, also known as , was the fourth ''

shōgun , officially , was the title of the military dictators of Japan during most of the period spanning from 1185 to 1868. Nominally appointed by the Emperor, shoguns were usually the de facto rulers of the country, though during part of the Kamaku ...

'' of the

Kamakura shogunate The was the feudal military government of Japan during the Kamakura period from 1185 to 1333. Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005)"''Kamakura-jidai''"in ''Japan Encyclopedia'', p. 459. The Kamakura shogunate was established by Minamoto no ...

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the n ...

. His father was '' kanpaku''

Kujō Michiie Kujō Michiie (九条道家) (July 28, 1193 — April 1, 1252) was a Japanese regent in the 13th century. He was the father of Kujō Yoritsune and grandson of Kujō Kanezane (also known as Fujiwara no Kanezane). He was the father of Norizane ...

and his grandmother was a niece of

Minamoto no Yoritomo was the founder and the first shogun of the Kamakura shogunate of Japan, ruling from 1192 until 1199.Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005). "Minamoto no Yoriie" in . He was the husband of Hōjō Masako who acted as regent (''shikken'') after his ...

. His wife was a granddaughter of

and daughter of Minamoto no Yoriie. He was born in the year (according to

Chinese astrology Chinese astrology is based on the traditional astronomy and calendars. Chinese astrology came to flourish during the Han Dynasty (2nd century BC to 2nd century AD). Chinese astrology has a close relation with Chinese philosophy (theory of the ...

) of the

Tiger The tiger (''Panthera tigris'') is the largest living Felidae, cat species and a member of the genus ''Panthera''. It is most recognisable for its dark vertical stripes on orange fur with a white underside. An apex predator, it primarily pr ...

, in the month, on the day, and so his given name at birth was Mitora (三寅, "Triple Tiger"). Yoritsune was a member of the great

Fujiwara clan was a powerful family of imperial regents in Japan, descending from the Nakatomi clan and, as legend held, through them their ancestral god Ame-no-Koyane. The Fujiwara prospered since the ancient times and dominated the imperial court until th ...

. The

Kujō family is a Japanese aristocratic kin group. Papinot, Jacques Edmond Joseph. (1906). ''Dictionnaire d’histoire et de géographie du Japon''; Papinot, (2003)"Konoe," ''Nobiliare du Japon'', p. 24 retrieved 2013-8-13. The family is a branch of Hokke a ...

was one of the five branches of the historically powerful Fujiwara clan of courtiers.

Family

* Father:

* Mother: Saionji Rinko * Wife: Minamoto no Yoshiko (1202–1234) * Concubine: Omiya no Tsubone * Children: ** Kujō Yoritsugu by Omiya ** Kujō Michijo by Omiya ** Minamoto no Meguhime by Omiya

Events of Yoritsune's ''bakufu''

At the age of seven, in 1226, Yoritsune became ''Sei-i Taishōgun'' in a political deal between his father and the

regent A regent (from Latin : ruling, governing) is a person appointed to govern a state '' pro tempore'' (Latin: 'for the time being') because the monarch is a minor, absent, incapacitated or unable to discharge the powers and duties of the monarchy ...

Hōjō Yoshitoki was the second Hōjō ''shikken'' (regent) of the Kamakura shogunate and head of the Hōjō clan. He was the second son of Hōjō Tokimasa. He was ''shikken'' from the abdication of his father Tokimasa in 1205 until his death in 1224. Early ...

and

Hōjō Masako was a Japanese politician who exercised significant power in the early years of the Kamakura period, which was reflected by her contemporary sobriquet of the "nun shogun". She was the wife of Minamoto no Yoritomo, and mother of Minamoto no Yo ...

who set him up as a puppet shogun. * 1225 ('' Karoku 1, 11th month''): At Kamakura, Yoritsune's coming of age ceremonies took place at age 8; but control of all bakufu affairs remained entirely in the hands of

Hōjō Yasutoki Hōjō Yasutoki (; 1183 – July 14, 1242) was the third '' shikken'' (regent) of the Kamakura shogunate in Japan. He strengthened the political system of the Hōjō regency. Life He was the eldest son of second ''shikken'' Hōjō Yoshitoki. A ...

, the regent (''

shikken The was a titular post held by a member of the Hōjō clan, officially a regent of the shogunate, from 1199 to 1333, during the Kamakura period, and so he was head of the ''bakufu'' (shogunate). It was part of the era referred to as . During ro ...

''). Titsingh, Isaac. (1834). * 1226 (''Karoku 2, 1st month''):

Emperor Go-Horikawa (March 22, 1212 – August 31, 1234) was the 86th emperor of Japan, according to the traditional order of succession. His reign spanned the years from 1221 CE through 1232 CE. This 13th-century sovereign was named after the 10th-century Emperor ...

raised Yoritsune to the first rank of the fifth class in the apex of artistocratic court hierarchy (the ''dōjō

kuge The was a Japanese aristocratic class that dominated the Japanese Imperial Court in Kyoto. The ''kuge'' were important from the establishment of Kyoto as the capital during the Heian period in the late 8th century until the rise of the Kamak ...

''). * 1230 ('' Kangi 2, 12th month''): Yoritsune is married to the daughter of Minamoto no Yoriie. She is 15 years older than he is.Titsingh, * 1231 (''Kangi 3, 2nd month''): Yoritsune is raised to the second rank of the 4th class in the ''dōjō kuge''. * 1231 (''Kangi 3, 3rd month''): Yoritsune is created a general of the left. * 1231 (''Kangi 3, 4th month''): Yoritsune is raised to the first rank of the 4th class in the ''dōjō kuge''. * 1232 ('' Jōei 1, 2nd month''): Yoritsune is raised to the second rank of the 3rd class in the ''dōjō kuge''. * 1233 (''

Tenpuku , also romanized as Tempuku, was a after ''Jōei'' and before ''Bunryaku.'' This period spanned the years from April 1233 to November 1234. The reigning emperor was . Change of era * 1233 : The era name was changed to mark an event or a number ...

1, 1st month''): Yoritsune is granted the court post of provisional * 1234 (''

Bunryaku , also romanized as Bunreki, was a after '' Tenpuku'' and before '' Katei.'' This period spanned the years from November 1234 to September 1235. The reigning emperor was . Change of era * 1234 : The era name was changed to mark an event or a ...

1, 12th month''): Yoritsune is raised to the first rank of the 3rd class in the ''dōjō kuge''.Titsingh, * 1235 (''

Katei was a after ''Bunryaku'' and before '' Ryakunin.'' This period spanned the years from September 1235 to November 1238. The reigning emperor was .Titsingh, Isaac. (1834) ''Annales des empereurs du Japon'', pp. 242-243 Varley, H. Paul. (1980). '' ...

1, 11th month''): Yoritsune is raised to the second rank of the second class in the ''dōjō kuge''. * 1236 (''Katei 2, 7th month''): Yoritsune is raised to the first rank of the second class in the ''dōjō kuge''. * 1237 (''Katei 3, 8th month''): Yoritsune ordered the building of a mansion in the Rokuhara section of Miyako. * 1238 (''

Ryakunin was a after ''Katei was a after ''Bunryaku'' and before '' Ryakunin.'' This period spanned the years from September 1235 to November 1238. The reigning emperor was .Titsingh, Isaac. (1834) ''Annales des empereurs du Japon'', pp. 242-243 Var ...

1, 1st month''): Yoritsune leaves Kamakura en route to Miyako, accompanied by Yaskutoki and the troupes of several provinces. Fujiwara no Yukimitis stays at Kamakura to preserve order in the land. * 1238 (''Ryakunin 1, 2nd month''): Yoritsune arrives in Miyako and begins to live in his new palace at Rokuhara.Titsingh, * 1238 (''Ryakunin 1, 10th month''): Yoritsune leaves Miyako to return to Kamakura. * July 14, 1242 ('' Ninji 3, 15th day of the 6th month''):

died at age 60. From ''Gennin'' 1, or during 19 years, Yasutoki had been the regent or prime minister (''shikken'') of the Kamakura shogunate. Yasutoki's son,

Hōjō Tsunetoki was the fourth ''Shikken'' (1242–1246) of the Kamakura shogunate. He was son of Hōjō Tokiuji and of a former wife of Adachi Kagemori, elder brother of Hōjō Tokiyori and grandson of Hōjō Yasutoki Hōjō Yasutoki (; 1183 – July 14, 12 ...

succeeded him as ''shikken'', but Yoritsune himself took charge of the bakufu. * 1244 ('' Kangen 2''): In the spring of this year, a number of extraordinary phenomena in the skies over Kamakura troubled Yoritsune deeply.Titsingh, * 1244 (''Kangen 2, 4th month''): Yoritsune's son, Yoritsugu, had his coming-of-age ceremonies at age 6. In the same month, Yoritsune asked Emperor Go-Saga for permission to give up his responsibilities as shogun in favor of his son, Kujō Yoritsugu. * September 11, 1245 (''Kangen 3, 7th month''): Yoshitsune shaved his head and became a Buddhist priest. * 1246 (''Kangen 4, 7th month''): Yoritsune's son, now Shogun Yoritsugu (who is only 7 years old) marries the sister of

(who is himself only 16 years old). * September 1, 1256 ('' Kōgen 1, 11th day of the 8th month''): Kujō Yoritsune, also known as Fujiwara Yoritsune, died at the age of 39 years. * October 14, 1256 (''Kōgen 1, 24th day of the 9th month''): Yoritsune's son and successor as Kamakura shogun, Kujō Yoritsugu, also known as Fujiwara Yoritsugu, died at the age of 18 years.Titsingh,

Eras of Yoritsune's ''bakufu''

The years in which Yoritsune was shogun are more specifically identified by more than one

era name A regnal year is a year of the reign of a sovereign, from the Latin ''regnum'' meaning kingdom, rule. Regnal years considered the date as an ordinal, not a cardinal number. For example, a monarch could have a first year of rule, a second year of ...

or ''

nengō The , also known as , is the first of the two elements that identify years in the Japanese era calendar scheme. The second element is a number which indicates the year number within the era (with the first year being ""), followed by the literal ...

''. * '' Karoku'' (1225–1227) * '' Antei'' (1227–1229) * '' Kangi'' (1229–1232) * '' Jōei'' (1232–1233) * ''

'' (1233–1234) * ''

'' (1234–1235) * ''

'' (1235–1238) * ''

'' (1238–1239) * ''

En'ō was a after ''Ryakunin'' and before ''Ninji , also called Jinji, was a after '' En'ō'' and before ''Kangen.'' This period spanned the years from August 1240 to January 1243. The reigning emperors were and . Change of era * 1240 : The er ...

'' (1239–1240) * '' Ninji'' (1240–1243) * '' Kangen'' (1243–1247)

Notes

References

* Mass, Jeffrey P. (1976). ''The Kamakura bakufu: a study in documents''. Stanford: Stanford University Press. * __________. (1974). ''Warrior government in early medieval Japan: a study of the Kamakura Bakufu, shugo and jitō'' New Haven: Yale University Press. * Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric and Käthe Roth. (2005)
''Japan encyclopedia''.
Cambridge: Harvard University Press.
OCLC 58053128
* Ōyama Kyōhei. ''Kamakura bakufu'' 鎌倉幕府. Tokyo: Shōgakkan 小学館, 1974. * Titsingh, Isaac. (1834). ''

Nihon Ōdai Ichiran , ', is a 17th-century chronicle of the serial reigns of Japanese emperors with brief notes about some of the noteworthy events or other happenings. According to the 1871 edition of the '' American Cyclopaedia'', the 1834 French translation of ...

''; ou
''Annales des empereurs du Japon''.
Paris: Royal Asiatic Society, Oriental Translation Fund of Great Britain and Ireland
OCLC 5850691
* Varley, H. Paul. (1980). ''A Chronicle of Gods and Sovereigns: Jinnō Shōtōki of Kitabatake Chikafusa''. New York:

Columbia University Press Columbia University Press is a university press based in New York City, and affiliated with Columbia University. It is currently directed by Jennifer Crewe (2014–present) and publishes titles in the humanities and sciences, including the fie ...

.
OCLC 6042764
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kujo, Yoritsune 1218 births 1256 deaths 13th-century Japanese people 13th-century shōguns Kamakura shōguns People of Kamakura-period Japan Fujiwara clan People from Kyoto