, commonly translated as ' ilitarygovernor', 'protector', or 'constable', was a title given to certain officials in

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

. They were each appointed by the

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 ...

to oversee one or more of the

provinces of Japan were first-level administrative divisions of Japan from the 600s to 1868. Provinces were established in Japan in the late 7th century under the Ritsuryō law system that formed the first central government. Each province was divided into and ...

. The position gave way to the emergence of the

daimyo were powerful Japanese magnates, feudal lords who, from the 10th century to the early Meiji period in the middle 19th century, ruled most of Japan from their vast hereditary land holdings. They were subordinate to the shogun and nominally to ...

(military feudal lords) in the late 15th century, as ''shugo'' began to claim power over lands themselves, rather than serving simply as governors on behalf of the shogunate.

History

The post is said to have been created in 1185 by shogun

Minamoto no Yoritomo was the founder and the first shogun of the Kamakura shogunate, ruling from 1192 until 1199, also the first ruling shogun in the history of Japan.Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005). "Minamoto no Yoriie" in . He was the husband of Hōjō Masako ...

to aid the capture of Yoshitsune, with the additional motivation of extending the rule of the Minamoto shogunate government throughout Japan. The ''shugo'' (military governors) progressively supplanted the existing ''kokushi'' (civil governors), who were appointed by the

Imperial Court in Kyoto The Imperial Court in Kyoto was the nominal ruling government of Japan from 794 AD until the Meiji period (1868–1912), after which the court was moved from Kyoto (formerly Heian-kyō) to Tokyo (formerly Edo) and integrated into the Meiji go ...

. Officially, the ''

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 each province were supposed to serve the ''shugo'', but in practice, the relationship between them was fragile, as the gokenin were vassals of the ''shōgun'' as well. ''Shugo'' often stayed for long periods in the capital, far from their province, and were sometimes appointed ''shugo'' for several provinces at the same time. In such cases, a deputy ''shugo'', or ''

shugodai were officials during feudal Japan. Shugodai were representatives of provincial shugo when the shugo could not virtually exercise his power, being often away from his province. Unlike shugo, who were appointed from the central power of the sa ...

'' (守護代), was appointed. Over time, the powers of some ''shugo'' grew considerably. Around the time of the

Ōnin War The , also known as the Upheaval of Ōnin and Ōnin-Bunmei war, was a civil war that lasted from 1467 to 1477, during the Muromachi period in Japan. ''Ōnin'' refers to the Japanese era name, Japanese era during which the war started; the war ende ...

(1467–1477), conflicts between ''shugo'' became common. Some ''shugo'' lost their powers to subordinates such as the ''shugodai'', while others strengthened their grip on their territories. As a result, at the end of the 15th century, the beginning of the

Sengoku period The was the period in History of Japan, Japanese history in which civil wars and social upheavals took place almost continuously in the 15th and 16th centuries. The Kyōtoku incident (1454), Ōnin War (1467), or (1493) are generally chosen as th ...

, the power in the country was divided amongst military lords of various kinds (''shugo'', ''shugodai'', and others), who came to be called ''daimyōs''.

Famous ''shugo'' and ''daimyō'' clans of the Muromachi period

Below is a list of some of the major clans that produced ''shugos'' and ''daimyōs'' during the

Muromachi The , also known as the , is a division of History of Japan, Japanese history running from approximately 1336 to 1573. The period marks the governance of the Ashikaga shogunate, Muromachi or Ashikaga shogunate ( or ), which was officially establ ...

era and Sengoku period, as well as the regions over which they ruled. *

Hosokawa clan The is a Japanese samurai kin group or Japanese clan, clan. The clan descends from the Seiwa Genji, a branch of the Minamoto clan, and ultimately from Emperor Seiwa, through the Ashikaga clan. It produced many prominent officials in the Ashikaga ...

– Izumi, Settsu, Tanba, Bitchū, Awaji, Awa, Sanuki, Iyo, and Tosa provinces * Takeda clan – Kai Province,

Aki province or Geishū () was a province in the Chūgoku region of western Honshu, comprising the western part of what is today Hiroshima Prefecture. History When Emperor Shōmu ordered two official temples for each province (one for male Buddhist prie ...

, Wakasa Province * Ōtomo clan – Bungo Province, Buzen Province *

Toki clan The is a Japanese kin group.Edmond Papinot, Papinot, Jacques Edmond Joseph. (1906). ''Dictionnaire d’histoire et de géographie du Japon''; Papinot, (2003)"Toki," ''Nobiliare du Japon'', p. 61 retrieved 2013-5-9. History The Toki claim desce ...

–

Mino Province was a province of Japan in the area of Japan that is today southern Gifu Prefecture. Mino was bordered by Ōmi to the west, Echizen and Hida to the north, Shinano to the east, and Ise, Mikawa, and Owari to the south. Its abbreviated fo ...

Rokkaku clan The was a Japanese samurai clan. Papinot, Jacques Edmond Joseph. (1906). ''Dictionnaire d’histoire et de géographie du Japon''; Papinot, (2003)">DF 53 of 80">"Rokkaku" at ''Nobiliare du Japon'', p. 49 DF 53 of 80/nowiki> retrieved 2013-4-3 ...

– Ōmi Province">DF 53 of 80/nowiki> retrieved 2013-4-3 ...

History

Famous ''shugo'' and ''daimyō'' clans of the Muromachi period

References

Further reading