shogun

Etymology

The term shōgun (将軍; lit. 'army commander') is the abbreviation of the historical title sei-i taishōgun (征夷大将軍):

征 (sei, せい) means "conquer" or "subjugate", and

夷 (i, い) means "barbarian" or "savage" i.e. the Emishi etc. outside imperial influence;

大 (dai, だい) means "great";

将 (shō, しょう) means "commander", and

軍 (gun, ぐん) means "army".

Thus, a literal translation of sei-i taishōgun would be 'Commander-in-Chief of the Expeditionary Force Against the Barbarians'. The term originally referred to the general who commanded the army sent to fight the tribes of northern Japan, but after the twelfth century, the term was used to designate the leader of the samurai. The term is often translated generalissimo and is also used for such military leaders of foreign nations by the Japanese.

Though shōgun (将軍) now predominantly refers to the historical position sei-i taishōgun (征夷大将軍) in Japanese, the term is generically used for the rank of general in other East Asian languages, such as Chinese (simplified Chinese: 将军; traditional Chinese: 將軍; pinyin: jiāngjūn; Jyutping: zoeng1 gwan1), in which it is secondarily used for the historical Japanese position.

In the western world, he was referred to as Tycoon. 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. Some of them were:

Seitō Taishōgun (征東大将軍; lit. "Commander-in-chief for the pacification of the East")

Seisei Taishōgun (征西大将軍; lit. "Commander-in-chief for the pacification of the West")

Chinjufu Shōgun (鎮守府将軍; lit. "Commander-in-chief of the central peacekeeping headquarters")

Seiteki Taishōgun (征狄大将軍; lit. "Commander-in-chief Subjugator of the barbarians")

Mochisetsu Taishōgun (持節大将軍; lit. "Commander-in-chief of the Temporary Office")

Mutsu Chintōshōgun (陸奥鎮東将軍; lit. "Great General of Subduing Mutsu")

History

First shogun

There is no consensus among the various authors since some sources consider Tajihi no Agatamori the first, others say Ōtomo no Otomaro, other sources assure that the first was Sakanoue no Tamuramaro, while others avoid the problem by just mentioning from the first Kamakura shogun Minamoto no Yoritomo.

Originally, the title of sei-i taishōgun ("Commander-in-Chief of the Expeditionary Force Against the Barbarians") was given to military commanders during the early Heian period for the duration of military campaigns against the Emishi, who resisted the governance of the Kyoto-based imperial court.

Heian period (794–1185)

Sakanoue no Tamuramaro (758–811) was a Japanese general who fought against the Emishi tribes of northern Japan (settled in the territory that today integrates the provinces of Mutsu and Dewa). Tamarumaro was the first general to bend these tribes, integrating their territory to that of the Yamato State. For his military feats he was named sei-i taishōgun and probably because he was the first to win the victory against the northern tribes he is generally recognized as the first shogun in history. (Note: according to historical sources Ōtomo no Otomaro also had the title of sei-i taishōgun).

The shoguns of this period had no real political power, and the imperial court was in charge of politics. From the mid-9th century to the mid-11th century, the Fujiwara clan controlled political power. They excluded other clans from the political center and monopolized the highest positions in the court, such as sesshō (摂政, Imperial Regent for Minor Emperors), kampaku (関白, Imperial Regent for Adult Emperors), and daijō-daijin (太政大臣, Chancellor of the Realm), reaching their peak at the end of the 10th century under Fujiwara no Michinaga and Fujiwara no Yorimichi.

Later, in the mid-11th century, Emperor Go-Sanjo weakened the power of the sesshō and kampaku by presiding over politics himself, and when the next emperor, Shirakawa, abdicated and became a cloistered emperor and began a cloistered rule, the sesshō and kampaku lost their real political authority and became nominal, effectively ending the Fujiwara regime.

Taira no Masakado, who rose to prominence in the early 10th century, was the first of the local warrior class to revolt against the imperial court. He had served Fujiwara no Tadahira as a young man, but eventually won a power struggle within the Taira clan and became a powerful figure in the Kanto region. In 939, Fujiwara no Haruaki, a powerful figure in the Hitachi province, fled to Masakado. He was wanted for tyranny by Fujiwara no Korechika, a Kokushi (国司, imperial court official) who oversaw the province of Hitachi province, and Fujiwara no Korechika demanded that Masakado hand over Fujiwara no Haruaki. Masakado refused, and war broke out between Masakado and Fujiwara no Korechika, with Masakado becoming an enemy of the imperial court. Masakado proclaimed that the Kanto region under his rule was independent of the imperial court and called himself the Shinnō (新皇, New Emperor). In response, the imperial court sent a large army led by Taira no Sadamori to kill Masakado. As a result, Masakado was killed in battle in February 940. He is still revered as one of the three great onryō (怨霊, vengeful spirits) of Japan.

Kamakura shogunate (1185–1333)

There are various theories as to the year in which the Kamakura period and Kamakura shogunate began. In the past, the most popular theory was that the year was 1192, when Minamoto no Yoritomo was appointed sei-i taishōgun (征夷大将軍). Later, the prevailing theory was that the year was 1185, when Yoritomo established the shugo (守護), which controlled military and police power in various regions, and the jitō (地頭), which was in charge of tax collection and land administration. Japanese history textbooks as of 2016 do not specify a specific year for the beginning of the Kamakura period, as there are various theories about the year the Kamakura shogunate was established.

Minamoto no Yoritomo seized power from the central government and aristocracy and by 1192 established a feudal system based in Kamakura in which the private military, the samurai, gained some political powers while the Emperor and the aristocracy remained the de jure rulers.

In 1192, Yoritomo was awarded the title of sei-i taishōgun by Emperor Go-Toba and the political system he developed with a succession of shoguns as the head became known as a shogunate. Hojo Masako's (Yoritomo's wife) family, the Hōjō, seized power from the Kamakura shoguns.

In 1199, Yoritomo died suddenly at the age of 53, and the 18-year-old Minamoto no Yoriie took over as second shogun. To support the young Yoriie, the decisions of the shogunate were made by a 13-man council, including Hojo Tokimasa and his son Hojo Yoshitoki, but this was effectively dismantled shortly afterwards when one of the key members lost his political position and two others died of illness.

When Minamoto no Yoriie fell ill in 1203, a power struggle broke out between the Hojo clan and Hiki Yoshikazu, and Hojo Tokimasa destroyed the Hiki clan. Tokimasa then installed the 12-year-old Minamoto no Sanetomo as the third shogun, puppeting him while himself becoming the first shikken (執権, Regent) and assuming actual control of the shogunate. Hojo Yoshitoki later assassinated Minamoto no Yoriie.

However, Hojo Tokimasa lost influence in 1204 when he killed Hatakeyama Shigetada, believing false information that his son-in-law Shigetada was about to rebel, and lost his position in 1205 when he tried to install his son-in-law Hiraga Tomomasa as the fourth shogun. Hojo Yoshitoki became the second shikken, and the shogunate was administered under the leadership of Hojo Masako.

Kenmu Restoration (1333–1336)

Around 1334–1336, Ashikaga Takauji helped Emperor Go-Daigo regain his throne in the Kenmu Restoration.

Emperor Go-Daigo rejected cloistered rule and the shogunate and abolished the sesshō and kampaku in favour of an emperor-led government. He also began building 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.

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.

Ashikaga (Muromachi) shogunate (1336/1338–1573)

After the failure of the Kenmu Restoration, Emperor Go-Daigo fled to Enryaku-ji Temple on Mount Hiei with the Three Sacred Treasures (Imperial regalia, 三種の神器). On the other hand, Ashikaga Takauji installed Emperor Kōmyō as the new emperor without the Three Sacred Treasures in 1336.

Ashikaga Takauji tried to make peace with Emperor Go-Daigo, but the negotiations failed when Emperor Go-Daigo refused. Emperor Go-Daigo moved to Yoshino, and the country entered the Nanboku-cho period (1336–1392), in which two emperors existed at the same time in two different imperial courts, the Southern Court in Yoshino and the Northern Court in Kyoto.

In 1338, Ashikaga Takauji, like Minamoto no Yoritomo, a descendant of the Minamoto princes, was awarded the title of sei-i taishōgun by Emperor Kōmyō and established the Ashikaga shogunate, which nominally lasted until 1573. The Ashikaga had their headquarters in the Muromachi district of Kyoto, and the time during which they ruled is also known as the Muromachi period.

Between 1346 and 1358, the Ashikaga shogunate gradually expanded the authority of the shugo (守護), the local military and police officials established by the Kamakura shogunate, giving the shugo jurisdiction over land disputes between gokenin (御家人) and allowing the shugo to receive half of all taxes from the areas they controlled. The shugo shared their newfound wealth with the local samurai, creating a hierarchical relationship between the shugo and the samurai, and the first early daimyo (大名, feudal lords), called shugo daimyo (守護大名), appeared.

Ashikaga Yoshimitsu, the third shogun, negotiated peace with the Southern court, and in 1392 he reunited the two courts by absorbing the Southern court, ending the 58-year Nanboku-cho period. Yoshimitsu continued to hold power after passing the shogunate to his son Ashikaga Yoshimochi in 1395, becoming daijō-daijin (太政大臣, Chancellor of the Realm), the highest rank of the nobility, and remaining in power until his death in 1408.

In 1428, Ashikaga Yoshimochi, the fourth shogun, was ill and the question of his succession arose. Ashikaga Yoshikazu, the 5th shogun, died of illness at the age of 19, so the 6th shogun was chosen from among Yoshimochi's four brothers, and to ensure fairness, a lottery was held. The sixth shogun was Ashikaga Yoshinori. However, he was not educated to be a shogun, and his temperamental and despotic behavior caused resentment, and he was assassinated by Akamatsu Mitsusuke during the Kakitsu Rebellion. This led to instability in the Ashikaga shogunate system.

Azuchi–Momoyama period (1573–1603)

The Azuchi-Momoyama period refers to the period when Oda Nobunaga and Toyotomi Hideyoshi were in power. They and Tokugawa Ieyasu are the three unifiers of Japan. The name "Azuchi-Momoyama" comes from the fact that Nobunaga's castle, Azuchi Castle, was located in Azuchi, Shiga, and Fushimi Castle, where Hideyoshi lived after his retirement, was located in Momoyama. Although the two leaders of the warrior class during this period were not given the title of sei-i taishōgun (征夷大将軍, shogun), Oda Nobunaga was given a title almost equal to it, and Toyotomi Hideyoshi a higher one.

This era began when Oda Nobunaga expelled Ashikaga Yoshiaki from Kyoto and destroyed the Ashikaga shogunate. Adopting an innovative military strategy using tanegashima (種子島, matchlock gun) and an economic policy that encouraged economic activity by 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.

Nobunaga was given the title of udaijin (右大臣, Minister of the Right), an official position as the number three in the imperial court since ancient times, and the title of ukon'e no taishō (右近衛大将, Major Captain of the Right Division of Inner Palace Guards), 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 sei-i taishōgun (征夷大将軍, shogun). 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 daijō-daijin (太政大臣, Chancellor of the Realm), and Ashikaga Yoshinori and Ashikaga Yoshimasa as sadaijin (左大臣, Minister of the Left). Nobunaga was betrayed by his vassal Akechi Mitsuhide, and 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: kampaku (関白, Imperial Regent), daijō-daijin, or shogun. As a result, he was posthumously promoted to daijō-daijin in 1582.

Toyotomi Hideyoshi, a general under Nobunaga, conquered Shikoku, Kyushu, Kantō, and the Tohoku after Nobunaga's death, completing Nobunaga's attempt to unify Japan. Despite his peasant background, he rose through the ranks under Nobunaga, becoming ashigaru (足軽, infantry), samurai, sengoku daimyo, and finally, after Nobunaga's death, kampaku and 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 taikō (太閤), 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.

Tokugawa shogunate (1603–1868)

Ruled by 15 Tokugawa shoguns, the Edo period (1603–1868) saw dramatic economic and cultural development, fostered by a relatively peaceful society. Edo (now Tokyo) became the largest city in the world at the time, Genroku and Kasei cultures flourished, and chōnin (町人, townspeople) enjoyed a variety of cultural activities such as ukiyo-e, kabuki, bunraku, rakugo, kōdan, haiku, and literature.

The Edo period began in 1603 when Tokugawa Ieyasu was given the title of sei-i taishōgun (征夷大将軍, shogun) and established the Tokugawa shogunate in Edo (now Tokyo). 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 Ōgosho (大御所, cloistered shogun).

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 fudai daimyo (譜代大名) 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 tozama daimyo (外様大名) 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.

In 1615, the Tokugawa shogunate enacted the Kinchu narabini kuge shohatto (禁中並公家諸法度, Laws for the Imperial and Court Officials) 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 sesshō (摂政, Imperial Regent for Minor Emperors) and kampaku (関白, Imperial Regent for Adult Emperors), 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 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. 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.

Timelines

Shogunate (Bakufu)

Etymology

From the 1800s, the shogunate's administration was known as the bakufu (幕府), literally meaning "government from the curtain". In this context, "curtain" is a synecdoche for a type of semi-open tent called a maku, a temporary battlefield headquarters from which a samurai general would direct his forces, and whose sides would be decorated with his mon. The application of 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.

The term bakufu (幕府; "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.

The term bakufu was not officially used at the time of the shogunate; the Tokugawa shogunate was called 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, Ashikaga, and Tokugawa were bakufu and that the appointment of a shogun was essential for the establishment of the bakufu.

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 peasants. In contrast to European feudal knights, samurai were not landowners. 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 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.

Relationship with the emperor

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 tennō (天皇; lit. "Heavenly Sovereign"), 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. Although in theory the shogun was an emperor's servant, he became the true power behind the throne.

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:

Theoretically the shogun received the power of the emperor, so this was his symbol of authority.

There was a tradition held 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.

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. With the defeat of Go-Toba, the samurai government over the country was confirmed. 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. The shogun named his own emperor, giving rise to the era Nanboku-chō period (南北朝; lit. "Southern and Northern Courts").

Legacy

Today, the head of the Japanese government is the Prime Minister. The usage of the term "shogun" has nevertheless continued in colloquialisms. A retired Prime Minister who still wields considerable power and influence behind the scenes is called a "shadow shogun", a sort of modern incarnation of the cloistered rule. Examples of "shadow shoguns" are former Prime Minister Kakuei Tanaka and the politician Ichirō Ozawa.