prologue

The Genpei War and the establishment of the Kamakura Shogunate

Genpei War

Minamoto no Yoshitomo, the leader of the Genji clan in the Hōgen and Heiji rebellions, was killed, and the Genji clan temporarily fell into decline.
However, his children survived in various places. They rose up and fought against the Heike clan in the Genpei War.

Background and history of the Genpei War

Background and history of the Genpei War Statue of Taira no Kiyomori (AC photo) Minamoto no Yoshitomo was killed in the Hōgen and Heiji rebellions, and his eldest son died as well.
However, his children, who were young at the time, were spared.
They had to live in exile in various places.
An event that prompted them to take up arms in various places occurred in Kyoto.

The political change of Jishō 3

Emperor Go-Shirakawa, who gained political power in the Hōgen and Heiji rebellions, gradually deteriorated his relationship with Taira no Kiyomori, who was a contributor.
Emperor Go-Shirakawa aimed to weaken the Taira clan by taking away the territories of people from the Taira faction.
But Kiyomori strongly opposed this.
Eventually, he confined Emperor Go-Shirakawa.
The military power was already overwhelming for Kiyomori, who led the Taira clan, compared to Emperor Go-Shirakawa.

Prince Mochihito’s uprising

However, this did not end the situation.
Emperor Go-Shirakawa had a son named Prince Mochihito.
He raised an army with the aim of overthrowing the Taira clan.

At this time, a man named Minamoto no Yorimasa joined Prince Mochihito.
Minamoto no Yorimasa was a Genji clan member who was trusted by Kiyomori to some extent.
When Kiyomori learned of Prince Mochihito’s uprising, he sent troops led by Minamoto no Yorimasa to suppress him.
However, Yorimasa switched sides and joined Prince Mochihito.
In addition, Prince Mochihito sent an order (a document issued by a powerful imperial family member such as a crown prince) to the surviving members of the Genji clan scattered throughout Japan to join him in raising an army.
Prince Mochihito, who had gathered Minamoto no Yorimasa and his troops, unfortunately failed to raise an army.
Both Prince Mochihito and Minamoto no Yorimasa were killed.

Genpei War

The cornered Genji raised an army in various places

Prince Mochihito has died.
However, the Genji in various places, who had already received the order, thought as follows.
“Prince Mochihito failed to raise an army, but since he received the order, he would be killed if it came to light.‘’ .
In fact, there are rumors that the Taira clan is frantically searching for people who have received the order.
Thinking that they would just sit there and wait for their deaths, the Genji all over the country decided to raise an army, saying, “Attack before you get killed!”

Minamoto no Yoritomo raises an army and forms a samurai group

The Genji raise an army in various places, but most of them end in failure.
However, a man who will build the world of Genji appears in such a situation.
That is Minamoto no Yoritomo, the third son of Minamoto no Yoshitomo.

Yoritomo raised an army in Izu, where he was banished, and although he struggled at first, he managed to bring together the samurai of the Kanto region.
Yoritomo’s outstanding point was this “summarizing the samurai of the Kanto region”.

Yoritomo guaranteed the territory of his samurai under his own name.
In addition, he rewarded the samurai for their contribution by giving them new territories if they were successful in battle.
This is called “Goon”.
The samurai fought at the risk of their lives to repay his kindness.
This is called “Houko”.
The relationship between the two is called “Goon to Houko”.

There were other members of the Minamoto clan who succeeded in raising an army, such as Yoshinaka KISO.
However, they put too much effort into hunting down the Taira clan.
As a result, they were unable to build a solid foundation.
On the other hand, even though Yoritomo raised an army, he did not immediately try to hunt down and kill the Taira clan.
His first focus was on solidifying his base.
He established order in the Kanto region with Yoritomo at the top.
Yoritomo, who became the absolute ruler of the Kanto samurai, finally raised an army to hunt down and kill the Taira clan.
He invaded Kyoto with his brilliant younger brothers as generals.
Then, he destroyed his relative Yoshinaka KISO, who had entered Kyoto earlier.
Furthermore, he hunted down the Taira.
In the end, the Taira clan was defeated in the Battle of Dannoura.

Establishment of the Kamakura Shogunate

Establishment of the Kamakura Shogunate and appointment of Seii Taishogun

Yoritomo, who pursued and killed the Taira clan, bargained politically with Emperor Go-Shirakawa, just like Kiyomori.
The difference with Kiyomori is that Kiyomori had his base in Kyoto and tried to control the politics of the Imperial Court, while Yoritomo did not move his base from Kamakura in the Kanto region.
Yoritomo stripped some of the power of the Imperial Court and took it for himself.
In this way, Yoritomo, who gradually stripped away the power from the Imperial Court, set up a government in Kamakura, which was his home base, later called the “Kamakura Shogunate’’.

The political system of the Kamakura Shogunate and its relationship with the Imperial Court

The Kamakura Shogunate was Japan’s first feudal samurai government with the shogun at the top.

It lasted for about 150 years after this.
They stationed people called shugo and jito in each province. Shugo had military and police powers in the area. Jito had the power to collect taxes in the area. The Kamakura Shogunate took control of Japanese politics by assigning Shugo and Jito. Conversely, the political power of the Imperial Court weakened.

Epilogue