Kamakura Period

Minamoto no Yoritomo unified warriors across the Kanto region and led the Genpei War by dispatching forces under his younger brother, Minamoto no Yoshitsune.
After defeating the Taira clan at the Battle of Dan-no-ura, political power shifted from the Taira to the Minamoto. Yoritomo became the first warrior to take the title Seii Taishogun, shaping a new era of samurai rule.
Until then, governance had been centered in the imperial court in Kyoto, but for the first time a governing authority was set up outside the court, creating a new system known as the bakufu.
Yoritomo established key institutions one after another, including the Kumonjo (later known as the Mandokoro) for administration and finance, the Monchujo for lawsuits such as land disputes, and the shugo and jito, who managed estates and exercised policing authority.
By creating the bakufu, Yoritomo brought a major shift to Japan’s political structure.

After Yoritomo’s death, a power struggle over succession began within the shogunate.
Those who held the initiative were Yoritomo’s wife, Hojo Masako, and her father, Hojo Tokimasa.
With no charismatic leader after Yoritomo, the government was run through a council system led by 13 senior retainers.
Yoritomo had two sons, Minamoto no Yoriie and Minamoto no Sanetomo, but both were still young. Yoriie’s wet nurse and wife were from the Hiki clan, a powerful warrior family, and the Hojo feared the Hiki might seize control.
Yoriie became the second shogun, but the Hiki clan was destroyed by Masako and Tokimasa,
and Yoriie was removed from the shogunate.
His younger brother Sanetomo became the third shogun, while Tokimasa became the first shikken (regent), taking real control of the government.

After Emperor Go-Shirakawa died, Retired Emperor Go-Toba resumed cloistered rule, governed autocratically, and eventually moved to crush the Hojo, the shogunate’s power holders, as tensions rose.
A key trigger was the assassination of Minamoto no Sanetomo, who had appreciated court culture.
Since Sanetomo left no heir, the Hojo had made a secret agreement to install Go-Toba’s child as shogun.
Go-Toba broke that promise and declared a campaign against the Hojo.
This sparked the Jokyu War, a conflict between the Kamakura shogunate forces and the imperial court.
Hojo Yasutoki (son of Hojo Yoshitoki) and Hojo Tokifusa (Yoshitoki’s younger brother) attacked Kyoto, and within about one month the shogunate won decisively, bringing the war to an end.
Hojo Yoshitoki replaced an emperor close to Go-Toba and enthroned Emperor Go-Horikawa.
Go-Toba and Emperor Juntoku, who led the court’s forces, were exiled across Japan, and nobles involved were executed.
Vast lands were confiscated as shogunate territory, and the court’s authority declined sharply.

With the assassination of the third shogun, Minamoto no Sanetomo, the direct line of Minamoto no Yoritomo ended.
The fourth and fifth shoguns were also removed by the Hojo after becoming involved with factions plotting to seize power from the regency.
What the Hojo wanted was a shogun who could serve as a unifying symbol of the state.
More specifically, they sought someone acceptable to both the imperial court and the shogunate.
So, for the sixth shogun, they appointed Prince Munetaka, a son of Emperor Go-Saga.
With a member of the imperial family becoming Seii Taishogun for the first time, succession disputes eased, and from then on imperial prince shoguns became the norm.

Even as succession disputes eased, the Kamakura shogunate faced the Mongol invasions.
Kublai Khan demanded that Japan become a tributary state, but the shikken Hojo Tokimune refused.
Enraged, Kublai dispatched troops to Japan.
Since this was Japan’s first experience of a foreign invasion, the shogunate had little in the way of diplomacy or intelligence gathering.
Japan’s forces were pushed hard, but managed to force the Mongols to withdraw.
In the second invasion, Japan built large defensive stone walls in advance, gaining an advantage, and powerful storms, later called “kamikaze,” devastated the Mongol fleet, protecting the country once again.

The Kamakura shogunate repelled the two Mongol invasions, but it couldn’t reward the warriors who fought with land, and dissatisfaction grew.
Meanwhile, Emperor Go-Daigo took the throne.
To restore power to the court, he planned an anti-shogunate movement, but the plan leaked.
Seeing him as a threat, the shogunate exiled Go-Daigo to Oki and executed his close aides.
Still, discontent with the shogunate was widespread beyond the court, especially among warriors.
Seizing the moment, Go-Daigo escaped Oki and restarted the movement.
The shogunate sent its retainer Ashikaga Takauji to suppress it, but Takauji switched sides to support the emperor.
Takauji captured the Rokuhara Tandai, the shogunate office that monitored the court, while Nitta Yoshisada, who rose up at the same time, took Kamakura.
With this, the Kamakura shogunate fell, and the Kamakura Period came to an end.

The Kamakura Period is sometimes called a “renaissance of Japanese sculpture.”
While inheriting elements of Nara Period Tenpyo culture, Kamakura works are known for realism and strength, seen in Buddhist statues, deity images, and portrait sculpture, such as the Kongorikishi at Todai-ji’s Great South Gate.
Among the renowned group of Buddhist sculptors known as the Kei school, masterpieces by Unkei and Kaikei are often considered the clearest expression of Kamakura culture.

The Kamakura Period saw the emergence of many new Buddhist schools, often grouped as Kamakura New Buddhism, including Jodo, Jodo Shinshu, Ji, Nichiren, Rinzai, and Soto.
These movements offered teachings that were easier for ordinary people to understand, and amid ongoing wars and famines, they spread widely across the country, reaching even the aristocracy.

Many war tales (gunki monogatari) emerged in the Kamakura Period, with warriors as the main characters, including The Tale of the Heike, Hogen Monogatari, and Heiji Monogatari.
Many are of unknown authorship, and are said to have been passed on by biwa-hoshi, blind monk musicians who recited them with biwa accompaniment, making these stories widely known among commoners and warriors who couldn’t read.

Warrior status, relatively low through the Heian Period, rose dramatically in the Kamakura era.
Many eastern warriors had been sent out for land development and often lived in hardship despite being called “lords.”
This frugal daily life strongly shaped Kamakura culture. Training such as inuoumono, yabusame, and kasagake, practiced as everyday discipline, became known as the “three mounted archery arts,” later systematized as the “Way of the Bow and Horse.”
Crafts also shifted away from the flashy styles of earlier times toward practical items focused on real combat, especially armor and swords.

Even though warriors held power, Kamakura samurai valued a modest lifestyle.
They preferred brown rice, often eating it steamed rather than boiled. Side dishes were simple, usually grilled salt, miso, or pickled plums, plus grilled fish, and two meals a day was standard.
During battles or travel, when more stamina was needed, they increased it to three meals a day.
This habit is sometimes said to have led to today’s three-meals-a-day routine.
Portable food also developed around this time, including tonjiki (tojiki), an early form of today’s onigiri.

To protect warhorses, samurai kept monkeys. Why?
Because horses were believed to be attacked by kappa, and monkeys were said to protect horses from them.
Monkeys were traditionally thought to cure horse illnesses and help care for them, and were seen as guardian spirits of horses.
A monkey vs. kappa showdown, it’s hard not to want to see that.

Komyo-ji was founded under the patronage of Hojo Tsunetoki, the fourth shikken (regent).
Even after his death, it was respected by successive regents.
It continued to receive protection from political powers in later eras as well.
The main hall, built in 1698, is the largest surviving wooden structure in Kamakura and is registered as an Important Cultural Property of Japan.

Todai-ji was founded in the Nara Period, but it’s a must-visit for its standout Kamakura-era sculpture.
The over-8-meter-tall Kongorikishi statues, made by Unkei of the famed Kei school, are designated National Treasures and not to be missed.

Washinomiya Shrine is said to be the oldest shrine in the Kanto region.
It’s a storied shrine that also appears in the Azuma Kagami, a Kamakura-period chronicle.
It was especially revered by military leaders, protected by the Hojo and Ashikaga, with the Kamakura shogunate rebuilding its main sanctuary.
Support continued across eras, including a donation of 400 koku by the Tokugawa shogunate.
With many cultural assets, including old documents, mirrors, and swords, it’s well worth a visit for history lovers.