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Though emperors themselves were quite powerful for a time in the 8th to 10th centuries, by the beginning of the 11th, if not earlier, imperial power had been co-opted to a considerable degree by members of the [[Fujiwara clan]] of court aristocrats, who dominated the [[sessho|regency]], and married their daughters into the imperial clan in order to ensure that future emperors would be loyal to the Fujiwara, through their Fujiwara mothers and grandparents. [[Fujiwara no Michinaga]] (d. [[1027]]) is often said to represent the pinnacle of this phenomenon, wielding very considerable power despite his position as regent, never emperor. By the end of the 11th century, however, a new pattern emerged, as [[Retired Emperor]]s wrested power away from the Fujiwara clan, and claimed it for themselves. In their retirement, Emperors from [[Emperor Shirakawa|Shirakawa]] (ret. [[1087]]) through [[Emperor Go-Shirakawa|Go-Shirakawa]] (ret. [[1158]]), worked to ensure that reigning emperors were relatively young - and therefore relatively lacking in influence or power - so they (the Retired Emperors) could retain considerable power for themselves.

Though emperors themselves were quite powerful for a time in the 8th to 10th centuries, by the beginning of the 11th, if not earlier, imperial power had been co-opted to a considerable degree by members of the [[Fujiwara clan]] of court aristocrats, who dominated the [[sessho|regency]], and married their daughters into the imperial clan in order to ensure that future emperors would be loyal to the Fujiwara, through their Fujiwara mothers and grandparents. [[Fujiwara no Michinaga]] (d. [[1027]]) is often said to represent the pinnacle of this phenomenon, wielding very considerable power despite his position as regent, never emperor. By the end of the 11th century, however, a new pattern emerged, as [[Retired Emperor]]s wrested power away from the Fujiwara clan, and claimed it for themselves. In their retirement, Emperors from [[Emperor Shirakawa|Shirakawa]] (ret. [[1087]]) through [[Emperor Go-Shirakawa|Go-Shirakawa]] (ret. [[1158]]), worked to ensure that reigning emperors were relatively young - and therefore relatively lacking in influence or power - so they (the Retired Emperors) could retain considerable power for themselves.

The era of emperors wielding any significant degree of real power came to an end, however, in the 1150s or 1160s, as the [[Taira clan]] inserted themselves as powerful regents, taking over in many respects the position occupied previously by the Fujiwara. The Taira were destroyed in the [[Genpei War]] of the 1180s, after which the [[Minamoto clan]] established the [[Kamakura shogunate]], marking the beginning of nearly 700 years of samurai rule. With some notable exceptions - such as the later Kamakura shoguns being Imperial Princes, and the short-lived [[Kemmu Restoration]] of the 1330s - emperors, and indeed the Imperial Court more broadly, would not be the dominant political force in Japan until after [[1868]]. For much of the [[Edo period]] ([[1603]]-1868), in fact, emperors barely ever even left the Imperial Palace, and were designated by the [[Tokugawa shogunate]] to consider their chief duty the maintenance of proper court rituals and elite court culture. Emperors and their courtiers were expected to devote themselves to ritual, and to maintaining the ancient customs of their ancestors, including literary practices, appreciating nature, and managing estates.<ref>[[Anne Walthall]], "Introduction: Tracking People in the Past," Walthall (ed.), ''The Human Tradition in Modern Japan'', Scholarly Resources, Inc. (2002), 1, 3.</ref> Emperors retained a powerful, significant, symbolic role, as the source of all political legitimacy, and the ''[[kokugaku]]'' (National Studies) movement of the 18th-19th centuries revived, or at least renewed emphasis on, notions of the divine origins of the Imperial family. But they would continue to exercise little true political influence until after the fall of the shogunate.

The era of emperors wielding any significant degree of real power came to an end, however, in the 1150s or 1160s, as the [[Taira clan]] inserted themselves as powerful regents, taking over in many respects the position occupied previously by the Fujiwara. The Taira were destroyed in the [[Genpei War]] of the 1180s, after which the [[Minamoto clan]] established the [[Kamakura shogunate]], marking the beginning of nearly 700 years of samurai rule. With some notable exceptions - such as the later Kamakura shoguns being Imperial Princes, and the short-lived [[Kemmu Restoration]] of the 1330s - emperors, and indeed the Imperial Court more broadly, would not be the dominant political force in Japan until after [[1868]]. For much of the [[Edo period]] ([[1603]]-1868), in fact, emperors were rarely permitted by the [[Tokugawa shogunate]] to leave the Imperial Palace; the shogunate designated them to consider their chief duty the maintenance of proper court rituals and elite court culture, and permitted only retired emperors to travel.<ref>Clements, Rebekah. «Alternate Attendance Parades in the Japanese Domain of Satsuma, Seventeenth to Eighteenth Centuries : Pottery, Power and Foreign Spectacle». Transactions of the Royal Historical Society, May 2022, p. 6, citing Takano Toshihiko, ‘Edo bakufu no chōtei shihai’, Nihonshi kenkyū 319 (1989), 48-77; Satō, ‘The Emperor’s Gyoko and Funeral’ (2020).</ref> Emperors and their courtiers were expected to devote themselves to ritual, and to maintaining the ancient customs of their ancestors, including literary practices, appreciating nature, and managing estates.<ref>[[Anne Walthall]], "Introduction: Tracking People in the Past," Walthall (ed.), ''The Human Tradition in Modern Japan'', Scholarly Resources, Inc. (2002), 1, 3.</ref> Emperors retained a powerful, significant, symbolic role, as the source of all political legitimacy, and the ''[[kokugaku]]'' (National Studies) movement of the 18th-19th centuries revived, or at least renewed emphasis on, notions of the divine origins of the Imperial family. But they would continue to exercise little true political influence until after the fall of the shogunate.

The [[Meiji Restoration]] of 1868 nominally restored true power to the emperor. By [[1889]], the position of the emperor had been reinvented, with numerous aspects of ancient spiritual, mythological, ritual, and symbolic elements being revived or invoked as part of a massive effort to recreate the position of the emperor as symbol & embodiment of the Nation, its divine leader, descended from an unbroken lineage stretching back to the Sun Goddess. The [[Meiji Emperor]] was both a modern ruler in numerous ways, wielding true political power like constitutional monarchs elsewhere in the world and serving as a head of state on the world stage, and also a deeply traditional ruler, with spiritual, ritual, and symbolic associations and responsibilities. The Imperial institution and its history was extensively reinvented at this time, with the Meiji government establishing new official lineages (including certain legendary or historical figures and excluding others), designating ancient burial sites as officially being considered the tombs of particular legendary or historical emperors, and claiming that particular rituals, invented or re-invented at that time, had been performed in just such a fashion for hundreds, if not thousands, of years.

The [[Meiji Restoration]] of 1868 nominally restored true power to the emperor. By [[1889]], the position of the emperor had been reinvented, with numerous aspects of ancient spiritual, mythological, ritual, and symbolic elements being revived or invoked as part of a massive effort to recreate the position of the emperor as symbol & embodiment of the Nation, its divine leader, descended from an unbroken lineage stretching back to the Sun Goddess. The [[Meiji Emperor]] was both a modern ruler in numerous ways, wielding true political power like constitutional monarchs elsewhere in the world and serving as a head of state on the world stage, and also a deeply traditional ruler, with spiritual, ritual, and symbolic associations and responsibilities. The Imperial institution and its history was extensively reinvented at this time, with the Meiji government establishing new official lineages (including certain legendary or historical figures and excluding others), designating ancient burial sites as officially being considered the tombs of particular legendary or historical emperors, and claiming that particular rituals, invented or re-invented at that time, had been performed in just such a fashion for hundreds, if not thousands, of years.