Kamakura period

The Kamakura period (鎌倉時代, Kamakura-jidai, 1185–1333) is a period of Japanese history that marks the governance of the Kamakura Shogunate (鎌倉幕府 Kamakura bakufu); officially established in 1192 by the first Kamakura shogun Minamoto no Yoritomo (源 頼朝).

The Kamakura period ended in 1333 with the destruction of the shogunate and the short reestablishment of imperial rule under Emperor Go-Daigo (後醍醐天皇 Go-Daigo Tennō) by Ashikaga Takauji (足利 尊氏), Nitta Yoshisada (新田 義貞), and Kusunoki Masashige (楠木 正成).

Bakufu and the Hōjō Regency

The Kamakura period (1185–1333) marks the transition to the Japanese "medieval" era, a nearly 700-year period in which the emperor (天皇 tennō), the court, and the traditional central government were left intact but were largely relegated to ceremonial functions. Civil, military, and judicial matters were controlled by the bushi (武士) class, the most powerful of whom was the de facto national ruler. The term feudalism is generally used to describe this period, being accepted by scholars as applicable to medieval Japan as well as to medieval Europe. Both had land-based economies, vestiges of a previously centralized state, and a concentration of advanced military technologies in the hands of a specialized fighting class. Lords required the loyal services of vassals, who were rewarded with fiefs of their own. The fief holders exercised local military rule and public power related to the holding of land. This period in Japan differed from the old shōen system in its pervasive military emphasis.

Once Minamoto Yoritomo had consolidated his power, he established a new government at his family home in Kamakura. He called his government a bakufu (幕府, tent government), but because he was given the title Seii Tai-shōgun (征夷大将軍) by the Emperor, the government is often referred to in Western literature as the shogunate. Yoritomo followed the Fujiwara form of house government and had an administrative board, a board of retainers, and a board of inquiry. After confiscating Taira estates in central and western Japan, he had the imperial court appoint stewards for the estates and constables for the provinces. As shogun, Yoritomo was both the steward and the constable general. The Kamakura bakufu was not a national regime, however, and although it controlled large tracts of land, there was strong resistance to the stewards. The regime continued warfare against the Fujiwara in the north, but never brought either the north or the west under complete military control. The old court resided in Kyoto, continuing to hold the land over which it had jurisdiction, while newly organized military families were attracted to Kamakura.

Despite a strong beginning, Yoritomo failed to consolidate the leadership of his family on a lasting basis. Intrafamily contention had long existed within the Minamoto, although Yoritomo had eliminated most serious challengers to his authority. When he died suddenly in 1199, his son Minamoto no Yoriie (源 頼家) became shogun and nominal head of the Minamoto, but Yoriie was unable to control the other eastern bushi families. By the early thirteenth century, a regency had been established for the shogun by his maternal grandparents or grandson(Yoriie) of Hōjō Tokimasa (北条 時政) —members of the Hōjō family (北条氏), a branch of the Taira that had allied itself with the Minamoto in 1180. The regent for the shogun is called Shikken (執権) in the period. Under the Hōjō, the bakufu became powerless, and the shogun, often a member of the Fujiwara family or even an imperial prince, was merely a figurehead.

With the protector of the Emperor a figurehead himself, strains emerged between Kyoto and Kamakura, and in 1221 a war—the Jōkyū War (承久の乱 jōkyū no ran) —broke out between the Cloistered Emperor Go-Toba (後鳥羽上皇 Go-Toba Jōkō) and the second regent Hōjō Yoshitoki (北条 義時). The Hōjō forces easily won the war, and the imperial court was brought under direct bakufu control. The shogun's constables gained greater civil powers, and the court was obliged to seek Kamakura's approval for all of its actions. Although deprived of political power, the court was allowed to retain extensive estates with which to sustain the imperial splendor the bakufu needed to help sanction its rule.

Several significant administrative achievements were made during the Hōjō regency. In 1225 the third regent Hōjō Yasutoki (北条 泰時) established the Council of State (評定衆 HyoJo-Shu), providing opportunities for other military lords to exercise judicial and legislative authority at Kamakura. The Hōjō regent presided over the council, which was a successful form of collective leadership. The adoption of Japan's first military code of law—the Goseibai Shikimoku (御成敗式目) or the Joei Code (貞永式目) —in 1232 reflected the profound transition from court to militarized society. While legal practices in Kyoto were still based on 500-year-old Confucian principles, the Joei Code was a highly legalistic document that stressed the duties of stewards and constables, provided means for settling land disputes, and established rules governing inheritances. It was clear and concise, stipulated punishments for violators of its conditions, and remained in effect for the next 635 years.

As might be expected, the literature of the time reflected the unsettled nature of the period. The Hōjōki (方丈記, An Account of My Hut) describes the turmoil of the period in terms of the Buddhist concepts of impermanence and the vanity of human projects. The Heike monogatari (平家物語, The Tale of the Heike) narrated the rise and fall of the Taira (平, also known as the Heike, 平家), replete with tales of wars and samurai deeds. A second literary mainstream was the continuation of anthologies of poetry in the Shin Kokin Wakashū (新古今和歌集, New Collection of Ancient and Modern Waka), of which twenty volumes were produced between 1201 and 1205.

The Flourishing of Buddhism

In the time of disunity and violence, deepening pessimism increased the appeal of the search for salvation. Kamakura was the age of the great popularization of Buddhism. Two new sects, Jodo-shu (Pure Land Buddhism 浄土宗) and Zen (禅, Meditation), dominated the period. The old Heian sects had been quite esoteric and appealed more to the intellectuals than to the masses. The Mount Hiei (比叡山, Hiei-zan) monasteries had become politically powerful but appealed primarily to those capable of systematic study of the sect's teachings. This situation gave rise to the Jodo sect, based on unconditional faith and devotion and prayer to Amida Buddha. Zen rejected all temporal and scriptural authority, stressing moral character rather than intellectual attainments, an emphasis that appealed to the military class. Growing numbers of the military class turned to Zen masters, regarded as embodiments of truth.

The following are brief encapsulated introductions to some of the kinds of Buddhism begun in the Kamakura era.

Jōdoshū (浄土宗): All we need do is to keep praying.

Jōdo-shinshū (浄土真宗): All we need do is to believe and trust because Buddha saves everyone who believes.

Jishū (時宗): We are relieved only by praying, including a most remarkable dancing prayer to Buddha.

Rinzaishū (臨済宗): We must adhere to Indian Buddhism, respecting Buddhist law and Zen meditation.

Sotoshū (曹洞宗): We must sit in meditation single-mindedly.

Nichiren Buddhism (日蓮宗): We must follow the Lotus Sutra; all other forms of Buddhism are heretical.

Mongol Invasions

The repulsions of two Mongol invasions were momentous events in Japanese history. Japanese relations with China had been terminated in the mid-ninth century after the deterioration of late Tang Dynasty China and the turning inward of the Heian court. Some commercial contacts were maintained with southern China (南宋, Southern Song Dynasty) in later centuries, but Japanese pirates made the open seas dangerous. At a time when the bakufu had little interest in foreign affairs and ignored communications from China and Goryeo (高麗, as Korea was then known), news arrived in 1268 of a new Mongol regime in Beijing. Its leader, Khubilai Khan, demanded that the Japanese pay tribute to the new Yuan Dynasty (元, 1279–1368) and threatened reprisals if they failed to do so. Unused to such threats, Kyoto raised the diplomatic counter of Japan's divine origin, rejected the Mongol demands, dismissed the Korean messengers, and started defensive preparations.

Japanese samurai boarding Mongol ships in 1281.

After further unsuccessful entreaties, the first Mongol invasion took place in 1274. More than 600 ships carried a combined Mongol, Chinese, and Korean force of 23,000 troops armed with catapults, combustible missiles, and bows and arrows. In fighting, these soldiers grouped in close cavalry formations against samurai, who were accustomed to one-on-one combat. Local Japanese forces at Hakata, on northern Kyūshū, defended against the superior mainland force, which, after one day of fighting was decimated by the onslaught of a sudden typhoon. Khubilai realized that nature, not military incompetence, had been the cause of his forces' failure so, in 1281, he launched a second invasion. Seven weeks of fighting took place in northwestern Kyūshū before another typhoon struck, again destroying the Mongol fleet.

Although Shinto priests attributed the two defeats of the Mongols to a "divine wind" (kamikaze), a sign of heaven's special protection of Japan, the invasion left a deep impression on the bakufu leaders. Long-standing fears of the Chinese threat to Japan were reinforced. The Japanese victory, however, gave the bushi a sense of fighting superiority that remained with Japan's soldiers until 1945. The victory also convinced the bushi of the value of the bakufu form of government.

The Mongol war had been a drain on the economy, and new taxes had to be levied to maintain defensive preparations for the future. The invasions also caused disaffection among those who expected recompense for their help in defeating the Mongols. There were no lands or other rewards to be given, however, and such disaffection, combined with overextension and the increasing defense costs, led to a decline of the Kamakura bakufu. Additionally, inheritances had divided family properties, and landowners increasingly had to turn to moneylenders for support. Roving bands of ronin further threatened the stability of the bakufu.

Civil War

The Hōjō reacted to the ensuing chaos by trying to place more power among the various great family clans. To further weaken the Kyoto court, the bakufu decided to allow two contending imperial lines—known as the Southern Court (南朝) or junior line and the Northern Court (北朝) or senior line—to alternate on the throne. The method worked for several successions until a member of the Southern Court ascended to the throne as Emperor Go-Daigo (後醍醐天皇 Go-Daigo Tennō, r. 1318–1339). Go-Daigo wanted to overthrow the bakufu, and he openly defied Kamakura by naming his own son his heir. In 1331 the bakufu exiled Go-Daigo, but loyalist forces, including Kusunoki Masashige (楠木 正成), rebelled. They were aided by Ashikaga Takauji (足利 尊氏, 1305–1358), a constable who turned against Kamakura when dispatched to put down Go-Daigo's rebellion. At the same time, Nitta Yoshisada (新田 義貞), another eastern chieftain rebelled against the bakufu, which quickly disintegrated, and the Hōjō were defeated.

In the swell of victory, Go-Daigo endeavored to restore imperial authority and tenth-century Confucian practices. This period of reform, known as the Kemmu restoration (建武の新政 Kemmu no shinsei, 1333–1336), aimed at strengthening the position of the Emperor and reasserting the primacy of the court nobles over the bushi. The reality, however, was that the forces who had arisen against Kamakura had been set on defeating the Hōjō, not on supporting the Emperor. Ashikaga Takauji finally sided with the Northern Court in a civil war against the Southern Court represented by Go-Daigo. The long War Between the Courts lasted from 1336 to 1392. Early in the conflict, Go-Daigo was driven from Kyōto, and the Northern Court contender was installed by Ashikaga, who became the new shogun.

Events

• 1192: The emperor appoints Yoritomo as shogun (military leader) with a residence in Kamakura, establishing the bakufu system of government
• 1199: Minamoto Yoritomo dies
• 1221: The Kamakura army defeats the imperial army in the Jōkyū Disturbance, thereby asserting the supremacy of the Kamakura shogunate (Hōjō regents) over the emperor
• 1227: The Sōtō sect of Zen Buddhism is introduced to Japan by the monk Dōgen Zenji
• 1232: The Jōei Shikimoku code of law is promulgated to enhance control by the Hōjō regents
• 1274: The Mongols of Kublai Khan try to invade Japan but are repelled by a kamikaze

References

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< Heian period | History of Japan | Kemmu restoration >

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