was the founder and the first

shogun , officially , was the title of the military aristocracy, rulers of Japan during most of the period spanning from 1185 to 1868. Nominally appointed by the Emperor of Japan, Emperor, shoguns were usually the de facto rulers of the country, exc ...

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 Yori ...

, ruling from 1192 until 1199, also the first ruling

in the

history of Japan The first human inhabitants of the Japanese archipelago have been traced to the Japanese Paleolithic, Paleolithic, around 38–39,000 years ago. The Jōmon period, named after its cord-marked pottery, was followed by the Yayoi period in the fi ...

.Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005). "Minamoto no Yoriie" in . He was the husband of

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 Yori ...

who acted as regent (''

shikken The was a senior government post held by members of the Hōjō clan, officially a regent of the shogunate. From 1199 to 1333, during the Kamakura period, the ''shikken'' served as the head of the ''bakufu'' (shogun's government). This era was ref ...

'') after his death. Yoritomo was the son of

Minamoto no Yoshitomo (1123 – 11 February 1160) was the head of the Minamoto clan and a general of the late Heian period of Japanese history. His son Minamoto no Yoritomo became ''shōgun'' and founded the Kamakura shogunate, the first shogunate in the history o ...

and belonged to

Seiwa Genji The is a line of the Japanese Minamoto clan that is descended from Emperor Seiwa, which is the most successful and powerful line of the clan. Many of the most famous Minamoto members, including Minamoto no Yoshitsune, Minamoto no Yoritomo, ...

's prestigious

Kawachi Genji The Kawachi Genji () were members of a family line within that of the Seiwa Genji, which in turn was one of several branches of the Minamoto clan, one of the most famous noble clans in Japanese history. Descended from Minamoto no Yorinobu (968 ...

family. After successfully maneuvering himself to the position of rightful heir of the

Minamoto clan was a Aristocracy (class), noble surname bestowed by the Emperors of Japan upon members of the Imperial House of Japan, imperial family who were excluded from the List of emperors of Japan, line of succession and demoted into the ranks of Nobili ...

, he led his clan against the

Taira The was one of the four most important clans that dominated Japanese politics during the Heian period of Japanese history – the others being the Minamoto, the Fujiwara, and the Tachibana. The clan is divided into four major groups, named ...

from his capital in

Kamakura , officially , is a city of Kanagawa Prefecture in Japan. It is located in the Kanto region on the island of Honshu. The city has an estimated population of 172,929 (1 September 2020) and a population density of 4,359 people per km2 over the tota ...

, beginning the

Genpei War The was a national civil war between the Taira clan, Taira and Minamoto clan, Minamoto clans during the late Heian period of Japan. It resulted in the downfall of the Taira and the establishment of the Kamakura shogunate under Minamoto no Yori ...

in 1180. After five years of civil war, the Minamoto clan finally defeated the Taira in the

Battle of Dan-no-ura A battle is an occurrence of combat in warfare between opposing military units of any number or size. A war usually consists of multiple battles. In general, a battle is a military engagement that is well defined in duration, area, and force c ...

in 1185. Yoritomo established the supremacy of the

samurai The samurai () were members of the warrior class in Japan. They were originally provincial warriors who came from wealthy landowning families who could afford to train their men to be mounted archers. In the 8th century AD, the imperial court d ...

caste and the first shogunate (''

bakufu , officially , was the title of the military rulers 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, except during parts of the Kamak ...

'') which was to be centered around Kamakura, thus beginning the feudal age in Japan, which lasted until the 17th century.

Early life

Yoritomo was the third son of

, heir of the

Minamoto was a noble surname bestowed by the Emperors of Japan upon members of the imperial family who were excluded from the line of succession and demoted into the ranks of the nobility since 814."...the Minamoto (1192-1333)". ''Warrior Rule in Jap ...

(

) clan, and his official wife, Yura-Gozen, daughter of Fujiwara no Suenori, High Priest of Atsuta Shrine and a member of the powerful

Fujiwara clan The 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 ancient times and dominated the imperial court until th ...

. Yoritomo was born in the family villa, on the western side of Atsuta Shrine, in Atsuta,

Nagoya is the largest city in the Chūbu region of Japan. It is the list of cities in Japan, fourth-most populous city in Japan, with a population of 2.3million in 2020, and the principal city of the Chūkyō metropolitan area, which is the List of ...

Owari Province was a province of Japan in the area that today forms the western half of Aichi Prefecture, including the modern city of Nagoya. The province was created in 646. Owari bordered on Mikawa, Mino, and Ise Provinces. Owari and Mino provinces w ...

(present-day Seigan-ji). At the time, his grandfather

Minamoto no Tameyoshi was a Japanese samurai lord in the Heian period, who was the head of the Minamoto clan during his lifetime. He was the son of Minamoto no Yoshichika, son of Minamoto no Yoshiie. He led the Minamoto in the Hōgen Rebellion. He was also known as . ...

was the head of the Minamoto clan. His childhood name was Oniwakamaru (鬼武丸). He was a descendant of

Emperor Seiwa was the 56th emperor of Japan,Imperial Household Agency (''Kunaichō'') 清和天皇 (56)/ref> according to the traditional order of succession. Seiwa's reign spanned the years from 858 through 876. Traditional narrative Seiwa was the fourth ...

. In 1156, factional divisions in the court erupted into open warfare within the

capital Capital and its variations may refer to: Common uses * Capital city, a municipality of primary status ** Capital region, a metropolitan region containing the capital ** List of national capitals * Capital letter, an upper-case letter Econom ...

. The

cloistered A cloister (from Latin , "enclosure") is a covered walk, open gallery, or open arcade running along the walls of buildings and forming a quadrangle or garth. The attachment of a cloister to a cathedral or church, commonly against a warm souther ...

Emperor Toba was the 74th Emperor of Japan,Imperial Household Agency (''Kunaichō'') 鳥羽天皇 (74)/ref> according to the traditional order of succession. Toba's reign spanned the years from 1107 through 1123. Genealogy Before his ascension to the Ch ...

and his son

Emperor Go-Shirakawa was the 77th emperor of Japan, according to the traditional order of succession. His de jure reign spanned the years from 1155 through 1158, though arguably he effectively maintained imperial power for almost thirty-seven years through the ''in ...

sided with the son of Fujiwara regent Fujiwara no Tadazane, Fujiwara no Tadamichi as well as

Taira no Kiyomori was a military leader and '' kugyō'' of the late Heian period of Japan. He established the first samurai-dominated administrative government in the history of Japan. Early life Kiyomori was born in Japan, in 1118 as the first son of Taira ...

(heir of the

clan at the time), while Cloistered Emperor Sutoku sided with Tadazane's younger son,

Fujiwara no Yorinaga was a Japanese statesman and a member of the Fujiwara clan who was highly significant in determining the course of 12th century Japanese political history. Early life Born in 1120, Yorinaga had a turbulent youth. He later wrote that he did not l ...

. This is known as the

Hōgen Rebellion The was a short civil war fought in order to resolve a dispute about Japanese Imperial succession. The dispute was also about the degree of control exercised by the Fujiwara clan who had become hereditary Imperial regents during the Heian p ...

. The

clan were split. The head of the clan, Tameyoshi, sided with Sutoku. However, his son, Yoshitomo (father of Yoritomo), sided with Toba and Go-Shirakawa, as well as Kiyomori. In the end, the supporters of Go-Shirakawa won the civil war, thus ensuring victory for Yoshitomo and Kiyomori. Sutoku was placed under house arrest, and Yorinaga was fatally wounded in battle. Tameyoshi was executed by the forces of Yoshitomo. Nonetheless, Go-Shirakawa and Kiyomori were ruthless, and Yoshitomo found himself as the head of the

clan, while Yoritomo became the heir. Yoritomo and the

clan descended from the imperial family on his father's side. Nonetheless, in

Kyoto Kyoto ( or ; Japanese language, Japanese: , ''Kyōto'' ), officially , is the capital city of Kyoto Prefecture in the Kansai region of Japan's largest and most populous island of Honshu. , the city had a population of 1.46 million, making it t ...

, the

clan, now under the leadership of Kiyomori, and the Minamoto clan, under the leadership of Yoshitomo, began to factionalize again. Four years later, Kiyomori supported Fujiwara no Michinori, also known as Shinzei. However, Yoshitomo supported Fujiwara no Nobuyori. This was known as the Heiji Rebellion. Nonetheless, the

were not well prepared, and the

took control of

. Shinzei's mansion was attacked by the Taira; Shinzei escaped, only to be captured and decapitated shortly thereafter. The Taira then burned the ex-emperor's palace, defeating the Minamoto. Yoshitomo fled the capital but was later betrayed and executed by a retainer. In the aftermath, harsh terms were imposed on the Minamoto and their allies. Only Yoshitomo's three young boys remained alive, so that Kiyomori and the Taira clan were now the undisputed leaders of Japan. Yoritomo, the new head of the Minamoto, was not executed by Kiyomori because of pleas from Kiyomori's stepmother but was exiled. Yoritomo's brothers,

Minamoto no Noriyori was a Japanese samurai lord of the late Heian period and early Kamakura period, who fought alongside his brothers Minamoto no Yoritomo and Minamoto no Yoshitsune at a number of battles of the Genpei War. He was the sixth son of Minamoto no Yosh ...

and

Minamoto no Yoshitsune was a commander of the Minamoto clan of Japan in the late Heian period, Heian and early Kamakura period, Kamakura periods. During the Genpei War, he led a series of battles that toppled the Ise-Heishi branch of the Taira clan, helping his half-br ...

were also allowed to live. Yoritomo grew up in exile. He married into the

Hōjō clan The was a Japanese samurai family who controlled the hereditary title of '' shikken'' (regent) of the Kamakura shogunate between 1203 and 1333. Despite the title, in practice the family wielded actual political power in Japan during this perio ...

, led by

Hōjō Tokimasa was a Japanese samurai lord who was the first ''shikken'' (regent) of the Kamakura shogunate and head of the Hōjō clan. He was ''shikken'' from 1203 until his abdication in 1205, and Protector of Kyoto from 1185 to 1186. Background The Hō ...

, marrying Tokimasa's daughter,

. Meanwhile, he was notified of events in

Family

Parents * Father:

(源義朝, 1123 – February 11, 1160) * Mother: Yura Gozen (由良御前, d. 1159), daughter of Fujiwara no Suenori (藤原季範) Consorts and issues *Possible Wife: Yaehime (八重姫), daughter of Itō Sukechika (伊東祐親) **Chizurumaru (千鶴丸), possible first son *Wife:

(北条政子, 1156 – August 16, 1225), daughter of

(北条時政) **Ohime (大姫, 1178 – August 28, 1197), Fiance of Minamoto no Yoshitaka (源義高), first daughter **

Minamoto no Yoriie was the second ''shōgun'' (1202–1203) of Japan's Kamakura shogunate, and the first son of first shōgun Yoritomo. His Dharma name was Hokke-in-dono Kingo Da'i Zengo (法華院殿金吾大禅閤). Life Minamoto no Yoriie was born to Hōj ...

(Japanese: 源頼家, September 11 1182 – August 14, 1204), first son **Lady Mihata (三幡, 1186 – July 24, 1199), second daughter **

Minamoto no Sanetomo was the third ''shōgun'' of the Kamakura shogunate. He was the second son of the Kamakura shogunate founder, Minamoto no Yoritomo. His mother was Hōjō Masako and his older brother was the second Kamakura shogun Minamoto no Yoriie. His child ...

(源実朝, September 12 1192 – February 12, 1219, r. 1203–1219), third son *Concubine: Kame no Mae (亀の前) *Concubine: Daishin no Tsubone (大進局), daughter of Date Tomomune (伊達朝宗) **Jōgyō (貞暁, March 18, 1186 – May 27, 1231 ), also known as Kamamura Hōin (鎌倉法印), second son

Call to arms and the Genpei War (1180–1185)

Minamoto no Yoritomo hanging scroll painting 14th century

In 1180,

Prince Mochihito (died June 1180), also known as the Takakura Prince, and as Minamoto no Mochimitsu (源以光), was a son of Emperor Go-Shirakawa of Japan. He is noted for his role in starting the Genpei War. Believing that Taira no Kiyomori was causing su ...

, a son of Cloistered

, made a national call to arms of the Minamoto clan all over Japan to rebel against the

. Yoritomo took part in this, especially after tensions escalated between the Taira and Minamoto after the death of

Minamoto no Yorimasa was a Japanese poet, aristocrat and samurai lord. His poetry appeared in various anthologies. He served eight different emperors in his long career, holding posts such as ''hyōgo no kami'' (head of the arsenal). As a general, he led the Mina ...

and

himself. Yoritomo established himself as the rightful heir of the

clan and set up a capital in

to the east. Not all Minamoto thought of Yoritomo as rightful heir, however. His uncle,

Minamoto no Yukiie was a brother of Minamoto no Yoshitomo, and one of the commanders of the Minamoto forces in the Genpei War at the end of the Heian period of Japanese history. In 1181, he was defeated at the Battle of Sunomatagawa by Taira no Shigehira. After ...

, and his cousin

Minamoto no Yoshinaka , also known as , was a Japanese samurai lord mentioned in the epic poem '' The Tale of the Heike.'' A member of the Minamoto clan, he was a cousin and later rival of ''shogun'' Minamoto no Yoritomo during the Genpei War between the Minamoto and t ...

, conspired against him. In September 1180, Yoritomo was defeated at the

Battle of Ishibashiyama The was the first in which Minamoto no Yoritomo, who became ''shōgun'' less than a decade later, was commander of the Minamoto forces. The battle was fought on September 14, 1180, in the southwest of present-day Odawara, Kanagawa Prefecture, ...

, his first major battle, when Ōba Kagechika led a rapid night attack. After his defeat in Mt. Ishibashiyama, Minamoto no Yoritomo fled into the Hakone mountains, stayed in

Yugawara is a List of towns in Japan, town located in Ashigarashimo District, Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan. , the town had an estimated population of 23,267 and a population density of 570 persons per km2. The total area of the town is . Geography Yugaw ...

, then escaped from Manazuru-Iwa to Awa (south of present-day Chiba). Yoritomo spent the next six months raising a new army.

died in 1181 and the Taira clan was now led by

Taira no Munemori was heir to Taira no Kiyomori, and one of the Taira clan's chief commanders in the Genpei War. As his father Taira no Kiyomori laid on his deathbed, Kiyomori declared, among his last wishes, that all affairs of the clan be placed in Munemor ...

. Munemori took a much more aggressive policy against the Minamoto and attacked Minamoto bases from

in the

. Nonetheless, Yoritomo was well protected in

. His brothers

and

defeated the Taira in several battles, but they could not stop

, Yoritomo's rival, from entering

in 1183 and chasing the Taira south. The Taira took

Emperor Antoku was the 81st emperor of Japan, according to the traditional order of succession. His reign spanned the years from 1180 through 1185. His death marked the end of the Heian period and the beginning of the Kamakura period. During this time, the Im ...

with them. In 1184, the Minamoto replaced Antoku with

Emperor Go-Toba was the 82nd emperor of Japan, according to the traditional order of succession. His reign spanned the years from 1183 through 1198. This 12th-century sovereign was named after Emperor Toba, and ''go-'' (後), translates literally as "later"; ...

. From 1181 to 1184, a de facto truce with the Taira-dominated court allowed Yoritomo the time to build an administration of his own, centered on his military headquarters in Kamakura. In the end he triumphed over his rival cousins, who sought to steal control of the clan from him, and over the

, who suffered a terrible defeat at the

in 1185. Yoritomo established the supremacy of the

caste and the first shogunate (

) at Kamakura, thus beginning the feudal age in Japan, which lasted until the 17th century.

Later years and death

As he rose to a position of power, Yoritomo began to defy and undermine the authority of Emperor Go-Shirakawa by appointing his own ''jitō'' (district stewards) and ''shugo'' (constables), thus eroding the central government's local administrative power. In the summer of 1189, Yoritomo invaded and subjugated the northern provinces of Mutsu and Dewa. In December 1190 Yoritomo took up residence in his Rokuhara mansion at the capital, the former headquarters of the Taira clan. When his old rival, Emperor Go-Shirakawa died in the spring of 1192, there was no longer anyone standing in the way of his ultimate ambition. Thus, Yoritomo gave himself the title of ''Sei-i Tai Shōgun'' (Barbarian-quelling Generalissimo) which formally placed all the feudal lords and both the ''jitō'' and ''shugo'' under his direct control. Thus creating a new

feudal state Feudalism, also known as the feudal system, was a combination of legal, economic, military, cultural, and political customs that flourished in medieval Europe from the 9th to 15th centuries. Broadly defined, it was a way of structuring societ ...

organized around

while

was relegated to the role of "national ceremony and ritual". Yoritomo gathered his ''

gokenin A was initially a vassal of the shogunate of the Kamakura and the Muromachi periods.Iwanami Kōjien, "Gokenin" In exchange for protection and the right to become '' jitō'' (manor's lord), a ''gokenin'' had in times of peace the duty to protect ...

'' in May 1193 and arranged a grand hunting event, Fuji no Makigari. On May 16, Yoritomo's 12-year-old son Yoriie shot a deer for the first time. Hunting was stopped and a festival was held in the evening. Yoritomo rejoiced in his son's achievement and sent a messenger to his wife Masako, but Masako sent the messenger back, saying that a military commander's son being able to shoot a deer is nothing to celebrate. The

Revenge of the Soga Brothers The Revenge of the Soga Brothers (曾我兄弟の仇討ち, ''Soga kyōdai no adauchi'') was a vengeance incident on 28 June 1193, during the Fuji no Makigari hunting event arranged by shogun Minamoto no Yoritomo. The Soga brothers, Soga Sukenari ...

took place on May 28 of the same year at the Fuji no Makigari hunting event. The brothers

Soga Sukenari Soga Sukenari (Japanese: 曾我祐成, 1172 - June 28, 1193) was a Japanese samurai in the early Kamakura period. He and his brother Soga Tokimune are known for being the perpetrators of the Revenge of the Soga Brothers incident. He is a centr ...

and

Soga Tokimune Soga Tokimune (Japanese language, Japanese: 曾我時致, 1174 - June 29, 1193) was a Japanese samurai in the late Heian period, Heian and early Kamakura period, Kamakura periods. He and his brother Soga Sukenari are known for being the perpetra ...

murdered the killer of their father, Kudō Suketsune. The brothers managed to kill 10 other participants until Nitta Tadatsune killed Sukenari. Then, Tokimune raided Yoritomo's mansion attempting to attack Yoritomo, but was finally taken down by Gosho no Gorōmaru, thus saving Yoritomo from a possible

assassination Assassination is the willful killing, by a sudden, secret, or planned attack, of a personespecially if prominent or important. It may be prompted by political, ideological, religious, financial, or military motives. Assassinations are orde ...

attempt and ending the massacre. After this, Yoritomo took Tokimune in for questioning and had him

executed Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty and formerly called judicial homicide, is the state-sanctioned killing of a person as punishment for actual or supposed misconduct. The sentence (law), sentence ordering that an offender b ...

later. Yoritomo was ordained as a Buddhist monk in 1199 and left his home. He received the

Buddhist name A Dharma name is a new name acquired during both lay and monastic Buddhist initiation rituals in Mahayana Buddhism and monastic ordination in Theravada Buddhism (where it is more proper to call it Dhamma or Sangha name). The name is tradition ...

Bukōshōgendaizenmon (武皇嘯厚大禅門). He died two days later at the age of 51.

Appearance and personality

According to '' The Tale of Heiji,'' Yoritomo was "more adult-like than others of his age", and the figure of a young warrior Yoritomo appears in the picture scroll of ''The Tale of Heiji''. ''

Genpei Jōsuiki The , is a 48-book extended version of the ''Heike Monogatari'' (''The Tale of the Heike''). References External links at University of Virginia The University of Virginia (UVA) is a Public university#United States, public research unive ...

'' describes Yoritomo saying "his face is large and appearance is beautiful." The imperial messenger Nakahara no Yasusada, who met Yoritomo in

in August 1183, said that "he is short and his face is large, his appearance is graceful and language is civilized." Kujō no Kanezane writes in his diary ''Tamaha'' that "Yoritomo's body is of rigorous power, and his fierce nature is accompanied with a clear distinction and firm resolution of the judgement of right and wrong." Yoritomo practiced '' shudō'' with Yoshinao, a member of the Imperial Guard. Historian Hideo Kuroda organized and examined the portraits and statues of Minamoto no Yoritomo and has concluded as follows. When comparing the statues of Minamoto no Yoritomo in Higashihirozo and

Hōjō Tokiyori was the fifth shikken (regent of shogun) of the Kamakura shogunate in Japan. Early life He was born to warrior monk Hōjō Tokiuji and a daughter of Adachi Kagemori, younger brother of Hōjō Tsunetoki, the fourth shikken, and grandson of ...

Kenchō-ji Kenchō-ji (建長寺) is a Rinzai Zen temple in Kamakura, Kanagawa, Kamakura, Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan, which ranks first among Kamakura's so-called Five Great Zen Temples (the ''Kamakura Gozan'') and is the oldest Zen training monastery in Jap ...

, from the facial expression to size, they are almost identical, and there is evidence that the '' kariginu'' was remodeled into a '' sokutai'', the formal dress of the shogun, by adding a ''hirao'' and ''sekitai.'' Kuroda argues that the statue was originally a statue of Hōjō Tokiyori sculpted in Kamakura in the 14th century, but after the original statue of Yoritomo was lost, an altered statue of Tokiyori was used as a replacement. On the other hand, he considers the inscription on the statue of Minamoto no Yoritomo in Kai Province,

Zenkō-ji is a Buddhism, Buddhist temple located in the city of Nagano, Nagano, Nagano, Japan. The temple was built in the 7th century. It is one of the few remaining pilgrimage sites in Japan. The modern city of Nagano began as a town built around the ...

to be the name of the repairer instead of the name of the sculptor, and that it was made at the request of

in the first quarter of the 13th century. Thus, Kuroda concludes that this statue is the only accurate depiction of Minamoto no Yoritomo.

Legacy

In the words of

George Bailey Sansom Sir George Bailey Sansom (28 November 1883 – 8 March 1965) was a British diplomat and historian of pre-modern Japan, particularly noted for his historical surveys and his attention to Japanese society and culture. Early life Sansom was bor ...

, "Yoritomo was a truly great man … his foresight was remarkable, but so was his practical good sense in setting up machinery to match his own expanding power." Yoritomo's wife's family, the Hōjō, took control after his death at

, maintaining power over the shogunate until 1333, under the title of ''

'' (regent to the ''shōgun''). One of his brothers-in-law was Ashikaga Yoshikane.Nussbaum, "Ashikaga Yoshikane" at The '' stone pagoda'' traditionally believed to be his grave is still maintained today, adjacent to Shirahata Shrine, a short distance from the spot believed to be the site of the so-called

Ōkura Bakufu (also called is the name given in Japan to the first government of the Kamakura shogunate, shōgun Minamoto no Yoritomo. The name is that of the location in Kamakura, Kanagawa, Kamakura, Kanagawa Prefecture, where Yoritomo's palace used to stand. ...

, his shogunate's administrative-governmental offices.

Cultural references

He appears as a hero unit in '' Age of Empires II: The Age of Kings'', and as a hero unit in '' Total War: Shogun 2''. A character named "Yoritomo" appears in Book 6: "The Lords of the Rising Sun" in the

Fabled Lands Fabled Lands is a series of fantasy gamebooks written by established gamebook authors Dave Morris and Jamie Thomson and published by Pan Books, a division of Macmillan in the mid 1990s. Cover art was by Kevin Jenkins with Russ Nicholson and Ar ...

adventure gamebook series, where Yoritomo is the self-proclaimed ''shōgun'' and on the verge of war with "Lord Kiyomori". He appears as the final boss in Genpei Toma Den, an arcade game created by

Namco was a Japanese multinational video game and entertainment company founded in 1955. It operated video arcades and amusement parks globally, and produced video games, films, toys, and arcade cabinets. Namco was one of the most influential c ...

in which the player character is Taira no Kagekiyo, another Japanese historical figure. He also appears as a prominent character in the 2021 anime series ''

The Heike Story is an epic account compiled prior to 1330 of the struggle between the Taira clan and Minamoto clan for control of Japan at the end of the 12th century in the Genpei War (1180–1185). It has been translated into English at least five times. ...

''.

Eras of Yoritomo's ''bakufu''

The years in which Yoritomo was ''shōgun'' 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 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 rule, a t ...

or ''

nengō The or , 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 "", meaning "origin, basis"), followed b ...

''. * ''

Kenkyū was a after '' Bunji'' and before ''Shōji.'' This period spanned the years from April 1190 through April 1199. The reigning emperor was . Change of era * 1190 : The new era name was created to mark an event or a number of events. The previou ...

'' (1190–1199) * ''

Shōji A is a door, window or room divider used in traditional Japanese architecture, consisting of Transparency and translucency, translucent (or transparent) sheets on a lattice frame. Where light transmission is not needed, the similar but opaq ...

'' (1199–1201)

Notes

References

* Mass, Jeffrey P. (1999). ''Yoritomo and the Founding of the First Bakufu: the Origins of Dual Government in Japan''. Stanford: Stanford University Press. , * Nagahara Keiji 永原慶二. ''Minamoto no Yoritomo'' 源頼朝. Tokyo: Iwanami-shoten, 1995. * Naramoto Tatsuya 奈良本辰也, et al. ''Minamoto no Yoritomo'' 源頼朝. Tokyo: Shisakusha, 1972. * Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric and Käthe Roth. (2005)
''Japan Encyclopedia''.
Cambridge:

Harvard University Press Harvard University Press (HUP) is an academic publishing house established on January 13, 1913, as a division of Harvard University. It is a member of the Association of University Presses. Its director since 2017 is George Andreou. The pres ...

. , * 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. * Yamaji Aizan 山路愛山. ''Minamoto no Yoritomo: jidai daihyō Nihon eiyūden'' 源頼朝: 時代代表日本英雄伝. Tokyo: Heibonsha, 1987. * Yoshikawa, Eiji. (1989) ''Yoshikawa Eiji Rekishi Jidai Bunko'' (''Eiji Yoshikawa's Historical Fiction''), Vols. 41–42: ''Minamoto Yoritomo'' (源頼朝). Tokyo: Kodansha.

External links

Ōmachi
by the Kamakura Citizen's Net, accessed on September 30, 2008

(include "Seigan-ji Temple" Birthplace of Minamoto-no Yoritomo) {{DEFAULTSORT:Minamoto no, Yoritomo Minamoto clan 1147 births 1199 deaths 12th-century Japanese people 12th-century shōguns Kamakura shōguns Samurai People from Nagoya People of the Heian period People of the Genpei War People of the Kamakura period History of Kyoto Buddhist clergy of the Kamakura period City founders Deified Japanese men Kabuki characters