Kamakura Shogunate

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Japan is an island east off the coast of Asia made up of thousands of islands ruled mainly by emperors. These emperors handled their power differently with different clout. From 1185 to 1186 Japan was in its medieval period defined by its military rule. This period consisted of the Kamakura Shogunate, then the Ashikaga Shogunate and lastly the Tokugawa Shogunate. These early Japanese governments were built on a foundation of Chinese beliefs such as Buddhism and Confucianism and inspired by China's Tang Dynasty. Previously leaders used their power to task government officials to carry out legislative duties. The shift from a civil government to a military Shogunate was relatively smooth as the two had ruled concurrent of each other near the …show more content…
The Minamoto family rose to power during the Gempei War which lasted five years from 1180 to 1185 in which they defeated another prominent family; the Taira. Although the Taira held a higher status than the Minamoto at the start of the Gempei War. But paranoia of a night attack from the rustling of a few leaves resulted in the spontaneous abandonment of their campaign in east Japan and retreat to Kyoto (capital at the time). Shortly after, “In 1183, on his own initiative, Yoritomo's cousin and vassal Minamoto Yoshinaka attacked and defeated the Taira in Etchu Prefecture” (Paul). These events presented the Minamoto with the momentum to the march into Kyoto. There the outlawed Taira were quickly defeated by the superior Minamoto. From there, the Kamakura Shogunate was established and ruled during the late Heian Period. They acted independently from the Fujiwara family without the official title slowly gaining support to completely dethrone the Fujiwara. Instead of pursuing the arts like the Fujiwara, the Minamoto sought to increase military dominance in government. To achieve this goal Minamoto Yoritomo tasked militarily officials called samurai to carry out the tasks of government officials (Ellington). The new samurai class quickly cultivated a following which they used to spread their morals and beliefs. These ideas and customs can be seen in Japanese
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