CHAPTER NINE:

RULE BY MILITARY HOUSES

Introduction
End of 12th century the government began to
change in a way that would determine Japans
character for the next 700 years
5 centuries earlier structure of government was
transformed by the adoption of Chinese ideas and
practices
7 centuries later Japan was confronted by Western
Powers; Japans leaders deliberately set about
remodeling the country into a modern nation-state
Change in 1180s which eventually ushered in the
rule by the military houses was brought neither by:
1. Fear of foreign aggression
2. Desire to benefit from foreign example
But by a slow shift in the balance of power within
Japan
Japan was entering a new age called Feudal
Japanese feudalism was to be distinguished by fiefs,
vassalage, and a marked military ethos in culture as well
as politics
Fiefs in a sense of compact areas of land held under
the authority of a military overlord, were not a feature of
its early development
Institution of vassalage, and the conduct and loyalty of
individual vassals that enabled the heads of military
houses in the fullness of time to govern Japan displacing
the civil aristocracy
WHO WERE THE VASSALS?
In the Heian period they were not a distinct group of
within society
Vassals:
o Men of the provinces, not the capital
o Men of substance
o Answered a need for order and security as
the effective military force of the central
government
o Not a specialist class of fighting men but
local administrators and managers of
shoen, which often needed armed
protection
o Their services were not unnaturally called
on by the central government to quell
major outbreaks of public disorder
It was the bond between military leaders and followers,
which was kept strong by loyal service on the part of the
warrior and rewards bestowed by the leader, that turned
fighting men into vassals
Vassalage evolved slowly in the existing courtdominated structure of government

Trans by: Criscel

Even in their fully developed stage, feudal institutions

were to remain contained within, and in some ways
vitally dependent on older monarchical framework
The Age of Kamakura deserves as much to be seen in
the final rally and grand modification of the Heian
political order as the opening phase of a new historical
stage to be labeled feudal
11th Century
The Minamoto a family of future military overlords
were campaigning on the courts behalf in the
northernmost part of the country
Abe Family enemy of Minamoto who had taken over
the province of Mutsu and were openly contemptuous of
the courts authority
The exploits of Minamoto no Yoriyoshi have been set
down in writing, together with those of the warriors from
eastern Japan who served him through a long campaign
Loyalty
First duty of an ideal vassal
However, loyalty alone would not sustain an enduring
relationship #hugot
Warriors were loyal to military leaders because they
could expect tangible rewards for their services
Military leaders like Yoriyoshi had in their power to
confirm or enlarge these shiki incomes of the local
administrators and shoen manager class could hope to
better themselves individually
Yoshiie: son of Yoriyoshi
o Strengthened the bonds binding the
Minamoto family and its vassals by leading
them to further victories in campaigns in the
north of Japan and rewarding them
afterwards
Enduring relationships tended to be created not only
between individuals but between families
o Men who served a Minomoto leader in one
generation would expect their sons to serve
that leaders son
th
12 century military figures were emerging to rival the
civilian proprietors of shoen as leaders of the shoen
administrative class
o Such persons bound their followers to
themselves as vassals by using shiki rights
which, in the early phase of Japanese
feudalism, took the place of fiefs
Hogen Disturbance
1156: small number warriors settled a dispute over
succession to throne within a few days
This marks the point at which warriors ceased to be the
complete subordinates of civilian families at the court
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 Primacy among warriors was still a matter for dispute

between Minamoto and Taira families
Heiji Disturbance
Winter of 1159-60: House of Taira crushed the
Minamoto
Gempei War
20 years later, Minamoto fortunes began to revive and
before long they swept Taira into oblivion
Change in military leadership made little difference
to the court nobles who had been real losers in 1160,
and never regained their lost authority
The Rise and Fall of the House Taira
Taira: first of the military leaders on a national scale
who prospered in the service of the cloistered
Emperors Shirakawa and Toba
Hogen and Heiji Distubances brought them into the peak
of their powers
1160 inspired artists 100 years later to make a set of
scroll paintings in the Yamato-e style, the Heiji
Monogatari Emaki
Confusion and bloodshed, and serious political strife
persisted in the court until the death of Emperor Nijo
in 1165
Then emerged a period of reasonable order in
national government, which was seemingly
controlled by the cloistered Emperor Go-Shirawaka
assisted by Taira no Kiyomori who had been securing
Shirawakas right to the throne in 1156
Kiyomori: backed the right side; was just 40 y/o when
he routed his Minamoto rivals
Although he was born to a measure of greatness, history
seems to have laid more greatness on him than he either
wished to have, or was suited by temperament to bear
The picture of Kiyomori that has come down to us id of
a very human person, and in an age when suspicion and
cruelty were coming into fashion in politics he was
better-natured than might have expected
His most notable act of forbearance: more responsive to
feminine appeal than his advisers pleas, he spared the
young sons of his defeated foe Minamoto no Yoshimoto
Authority of Taira
Took familiar forms especially in its early years when
Kiyomori appeared to do little mre than maintain the
traditional close links between his family and retired
sovereigns
His timid nature encouraged him to defer to imperial
family, while seeking to protect and advance his own
relatives interest through what came to be an influence
over the emperor and ex-emperor
Fujiwara remained high titles but became relatively
powerless since Kiyomoto outdid his social superiors by
making the best possible matches for his daughters
Trans by: Criscel

He became the grandfather of both a future emperor and

the head of the Fujiwara House
Other members of the Taira House were given high
positions in provincial administration, they accumulated
rights over numerous shoen
Taira built profitable trade with China, this connection
with China was a source of strength
He and his family stayed in power by the loyalty of their
warrior adherents, which they retained through grants of
shiki rights and appointments to LGOffices
Taira did not hold power for too long
Minamoto was left leaderless but functioned well
nonetheless
Armed conflict which turned into a full-scale war
occurred between them
Kiyomori died in 1181 seeing supreme power begin to
slip from his familys grasp
4 years later, Minamoto beat Taira at the Gempei War
The Heike Monogatari
Heiki Monogatari
The rise and fall of Taira is commemorated in Heiki
Montari or Tale of the House of Taira
The greatest of Japnas tales; comparable to Europes
The Song of Roland
o Both are, in a sense, religious
o SoR: fired with Christian enthusiasm for the
crusade against the followers of Mahomet
o HM: suffused with Buddhist attitudes
towards an unhallowed and degenerate age,
and the impermanence of all things
Opens with a bell sounding in Indian temple where the
Buddha preached many of his sermons
Taira no Kiyomori
Pictured as having grown arrogant, with power, one of
the two figures of the story
His pride and success in life is matched by his terrible
death
Death: not credited to old age but to the evil karma that
he had accumulated
Story does no end here; story is concerned with the
destruction of the whole House of Taira
Yoshitsune of Minamoto
Bane of the Taira and the greatest of Japans popular
heroes
Roland of the story
Roland described: brave to the point of rashness,
provocative, arrogant with the nave egotism of the epic
hero, loyal, self-confident, and open as the day; si os
Yoshitsune
Yoshitsune:
o Capped a succession of brilliant victories on land with a
final triumph at sea

o Most of the members of the House of Taira including

Kiyomoris widow and her grandson, 8-y/o Emperor
Antoku, were lost in this action
Heiki Monogatari ends with death of Kiyomoris
daughter, the mother of Antoku, who had been spared
and had become a nun
The Success of the Minamoto Under Yorimoto
Ironically, the very brilliance of the sea victory at
Dannoura on the Western tip of Honshu, helped
destroy the victor Yoshitsune, who became involved
in a fatal quarrel with his elder brother Yoritomo
Yorimoto: head of the Minamoto
He, Yoshitsune, and another brother, were the children
who had been spared by Kiyomori in 1160
Kiyomori sent 13-y/o Yoritomo to live out the rest of his
lofe in the remote Eastern province of Izu under custody
of local Taira vassal
He married the daughter of his guardian
He acquired a reputation for leadership among the
provincial warrior class of the district, irrespective of
traditional allegiance to Taira or Minamoto
BRO: Yoritomo v. Yushitsune
After the final defeat of the Taira in 1185 it seemed to
Yoritomo that Yushitsune threatened Minamoto
solidarity
WHY?
o Mainly because Yoshitsune understandably
dallied in Kyoto after Dannoura enjoying
the sweets of victory which included the
guileful intentions of the cloistered GoShirakawa, and refused to return at once to
his brothers headquarters in the east
Yoritomo revenged himself by rejecting repeatedly
declarations of loyalty from Yoshitsune, hounding him
and his immediate family to death 4 years later
By destroying his brother, Yoritomo had also destroyed
the northern Fujiwara, thus in principle at any rate
bringing the entire country south of Hokkaido under his
single military and political authority
No Japanese ruler before him had enjoyed the same
amount of actual and potential power as him
Yoritomo
He was no epic hero
He was a man of achievement, prudent where his brother
was rash, a close man, humorless and determined
He was the destroyer of his own blood relations but the
wise builder of institutions and practices of government
that worked well
Death: symbolic; thrown from his horse, not in battle but
while returning from the ceremonial opening of a bridge
Heike Monogatari v. Historians
Romancers of Heike Monotagari: brilliant success of
Minamoto was due to Yoshitsune

Trans by: Criscel

Historians: Yorimoto as the architect of Minamoto

success, and creator of the Kamakura bakafu in its
earliest forms
Bakafu
System of military government which Yoritomo and his
associates devised over a period of years
Abundant evidence shows that shortly after the opening
of hostilities against the taira in 1180 Yoritomo was wellestablish in the east particularly in the Kanto area
(modern day: Tokyo)
Yoritomo set-up his base of operations at Kamakura, the
southern part of Kanto
He started with 1 secretary but responsibilities increased
so he called upon samurai-dokoro to help him control
his vassals
As war against Taira spread to the west and problems of
control multiplied, 2 more offices were set-up in
Kamakura
1. Kumon-jo handled document relating to
imperial court far to the west in Kyoto
2. Monchu-jo heard disputes over land rights
1185: Next Stage of Administrative Development
Yoritomo accepted the advise of one of his vassals to
ask the court to permit him to appoint shogu
(constables) in every province and jito (stewards) in all
the shoen answerable to Kawamura
Yoritomo was not upsetting the structure of the imperial
government because the shoen, and both shugo and jito
were recognized offices
The court had used military men from time to time in the
Heian period to restore order in parts of the country or in
an emergency
Now Yoritomo was given the right to maintain order
permanently throughout the land through the posting of
shogun and jito
1192: Final development of the bakafu
The court awarder Yoritomo its highest military
rank
The man who was already by birth head of the
House of Minamoto became became sei-i-taishogun and this old title acquired completely new
meaning
Past v. Yoritomo
o Past: empowered to wage was in the Ainu
frontier
o Yoritomo: commissioned to govern a
country that he had restored to peace
o Past: surrendered his sword of office once a
particular frontier campaign was over
o Yoritomo: intended to remain shogun for
life; it was widely understood that he would
pass his rank on to his heirs
He sought to resign in 1194 or 95
reverting to an earlier court title of
udaisho (Captain of the Right
3

[Division of the Inner Palace Guards])

before his death in 1199
Yoriie his elder son was appointed
shogun in 1202
Sanetomo younger son was
appointed a year later
Originating in the day-to-day administrative and
disciplinary needs of the Minamoto army fighting for
the court, the Kamakura bakafu grew into a
machinery f government that could wield influence to
a greater or lesser extent over the entire country after
peace was re-established
Yoritomos Success:
o Partly due to this ability to convert men and
institutions from wartime functions to
peacetime functions
o He developed a center of government out of
his military headquarters in Kamakura
o He was an innovator both in regard to major
institutions of government and to the seat of
government
Yoritomos Authority
He built his authority not by destroying the existing
order but by finding a secure place for himself and his
vassals within it
His supremacy depended on the exercise of powers
granted by the court and on control over his vassals
following their victories, as much as on the victories
themselves
Role of provincial vassal classes should not be
minimized
Its acknowledged leader claimed to act for the emperor
in all matters of administrative importance, but the
transition to military rule would not have ben smooth if
Yoritomo had not been able to show a frightened and
demoralized court that he had sufficient control over the
warriors to stamp out depredations and preserve a
general peace
Under the circumstances, the court was willing to
legitimize his government with imperial mandates and
eventually with the office of the shogun; and in doing so
relinquished its claim to ultimate administrative power
In return, the court received a firm guarantee that the
aristocrats and metropolitan clergy would continue to
enjoy their shiki incomes and their traditional status as
social and cultural leaders
How far the Kamakura regime used its new-won
authority against the court is a mootpoint
There was a constant shifting in the relations between
Kyoto and Kawamura, and so is the balance of power
between them
This was the case in Yoritomos lifetime and throughout
the entire period of the Kamakura bakafu
Even though the this was going on in the uppermost
strata of politics, the court maintained its traditional
Trans by: Criscel

forms and powers of rule at the provincial, local, and

shoen levels
Dyarchy is the key concept for understanding the general
patterns of events touched here
Yoritomo had been born in Kyoto and had spent his
childhood there, and he retained a measure of
appreciation for the capital and its way of life
It was his destiny to reconcile the aspirations of the
rising provincial vassal class and the fears of the
established court aristocracy
In doing so, he showed himself to be better attuned to
trends of the times than Kiyomori ever had been
The Hojo Regency
Characteristic of Japanese government throughout its
history: institutions have not been controlled by
nominal leaders, but by a succession of men from
great families who served them; so is the
Kamakura bakufu
After the death of Yoritomo in 1199, his sons
successively held the position of shogun
o They were unable to assert sort of authority
their father had enjoyed
o Both met violent ends at early ages
Thereafter, office was not claimed by Yoritomos
bloodline but by persons adopted in the Minamoto
family
However, their title was an empty one
Real power was exercised by successive heads of the
Hojo family who acted as regents (shikken, or
powerholders) for the shogun
Claims of Hojo to Power
Tested in a series of violent events mainly in and around
Kamakura itself, culminating in an armed attack
launched by the imperial court (Shokyu War)
Emperor Go-Toba
o Retired; Resolved to recover real authority
o Cause of trouble: a dancing girl
o Go-Toba ordered certain estates to be
assigned to her
o Yoritomo himself granted these estates to
Yoshitoki, head of the Hojo family
The authority of the bakufu over its vassals rested on
such land rights granted to the vassal by his overlord,
with loyal service rewarded by confirmation of these
rights
o Go-Toba was striking at a foundation of what
was beginning to be recognizable as a feudal
regime
o Go-Toba was rebuked but persisted, and
finally declared war on Yoshitoki as an
outlaw
o Go-Tobas initiatives revealed not the
weakness of the bakufu under Hojo but its
strength
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 Yoshitoki and Masako

Yoshitoki regent; man who led the Hojo to this high
point of influence
Masako
o Nobody at Kamakura proved to be more
resolute in times of crises than her
o Sister of Yoshitoki
o Wife of Yoritomo; mother of their children
o Possess formidable strength of character
When actions of Go-Toba reached
Kamakura, she took the lead in
demanding the loyalty of senior
Minamoto vassals and advocating an
offensive strategy
12th Century
One of the golden ages of traditional court poetry (waka)
Poets at this time compiled the greatest of imperial
anthologies
called
Shinkokinshu
containing
representative works of a brilliant group of courtierpoets of all time
Go-Toba contributed 33 poems; e must have known by
the time he died that in poetry, at least, he had striven on
good purpose
Hojo continued to do well ruling wisely
After 1221, imperial princes obedient to Kamakura were
place on the throne in Kyoto
Branch of bakufu was set up in Kyoto to keep check on
politics at court
Management rights in the west were confiscated; these
had belonged to warriors who had sided with the
imperial court in Shokyu War
Rights were not kept by Hojo but distributed to temples
and shrines, or assigned to vassals of the shogun
This reallocation enabled bakufu to control areas its
authority had been weak
Post-Yoshitoki
Family provided a succession of regents who have been
praised for their:
o High character
o Fair administration of justice
o Willingness to share responsibility
With these virtues, the Kamakura bakufu kept the peace,
with little resort to force
Joei Code
o Most notable administrative achievement
lay in the field of law
o JC: was intended to be no more than a clear
statement of rules for the Minamoto vassals
o The rules proved to be sensible that it
became part of the general legal system, and
remained one of the chief sources of law
until the collapse of the feudal order in 1868
The Mongol Invasions
Trans by: Criscel

Hojo led their country well with withstanding the

mongol invasions of the second half of the 13 th
century
Contact
3.5 centuries: contact between Japan and the continent
had been fairly peaceful and unofficial
Tang dynasty: decayed in 9th century; sending of official
embassies from Japan stopped
Sung dynasty: did not renew Sino-Japanese relations
(300 years)
Mongol invasion: took initiative in renewing relations
1260s
1264: Mongol chieftain Kublai Khan made Peking his
capital, establishing a vast Mongol empire stretching
from Korea to Europe
1268: Emperor of Greater Mongolia addressed a letter to
King of Japan threatening war if Japan did not
acknowledge its inferior status, and establish friendly
relations with his dominions
1274: The First Invasion
Came after 5 Mongol missions have failed
Warrior at Kyushu bore the attack at Hakata; this was the
very area the Japanese had prepared defensively 500
years before in fear of invasion from Korea that never
materialized
Japanese warriors faced veteran Mongol soldiers who
were better armed
Japanese warriors were saved by fortitude and the
weather
When the Mongols arrived in 11/19, a storm in the night
scattered the fleet and left as many men drowned as had
lost their lives in the fighting
The Storm
The storm concealed from Kublai that the Mongol army
had not broken through Japanese defenses; he simply
sent further missions requiring the King of Japan to
come to his capital to do homage
Hojo leaders ordered beheading of the members of the
mission, and laid more elaborate plans to strengthen
defenses
Mongols: committed
Mongols were heavily committed in campaigns in south
China
Even though they heard of Japanese preparations they
landed forces on a broad front on the northern coast of
Kyushu
Defensive lines by Japanese held for two months but the
winning blows were struck by a typhoon
This typhoon has come to be known as the divine wind,
or kamikaze
The original kamikaze effectively thwarted the Mongols,
who lost their fleet and their army in attempting to
withdraw
The Mongols attacked no more, but fear that they would
return lived on
5

The Decline of the Kamakura Bakufu

Only a pictorial record of the Japanese victory over
the Mongols survived
Takezi, a participant in the fighting commissioned
someone to paint battle scenes, showing what the
combatants wore and what arms they carried; this record
was meant to support his claim for reward; one scene
shows Takezi cutting a Mongol throat
Claimants: felt they had saved their country
The court, the temples and the shrines which had offered
prayers for victory, the bakufus vassals and other
warriors
Kamakura authorities were in a difficult position; no
property to be divided among the victors
The bakufu could not meet even legitimate demands for
compensation, and its prestige was lowered
Hojo
They decreed a general cancellation of debts
This was seen as a means of helping retainers who were
living beyond their income
Other powerful families resented the way Hojo favored
members of their own family when making bakufu
appointments
Against this background of discontent, there occurred
change in the quality of leadership between Kyoto and
Kamakura
Hojo regent: Takatoki
Takatoki: the Hojo regent
While he was disporting himself, the bakufu had
acquired an opponent: Go-Daigo, the reigning emperor
Go-Daigo:
o Like Go-Toba before him, planned to gain
full authority
o Ascended into throne in 1318; saw that the
first task was to concentrate in his own
hands whatever shreds of power remained
to the imperial house
o He began to achieve this when:
1. When he persuaded his father to step
down from the position of cloistered
emperor, and so terminated the cloister
as a separate center of power
2. The overthrow of the bakufu itself
In 1331, Go-Daigo and and his supporters were
successfully attacked by the Hojo
Go-Daigo
Unlike Go-Toba did not die on Okibut returned to
mainland and recovered the throne
His son, Prince Morinaga rallied anti-bakufu forces, and
so weakened the Hoju authority that important warrior
families, particularly Nitta and Ashikaga ceased to
support the bakufu

Trans by: Criscel

The switching of sides was crucial; Nitta Yoshisada

destroyed the last Hojo regent and all his important
kinsmen in 1333 in Kamakura
The Battle of Kamakura
The last of the major war tales
This battle was to decide great things
The events of 1333 marked the start of a long process of
administrative and social disintegration
The battle was soon to be seen to have done nothing to
alter the established fact of rule by military houses
The House of Ashikaga
Hojo
Had been destroyed ostensibly to allow for a restoration
of power to the court under Go-Daigo
1336: another military caller Ashikiga became the
strongest single element in the government of the
country
The Fall of Go-Daigo
Go-Daigo had regained power in 1333 but his
government was so inept he soom antagonized his
warrior supporters
One of his generals, Ashikaga Takauji, took advantage of
this to occupy the capital and imprison the ruler
Go-Daigo refused to come into terms with Takauji; fled
to the mountains of Yoshino and set up a government in
exile called Southern Court although members of the
imperial family remained behind and collaborated with
Takauji
1338: Emperor of Northern Court in Kyoto appointed
Ashikaga Takauji as shogun
Although Ashikaga line of shogun lasted until 1573,
neither Takauji or his successors established
unquestioned authority
Lack of Control
Principal reason was that the Southern Court under GoDaigo, his son, and grandson, continued to challenge in
open warfare the legitimacy of the Northern Court and
its Ashikaga sponsors
The outcome of this was uncertain for many decades
The Middle Decades of the 14th Century
Proved to be one of the great divides of Japanese history
Go-Daigo: attempted to revert back to the much earlier
Nara and early Heian periods when emperors governed
in fact as well as name
Fragile hope of a complete restoration was shown to be
utterly illusory, and with its collapse went what remained
of the structure of imperial government at all levels
o This structure had first taken shape in the
Taika Reform
o The Fujiwara and cloistered emperors had
changed it but preserved it, and it had
survived as an increasingly subordinate
partner to the Kamakura bakufu
The Chinese Model
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 Although the old government organized around the

throne had diverged from its Chinese mode, it wasnt out
of stupidity of political ineptitude
It was a result of a process of creatively adapting the
Chinese original to a different, Japanese situation
The overall success of this modifications (the last
significant one being the Kamakura bakufu) is evidence
that something of a flair politics among the Japanese,
and an ability to act constructively in matters of practical
administration
The most recent manifestation of these qualities had
been the repulse of the Mongols
The early Ashikaga shoguns and their advisers
inherited their predecessors political skills and had
the sense to attempt to adopt the well-tried structure
of the Kamakura bakufu
Owing to the campaign against the Southern Court, the
Ashikaga commanded neither men or wealth to rule the
country directly from the center of government but had
to delegate authority to a number of deputies
They appointed heads of powerful families to the office
of shugo
Constables: extended their power beyond original;
taking ever greater share of taxes from estates, and
acting as civil rulers
Historians called them shugo-daimyo in recognition of
the fact that they were becoming more than officials
appointed by the shogun and were becoming territorial
lords (daimyo)
Ashikaga were finding themselves dependent on such
slim bases of financial support
The Muromachi Bakufu at Its Height
Ashikaga Takauji
Set up his hq in Kyoto in order to meet the military
challenge of his opponents

Trans by: Criscel

Successors remained in Kyoto; 40 yers later built grand

buildings in Muromachi
One name give to Ashikaga regime is Muromachi bakufu
Yoshimitsu
In his lifetime, House of Ashikaga reached its peak
Became shogun at age 9; during his minority fortunes of
Ashikaga depended on Hosokawa Yoriyuki
Hosokawa Yoriyuki
o Did not attempt to turn his office hereditary in the
manner of Hojo
o Other constables thought he played a large part of affairs
of the regime, and feeling threatened, forced him to give
up his post after 12 years
Yoshimitsu, in his prime, was able to over-awe the
constables by a combination of armed force, strong
personality, and sense of dramatic
He managed to produce a stable situation in the country
by balancing constables
Ming Dynasty China recognized Yoshimitsu as king
of Japan
Men from Kyushu and Inland Sea attacked and
pillaged China, Korea, SEA (wako Japanese
Robbers)
China found them difficult to control; Yoshimitsu
managed them; China agreed to receive official
missions from Japan; this led toe reopening of
trade between political centers of both countries
Yoshimitsu brought the conflict between two courts to
an end
Yoshimitsu did his best to link his family with the
court; he built places and temples, and Kinkakuji that
exists today as a reminder that although military
houses deprived the imperial house and the court
aristocracy of effective control of the country, the
greatest military house now followed the court
aristocracy in matters of tast