Chapter 8 Japan 327The Shogunate
Three great families emerged and competed in the Heian period: the Fuji-
wara, the Taira, and the Minamoto; the latter two, and especially the Mina-
moto, which branched into regional groupings, dominated Japan until the
nineteenth century. In the beginning the Fujiwara were vastly more powerful,
exercising regency over a succession of emperors who were never allowed to
govern, were often forced to abdicate, and invariably were married to Fujiwara
daughters. Their zenith was the eleventh century, when the funeral of Fujiwara
Michinaga was as splendid as for an emperor: 10,000 priests prayed for his
recovery, a general amnesty was declared, and back taxes were forgiven
throughout the country (Sansom 1952:265). But elsewhere things were falling
apart. The Fujiwara strategy was to control emperors and parcel out honors at
court, which in the good old days mattered more than anything else. They did
not bother with warriors.
But out in the chaotic provinces, armed power mattered, and other sym-
bols of prestige came to be valued more than titles and the color of caps and
robes. The Taira and Minamoto were chief rivals in bloody battles fought
between 1156 and 1160. In 1160 Taira Kiyomori moved in on the Fujiwara to
settle an imperial succession dispute; then, following the usual strategy, he
married his daughter to the emperor, and 20 years later put his grandson on the
throne. It looked for two decades as if the Taira had won; two young Mina-
moto boys barely escaped with their lives, but the young and brilliant Yoritomo
put together an alliance of warriors and military leaders, moved on Kyoto in
1185, drove out the Tairas, and put an end to the Fujiwaras.
This terrific struggle to the death between rival houses established the dom-
inance of the military families and produced an elite warrior class that, under
the stress of danger and conflict, developed a special code of behavior, a special
morality. The events of those years have left deep marks upon the imagination
of the Japanese, and the rise and fall of the two clans is perhaps Japan’s true
epic. This history abounds in heroic legends of loyalty and courage and sacri-
fice, which have inspired art and literature.
Yoritomo set up his headquarters 300 miles to the east of Kyoto at Kamak-
ura to be near his estates and vassals, where he went about establishing a rival
power to the imperial establishment in Kyoto. But as these vassals were armed
and ambitious, how would he maintain their loyalty and prevent the rise of
other clans that would keep the culture of clan rivalry going? His solution was
ingenious; he did not attempt to overthrow the imperial dynasty in Kyoto but
continued to use the monarchy as the source and authority for honors and
titles, beginning with himself: he had the emperor grant him a defunct title, sho-
gun, formerly used by generals fighting the northern barbarians; it meant
supreme commander of all military forces. The government he founded at
Kamakura had the flavor of a field encampment; it was called the bakufu, or
“tent government.” All over Japan, holders of shoen transferred their allegiance
to him.