Bakufu

• Japanese: 幕府 (Bakufu)

Bakufu (lit. "tent government") is a term commonly used to refer to the samurai government, or shogunate. The term, however, was not commonly used during the periods of samurai rule. Instead, kôgi ("public authority") was among the most common terms employed to refer to the government. The term bakufu, by contrast, only came into common usage within the Mito school of historical philosophy, during the mid- or late Edo period; Mito scholars used the term to contrast with their vision of Japan as an "imperial country" (kôkoku), under an Emperor as the source of authority. This represented a significant shift in relations between the shogunate and the Imperial Court around this time. The use of the term bakufu only became truly standard during the Bakumatsu period (1853-1868), when the sonnô jôi movement identified the "bakufu" as its target of opposition, and in the Meiji period (1868-1912) when the term became properly entrenched through its use in the public education curriculum.

• Kamakura Bakufu
• Muromachi Bakufu
• Edo Bakufu