Shogun

:This page is about the Japanese ruler and military rank. For other meanings of shogun, see Shogun (disambiguation).

Shogunate

Bakufu (幕府) originally described the dwelling and household of a shōgun, but in time it came to be generally used in Japanese to describe the system of government of a feudal military dictatorship, exercised by the shoguns (literally "tent government", meaning a military rule), and this is the meaning that has been adopted into English through the term shogunate.

Related Topics:
Japanese - Dictator - English

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The system of bakufu was originally established under the Kamakura bakufu by Minamoto no Yoritomo. The military wing of the government came to dominate the civil (imperial) government, so that while the Emperors of Japan still technically led the government, all practical (and especially military) power rested with the shogun and the daimyo. The system was feudal in nature, with lesser territorial lords pledging their allegiance to greater ones. Samurai were rewarded for their loyalty with land, which was in turn handed down and divided among their sons. The hierarchy that held this system of government together was reinforced by close ties of loyalty between samurai and their apprentices. The shoguns also took lovers from among the ranks of the samurai, a practice known as shudo, "the way of the young", or nanshoku, "male color".

Related Topics:
Kamakura bakufu - Minamoto no Yoritomo - Emperors of Japan - Daimyo - Feudal - Samurai - Shudo - Nanshoku

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Three primary bakufu periods are usually identified, each centered around a family which tended to dominate the position of shogun during that regime. In the Japanese language, the time period of each regime is named after the capital of the bakufu. The Ashikaga and Tokugawa bakufu can also be (and usually are) named in this fashion.

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• Kamakura Bakufu - Kamakura period
• Ashikaga Bakufu or Muromachi Bakufu - Muromachi period
• Tokugawa Bakufu or Edo Bakufu - Edo period