=Tomonokai|date=19 July 2015|archive-date=11 May 2022|access-date=11 March 2024}}</ref><ref name="yh040124">{{cite web|url=https://news.yahoo.co.jp/expert/articles/d404674899919ce02e297e8f3a5117f8807b3341|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240312002713/https://news.yahoo.co.jp/expert/articles/d404674899919ce02e297e8f3a5117f8807b3341|script-title=ja:摂関政治で最盛期を築き上げた藤原氏とは、いかなる由緒を持つ氏族なのか|language=ja|publisher=Yahoo News|date=4 January 2024|archive-date=12 March 2024|access-date=12 March 2024}}</ref><ref name="kotobasekk">{{cite web|url=https://kotobank.jp/word/%E6%91%82%E9%96%A2%E6%94%BF%E6%B2%BB-87197|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231129224719/https://kotobank.jp/word/%E6%91%82%E9%96%A2%E6%94%BF%E6%B2%BB-87197|script-title=ja:摂関政治|language=ja|publisher=Kotobank|date=|archive-date=29 November 2023|access-date=13 March 2024}}</ref>

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, [[Emperor Shirakawa|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 the Fujiwara regime.<ref name="tomonokai"/><ref name="yh040124"/><ref name="kotobasekk"/>

==== The first attempt to establish a warrior class government ====
{{Further|Taira no Masakado}}
[[File:Taira no Masakado 01.jpg|thumb|left|[[Taira no Masakado]]'s rebellion is historically significant as the first rebellion of the warrior class and the first attempt of the warrior class to establish a government.<ref name="shogaku081122"/>]]
[[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.<ref name="shogaku081122">{{cite web|url=https://hugkum.sho.jp/410659|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240313200531/https://hugkum.sho.jp/410659#i-3|script-title=ja:平将門の乱は何が原因？ 平将門の生涯や、事件の背景、その後の影響を解説|language=ja|publisher=[[Shogakukan]]|date=8 November 2022|archive-date=13 March 2024|access-date=14 March 2024}}</ref> 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, [[:ja:藤原玄明|Fujiwara no Haruaki]], a powerful figure in the [[Hitachi province]], fled to Masakado. He was wanted for tyranny by [[Fujiwara no Korechika]], a {{nihongo3|imperial court official|国司|[[Kokushi (official)|Kokushi]]}} 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 was independent of the imperial court and called himself the {{nihongo3|New Emperor|新皇| Shinnō}}. 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 {{nihongo3|vengeful spirits|怨霊|[[onryō]]}} of Japan.<ref name="shogaku081122"/><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.touken-world.jp/history/history-important-word/taira-no-masakado/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240314210347/https://www.touken-world.jp/history/history-important-word/taira-no-masakado/|script-title=ja:平将門|language=ja|publisher=The Nagoya Japanese Sword Museum Nagoya Touken World|date=|archive-date=14 March 2024|access-date=14 March 2024}}</ref>

==== The birth of the first warrior class government ====
{{Further|Taira no kiyomori|Genpei War}}
[[File:Taira no Kiyomori Portrait by Fujiwara Tamenobu and Takenobu.png|thumb|left|[[Taira no Kiyomori]] was the first person born of the warrior class to rise to the highest rank of nobility and the first to establish a de facto samurai government.<ref name="nhkgenpei"/>]]
During the reigns of [[Emperor Shirakawa]] and [[Emperor Toba]], the [[Taira clan]] became {{nihongo3||国司|[[Kokushi (official)|Kokushi]]}}, 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 the [[Heiji rebellion]] and became the first samurai-born aristocratic class, eventually becoming {{nihongo3|Chancellor of the Realm|太政大臣|daijō-daijin}}, 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 the next 700 years.<ref name="nhkgenpei">{{cite web|url=https://www.nhk.or.jp/kokokoza/nihonshi/assets/memo/memo_0000000570.pdf|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240314105156/https://www.nhk.or.jp/kokokoza/nihonshi/assets/memo/memo_0000000570.pdf|script-title=ja:平氏政権の登場|language=ja|publisher=[[NHK]]|date=|archive-date=14 March 2024|access-date=14 March 2024}}</ref>

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 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 {{nihongo3|shogun||Sei-i Taishōgun}}. In response, [[Minamoto no Yoritomo]] sent [[Minamoto no Noriyori]] and [[Minamoto no Yoshitsune]] to defeat Yoshinaka, who 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.<ref name="nhkgenpei"/><ref name="sarai030422">{{cite web|url=https://serai.jp/hobby/history/1055058|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231201070617/https://serai.jp/hobby/history/1055058|script-title=ja:頼朝のライバル木曽義仲がた辿った生涯と人物像に迫る 源平合戦で活躍したその武略とは？|language=ja|publisher=[[Shogakukan]]|date=3 April 2022|archive-date=1 December 2023|access-date=13 March 2024}}</ref>

===Kamakura shogunate (1185–1333)===
{{Further|Kamakura shogunate|Kamakura period}}
[[File:Minamoto no Yoritomo.jpg|thumb|left|[[Minamoto no Yoritomo]], the first shogun (1192–1199) of the [[Kamakura shogunate]]]]
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 {{nihongo3||征夷大将軍|sei-i taishōgun}}. Later, the prevailing theory was that the year was 1185, when Yoritomo established the {{nihongo3||守護|[[shugo]]}}, which controlled military and police power in various regions, and the {{nihongo3||地頭|[[jitō]]}}, 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 the year the Kamakura shogunate was established.<ref name="toyo090616">{{cite web|url=https://toyokeizai.net/articles/-/120599?page=4|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220509123300/https://toyokeizai.net/articles/-/120599?page=4|script-title=ja:鎌倉幕府は何年に成立？正解を言えますか|language=ja|publisher=Toyo keizai|date=9 June 2016|archive-date=9 May 2022|access-date=9 March 2024}}</ref>

[[Minamoto no Yoritomo]] seized power from the central government and aristocracy and by 1192 established a [[feudal system]] based in [[Kamakura, Kanagawa|Kamakura]] in which the private military, the [[samurai]], gained some political powers while the Emperor and the [[aristocracy]] remained the ''[[de jure]]'' rulers.<ref name="nussbaum459">[[Louis-Frédéric|Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric]]. (2005). [https://books.google.com/books?id=p2QnPijAEmEC&pg=PA459&dq= "''Kamakura-jidai''"] in ''Japan Encyclopedia'', p. 459.</ref><ref>"...not only was the Heian system of '''imperial-aristocratic rule''' still vigorous during the twelfth century, but also it remained the essential framework within which the bakufu, during its lifetime, was obliged to operate. In this sense, the Heian pattern of government survived into the fourteenth century{{snd}}to be destroyed with the '''Kama-kura bakufu''' rather than by it." Warrior Rule in Japan, p. 1. Cambridge University Press.</ref>

In 1192, Yoritomo was awarded the title of ''sei-i taishōgun'' by [[Emperor Go-Toba]] and the political system he developed with a succession of shoguns as the head became known as a shogunate. [[Hōjō Masako|Hojo Masako]]'s (Yoritomo's wife) family, the [[Hōjō clan|Hōjō]], seized power from the Kamakura shoguns.<ref>{{Cite encyclopedia|url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/shogun|title=shogun {{!}} Japanese title|encyclopedia=Encyclopedia Britannica|access-date=21 August 2017|language=en}}</ref>

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 was effectively dismantled shortly afterwards when one of the key members lost his political position and two others died of illness.<ref name="toutoki">{{cite web|url=https://www.touken-world.jp/tips/70825/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240405154853/https://www.touken-world.jp/tips/70825/|script-title=ja:北条時政|language=ja|publisher=The Nagoya Japanese Sword Museum Nagoya Touken World|date=9 June 2016|archive-date=5 April 2024|access-date=5 April 2024}}</ref><ref name="kotoshik">{{cite web|url=https://kotobank.jp/word/%E5%9F%B7%E6%A8%A9%E6%94%BF%E6%B2%BB-74028|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240317005226/https://kotobank.jp/word/%E5%9F%B7%E6%A8%A9%E6%94%BF%E6%B2%BB-74028|script-title=ja:執権政治|language=ja|publisher=Kotobank|date=|archive-date=17 March 2024|access-date=5 April 2024}}</ref>

==== Puppetization of the shogun by the ''shikken'' ====
[[File:Dai Nihon Rokujūyoshō, Izu Hōjō Sagaminokami Tokimasa by Yoshitora.jpg|thumb|[[Hōjō Tokimasa]] shifted the source of power in the shogunate from the shogun to the shogun's assistant, ''[[shikken]]'', and established the rule of the [[Hōjō clan]].]]
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 the first {{nihongo3|Regent|執権|[[shikken]]}} and assuming actual control of the shogunate. Hojo Yoshitoki later assassinated Minamoto no Yoriie.<ref name="toutoki"/><ref name="kotoshik"/>

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 the second ''shikken'', and the shogunate was administered under the leadership of [[Hojo Masako]].<ref name="toutoki"/><ref name="kotoshik"/>

In 1219, the third shogun, Minamoto no Sanetomo, was assassinated for unknown reasons.<ref name="kotoshik"/>

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]].<ref name="kotoshik"/> The shogunate exiled former Emperor Go-Toba to [[Oki Island]] for waging war against the shogunate. The shogunate learned its lesson and set up an administrative body in Kyoto called the {{nihongo3||六波羅探題|[[Rokuhara Tandai]]}} to oversee the imperial court and western Japan.<ref name="touken">{{cite web|url=https://www.touken-world.jp/history/history-important-word/kemmu-no-shinsei/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240406003516/https://www.touken-world.jp/history/history-important-word/kemmu-no-shinsei/|script-title=ja:建武の新政|language=ja|publisher=The Nagoya Japanese Sword Museum Nagoya Touken World|date=|archive-date=6 April 2024|access-date=6 April 2024}}</ref>

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.<ref name="kotoshik"/>

In 1226, [[Hojo Yasutoki]] installed [[Kujo Yoritsune]], a member of the [[Sesshō and Kampaku|''sekkan'' family]], as the fourth shogun.<ref name="kotoshik"/>

In 1232, the [[Goseibai Shikimoku]] was enacted, the first codified law by a warrior class government in Japan.<ref name="kotoshik"/>

==== Puppetization of the shogun by the ''tokusō'' ====
[[File:Hōjō Tokiyori.jpg|thumb|[[Hōjō Tokiyori]] shifted the source of power in the shogunate from the official position of ''shikken'' to the private title of ''[[tokusō]]'' of the Hojo clan.]]
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 the shikkens, he used his position as head of the Hojo clan's main family, {{nihongo3||得宗|[[tokusō]]}}, to dominate politics, thus shifting the source of power in the shogunate from the ''shikken'' to ''tokusō''.<ref name="kotoshik"/><ref name="kototoku">{{cite web|url=https://kotobank.jp/word/%E5%BE%97%E5%AE%97-104805|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240406161449/https://kotobank.jp/word/%E5%BE%97%E5%AE%97-104805|script-title=ja:得宗|language=ja|publisher=Kotobank|date=|archive-date=6 April 2024|access-date=6 April 2024}}</ref>

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 the help of samurai called {{nihongo3||御家人|[[gokenin]]}}, 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.<ref name="toukama">{{cite web|url=https://www.touken-world.jp/tips/56909/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240406003622/https://www.touken-world.jp/tips/56909/|script-title=ja:鎌倉幕府とは|language=ja|publisher=The Nagoya Japanese Sword Museum Nagoya Touken World|date=|archive-date=6 April 2024|access-date=6 April 2024}}</ref>

In 1285, during the reign of [[Hojo Sadatoki]], the ninth ''shikken'' and ''eighth tokusō'', Adachi Yasumori and his clan, who had been 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.<ref name="kotoshik"/> As tokusō's ruling system was strengthened, the power of the title of {{nihongo3||[[:ja:内管領|内管領]]|naikanrei}}, ''tokusō'''s chief retainer, increased, and when ''tokusō'' was young or incapacitated, ''naikanrei'' took control of the shogunate. Taira no Yoritsuna during 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.<ref name="kototoku"/><ref name="kotonai">{{cite web|url=https://kotobank.jp/word/%E5%86%85%E7%AE%A1%E9%A0%98-34755|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240406161434/https://kotobank.jp/word/%E5%86%85%E7%AE%A1%E9%A0%98-34755|script-title=ja:内管領|language=ja|publisher=Kotobank|date=|archive-date=6 April 2024|access-date=6 April 2024}}</ref>　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 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 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.<ref name="touken"/><ref name="toukama"/>

=== Kenmu Restoration (1333–1336)===
Around 1334–1336, [[Ashikaga Takauji]] helped Emperor Go-Daigo regain his throne in the [[Kenmu Restoration]].<ref name="sansom">{{cite book |title=A History of Japan, 1134–1615 |first=George |last=Sansom |url=http://www.gotterdammerung.org/books/reviews/h/history-of-japan-1334-1615.html |year=1961 |location=United States |publisher=Stanford University Press}}</ref>

Emperor Go-Daigo rejected [[cloistered rule]] and the shogunate and abolished the ''[[Sesshō and Kampaku|sesshō]]'' and ''[[Sesshō and Kampaku|kampaku]]'' in favour of an emperor-led government. He also began building 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 was willing to give up his personal fortune to give them such rewards.<ref name="touken"/>

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 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.<ref name="touken"/><ref name="sansom" />

===Ashikaga (Muromachi) shogunate (1336/1338–1573)===
{{Further|Ashikaga shogunate|Muromachi period|Daimyo}}
[[File:Ashikaga Takauji Jōdo-ji.jpg|thumb|[[Ashikaga Takauji]] (1336/1338–1358) established the [[Ashikaga shogunate]].]]
After the failure of the Kenmu Restoration, Emperor Go-Daigo fled to [[Enryaku-ji]] Temple on [[Mount Hiei]] with the [[Imperial Regalia of Japan|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.<ref name="touken"/>

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, Nara|Yoshino]], and the country entered the [[Nanboku-cho period]] (1336-1392), in which two emperors existed at the same time in two different imperial courts, the Southern Court in Yoshino and the Northern Court in Kyoto.<ref name="touken"/>

In 1338,<ref name="touken"/><ref name=":0">{{Cite book|last=Hall|first=John Whitney|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=aiLYQ22ohmkC&q=1338&pg=PR11|title=Japan in the Muromachi Age|date=1977-01-01|publisher=University of California Press|isbn=978-0-520-02888-3|page=11|language=en}}</ref><ref>conflicting start dates of 1336 and 1338 are listed across different sources.</ref> [[Ashikaga Takauji]], like Minamoto no Yoritomo, a descendant of the [[Minamoto clan|Minamoto]] princes,<ref name=":0" /> 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 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 {{nihongo3||守護|[[shugo]]}}, the local military and police officials established by the Kamakura shogunate, giving the ''shugo'' jurisdiction over land disputes between {{nihongo3||御家人|[[gokenin]]}} and allowing the ''shugo'' to receive half of all taxes from 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 {{nihongo3|feudal lords|大名|[[daimyo]]}}, called {{nihongo3||守護大名|shugo daimyo}}, appeared.<ref name="shugosen">{{cite web|url=https://www.touken-world.jp/history/history-important-word/shugodaimyo-sengokubusho/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240317181933/https://www.touken-world.jp/history/history-important-word/shugodaimyo-sengokubusho/|script-title=ja:守護大名と戦国武将|language=ja|publisher=The Japanese Sword Museum Nagoya Touken World|date=|archive-date=17 March 2024|access-date=17 March 2024}}</ref>

[[Ashikaga Yoshimitsu]], the third shogun, negotiated peace with the Southern court, and in 1392 he reunited the two courts by absorbing 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 {{nihongo3|Chancellor of the Realm|太政大臣|daijō-daijin}}, the highest rank of the nobility, and remaining in power until his death in 1408.<ref name="nagoya3">{{cite web|url=https://www.touken-world.jp/tips/72413/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240408004347/https://www.touken-world.jp/tips/72413/|script-title=ja:第3代将軍／足利義満|language=ja|publisher=The Nagoya Japanese Sword Museum Nagoya Touken World|date=|archive-date=8 April 2024|access-date=8 April 2024}}</ref>

In 1428, [[Ashikaga Yoshimochi]], the fourth shogun, was ill and the question of his succession arose. [[Ashikaga Yoshikazu]], 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 [[:ja:嘉吉の乱|Kakitsu Rebellion]]. This led to instability in the Ashikaga shogunate system.<ref name="kyoto260523">{{cite web|url=https://www2.city.kyoto.lg.jp/somu/rekishi/fm/nenpyou/htmlsheet/toshi14.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230526102155/https://www2.city.kyoto.lg.jp/somu/rekishi/fm/nenpyou/htmlsheet/toshi14.html|script-title=ja:応仁・文明の乱|language=ja|publisher=Kyoto City|date=|archive-date=26 May 2023|access-date=14 March 2024}}</ref><ref name="nagoyaka">{{cite web|url=https://www.touken-world.jp/history/history-important-word/kakitsu-no-ran/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240314154053/https://www.touken-world.jp/history/history-important-word/kakitsu-no-ran/|script-title=ja:嘉吉の乱|language=ja|publisher=The Nagoya Japanese Sword Museum Nagoya Touken World|date=|archive-date=14 March 2024|access-date=14 March 2024}}</ref>

==== Ōnin war and Sengoku period ====
{{Further|Ōnin war|Sengoku period}}
[[File:Ashikaga Yoshimasa.jpg|thumb|[[Ashikaga Yoshimasa]]]]
[[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]], a conflict arose among the ''shugo daimyo'' as to whether Yoshimi or Yoshihisa would be the next shogun. The [[Hatakeyama clan|Hatakeyama]] and [[Shiba clan|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.<ref name="kyoto260523"/><ref name="nagoyao">{{cite web|url=https://www.touken-world.jp/tips/7077/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240314154132/https://www.touken-world.jp/tips/7077/|script-title=ja:応仁の乱|language=ja|publisher=The Nagoya Japanese Sword Museum Nagoya Touken World|date=|archive-date=14 March 2024|access-date=14 March 2024}}</ref>

In 1467, these conflicts finally led to the [[Ōnin War]] between 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 the western lords, including Hatakeyama Yoshinari and [[Ōuchi Masahiro]], withdrew their armies from Kyoto.<ref name="kyoto260523"/><ref name="nagoyao"/>

The war devastated Kyoto, destroying many aristocratic and samurai residences, [[Shinto shrine]]s, 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 the ''daimyo'' of various regions fought to expand their own power.<ref name="kyoto260523"/><ref name="nagoyao"/> ''Daimyo'' who became more powerful as the shogunate's control weakened were called {{nihongo3||戦国大名|sengoku daimyo}}, and they often came from ''shugo daimyo'', {{nihongo3|deputy shugo|守護代|[[shugodai]]}}, and {{nihongo3|local masters|国人|kokujin or kunibito}}. In other words, ''sengoku daimyo'' differed from ''shugo daimyo'' in that ''sengoku daimyo'' was able to rule the region on his own, without being appointed by the shogun.<ref name="shugosen"/>

In 1492, [[Hosokawa Masamoto]], the {{nihongo3||管領|[[kanrei]]}}, second in rank to the shogun in the Ashikaga shogunate, and the equivalent of {{nihongo3||執権|[[Shikken]]}} in the Kamakura shogunate, staged a coup, banished the 10th shogun, [[Ashikaga Yoshitane]], from Kyoto, and installed [[Ashikaga Yoshizumi]] as the 11th shogun, making the shogun a puppet of the [[Hosokawa clan]].<ref name="meio">{{cite web|url=https://www.touken-world.jp/history/history-important-word/meio-no-seihen/|archive-url=|script-title=ja:明応の政変|language=ja|publisher=The Nagoya Japanese Sword Museum Nagoya Touken World|date=|archive-date=|access-date=29 March 2024}}</ref> [[Hosokawa Takakuni]], who came to power later, installed [[Ashikaga Yoshiharu]] as the 12th shogun in 1521.<ref name="omono">{{cite web|url=https://www.touken-world.jp/tips/11089/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220929125449/https://www.touken-world.jp/tips/11089/|script-title=ja:大物崩れ|language=ja|publisher=The Nagoya Japanese Sword Museum Nagoya Touken World|date=|archive-date=29 September 2022|access-date=29 March 2024}}</ref> 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.<ref name="nagayoshi">{{cite web|url=https://www.touken-world.jp/tips/46488/|archive-url=|script-title=ja:三好長慶|language=ja|publisher=The Nagoya Japanese Sword Museum Nagoya Touken World|date=|archive-date=|access-date=29 March 2024}}</ref>

[[File:Ashikaga Yoshiteru cropped.jpg|thumb|[[Ashikaga Yoshiteru]], famous as a great swordsman<ref name="kotobateru"/>]]
By the time of 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 was known as a great swordsman and was a student of [[Tsukahara Bokuden]], who was known as one of the strongest swordsmen.<ref name="kotobateru">{{cite web|url=https://kotobank.jp/word/%E8%B6%B3%E5%88%A9%E7%BE%A9%E8%BC%9D-14302/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240314235845/https://kotobank.jp/word/%E8%B6%B3%E5%88%A9%E7%BE%A9%E8%BC%9D-14302|script-title=ja:足利義輝|language=ja|publisher=Kotobank|date=|archive-date=14 March 2024|access-date=14 March 2024}}</ref> 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 a raid, defeating many of his enemies, but eventually ran out of strength and was killed.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://intojapanwaraku.com/rock/culture-rock/69688/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230619125633/https://intojapanwaraku.com/rock/culture-rock/69688/|script-title=ja:足利義輝の壮絶すぎる30年を約15000字で徹底解説。将軍としての使命とは。|language=ja|publisher=[[Shogakukan]]|date=|archive-date=19 June 2023|access-date=14 March 2024}}</ref>

===Azuchi–Momoyama period (1573–1603)===
{{Further|Azuchi–Momoyama period|Oda Nobunaga|Toyotomi Hideyoshi}}
The Azuchi-Momoyama period refers to the period when [[Oda Nobunaga]] and [[Toyotomi Hideyoshi]] were in power.<ref name="kotoazuchi"/> They and [[Tokugawa Ieyasu]] are the three unifiers of Japan.<ref name="denver">{{cite web|url=https://www.denverartmuseum.org/en/blog/3-unifiers-japan|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240227175241/https://www.denverartmuseum.org/en/blog/3-unifiers-japan|title=The 3 Unifiers of Japan|publisher=[[Denver Art Museum]]|date=12 May 2016|archive-date=27 February 2024|access-date=11 March 2024}}</ref> 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, was located in Momoyama.<ref name="kotoazuchi">{{cite web|url=https://kotobank.jp/word/%E5%AE%89%E5%9C%9F%E6%A1%83%E5%B1%B1%E6%99%82%E4%BB%A3-26020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231225100029/https://kotobank.jp/word/%E5%AE%89%E5%9C%9F%E6%A1%83%E5%B1%B1%E6%99%82%E4%BB%A3-26020|script-title=ja:安土桃山時代|language=ja|publisher=Kotobank|date=|archive-date=25 December 2023|access-date=9 March 2024}}</ref> Although the two leaders of the warrior class during this period were not given the title of {{nihongo3|shogun|征夷大将軍|sei-i taishōgun}}, Oda Nobunaga was given a title almost equal to it, and Toyotomi Hideyoshi a higher one.<ref name="nikkei140117"/><ref name="10mtv"/>

[[File:Odanobunaga.jpg|thumb|[[Oda Nobunaga]] was the first of the three unifiers of Japan.<ref name="denver"/>]]
This era began when Oda Nobunaga expelled [[Ashikaga Yoshiaki]] from Kyoto and destroyed the Ashikaga shogunate. Adopting an innovative military strategy using {{nihongo3|[[matchlock]] gun|種子島|[[tanegashima (gun)|tanegashima]]}} and an economic policy that encouraged economic activity by 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.<ref name="jkoda">{{cite web|url=https://japanknowledge.com/introduction/keyword.html?i=31|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240314100237/https://japanknowledge.com/introduction/keyword.html?i=31|script-title=ja:織田信長|language=ja|publisher=Japan Knowledge|date=|archive-date=14 March 2024|access-date=23 March 2024}}</ref>

Nobunaga was given the title of {{nihongo3|[[Minister of the Right]]|右大臣|udaijin}}, an official position as the number three in the imperial court since ancient times, and the title of {{nihongo3|[[List of Japanese court ranks, positions and hereditary titles#Division of Inner Palace Guards (近衛府, kon'e fu)|Major Captain of the Right Division of Inner Palace Guards]]|右近衛大将|ukon'e no taishō}}, which meant leader of the warrior class. This title was a highly prestigious title given to the leader of the warrior class, similar to the title {{nihongo3|shogun|征夷大将軍|sei-i taishōgun}}. This was the first time since [[Minamoto no Sanetomo]] in 1218 that a member of the warrior class had been appointed ''udaijin''. Previously, the only warrior class members appointed to higher positions than ''udaijin'' were [[Taira no Kiyomori]] and [[Ashikaga Yoshimitsu]] as {{nihongo3|Chancellor of the Realm|太政大臣|[[daijō-daijin]]}}, and [[Ashikaga Yoshinori]] and [[Ashikaga Yoshimasa]] as {{nihongo3|[[Minister of the Left]]|左大臣|sadaijin}}.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://news.yahoo.co.jp/expert/articles/947053f5fd8f235da807d9e5d9d46063978b9ce6|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240307200633/https://news.yahoo.co.jp/expert/articles/947053f5fd8f235da807d9e5d9d46063978b9ce6|script-title=ja:「麒麟がくる」コラム】織田信長はどんどん昇進。信長は官職についてどう考えていたのか|language=ja|publisher=Yahoo News|date=6 January 2021|archive-date=7 March 2024|access-date=9 March 2024}}</ref><ref name="10mtv">{{cite web|url=https://10mtv.jp/pc/content/detail.php?movie_id=3480|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230928234342/https://10mtv.jp/pc/content/detail.php?movie_id=3480|script-title=ja:織田信長に与えられた官位「右近衛大将」が意味すること|language=ja|publisher=10m TV|date=|archive-date=28 September 2023|access-date=9 March 2024}}</ref><ref name="it1801202">{{cite web|url=https://www.itmedia.co.jp/business/articles/2001/17/news021_2.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220524091027/https://www.itmedia.co.jp/business/articles/2001/17/news021_2.html|script-title=ja:NHK大河ドラマ「麒麟がくる」に登場 古い権威を無視し、あえて将軍にならなかった織田信長のリーダー論 2/3|language=ja|publisher=IT Media|date=18 January 2020|archive-date=24 May 2022|access-date=10 March 2024}}</ref> Nobunaga was betrayed by his vassal [[Akechi Mitsuhide]], who died in the [[Honnō-ji incident]]. It is believed that about a month before his death, Nobunaga was approached by the imperial court to accept one of the following positions: {{nihongo3|Imperial Regent|関白|[[Sesshō and Kampaku|kampaku]]}}, ''daijō-daijin'', or shogun.<ref name="it1801203">{{cite web|url=https://www.itmedia.co.jp/business/articles/2001/17/news021_3.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240310195411/https://www.itmedia.co.jp/business/articles/2001/17/news021_3.html|script-title=ja:NHK大河ドラマ「麒麟がくる」に登場 古い権威を無視し、あえて将軍にならなかった織田信長のリーダー論 3/3|language=ja|publisher=IT Media|date=18 January 2020|archive-date=10 March 2024|access-date=21 March 2024}}</ref><ref name="yh0902221">{{cite web|url=https://news.yahoo.co.jp/expert/articles/2d7c2ce7606670db43cf66ad702b47e8c7754f0c|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240321084540/https://news.yahoo.co.jp/expert/articles/2d7c2ce7606670db43cf66ad702b47e8c7754f0c|script-title=ja:「麒麟がくる」コラム】織田信長が朝廷に三職推任を強要したので、本能寺の変が起こったのか|language=ja|publisher=Yahoo News|date=9 February 2021|archive-date=21 March 2024|access-date=21 March 2024}}</ref><ref name="hon111223">{{cite web|url=https://honcierge.jp/articles/shelf_story/5777|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230609041220/https://honcierge.jp/articles/shelf_story/5777|script-title=ja:5分でわかる征夷大将軍！主な将軍一覧、源氏しかなれない説などを簡単に紹介|language=ja|publisher=Honcierge|date=11 December 2021|archive-date=9 June 2023|access-date=21 March 2024}}</ref><ref name="jk190224">{{cite web|url=https://japanknowledge.com/introduction/keyword.html?i=31|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240219141624/https://japanknowledge.com/introduction/keyword.html?i=31|script-title=ja:織田信長|language=ja|publisher=Japan Knowledge|date=|archive-date=19 February 2024|access-date=10 March 2024}}</ref> As a result, he was posthumously promoted to ''daijō-daijin'' in 1582.<ref name="jk190224"/>

[[File:Toyotomi Hideyoshi c1598 Kodai-ji Temple.png|thumb|[[Toyotomi Hideyoshi]] became the leader of the warrior class and earned the highest title of the aristocratic class, but he did not hold the title of shogun, the highest title of the warrior class.<ref name="asahi240923"/><ref name="nikkei140117"/>]]
Toyotomi Hideyoshi, a general under Nobunaga, conquered [[Shikoku]], [[Kyushu]], [[Kantō region|Kantō]], and the [[Tōhoku region|Tohoku]] after Nobunaga's death, completing Nobunaga's attempt to unify Japan.<ref name="jktoyo">{{cite web|url=https://japanknowledge.com/introduction/keyword.html?i=65|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240314105037/https://japanknowledge.com/introduction/keyword.html?i=65|script-title=ja:豊臣秀吉|language=ja|publisher=Japan Knowledge|date=|archive-date=14 March 2024|access-date=28 March 2024}}</ref> Despite his peasant background, he rose through the ranks under Nobunaga, becoming {{nihongo3|[[infantry]]|足軽|[[ashigaru]]}}, [[samurai]], ''sengoku daimyo'', and finally, after Nobunaga's death, {{nihongo3|||kampaku}} and {{nihongo3|||daijō-daijin}}. It was the first time in history that a non-aristocrat by birth became a ''kampaku''. He obtained these titles, the highest ranks of the aristocracy, by being adopted into the [[Konoe family]] and formally becoming an aristocrat. He then passed the position and title of ''kampaku'' to his nephew, [[Toyotomi Hidetsugu]]. He remained in power as {{nihongo3||太閤|[[Sesshō and Kampaku|taikō]]}}, the title of retired ''kampaku'', until his death. There are various theories as to why he refused or failed to receive the title of shogun, but the fact that he came from a peasant background seems to have had something to do with it. Hideyoshi died of illness at Fushimi Castle at the age of 63.<ref name="asahi240923">{{cite web|url=https://dot.asahi.com/articles/-/202017?page=3|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240229075803/https://dot.asahi.com/articles/-/202017?page=3|script-title=ja:豊臣秀吉はなぜ「征夷大将軍」ではなく「関白」になったのか――秀吉をめぐる「三つのなぜ」|language=ja|publisher=[[The Asahi Shimbun]]|date=24 September 2023|archive-date=29 February 2024|access-date=29 February 2024}}</ref><ref name="nikkei140117">{{cite web|url=https://business.nikkei.com/atcl/opinion/16/122600033/010800002/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230905041529/https://business.nikkei.com/atcl/opinion/16/122600033/010800002/|script-title=ja:秀吉はなぜ征夷大将軍ではなく、関白を選んだか|language=ja|publisher=Nikkei Business|date=14 January 2017|archive-date=5 September 2023|access-date=29 February 2024}}</ref><ref name="sekigahara"/>

Before his death, Hideyoshi ordered that Japan be ruled by a council of the five most powerful ''sengoku daimyo'', {{nihongo3|[[Council of Five Elders]]|五大老|go-tairō}}, and Hideyoshi's five retainers, {{nihongo3|Five Commissioners|五奉行|[[Go-Bugyō|go-bugyō]]}}, until his only heir, the five-year-old [[Toyotomi Hideyori]], reached the age of 16.<ref name="sekigahara">{{cite web|url=https://www.archives.go.jp/exhibition/digital/ieyasu/contents3_01/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230108090341/https://www.archives.go.jp/exhibition/digital/ieyasu/contents3_01/|script-title=ja:関ヶ原の戦い|language=ja|publisher=[[National Archives of Japan]]|date=|archive-date=8 January 2023|access-date=9 March 2024}}</ref> However, having only the young Hideyori as Hideyoshi's successor weakened the Toyotomi regime. Today, the loss of all of Hideyoshi's adult heirs is considered the main reason for the downfall of the Toyotomi clan.<ref name="jk270323">{{cite web|url=https://japanknowledge.com/introduction/keyword.html?i=67|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230327064223/https://japanknowledge.com/introduction/keyword.html?i=67|script-title=ja:豊臣秀次|language=ja|publisher=Japan Knowledge|date=|archive-date=27 March 2023|access-date=10 March 2024}}</ref><ref name="toyo220516">{{cite web|url=https://toyokeizai.net/articles/-/117781?page=3|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210421180805/https://toyokeizai.net/articles/-/117781?page=3|script-title=ja:新説！豊臣家を滅ぼした｢組織運営｣の大失敗|language=ja|publisher=Toyo Keizai|date=22 May 2016|archive-date=21 April 2021|access-date=10 March 2024}}</ref><ref name="yh100324">{{cite web|url=https://news.yahoo.co.jp/expert/articles/cf674ebf35996045d03fcb26aab8ae4fd833e8df|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240310115834/https://news.yahoo.co.jp/expert/articles/cf674ebf35996045d03fcb26aab8ae4fd833e8df|script-title=ja:どうして豊臣政権は短命だったのか？存続のカギは弟・豊臣秀長が握っていた|language=ja|publisher=Yahoo News|date=1 September 2023|archive-date=10 March 2024|access-date=10 March 2024}}</ref>
Hideyoshi's younger brother, [[Toyotomi Hidenaga]], who had supported Hideyoshi's rise to power as a leader and strategist, had already died of illness in 1591, and his nephew, Toyotomi Hidetsugu, who was Hideyoshi's only adult successor, was forced to commit seppuku in 1595 along with many other vassals on Hideyoshi's orders for suspected rebellion.<ref name="jk270323"/><ref name="toyo220516"/><ref name="yh100324"/>

In this politically unstable situation, [[Maeda Toshiie]], one of the ''go-tairō'', died of illness, and Tokugawa Ieyasu, one of the ''go-tairō''' who had been second in power to Hideyoshi but had not participated in the [[Japanese invasions of Korea (1592–1598)|Imjin War]], rose to power, and Ieyasu came into conflict with [[Ishida Mitsunari]], one of the ''go-bukyō'' and others. This conflict eventually led to the [[Battle of Sekigahara]], in which the {{nihongo3|eastern army|東軍|tō-gun}} led by Ieyasu defeated the {{nihongo3|western army|西軍|sei-gun}} led by Mitsunari, and Ieyasu nearly gained control of Japan.<ref name="sekigahara"/>

===Tokugawa shogunate (1603–1868)===
{{Further|Edo period|Tokugawa shogunate}}
[[File:Tokugawa Ieyasu2.JPG|thumb|[[Tokugawa Ieyasu]], founder of the [[Tokugawa shogunate]]]]
Ruled by 15 Tokugawa shoguns, the [[Edo period]] (1603–1868) saw dramatic economic and cultural development, fostered by a relatively peaceful society. [[Edo (Tokyo)|Edo]] (now [[Tokyo]]) became the largest city in the world at the time, [[Genroku culture|Genroku]] and [[Kasei culture]]s flourished, and {{nihongo3|townspeople|町人|[[chōnin]]}} enjoyed a variety of cultural activities such as [[ukiyo-e]], [[kabuki]], [[bunraku]], [[rakugo]], [[kōdan]], [[haiku]], and literature.<ref name="naedo">{{cite web|url=https://www.meihaku.jp/japanese-history-category/period-edo/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220619232313/https://www.meihaku.jp/japanese-history-category/period-edo/|script-title=ja:江戸時代とは|language=ja|publisher=The Japanese Sword Museum Nagoya Touken World|date=|archive-date=19 June 2022|access-date=18 March 2024}}</ref><ref name="na180324"/>

The Edo period began in 1603 when [[Tokugawa Ieyasu]] was given the title of {{nihongo3|shogun|征夷大将軍|sei-i taishōgun}} and established the Tokugawa shogunate in Edo (now Tokyo).<ref name="osakajk"/> Ieyasu set a precedent in 1605 when he retired as shogun in favour of his son [[Tokugawa Hidetada]], though he maintained power from behind the scenes as {{nihongo3|cloistered shogun|[[:ja:大御所|大御所]]|Ōgosho}}.<ref>Nussbaum, [https://books.google.com/books?id=p2QnPijAEmEC&pg=PA738&dq= "''Ogosho''"] at p. 738.</ref>

In order to establish the rule of the Tokugawa shogunate, he exchanged the fiefdoms of various daimyo to increase or decrease their areas of control. The {{nihongo3||譜代大名|[[fudai daimyo]]}} who had sided with Tokugawa Ieyasu before the Battle of Sekigahara were reassigned to various locations between Edo, the base of the Tokugawa shogunate, and [[Osaka]], where Toyotomi Hideyoshi's [[concubine]], [[Yodo-dono]], and his son, Toyotomi Hideyori, were located. On the other hand, he reassigned the {{nihongo3||外様大名|[[tozama daimyo]]}} who had submitted to Tokugawa Ieyasu after the Battle of Sekigahara, to remote areas separated from politically important regions. Then, in 1614 and 1615, he twice attacked [[Osaka Castle]], forcing Yodo-dono and Toyotomi Hideyori to commit suicide and destroying the [[Toyotomi clan]] ([[Siege of Osaka]]), thereby eliminating any resistance that might have stood in the way of Tokugawa rule in Japan and consolidating the power of the Tokugawa shogunate.<ref name="osakajk">{{cite web|url=https://japanknowledge.com/introduction/keyword.html?i=63|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230204220601/https://japanknowledge.com/introduction/keyword.html?i=63|script-title=ja:大坂の陣|language=ja|website=Japan Knowledge|archive-date=4 February 2023|access-date=7 March 2024}}</ref>

In 1615, the Tokugawa shogunate enacted the {{nihongo3|Laws for the Imperial and Court Officials|禁中並公家諸法度|[[Kinchu narabini kuge shohatto]]}} to control the imperial court. The first article implied that the emperor should not be involved in politics and that what he did should be academic. The following articles regulated the appointment of the {{nihongo3|Imperial Regent for Minor Emperors|摂政|[[Sesshō and Kampaku|sesshō]]}} and {{nihongo3|Imperial Regent for Adult Emperors|関白|[[Sesshō and Kampaku|kampaku]]}}, as well as detailed regulations on the dress of the emperor and the court nobles. It also stipulated that the shogunate could intervene in the revision of the [[Japanese era name|era name]], which had originally been the prerogative of the imperial court. It also stipulated that nobles could be exiled if they disobeyed the orders of the shogunate.<ref name="kinchu">{{cite web|url=https://religion-news.net/2024/01/15/ieyasu807/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240309062006/https://religion-news.net/2024/01/15/ieyasu807/|script-title=ja:禁中並公家諸法度で戦をなくす|language=ja|website=[[:ja:宗教新聞社|Shukyō Shimbun]]|date=15 January 2024|archive-date=9 March 2024|access-date=9 March 2024}}</ref> During the Edo period, effective power rested with the Tokugawa shogun, not the Emperor in [[Kyoto]], even though the former ostensibly owed his position to the latter. The shogun controlled foreign policy, the military, and feudal patronage. The role of the Emperor was ceremonial, similar to the position of the [[Japanese monarchy]] after the [[Second World War]].<ref name="wakabayashi">{{cite journal |title=In Name Only: Imperial Sovereignty in Early Modern Japan |first=Bob Tadashi |last=Wakabayashi |journal=Journal of Japanese Studies |volume=17 |issue=1 |date=Winter 1991 |pages=25–57 |doi=10.2307/132906 |jstor=132906}}</ref>

In 1617, a month before his death, Ieyasu was appointed {{nihongo3|Chancellor of the Realm|太政大臣|daijō-daijin}}.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.toshogu.or.jp/about/ieyasu.php|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240201025602/https://www.toshogu.or.jp/about/ieyasu.php|script-title=ja:徳川家康公について|language=ja|website=[[Kunōzan Tōshō-gū]]|archive-date=1 February 2024|access-date=10 March 2024}}</ref>

The fifth shogun, [[Tokugawa Tsunayoshi]], enforced an animal protection law called the {{nihongo3||[[:ja:生類憐みの令|生類憐みの令]]|Shōrui awaremi no rei}} from 1685 to 1709. According to earlier theories, this was a bad law that demanded extreme animal protection and severe punishment for violators. Today, however, the law is seen as less extreme and more protective of human life, and is credited with sweeping away the rough and tumble spirit of the people that had persisted since the Sengoku period and improving the sense of ethics among the Japanese people.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.jstage.jst.go.jp/article/seibutsugakushi/99/0/99_11/_pdf/-char/ja|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210913140834/https://www.jstage.jst.go.jp/article/seibutsugakushi/99/0/99_11/_pdf/-char/ja|script-title=ja:「生類憐みの令」の動物観（上）|pages=12–16|language=ja|website=J stage|archive-date=13 September 2021|access-date=8 April 2024}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|url=https://tsurumi-u.repo.nii.ac.jp/records/1138|script-title=ja:生命倫理の視点からみた徳川綱吉の治世についての研究|pages=103–106|language=ja|journal=[[Tsurumi University]]|date=February 2022 |issue=59 |access-date=8 April 2024 |last1=阿部 |first1=道生 |last2=アベ |first2=ミチオ |last3=Abe |first3=Michio }}</ref>

[[File:Tokugawa Yoshimune.jpg|thumb|[[Tokugawa Yoshimune]]]]
In the early Edo period, Japan was the world's largest producer of gold and silver, but by the second half of the 17th century, these resources had been almost completely depleted, and most of the gold and silver produced was shipped out of the country, leaving the shogunate in financial difficulties. The eighth shogun, [[Tokugawa Yoshimune]], implemented a series of reforms known as the [[Kyōhō Reforms]]. He reduced the shogunate's expenses while increasing revenue by requiring feudal lords to contribute rice to the shogunate in exchange for cutting the length of {{nihongo3||参勤交代|[[sankin-kōtai]]}} in half. He increased the revenue of the shogunate by 20% by encouraging the development of new rice fields. He also encouraged the cultivation of cash crops such as [[sweet potato]]es and [[sugar cane]], which allowed agriculture to flourish and increased tax revenues. He issued new money with a reduced gold content to prevent price increases. He learned from the [[Great Fire of Meireki]], which killed 100,000 people, and built extensive roads and firebreaks around the city. He established a {{nihongo3|complaints box|[[:ja:目安箱|目安箱]]|meyasubako}} to receive petitions from the common people, which led to the formation of a firefighting organization by the townspeople and the establishment of a [[Koishikawa Yojosho]] (Koishikawa Hospital) where the common people could receive medical care.<ref name="nago8">{{cite web|url=https://www.touken-world.jp/history/history-important-word/kyoho-no-kaikaku/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240408032729/https://www.touken-world.jp/history/history-important-word/kyoho-no-kaikaku/|script-title=ja:享保の改革|language=ja|publisher=The Japanese Sword Museum Nagoya Touken World|date=|archive-date=8 April 2024|access-date=8 April 2024}}</ref>

Tanuma Okitsugu, who held the position of {{nihongo3|Elder|老中|[[rōjū]]}}, during the reign of [[Tokugawa Ieharu]], the 10th shogun, adopted a policy of mercantilism. Since the Kyōhō Reforms of Tokugawa Yoshimune had already made it impossible to collect more taxes from the peasants, Okitsugu began collecting taxes in exchange for granting exclusive business rights to the {{nihongo3|merchant guilds|株仲間|[[kabunakama]]}}. To stimulate commerce, he also attempted to unify the monetary system by minting a large number of new coins that could be conveniently used in both eastern Japan, where gold coins were widely used, and western Japan, where silver coins were widely used, and distributing them throughout Japan.<ref name="nago10">{{cite web|url=https://www.touken-world.jp/history/history-important-word/tanuma-okitsugu/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240408032752/https://www.touken-world.jp/history/history-important-word/tanuma-okitsugu/|script-title=ja:田沼意次|language=ja|publisher=The Japanese Sword Museum Nagoya Touken World|date=|archive-date=8 April 2024|access-date=8 April 2024}}</ref>

[[Tokugawa Ienari]], the 11th shogun, ruled the shogunate for 54 years, first as shogun from 1787 to 1837 and then as ''Ōgosho'' from 1837 to 1841. His 50-year reign was the longest of any shogun. Prior to his reign, Japan had suffered major earthquakes, several volcanic eruptions, droughts, floods and urban fires, and the finances of the shogunate were strained. Therefore, during Ienari's reign, from 1787 to 1793, [[Matsudaira Sadanobu]] led the [[Kansei Reforms]] to improve the finances of the shogunate. After Ienari's death, from 1841 to 1843, [[Mizuno Tadakuni]] led the [[Tenpo Reforms]], but the effects of these reforms were limited.<ref name="na180324">{{cite web|url=https://www.touken-world.jp/history/history-important-word/tempo-no-kaikaku/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240318110933/https://www.touken-world.jp/history/history-important-word/tempo-no-kaikaku/|script-title=ja:天保の改革|language=ja|publisher=The Japanese Sword Museum Nagoya Touken World|date=|archive-date=18 March 2024|access-date=18 March 2024}}</ref>

Successive shoguns held the highest or near-highest [[List of Japanese court ranks, positions and hereditary titles|court ranks]], higher than most court nobles. They were made {{nihongo3|Senior Second Rank|正二位|Shō ni-i}} of court rank upon assuming office, then {{nihongo3|Junior First Rank|従一位|Ju ichi-i}}, and the highest rank of {{nihongo3|Senior First Rank|正一位|Shō ichi-i}} was conferred upon them upon their death. The Tokugawa shogunate established that the court ranks granted to daimyo by the imperial court were based on the recommendation of the Tokugawa shogunate, and the court ranks were used to control the daimyo.<ref name="kakaku">{{cite web|url=https://kotobank.jp/word/%E5%AE%B6%E6%A0%BC-43286#|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240307120204/https://kotobank.jp/word/%E5%AE%B6%E6%A0%BC-43286|script-title=ja:家格|language=ja|website=
Kotobank |archive-date=7 March 2024|access-date=7 March 2024}}</ref>

====The Bakumatsu era and the end of the shogunate and the warrior class====
{{Further|Bakumatsu}}
[[File:1867 Osaka Yoshinobu Tokugawa.jpg|thumb|[[Tokugawa Yoshinobu]], the last shogun]]
The beginning of the [[Bakumatsu era]] at the end of the Edo period is the subject of various theories, and can be dated to the 1820s and 1830s, when the shogunate's rule became unstable, or to the [[Tenpō Reforms]] of 1841–1843, or to [[Matthew C. Perry]]'s arrival in Japan in 1853 and his call for the opening of the country. On the other hand, the end point is clear, when the 15th Shogun, [[Tokugawa Yoshinobu]], returned the authority to govern Japan to [[Emperor Meiji]].<ref name="bakumatsu">{{cite web|url=https://kotobank.jp/word/%E5%B9%95%E6%9C%AB-600514|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240318134547/https://kotobank.jp/word/%E5%B9%95%E6%9C%AB-600514|script-title=ja:幕末|language=ja|publisher=Kotobank|date=|archive-date=18 March 2024|access-date=18 March 2024}}</ref>

During this period, the shogunate, the imperial court, the various {{nihongo3|[[Han system|daimyo domains]]|藩|han}}, and the samurai were deeply divided into two factions: the {{nihongo|Nanki faction|南紀派|}}, which favored the shogunate's leadership in dealing with domestic and foreign crises, and the {{nihongo|Hitotsubashi faction|一橋派|}}, which recommended that the shogunate form a coalition with the powerful ''han'' (daimyo domain) and the imperial court. The Nanki faction favored [[Tokugawa Iemochi]] as the successor to the 13th shogun, [[Tokugawa Iesada]], while the Hitotsubashi favored [[Tokugawa Yoshinobu]]. When the shogunate concluded the [[Convention of Kanagawa]] in 1854 and the [[Treaty of Amity and Commerce (United States–Japan)|Treaty of Amity and Commerce]] in 1858, the Hitotsubashi faction opposed these treaties, but the shogunate captured and executed them in the [[Ansei Purge]]. In retaliation, Hitotsubashi samurai assassinated [[Ii Naosuke]], the {{nihongo3|Great Elder|大老|[[tairō]]}} in the [[Sakuradamon Incident (1860)|Sakuradamon Incident]]. To win over the Hitotsubashi faction, the shogunate advocated a {{nihongo3|Union of the Imperial Court and the Shogunate|公武合体|[[Kōbu gattai]]}} and welcomed [[Kazunomiya]], the younger sister of [[Emperor Komei]], as the wife of the 14th shogun, Tokugawa Iemochi, but the Hitotsubashi faction condemned this political marriage.<ref name="bakumatsu"/><ref name="nhkbaku">{{cite web|url=https://www.nhk.or.jp/kokokoza/nihonshi/contents/resume/resume_0000000604.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240319045445/https://www.nhk.or.jp/kokokoza/nihonshi/contents/resume/resume_0000000604.html|script-title=ja:第27回 幕府の滅亡|language=ja|publisher=[[NHK]]|date=|archive-date=19 March 2024|access-date=19 March 2024}}</ref>

The [[Chōshū Domain]] was the most radical, advocating the overthrow of the shogunate, emperor-centered politics, and the defeat of foreign powers. They expanded their political power through exchanges with [[Sanjo Sanetomi]] and others in the imperial court who shared their ideology. In response, the [[Satsuma Domain|Satsuma]] and [[Aizu domain]]s and some aristocrats who supported the ''Kōbu gattai'' expelled Sanjo Sanetomi and the Chōshū Domain from Kyoto in a political uprising on August 18 of the lunar calendar in 1863. In 1864, some forces of the Chōshū Domain marched toward Kyoto in the [[Kinmon incident]], but the combined forces of the shogunate, the Satsuma Domain, and the Aizu Domain defeated the Chōshū Domain. In 1864, the Shogunate sent a large force against the rebellious Chōshū Domain in the [[First Chōshū expedition]]. The Shogunate won the war without a fight, as the leaders of the Chōshū Domain committed [[seppuku]]. Meanwhile, the Chōshū Domain was defeated by foreign allied forces in the [[Shimonoseki campaign]], and the Satsuma Domain engaged the British forces in the [[Bombardment of Kagoshima]]. Both domains realized that Japan was militarily behind the Western powers, and they promoted reforms within their domains while strengthening their will to overthrow the shogunate.<ref name="bakumatsu"/><ref name="nhkbaku"/>

In 1866, [[Sakamoto Ryōma]] brokered a dramatic reconciliation between the previously hostile Chōshū and Satsuma domains, and the Chōshū and Satsuma domains formed the [[Satchō Alliance]]. In 1866, the shogunate launched the [[Second Chōshū expedition]], but was defeated by the Chōshū Domain, severely damaging the shogunate's prestige. The Satsuma Domain refused the shogunate's order to go to war. In 1867, the 15th shogun, [[Tokugawa Yoshinobu]], finally returned power to [[Emperor Meiji]], ending the Edo period and 700 years of shogunate rule over Japan.<ref name="bakumatsu"/><ref name="nhkbaku"/><ref name="worldbook-Japan">{{cite encyclopedia |year=1992 |title=Japan |encyclopedia=The World Book Encyclopedia |publisher=World Book |isbn=0-7166-0092-7 |pages=34–59}}</ref>

From 1868 to 1869, the imperial forces, led by the Chōshū and Satsuma domains, and the former shogunate forces, led by the Aizu Domain, fought the [[Boshin War]], which the imperial forces won. With this war, the domestic pacification of the imperial forces was nearly complete, and with the [[Meiji Restoration]], Japan began to rapidly modernize and emerge as an international military and economic power. The rapid modernization of Japan during the [[Meiji era]] (1868–1912) was aided by the fact that, under the rule of successive Tokugawa shoguns, many Japanese were educated in {{nihongo3|private elementary schools|寺子屋|[[terakoya]]}} and had a thriving publishing culture.<ref name="nhkbaku"/><ref name="nip080819">{{cite web|url=https://www.nippon.com/ja/japan-topics/b06904/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221121165510/https://www.nippon.com/ja/japan-topics/b06904/|script-title=ja:明治日本の産業革命|language=ja|publisher=nippon.com|date=6 August 2019|archive-date=21 November 2022|access-date=19 March 2024}}</ref>

The [[Satsuma Rebellion]] of 1877 was the last battle between the imperial forces and the disenfranchised ex-samurai and the last civil war in Japan. As a result of this war, the warrior class ended its history.<ref name="seinan">{{cite web|url=https://bookwalker.jp/series/160393/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210419002253/https://bookwalker.jp/series/160393/|script-title=ja:西南戦争 西郷隆盛と日本最後の内戦|language=ja|publisher=Chuko Shinsyo|date=|archive-date=19 April 2021|access-date=19 March 2024}}</ref>

The Honjō Masamune was inherited by successive shoguns and it represented the Tokugawa shogunate.<ref name=MasaHist>http://internal.tbi.net/~max/ff9ref2.htm History of Masamune by Jim Kurrasch {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070428153827/http://internal.tbi.net/~max/ff9ref2.htm |date=April 28, 2007 }}</ref> It was crafted by swordsmith [[Masamune]] (1264–1343) and recognized as one of the finest [[Japanese swords]] in history. After World War 2, in December 1945, [[Tokugawa Iemasa]] gave the sword to a police station at [[Mejiro, Tokyo|Mejiro]] and it went missing.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Mystery of The Enigmatic Honjo Masamune Sword |url=https://www.swordsofnorthshire.com/blog/mystery-of-the-enigmatic-hanjo-masamune-sword |access-date=2023-05-01 |website=www.swordsofnorthshire.com |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Schoppert |first=Stephanie |date=2017-03-14 |title=This Japanese Relic Disappeared After WWII and Has Never Been Found |url=https://historycollection.com/one-japans-prized-possessions-went-missing-wwii-never-found/ |access-date=2023-05-01 |website=History Collection |language=en-US}}</ref>

==== Heirs of the Tokugawa shogun ====
{{Further|Ōoku|Gosanke|Gosankyō}}
[[File:Chiyoda Ooku Hanami.jpg|thumb|[[Ukiyo-e]] depicting women in the {{nihongo3|great interior|大奥|[[ōoku]]}} enjoying the [[cherry blossoms]]]]
During the reign of the third shogun, [[Tokugawa Iemitsu]], the {{nihongo3|great interior|大奥|[[ōoku]]}} at [[Edo Castle]] was expanded at the suggestion of his nanny, [[Lady Kasuga]], to ensure the birth of a male heir to the shogun's lineage, and became a vast shogun's harem with nearly 1,000 women working as maidservants. The women of ''ōoku'' were highly hierarchical, with the {{nihongo|official wife|御台所|[[midaidokoro]]}} of the shogun, who was of aristocratic lineage, ruling at the top, and the older women who had served her for a long time actually controlling ''ōoku''. The women who worked as maidservants in ''ōoku'' were daughters of the {{nihongo3||旗本|[[hatamoto]]}}, a high-ranking class of samurai, and they had servants from the {{nihongo3|townspeople|町人|[[chōnin]]}} and peasants who worked for them. Even low-ranking servants were treated as concubines of the shogun if they bore his children. One such example was Otama, the daughter of a grocer, who gave birth to the fifth shogun, [[Tokugawa Ietsuna]]. The ''ōoku'' was also used to ensure the Tokugawa shogun's rule over the country by arranging political marriages between the shogun's children and the children of daimyo in various regions. The ''ōoku'' continued until 1868, when the Tokugawa shogunate was dissolved.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://intojapanwaraku.com/rock/culture-rock/175393/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230610182314/https://intojapanwaraku.com/rock/culture-rock/175393/|script-title=ja:大奥とは？徳川幕府を支えた“女たちの最前線”を3分で解説|language=ja|publisher=[[Shogakukan]]|date=5 October 2021|archive-date=10 June 2023|access-date=9 March 2024}}</ref><ref name="ōokurekishi">{{cite web|url=https://www.rekishijin.com/26719|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230609045246/https://www.rekishijin.com/26719|script-title=ja:勤務先が男子禁制の大奥!? 大奥に出入りできた男性たち|language=ja|publisher=Rekishijin|date=29 March 2023|archive-date=9 June 2023|access-date=11 March 2024}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.rekishijin.com/14797|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230328125645/https://www.rekishijin.com/14797|script-title=ja:徳川家の将軍は思うがままに性を享楽できなかった？「大奥の床事情」|language=ja|publisher=Rekishijin|date=1 October 2021|archive-date=28 March 2023|access-date=9 March 2024}}</ref>

The [[Owari Tokugawa family|Owari]], [[Kishū Tokugawa family|Kishū (Kii)]], and [[Mito Tokugawa family|Mito]] Tokugawa families, called the {{nihongo3|the Three Houses of the Tokugawa|御三家|[[gosanke]]}}, founded by the children of Tokugawa Ieyasu, were the second most prestigious family after the shogun's family, and if the shogun's family failed to produce an heir, a male member of one of the three families was installed as shogun. For example, the 8th shogun, [[Tokugawa Yoshimune]], and the 14th shogun, [[Tokugawa Iemochi]], were originally heads of the Kishū Tokugawa family.<ref name="gosanke">{{cite web|url=https://www.meihaku.jp/tokugawagosanke-gosankyo/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221108125613/https://www.meihaku.jp/tokugawagosanke-gosankyo/|script-title=ja:徳川御三家・徳川御三卿|language=ja|publisher=The Nagoya Japanese sword Museum Nagoya Touken World|date=|archive-date=8 November 2022|access-date=9 March 2024}}</ref>

In order to keep the shogun's lineage alive, the 8th Shogun, Yoshimune, had his children establish the Tayasu, Hitotsubashi, and Shimizu Tokugawa families, which were called the {{nihongo3|Three Lords|御三卿|[[gosankyō]]}} and were treated as the second most prestigious daimyo after the ''Gosanke''. Of these, the Hitotsubashi Tokugawa family produced the 11th shogun, [[Tokugawa Ienari]]. His son [[Tokugawa Ieyoshi]] became the 12th shogun, and Ieyoshi's son [[Tokugawa Iesada]] became the 13th shogun. [[Tokugawa Yoshinobu]] became the 15th shogun after being adopted by the Hitotsubashi Tokugawa family from the Mito Tokugawa family.<ref name="gosanke"/> The head of ''Gosankyō'' had the privilege of entering the ''ōoku'', where men were forbidden.<ref name="ōokurekishi"/>

==Timelines==
===Timeline of the Kamakura shogunate===
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  from:1202 till:1203 color:PA text:"[[Minamoto no Yoriie|Yoriie]] (1202–1203)"
  from:1203 till:1219 color:PA text:"[[Minamoto no Sanetomo|Sanetomo]] (1203–1219)"
  from:1226 till:1244 color:PA text:"[[Kujō Yoritsune|Yoritsune]] (1226–1244)"
  from:1244 till:1252 color:PA text:"[[Kujō Yoritsugu|Yoritsugu]] (1244–1252)"
  from:1252 till:1266 color:PA text:"[[Prince Munetaka|Munetaka]] (1252–1266)"
  from:1266 till:1289 color:PA text:"[[Prince Koreyasu|Koreyasu]] (1266–1289)"
  from:1289 till:1308 color:PA text:"[[Prince Hisaaki|Hisaaki]] (1289–1308)"
  from:1308 till:1333 color:PA text:"[[Prince Morikuni|Morikuni]] (1308–1333)"
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===Timeline of the Ashikaga shogunate===
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  width:5 align:left fontsize:S shift:(5,-4) anchor:till
  barset:Shogun
  from:1338 till:1358 color:PA text:"[[Ashikaga Takauji|Takauji]] (1338–1358)"
  from:1358 till:1367 color:PA text:"[[Ashikaga Yoshiakira|Yoshiakira]] (1358–1367)"
  from:1368 till:1394 color:PA text:"[[Ashikaga Yoshimitsu|Yoshimitsu]] (1368–1394)"
  from:1394 till:1423 color:PA text:"[[Ashikaga Yoshimochi|Yoshimochi]] (1394–1423)"
  from:1423 till:1425 color:PA text:"[[Ashikaga Yoshikazu|Yoshikazu]] (1423–1425)"
  from:1429 till:1441 color:PA text:"[[Ashikaga Yoshinori|Yoshinori]] (1429–1441)"
  from:1442 till:1443 color:PA text:"[[Ashikaga Yoshikatsu|Yoshikatsu]] (1442–1443)"
  from:1449 till:1473 color:PA text:"[[Ashikaga Yoshimasa|Yoshimasa]] (1449–1473)"
  from:1473 till:1489 color:PA text:"[[Ashikaga Yoshihisa|Yoshihisa]] (1473–1489)"
  from:1490 till:1493 color:PA text:"[[Ashikaga Yoshitane|Yoshitane]] (1490–1493)"
  from:1494 till:1508 color:PA text:"[[Ashikaga Yoshizumi|Yoshizumi]] (1494–1508)"
  from:1508 till:1521 color:PA text:"[[Ashikaga Yoshitane|Yoshitane]] (1508–1521)"
  from:1521 till:1546 color:PA text:"[[Ashikaga Yoshiharu|Yoshiharu]] (1521–1546)"
  from:1546 till:1565 color:PA text:"[[Ashikaga Yoshiteru|Yoshiteru]] (1546–1565)"
  from:1568 till:1568 color:PA text:"[[Ashikaga Yoshihide|Yoshihide]] (1568)"
  from:1568 till:1573 color:PA text:"[[Ashikaga Yoshiaki|Yoshiaki]] (1568–1573)"
  barset:skip
</timeline>

===Timeline of the Tokugawa shogunate===
<timeline>
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  from:1603 till:1605 color:PA text:"[[Tokugawa Ieyasu|Ieyasu]] (1603–1605)"
  from:1605 till:1623 color:PA text:"[[Tokugawa Hidetada|Hidetada]] (1605–1623)"
  from:1623 till:1651 color:PA text:"[[Tokugawa Iemitsu|Iemitsu]] (1623–1651)"
  from:1651 till:1680 color:PA text:"[[Tokugawa Ietsuna|Ietsuna]] (1651–1680)"
  from:1680 till:1709 color:PA text:"[[Tokugawa Tsunayoshi|Tsunayoshi]] (1680–1709)"
  from:1709 till:1712 color:PA text:"[[Tokugawa Ienobu|Ienobu]] (1709–1712)"
  from:1713 till:1716 color:PA text:"[[Tokugawa Ietsugu|Ietsugu]] (1713–1716)"
  from:1716 till:1745 color:PA text:"[[Tokugawa Yoshimune|Yoshimune]] (1716–1745)"
  from:1745 till:1760 color:PA text:"[[Tokugawa Ieshige|Ieshige]] (1745–1760)"
  from:1760 till:1786 color:PA text:"[[Tokugawa Ieharu|Ieharu]] (1760–1786)"
  from:1786 till:1837 color:PA text:"[[Tokugawa Ienari|Ienari]] (1787–1837)"
  from:1837 till:1853 color:PA text:" [[Tokugawa Ieyoshi|Ieyoshi]] (1837–1853)"
  from:1853 till:1858 color:PA text:" [[Tokugawa Iesada|Iesada]] (1853–1858)"
  from:1858 till:1866 color:PA text:" [[Tokugawa Iemochi|Iemochi]] (1858–1866)"
  from:1867 till:1868 color:PA text:" [[Tokugawa Yoshinobu|Yoshinobu]] (1867–1868)"
  barset:skip
</timeline>

==Shogunate (''Bakufu'')==
===Etymology===
[[File:Shogun-Hearing-in-Fukiage-by-Toyohara-Chikanobu-1889.png|thumb|The shogun hearing a lawsuit at the [[Tokyo Imperial Palace#Fukiage Garden|Fukiage]] of [[Edo Castle]], by [[Toyohara Chikanobu]]]]
From the 1800s, the shogunate's administration was known as the {{nihongo|''bakufu''|幕府}}, literally meaning ''"government from the {{ill|Front curtain|ja|幕|WD=|lt=curtain}}''".<ref name="hiroshi100722"/><ref name="asahi030722"/> 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 (emblem)|mon]]. The application of 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.<ref name="Maku">Turnbull, 2006a:207.</ref>

The term {{Nihongo||幕府|bakufu|extra="tent government"}} originally meant the dwelling and household of a shogun, but in time, became a [[metonym]] for the system of government dominated by a feudal [[military]] [[monarchy]], exercised in the name of the shogun or by the shogun himself.<ref>{{cite journal | last1=Grossberg | first1=Kenneth A. | title=From Feudal Chieftain to Secular Monarch. The Development of Shogunal Power in Early Muromachi Japan | journal=Monumenta Nipponica | date=1976 | volume=31 | issue=1 | pages=29–49 | doi=10.2307/2384184 | jstor=2384184 | url=https://doi.org/10.2307/2384184 | url-access=subscription }}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/shogunate | title=Shogunate &#124; History & Facts &#124; Britannica | date=15 September 2023 }}</ref> 

The term ''bakufu'' was not officially used at the time of the shogunate; the Tokugawa shogunate was called {{nihongo|''kōgi''|公儀}}.
It was not until the [[Bakumatsu era]] in the 1800s that the term ''bakufu'' began to be actively used in its current meaning of "shogunate".
The late [[Mito school]] of the time preferred the term ''bakufu'' because they wanted to emphasize that Japan was an emperor-centered country, and that the shogunate was merely the administration of the shogun appointed by the emperor. The modern use of the term was then established when history textbooks at [[Imperial Universities]] in the 1890s defined that only the three regimes of [[Kamakura shogunate|Kamakura]], [[Ashikaga shogunate|Ashikaga]], and Tokugawa were ''bakufu'' and that the appointment of a shogun was essential for the establishment of the ''bakufu''.<ref name="hiroshi100722">{{cite web|url=https://chinajapan.org/articles/10.2/10.2watanabe32-42.pdf|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220710053756/https://chinajapan.org/articles/10.2/10.2watanabe32-42.pdf|author=Hiroshi Watanabe|title=About Some Japanese Historical Terms |publisher=[[University of Tokyo]]|archive-date=10 July 2022|access-date=9 March 2025}}</ref><ref name="asahi030722">{{cite web|url=https://www.asahi.com/articles/ASQ6X6QBQQ6GULZU00H.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221225183939/https://www.asahi.com/articles/ASQ6X6QBQQ6GULZU00H.html|script-title=ja:「いい国」つくるのは誰？　平家が鎌倉幕府に先駆けた政治のしくみ|language=ja|publisher=[[Asahi Shimbun]]|date=3 July 2022|archive-date=25 December 2022|access-date=9 March 2025}}</ref>

===Governance structure===
The shogunate system was originally established under the [[Kamakura shogunate]] by [[Minamoto no Yoritomo]] after the [[Genpei War]], although theoretically the state, and therefore the Emperor, still held ''[[de jure]]'' ownership of all land in Japan. The system had some [[feudal]] elements, with lesser territorial lords pledging their allegiance to greater ones. [[Samurai]] were rewarded for their loyalty with agricultural surplus, usually rice, or labor services from [[peasant]]s. In contrast to European feudal [[knight]]s, samurai were not landowners.<ref>{{cite book|last=Bentley|first=Jerry|title=Traditions and Encounters|date=15 September 2006 |isbn=978-0-07-325230-8|pages=301–302|publisher=McGraw-Hill Education }}</ref> The hierarchy that held this system of government together was reinforced by close ties of loyalty between the ''[[daimyō]]'', samurai, and their subordinates.

Each shogunate was dynamic, not static. Power was constantly shifting and authority was often ambiguous. The study of the ebbs and flows in this complex history continues to occupy the attention of scholars. Each shogunate encountered competition. Sources of competition included the Emperor and the court aristocracy, the remnants of the imperial governmental systems, the ''daimyōs'', the ''[[shōen]]'' system, the great temples and shrines, the {{lang|ja-latn|[[sōhei]]}}, the ''[[shugo]]'' and ''[[jitō]]'', the ''[[jizamurai]]'' and early modern ''daimyō''. Each shogunate reflected the necessity of new ways of balancing the changing requirements of central and regional authorities.<ref>Mass, J. et al., eds. (1985). ''The Bakufu in Japanese History'', p. 189.</ref>

===Relationship with the emperor===
{{Main|Emperor of Japan}}
[[File:Imperial Seal of Japan.svg|thumb|upright=0.4|The [[Imperial Seal of Japan]]]]
Since [[Minamoto no Yoritomo]] turned the figure of the shogun into a permanent and hereditary position and until the [[Meiji Restoration]], there were two ruling classes in Japan:
*The emperor or {{nihongo|''[[tennō]]''|天皇|extra=lit. "Heavenly Sovereign"}},<ref name="Mitchelhill">Mitchelhill & Green, 2003:59.</ref> who acted as "chief priest" of the official religion of the country, [[Shinto]].
*The shogun, head of the army who also enjoyed civil, military, diplomatic and judicial authority.<ref name="Kuno245">Kuno, 2007:245.</ref> Although in theory the shogun was an emperor's servant, he became the true power behind the throne.<ref>Davis, 2001:205.</ref>

No shogun tried to usurp the throne, even when they had at their disposal the military power of the territory. There were two reasons primarily:<ref>Roth, 2007:103.</ref>

*Theoretically the shogun received the power of the emperor, so this was his symbol of authority.
*There was a sentimentalist tradition created by priests and religious who traced the imperial line from the "age of the gods" into an "eternal line unbroken by the times". According to Japanese mythology, the emperor was a direct descendant of [[Amaterasu]], goddess of the [[sun]].

Unable to usurp the throne, the shoguns sought throughout history to keep the emperor away from the country's political activity, relegating them from the sphere of influence. One of the few powers that the imperial house could retain was that of being able to "control time" through the designation of the Japanese [[Nengō]] or Eras and the issuance of calendars.<ref>Fiévé & Waley, 2003:235.</ref>

Emperors twice tried to recover the power they enjoyed before the establishment of the shogunate. In 1219 the [[Emperor Go-Toba]] accused the Hōjō as outlaws. Imperial troops mobilized, leading to the [[Jōkyū War]] (1219–1221), which would culminate in the third [[Battle of Uji (1221)]]. During this, the imperial troops were defeated and the emperor Go-Toba was exiled.<ref name="Pag41">Turnbull, 2006a:41.</ref> With the defeat of Go-Toba, the samurai government over the country was confirmed.<ref name="Pag41" /> At the beginning of the fourteenth century the [[Emperor Go-Daigo]] decided to rebel, but the Hōjō, who were then regents, sent an army from Kamakura. The emperor fled before the troops arrived and took the imperial insignia.<ref name="Pag43">Turnbull, 2006a:43.</ref> The shogun named his own emperor, giving rise to the era {{nihongo|[[Nanboku-chō period]]|南北朝|extra=lit. "Southern and Northern Courts"}}.

During the 1850s and 1860s, the shogunate was severely pressured both abroad and by foreign powers. It was then that various groups angry with the shogunate for the concessions made to the various European countries found in the figure of the emperor an ally through which they could expel the [[Tokugawa shogunate]] from power. The motto of this movement was {{nihongo|''[[Sonnō jōi]]''|尊王攘夷|extra="Revere the Emperor, Eject the Barbarians"}} and they finally succeeded in 1868, when imperial power was restored after centuries of being in the shadow of the country's political life.<ref>Fiévé & Waley, 2003:236.</ref>

==Legacy==
Today, the head of the [[Japanese government]] is the [[Prime Minister of Japan|Prime Minister]]. The usage of the term "shogun" has nevertheless continued in [[colloquialism]]s. A retired Prime Minister who still wields considerable power and influence behind the scenes is called a {{Nihongo|"shadow shogun"|闇将軍|yami shōgun}},<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://kotobank.jp/word/%E9%97%87%E5%B0%86%E8%BB%8D-673934|script-title=ja:闇将軍|website=Kotobank|language=ja}}</ref> a sort of modern incarnation of the [[cloistered rule]]. Examples of "shadow shoguns" are former Prime Minister [[Kakuei Tanaka]] and the politician [[Ichirō Ozawa]].<ref name="ozawa">{{cite news |title=Ichiro Ozawa: the shadow shogun.|newspaper=[[The Economist]] |date= September 10, 2009 |url=https://www.economist.com/asia/2009/09/10/ichiro-ozawa-the-shadow-shogun |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201031115255/https://www.economist.com/asia/2009/09/10/ichiro-ozawa-the-shadow-shogun |archive-date=October 31, 2020}}</ref>

==See also==
* [[Caudillo]]
* [[Commander-in-chief]]
* [[Feudalism]]
* [[Generalissimo]]
* [[History of Japan]]
* [[Kantō kubō]]
* [[List of shoguns]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

==Bibliography==
* Adolphson, Mikael; Edward Kamens, Stacie Matsumoto (2007). ''Heian Japan: Centers and Peripheries.'' University of Hawaii Press. {{ISBN|0-8248-3013-X}}.
* [[Karl Friday|Friday, Karl]] (2007). ''The First Samurai: The Life and Legend of the Warrior Rebel, Taira Masakado.'' John Wiley and Sons. {{ISBN|0-471-76082-X}}.
* Hall, John Whitney; James L. McClain, Marius B. Jansen (1991). ''The Cambridge History of Japan.'' Cambridge University Press. {{ISBN|0-521-22355-5}}.
* Iwao, Seiichi; Teizō Iyanaga, Maison Franco-Japonaise Tōkyō, Susumu Ishii, Shōichirō Yoshida (2002). Maisonneuve & Larose. {{ISBN|2-7068-1575-2}}.
* Cranston, Edwin (1998). ''A Waka Anthology: Volume One: The Gem-Glistening Cup''. [[Stanford University Press]]. {{ISBN|0-8047-3157-8}}.
* Sansom, George Bailey (1931). ''Japan: A Short Cultural History.'' Stanford University Press. {{ISBN|0-8047-0954-8}}.
* Takekoshi, Yosaburō (2004). ''The Economic Aspects of the History of the Civilization of Japan.'' Taylor & Francis. {{ISBN|0-415-32379-7}}.
* Shively, Donald; John Whitney Hall, William H. McCullough (1999). ''The Cambridge History of Japan: Heian Japan.'' Cambridge University Press. {{ISBN|0-521-22353-9}}.
* De Bary, William Theodore; Yoshiko Kurata Dykstra; George Tanabe; Paul Varley (2001). ''Sources of Japanese Tradition: From Earliest Times to 1600.'' Columbia University Press. {{ISBN|0-231-12139-3}}.
* Turnbull, Stephen (2005). ''Samurai Commanders (1) 940–1576.'' Osprey Publishing. {{ISBN|1-84176-743-3}}.
* Turnbull, Stephen (2006a). ''Samuráis, la historia de los grandes guerreros de Japón''. Libsa. ISBN 84-662-1229-9.
* Deal, William (2007). ''Handbook to Life in Medieval and Early Modern Japan.'' Oxford University Press US. {{ISBN|0-19-533126-5}}.
* Perkins, Dorothy (1998). ''The Samurai of Japan: A Chronology from Their Origin in the Heian Era (794–1185) to the Modern Era.'' Diane Publishing. {{ISBN|0-7881-4525-8}}.
* Perkins, George. (1998). ''The Clear Mirror: A Chronicle of the Japanese Court During the Kamakura Period (1185–1333).'' Stanford University Press. {{ISBN|0-8047-2953-0}}.
* Murdoch, James (1996). ''A History of Japan: 1652–1868.'' Routledge. {{ISBN|0-415-15417-0}}.
* Hall, John Whitney (1 January 1977). ''Japan in the Muromachi Age''. University of California Press. p.&nbsp;11. {{ISBN|978-0-520-02888-3}}.
* Grossberg, Kenneth A. (1976). "From Feudal Chieftain to Secular Monarch. The Development of Shogunal Power in Early Muromachi Japan". ''Monumenta Nipponica''. '''31''' (1): 34. [[Doi (identifier)|doi]]:10.2307/2384184. [[ISSN (identifier)|ISSN]]&nbsp;0027-0741.
* {{Cite book |last=Roth |first=Andrew |title=Dilemma in Japan |date=March 15, 2007 |publisher= Roth Press |isbn=978-1-4067-6311-9}}
* {{Cite book |last1=Fiévé |first1=Nicolas |last2=Waley |first2= Paul |title=Japanese Capitals in Historical Perspective: Place, Power and Memory in Kyoto, Edo and Tokyo |date=2003 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=0-4154-0581-5}}
* Andressen, Curtis; Milton Osborne (2002). ''A Short History of Japan: From Samurai to Sony''. Allen & Unwin. ISBN 1-86508-516-2.
* Ramírez-Faria, Carlos. ''Concise Encyclopedia of World History''. Atlantic Publishers & Distributors. ISBN 81-269-0775-4.
* Mitchelhill, Jennifer; David Green (2003). ''Castles of the Samurai: Power and Beauty''. Kodansha International. ISBN 4-7700-2954-3.
* Kuno, Yoshi (2007). Japanese Expansion on the Asiatic Continent - Volume I. Read Books. ISBN 1-4067-2253-7.
* Davis, Paul (2001). ''100 Decisive Battles: From Ancient Times to the Present''. [[Oxford University Press]] US. ISBN 0-19-514366-3.

==Further reading==
*[[William G. Beasley|Beasley, William G.]] (1955). ''Select Documents on Japanese Foreign Policy, 1853–1868''. London: [[Oxford University Press]]. [reprinted by [[RoutledgeCurzon]], London, 2001. {{ISBN|978-0-19-713508-2}} (cloth)]
*{{cite web |url=http://www.factmonster.com/ce6/world/A0858985.html |title=Japan: History: Early History to the Ashikaga Shoguns |author=Columbia University |work=Factmonster |year=2000 |access-date=17 April 2007 |archive-date=1 March 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120301025853/http://www.factmonster.com/ce6/world/A0858985.html  }}
*{{cite journal |title=The Changing of the Shogun 1289: An Excerpt from Towazugatari |first=Karen |last=Brazell |journal=The Journal of the Association of Teachers of Japanese |volume=8 |issue=1 |date=November 1972 |pages=58–65 |doi=10.2307/489093 |jstor=489093}}
*{{cite journal |title=The Shogun's 'Painting Match' |first=Karen L. |last=Brock |journal=Monumenta Nipponica |volume=50 |issue=4 |date=Winter 1995 |pages=433–484 |doi=10.2307/2385589 |jstor=2385589}}
*Department of Asian Art. "Shoguns and Art". In ''Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History''. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2000–. 
*{{cite journal |title=Bakufu Bugyonin: The Size of the lower bureaucracy in Muromachi Japan |first=Kenneth A. |last=Grossberg |journal=The Journal of Asian Studies |volume=35 |issue=4 |date=August 1976 |pages=651–654 |doi=10.2307/2053677 |jstor=2053677|s2cid=159952736 }}
*{{cite journal |title=From Feudal Chieftain to Secular Monarch. The Development of Shogunal Power in Early Muromachi Japan |first=Kenneth A. |last=Grossberg |journal=Monumenta Nipponica |volume=31 |issue=1 |date=Spring 1976 |pages=29–49 |doi=10.2307/2384184 |jstor=2384184}}
*{{cite encyclopedia |year=1992 |title=Japan |encyclopedia=The World Book Encyclopedia |publisher=World Book |isbn=0-7166-0092-7 |pages=34–59}}
*Mass, Jeffrey P. and William B. Hauser, eds. (1985). ''The Bakufu in Japanese History.'' Stanford: Stanford University Press.
*{{cite journal |title=The Exchange of Envoys between Korea and Japan During the Tokugawa Period |first=George M. |last=McCune |journal=The Far Eastern Quarterly |volume=5 |issue=3 |date=May 1946 |pages=308–325 |doi=10.2307/2049052 |jstor=2049052|s2cid=161425409 }}
*[[Louis-Frédéric|Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric]] and Käthe Roth. (2005). ''Japan Encyclopedia''. Cambridge: [[Harvard University Press]]. {{ISBN|978-0-674-01753-5}}; [http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/48943301/editions?editionsView=true&referer=br OCLC 48943301]
*{{cite journal |title=State-Building and Political Economy in Early-modern Japan |first=Mark |jstor=2059957 |last=Ravina |journal=The Journal of Asian Studies |volume=54 |issue=4 |date=November 1995 |pages=997–1022 |doi=10.2307/2059957|s2cid=154960133 |doi-access=free }}
*{{cite journal |title=The Shogun's Consort: Konoe Hiroko and Tokugawa Ienobu |first=Cecilia Segawa |last=Seigle |journal=Harvard Journal of Asiatic Studies |volume=59 |issue=2 |date=December 1999 |pages=485–522 |doi=10.2307/2652720 |jstor=2652720}}
*{{cite journal |title=Review of ''Learning from Shogun: Japanese History and Western Fantasy,'' by Henry Smith |first1=C. Cameron III |last1=Hurst |journal=The Journal of Asian Studies |volume=41 |issue=1 |date=November 1981 |pages=158–159 |doi=10.2307/2055644 |jstor=2055644 |last2=Smith |first2=Henry}}
*[[George Bailey Sansom|Sansom]], George. 1961. ''A History of Japan, 1134–1615''. Stanford: [[Stanford University Press]]. {{ISBN|978-0-8047-0525-7}}
*{{cite encyclopedia |year=1992 |title=Shogun |encyclopedia=The World Book Encyclopedia |publisher=World Book |isbn=0-7166-0092-7 |volume=17 |pages=432–433}}
*Stephane Lun 倫世豪. ''A Guide on Shinsengumi: the background and management''. 2021 Kindle Paperwhite version. Amazon.com
*{{cite web |url=http://www.bakusin.com/date.html |script-title=ja:仙台藩主 |first=Bakumatuisin |last=Sinsengumi |work=Bakusin |year=2003 |language=ja |access-date=17 April 2007}}
*{{cite book |title=Learning from Shogun: Japanese History and Western Fantasy |editor-first=Henry |editor-last=Smith |url=http://www.columbia.edu/~hds2/learning/Learning_from_shogun_txt.pdf |year=1980 |location=Santa Barbara |publisher=University of California Program in Asian Studies}}
*{{cite journal |title=Political Succession in The Tokugawa Bakufu: Abe Masahiro's Rise to Power, 1843–1845 |first=Conrad |last=Totman |journal=Harvard Journal of Asiatic Studies |volume=26 |year=1966 |pages=102–124 |doi=10.2307/2718461 |jstor=2718461}}
*{{cite journal |title=In Name Only: Imperial Sovereignty in Early Modern Japan |first=Bob Tadashi |last=Wakabayashi |journal=Journal of Japanese Studies |volume=17 |issue=1 |date=Winter 1991 |pages=25–57 |doi=10.2307/132906 |jstor=132906}}

==External links==
*{{Commons category-inline|Shoguns}}

{{Highest Military Ranks}}
{{Shoguns}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Shogun}}
[[Category:Shōguns| ]]
[[Category:Military ranks of Japan]]
[[Category:Government of feudal Japan]]
[[Category:Positions of authority]]
[[Category:Titles of national or ethnic leadership]]
[[Category:Military history of feudal Japan]]
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[[Category:Japanese historical terms]]