Shogun

Seiitaishôgun (征夷大将軍), "Supreme Commander Against the Barbarians", often shortened simply as shôgun (将軍), was originally a temporary Court commission assigned to courtier military commanders in the 8th century frontier campaigns against the Emishi in northern Honshu. It later became a hereditary distinction acknowledging the recipient as the buke no tôryô, "Head of the Warrior Houses", and titular head of the three bakufu warrior governments.

Heian Period Seiitaishôgun

In the late 8th century the Yamato court embarked on a series of military campaigns into northern Honshu, in an attempt to bring the region and its Emishi population under its sphere of influence. The title seiitaishôgun was first awarded to Sakanoue no Tamuramaro in 797 as commander of one such campaign, and was also reappointed in 804 due to his successes. A friend and protégé of Tamuramaro's, one Fumiya no Watamaro, succeeded him as seiitaishôgun in 811.

During the 12th century Gempei War, Minamoto Yoshinaka rebelled against Minamoto Yoritomo, and in 1183 persuaded Retired Emperor Go-Shirakawa to appoint him seiitaishôgun, with an ill-fated commission to punish Yoritomo, who would himself be awarded the title less than a decade later.

Kamakura Period Shôgun

In 1192 the Court invested Minamoto Yoritomo, head of the newly-established Kamakura Bakufu, with the seiitaishôgun title. Yoritomo returned the title in 1193, prefering the more prestigious title of utaishô, "Commander of the Inner Palace Guards".

Following his death in 1199, the bakufu had the Court appoint Yoritomo's son Yoriie as shôgun, beginning the link of the title with the titular head of the bakufu. Neither Yoriie (r. 1199-1203) nor his brother Sanetomo (r. 1203-1219) held any real power as shôgun, with actual authority alternating between members of the Hôjô family and the various bakufu judicial organs. Both brothers became involved in schemes involving bakufu officials and were assassinated, Yoriie in 1204, and Sanetomo in 1219, ending Yoritomo's bloodline.

In need of an appropriate candidate for shôgun to follow the heir-less Sanetomo, the bakufu had arranged for Retired Emperor Go-Toba's son to succeed, but following the assassination of Sanetomo, Go-Toba withdrew his offer. After a show of force in the capital, the bakufu secured an infant from the prestigious Fujiwara family and brought him to Kamakura. By this time the Hôjô family were dominant within the bakufu as regents, or shikken, to the successive noble-born shôgun, who were head of the bakufu in name only.

References

• A History of Japan: To 1333, by George Sansom, Stanford University Press, reprinted 1991.
• Warrior Rule in Japan, edited by Marius Jansen, Cambridge University Press, 1995.
• Heavenly Warriors, by William Wayne Farris, Harvard University Asia Center, reprint edition 1996.
• "Pushing beyond the Pale: The Yamato Conquest of the Emish and Northern Japan", by Karl F. Friday. Monumenta Nipponica, vol. 23, No. 1. (Winter, 1997), pp. 1-24.