Shugo ( 守護 ) , commonly translated as '[military] governor', 'protector', or 'constable', was a title given to certain officials in feudal Japan . They were each appointed by the shogun to oversee one or more of the provinces of Japan . The position gave way to the emergence of the daimyo (military feudal lords) in the late 15th century, as shugo began to claim power over lands themselves, rather than serving simply as governors on behalf of the shogunate.
31-616: The post is said to have been created in 1185 by shogun Minamoto no Yoritomo to aid the capture of Yoshitsune , with the additional motivation of extending the rule of the Minamoto shogunate government throughout Japan. The shugo (military governors) progressively supplanted the existing kokushi (civil governors), who were appointed by the Imperial Court in Kyoto . Officially, the gokenin in each province were supposed to serve
62-759: A hero unit in Total War: Shogun 2 . A character named "Yoritomo" appears in Book 6: "The Lords of the Rising Sun" in the Fabled Lands adventure gamebook series, where Yoritomo is the self-proclaimed shōgun and on the verge of war with "Lord Kiyomori". He appears as the final boss in Genpei Toma Den , an arcade game created by Namco in which the player character is Taira no Kagekiyo , another Japanese historical figure. He also appears as
93-659: A messenger to his wife Masako, but Masako sent the messenger back, saying that a military commander's son being able to shoot a deer is nothing to celebrate. The Revenge of the Soga Brothers took place on May 28 of the same year at the Fuji no Makigari hunting event. The brothers Soga Sukenari and Soga Tokimune murdered the killer of their father, Kudō Suketsune . The brothers managed to kill 10 other participants until Nitta Tadatsune killed Sukenari. Then, Tokimune raided Yoritomo's mansion attempting to attack Yoritomo, but
124-468: A new feudal state organized around Kamakura while Kyoto was relegated to the role of "national ceremony and ritual". Yoritomo gathered his gokenin in May 1193 and arranged a grand hunting event, Fuji no Makigari . On May 16, Yoritomo's 12-year-old son Yoriie shot a deer for the first time. Hunting was stopped and a festival was held in the evening. Yoritomo rejoiced in his son's achievement and sent
155-431: A prominent character in the 2021 anime series The Heike Story . The years in which Yoritomo was shōgun are more specifically identified by more than one era name or nengō . Fujiwara no Tadazane Fujiwara no Tadazane ( 藤原 忠実 , 1078 – July 31, 1162) was a Japanese noble, the son of Fujiwara no Moromichi and the grandson of Fujiwara no Morozane . He was the father of Fujiwara no Tadamichi . He built
186-510: Is a list of some of the major clans that produced shugos and daimyōs during the Muromachi era and Sengoku period, as well as the regions over which they ruled. Minamoto no Yoritomo Minamoto no Yoritomo ( 源 頼朝 , May 9, 1147 – February 9, 1199) was the founder and the first shogun of the Kamakura shogunate , ruling from 1192 until 1199, also the first ruling shogun in
217-515: Is civilized." Kujō no Kanezane writes in his diary Tamaha that "Yoritomo's body is of rigorous power, and his fierce nature is accompanied with a clear distinction and firm resolution of the judgement of right and wrong." Yoritomo practiced shudō with Yoshinao , a member of the Imperial Guard. Historian Hideo Kuroda organized and examined the portraits and statues of Minamoto no Yoritomo and has concluded as follows. When comparing
248-448: Is the only accurate depiction of Minamoto no Yoritomo. In the words of George Bailey Sansom , "Yoritomo was a truly great man … his foresight was remarkable, but so was his practical good sense in setting up machinery to match his own expanding power." Yoritomo's wife's family, the Hōjō , took control after his death at Kamakura , maintaining power over the shogunate until 1333, under
279-636: The Genpei War in 1180. After five years of civil war, the Minamoto clan finally defeated the Taira in the Battle of Dan-no-ura in 1185. Yoritomo established the supremacy of the samurai caste and the first shogunate ( bakufu ) which was to be centered around Kamakura, thus beginning the feudal age in Japan , which lasted until the 17th century. Yoritomo was the third son of Minamoto no Yoshitomo , heir of
310-508: The Minamoto ( Seiwa Genji ) clan, and his official wife, Yura-Gozen , daughter of Fujiwara no Suenori , High Priest of Atsuta Shrine and a member of the powerful Fujiwara clan . Yoritomo was born in the family villa, on the western side of Atsuta Shrine, in Atsuta , Nagoya , Owari Province (present-day Seigan-ji ). At the time, his grandfather Minamoto no Tameyoshi was the head of
341-454: The history of Japan . He was the husband of Hōjō Masako who acted as regent ( shikken ) after his death. Yoritomo was the son of Minamoto no Yoshitomo and belonged to Seiwa Genji 's prestigious Kawachi Genji family. After successfully maneuvering himself to the position of rightful heir of the Minamoto clan , he led his clan against the Taira from his capital in Kamakura , beginning
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#1732764764297372-420: The shugo , but in practice, the relationship between them was fragile, as the gokenin were vassals of the shōgun as well. Shugo often stayed for long periods in the capital, far from their province, and were sometimes appointed shugo for several provinces at the same time. In such cases, a deputy shugo , or shugodai (守護代), was appointed. Over time, the powers of some shugo grew considerably. Around
403-523: The Hakone mountains, stayed in Yugawara , then escaped from Manazuru -Iwa to Awa (south of present-day Chiba ). Yoritomo spent the next six months raising a new army. Taira no Kiyomori died in 1181 and the Taira clan was now led by Taira no Munemori . Munemori took a much more aggressive policy against the Minamoto and attacked Minamoto bases from Kyoto in the Genpei War . Nonetheless, Yoritomo
434-408: The Minamoto clan. His childhood name was Oniwakamaru (鬼武丸). He was a descendant of Emperor Seiwa . In 1156, factional divisions in the court erupted into open warfare within the capital . The cloistered Emperor Toba and his son Emperor Go-Shirakawa sided with the son of Fujiwara regent Fujiwara no Tadazane , Fujiwara no Tadamichi as well as Taira no Kiyomori (heir of the Taira clan at
465-438: The Taira clan were now the undisputed leaders of Japan. Yoritomo, the new head of the Minamoto, was not executed by Kiyomori because of pleas from Kiyomori's stepmother but was exiled. Yoritomo's brothers, Minamoto no Noriyori and Minamoto no Yoshitsune were also allowed to live. Yoritomo grew up in exile. He married into the Hōjō clan , led by Hōjō Tokimasa , marrying Tokimasa's daughter, Hōjō Masako . Meanwhile, he
496-573: The Taira-dominated court allowed Yoritomo the time to build an administration of his own, centered on his military headquarters in Kamakura. In the end he triumphed over his rival cousins, who sought to steal control of the clan from him, and over the Taira , who suffered a terrible defeat at the Battle of Dan-no-ura in 1185. Yoritomo established the supremacy of the samurai caste and the first shogunate ( bakufu ) at Kamakura, thus beginning
527-407: The capital, the former headquarters of the Taira clan. When his old rival, Emperor Go-Shirakawa died in the spring of 1192, there was no longer anyone standing in the way of his ultimate ambition. Thus, Yoritomo gave himself the title of Sei-i Tai Shōgun (Barbarian-quelling Generalissimo) which formally placed all the feudal lords and both the jitō and shugo under his direct control. Thus creating
558-490: The feudal age in Japan, which lasted until the 17th century. As he rose to a position of power, Yoritomo began to defy and undermine the authority of Emperor Go-Shirakawa by appointing his own jitō (district stewards) and shugo (constables), thus eroding the central government's local administrative power. In the summer of 1189, Yoritomo invaded and subjugated the northern provinces of Mutsu and Dewa . In December 1190 Yoritomo took up residence in his Rokuhara mansion at
589-472: The leadership of Kiyomori, and the Minamoto clan, under the leadership of Yoshitomo, began to factionalize again. Four years later, Kiyomori supported Fujiwara no Michinori , also known as Shinzei. However, Yoshitomo supported Fujiwara no Nobuyori . This was known as the Heiji Rebellion . Nonetheless, the Minamoto were not well prepared, and the Taira took control of Kyoto . Shinzei's mansion
620-477: The original statue of Yoritomo was lost, an altered statue of Tokiyori was used as a replacement. On the other hand, he considers the inscription on the statue of Minamoto no Yoritomo in Kai Province , Zenkō-ji to be the name of the repairer instead of the name of the sculptor, and that it was made at the request of Hōjō Masako in the first quarter of the 13th century. Thus, Kuroda concludes that this statue
651-517: The rightful heir of the Minamoto clan and set up a capital in Kamakura to the east. Not all Minamoto thought of Yoritomo as rightful heir, however. His uncle, Minamoto no Yukiie , and his cousin Minamoto no Yoshinaka , conspired against him. In September 1180, Yoritomo was defeated at the Battle of Ishibashiyama , his first major battle, when Ōba Kagechika led a rapid night attack. After his defeat in Mt. Ishibashiyama, Minamoto no Yoritomo fled into
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#1732764764297682-533: The statues of Minamoto no Yoritomo in Higashihirozo and Hōjō Tokiyori in Kenchō-ji , from the facial expression to size, they are almost identical, and there is evidence that the kariginu was remodeled into a sokutai , the formal dress of the shogun, by adding a hirao and sekitai. Kuroda argues that the statue was originally a statue of Hōjō Tokiyori sculpted in Kamakura in the 14th century, but after
713-550: The time of the Ōnin War (1467–1477), conflicts between shugo became common. Some shugo lost their powers to subordinates such as the shugodai , while others strengthened their grip on their territories. As a result, at the end of the 15th century, the beginning of the Sengoku period , the power in the country was divided amongst military lords of various kinds ( shugo , shugodai , and others), who came to be called daimyōs . Below
744-512: The time), while Cloistered Emperor Sutoku sided with Tadazane's younger son, Fujiwara no Yorinaga . This is known as the Hōgen Rebellion . The Minamoto clan were split. The head of the clan, Tameyoshi, sided with Sutoku. However, his son, Yoshitomo (father of Yoritomo), sided with Toba and Go-Shirakawa, as well as Kiyomori. In the end, the supporters of Go-Shirakawa won the civil war, thus ensuring victory for Yoshitomo and Kiyomori. Sutoku
775-492: The title of shikken (regent to the shōgun ). One of his brothers-in-law was Ashikaga Yoshikane . The stone pagoda traditionally believed to be his grave is still maintained today, adjacent to Shirahata Shrine, a short distance from the spot believed to be the site of the so-called Ōkura Bakufu , his shogunate's administrative-governmental offices. He appears as a hero unit in Age of Empires II: The Age of Kings , and as
806-467: Was "more adult-like than others of his age", and the figure of a young warrior Yoritomo appears in the picture scroll of The Tale of Heiji . Genpei Jōsuiki describes Yoritomo saying "his face is large and appearance is beautiful." The imperial messenger Nakahara no Yasusada, who met Yoritomo in Kamakura in August 1183, said that "he is short and his face is large, his appearance is graceful and language
837-401: Was attacked by the Taira; Shinzei escaped, only to be captured and decapitated shortly thereafter. The Taira then burned the ex-emperor's palace, defeating the Minamoto. Yoshitomo fled the capital but was later betrayed and executed by a retainer. In the aftermath, harsh terms were imposed on the Minamoto and their allies. Only Yoshitomo's three young boys remained alive, so that Kiyomori and
868-497: Was finally taken down by Gosho no Gorōmaru , thus saving Yoritomo from a possible assassination attempt and ending the massacre. After this, Yoritomo took Tokimune in for questioning and had him executed later. Yoritomo was ordained as a Buddhist monk in 1199 and left his home. He received the Buddhist name Bukōshōgendaizenmon (武皇嘯厚大禅門). He died two days later at the age of 51. According to The Tale of Heiji , Yoritomo
899-497: Was notified of events in Kyoto . Parents Consorts and issues In 1180, Prince Mochihito , a son of Cloistered Emperor Go-Shirakawa , made a national call to arms of the Minamoto clan all over Japan to rebel against the Taira . Yoritomo took part in this, especially after tensions escalated between the Taira and Minamoto after the death of Minamoto no Yorimasa and Prince Mochihito himself. Yoritomo established himself as
930-421: Was placed under house arrest, and Yorinaga was fatally wounded in battle. Tameyoshi was executed by the forces of Yoshitomo. Nonetheless, Go-Shirakawa and Kiyomori were ruthless, and Yoshitomo found himself as the head of the Minamoto clan, while Yoritomo became the heir. Yoritomo and the Minamoto clan descended from the imperial family on his father's side. Nonetheless, in Kyoto , the Taira clan, now under
961-417: Was well protected in Kamakura . His brothers Minamoto no Yoshitsune and Minamoto no Noriyori defeated the Taira in several battles, but they could not stop Minamoto no Yoshinaka , Yoritomo's rival, from entering Kyoto in 1183 and chasing the Taira south. The Taira took Emperor Antoku with them. In 1184, the Minamoto replaced Antoku with Emperor Go-Toba . From 1181 to 1184, a de facto truce with