First shogun
Minamoto no Yoritomo
源頼朝 · 1147–1199 · Heian to Kamakura period
Minamoto no Yoritomo (源頼朝) was the first shogun, and the man who moved real power in Japan away from the emperor's court and into the hands of the warrior class. The government he built lasted, in one form or another, for almost 700 years.
From exile to power
Yoritomo was born into the Minamoto, a great warrior family. When he was a boy, the rival Taira clan crushed the Minamoto and killed his father, and Yoritomo was sent into exile. Years later he rose again, gathered the eastern warriors behind him, and led his side to victory in the Genpei War, the long struggle between the two clans. By the end he was the most powerful man in the country.
A government of warriors
Instead of ruling from Kyoto and the emperor's court, Yoritomo set up his own government far to the east, in the seaside town of Kamakura. In 1192 he took the title sei-i taishōgun — "shogun" for short — and made it the real seat of power. The emperor stayed on as a respected figurehead, but from now on it was the shogun and his warriors who actually ran Japan. It was a change that would shape the country for centuries.
Portrait: Attributed to Fujiwara no Takanobu · Public domain · via Wikimedia Commons
