Ashikaga Shogunate

Ashikaga Shogunate

This shogunate saw the Ashikaga family dominate Japanese society, ruling for much of the period from their headquarters in the Muromachi district of Kyoto. As a result the shogunate, or bakufu (“tent government,” in effect a military dictatorship), with military power controlled by the seii tai shogun or shogun (“general who subdues barbarians”)—is called either the Ashikaga or the Muromachi Shogunate.

The Ashikaga Shogunate lasted from 1336 until, officially, 1588, although the last of the family was ousted from Kyoto in 1573, and it did not have much military power after the 1520s. The period when the Ashikaga family dominated Japanese politics reached its peak when Ashikaga Yoshimasa (1436–90) held the hereditary title of shogun (military dictator) of Japan from 1449 to 1473, although the last years of his shogunate were dominated by a succession of crises leading to the Onin War (1467– 77). Yoshimasa’s period as shogun—or, strictly speaking, the time after his abdication—represented an important period for the development of Japanese fine arts.

The Ashikaga was a warrior family that had been prominent in Japanese society since the 12th century, when Yoshiyasu (d. 1157) took as his family name that of their residence in Ashikaga. They trace their ancestry back further to Minamoto Yoshiie (1039–1106), also known as Hachiman Taro Yoshiie, the grandfather of Yoshiyasu. From the Seiwa Genji branch of the famous Minamoto family, he was one of the great warriors of the Later Three Years’ War that raged from 1083 to 1087.


Yoshiyasu’s son took an active part in the Taira-Minamoto wars of 1180–85, and six generations later Ashikaga Takauji became the first shogun, from 1338 to 1358. This came about after Emperor Go-Daigo (r. 1318–39) was exiled to the Oki Islands after being accused of plotting against the Kamakura Shogunate that controlled the army. The emperor rallied some loyal forces with the aim of ending the dominance of the Kamakura family.

Ashikaga Takauji

The emperor put his troops under the command of Ashikaga Takauji and sent them to the central provinces. The choice of Takauji was interesting, as he had taken part in plots against the shogunate in 1324 and again seven years later. Put in charge of an army to defeat the enemies of the shogun, Takauji changed sides and decided to support the emperor. He took Kyoto and ousted the shogun, ushering in what became known as the Kemmu Restoration.

Ashikaga Takauji

However, rivalries quickly broke out between Takauji and another warlord, Nitta Yoshisada. By this time the prestige of the throne was suffering after major administrative failures had clearly resulted in Go-Daigo being unable to protect his supporters. Takauji led his men to Kyoto, which he captured in July 1336, forcing Emperor Go-Daigo to flee to Yoshino in the south.

In 1338 Takauji established what became known as the Ashikaga (or Muromachi) Shogunate, based in Kyoto. Takauji controlled the army and his brother Ashikaga Tadayoshi controlled the bureaucracy, with additional responsibility for the judiciary.

The shogunate initially resulted in a split in the imperial family, with the Kyoto wing supporting it and Go-Daigo and his faction ruling from the southern court at Yoshino. This continued until 1392 when the policy of alternate succession to the throne was reintroduced. After a short period of stability, there was an attempt at an insurrection by Ashikaga Tadayoshi, who seized Kyoto in 1351.

Takauji was able to drive him out, and Tadayoshi fled to Kamakura. Takauji established a “reconciliation,” during which Tadayoshi suddenly died, probably from poisoning. This left Takauji in control of the north, but he died in 1358 and was succeeded by his son Yoshiakira (1330–67), who was shogun until his death in 1367. There was then a short period with no shogun.

Ashikaga Yoshimitsu

Ashikaga Yoshimitsu

When Ashikaga Yoshimitsu (1358–1408) became shogun in 1369, a position he held until 1395, he was able to develop a system by which families loyal to him held much regional power, and the office of military governor was rotated between the Hosokawa, Hatakeyama, and Shiba families. Yoshimitsu may have been planning to start a new dynasty. This theory comes from the fact that he was no longer administering territory in the name of the sovereign.

Certainly he did try to break the power of the court nobility, occasionally having them publicly perform menial tasks. When he went on long pilgrimages, he took so many nobles with him that the procession, to many onlookers, seemed to resemble an imperial parade. Yoshimitsu was able to build a rapport with Emperor Go-Kogon.

His main achievement, involving considerable diplomatic skill, was to end the Northern and Southern Courts by persuading the southern emperor to return to Kyoto in 1392, ending the schism created during his grandfather’s shogunate.

Emperor Go-Kōgon

Yoshimitsu also had to deal with two rebellions—the Meitoku Rebellion of Yamana Ujikiyo in 1391–92 and the Oei Rebellion of 1400 led by Ouchi Yoshihiro (1356–1400). Ouchi Yoshihiro had relied on support from pirates who had attacked Korea and also, occasionally, parts of China, but his rebellion came about when he did not want to contribute to the building of a new villa for the shogun.

He had long harbored resentment against the Ashikaga family, and in some ways the villa was merely an excuse for war. However, very quickly Ouchi Yoshihiro was betrayed by people he thought would support him, and after he was killed in battle, the rebellion ended quickly.

In order to ensure an easy succession Yoshimitsu abdicated the office of the shogun to his son Ashikaga Yoshimochi (1386–1428), who was shogun from 1395 to 1423, while he, himself, remained in Kyoto, where he made vast sums of money monopolizing the import of copper needed for the Japanese currency and negotiating a trade agreement with China in 1401.


He also created a minor controversy by sending a letter to the Ming emperor of China, which he signed with the title “king of Japan.” In his latter years Yoshimitsu became a prominent patron of the arts, supporting painters, calligraphers, potters, landscape gardeners, and flower arrangers. Many of the artists that Yoshimitsu encouraged became interested in Chinese designs and were influenced by their Chinese contemporaries—this became known as the karayo style.

The system of control established by Yoshimitsu continued under Ashikaga Yoshimochi, and his son Yoshikazu (1407–25), who was shogun from 1423–25. However, it was also a period when the Kanto region of Japan started to move out of the control of the shogunate.

Yoshikazu’s uncle Yoshinori (1394–1441) succeeded him, taking over as shogun in 1428. Yoshinori had been a Buddhist monk from childhood and ended up as leader of the Tendai sect, having to give up the life of a monk when his nephew died. Because of his background, he was determined to establish a better system of justice for the poorer people and overhauled the judiciary.

He also strengthened the shogun’s control of the military, making new appointments of people loyal to the Ashikaga family. Many nobles disliked him because he was seen as aloof and arrogant, and in 1441 a general from Honshu, Akamatsu Mitsusuke, assassinated Yoshinori.

In what became known as the Kakitsu incident, Akamatsu Mitsusuke was hunted down by supporters of the shogunate and was forced to commit suicide. Yoshinori’s oldest son, Yoshikatsu (1434–43), succeeded him and was shogun for only two years. With his death, there was no shogun from 1443 to 1449, when Yoshikatsu’s 13-year-old brother, Ashikaga Yoshimasa, became shogun.

The Onin War

Onin War

Ashikaga Yoshimasa was born on January 20, 1436, at Kyoto, and when he became shogun, the shogunate was declining in importance with widespread food shortages and people dying of starvation. Yoshimasa was not that interested in politics and devoted most of his life to being a patron of the arts.

He despaired of the political situation, and without any children, when he was 29 years old he named his younger brother, Yoshimi (1439–91), as his successor and prepared for a lavish retirement. However, in 1465 he and his wife, Hino Tomiko, had a son. His wife was adamant that the boy should be the next shogun, and a conflict between supporters of the two sides—that of Yoshimasa’s wife and that of his brother—started in 1467.

Known as the Onin War, most of the fighting took place around Kyoto, where many historical buildings and temples were destroyed and vast tracts of land were devastated. More important, it showed the relative military impotence of the shogun, and the power of the military governors, and quickly changed from being a dynastic squabble to being a proxy war.

It then became a conflict between the two great warlords in western Japan, Yamana Mochitoyo, who supported the wife and infant son, and his son-in-law, Hosokawa Katsumoto, who supported Yoshimi. Both died during the war, and there was no attempt by either side to end the conflict until, finally, exhausted by the 10 years of conflict, in 1477 the fighting came to an end.

Shogun Ashikaga Yoshimasa

By this time Yoshimasa, anxious to avoid a difficult succession, had stood down as shogun in 1473 in favor of his son. His son, Yoshihisa, was shogun from 1474 until his own death in 1489, whereupon, to heal the wounds of the Onin War, Yoshimasa named his brother’s son as the next shogun. Yoshimi’s son, Yoshitane (1466–1523), was shogun from 1490 until 1493.

In retirement, Yoshimasa moved to the Higashiyama (Eastern Hills) section of Kyoto, where he built a villa that later became the Ginkakuji (Silver Pavilion). There he developed the Japanese tea ceremony into a complicated series of ritualized steps and was a patron to many artists, potters, and actors. This flowering of the arts became known as the Higashiyama period. Yoshimasa died on January 27, 1490.

From the shogunate of Yoshitane, the family was fast losing its political power. Yoshitane’s cousin Yoshizumi (1480–1511) became shogun from 1495 to 1508 and was succeeded, after a long interregnum, by his son Yoshiharu (1511–50), who became shogun in 1522, aged 11, and remained in that position until 1547.

His son Yoshiteru (1536–65) succeeded him from 1547 to 1565, and, after his murder, was then succeeded by a cousin, Yoshihide (1540–68), who was shogun for less than a year. Yoshiteru’s brother Yoshiaki (1537–97) then became the 15th and last shogun of the Ashikaga family. He had been abbot of a Buddhist monastery at Nara, and when he became shogun renounced his life as a monk and tried to rally his family’s supporters against a sustained attack by Oda Nobunaga.

In early 1573 Nobunaga attacked Kyoto and burned down much of the city. In another attack in August of the same year, he was finally able to drive Yoshiaki from Kyoto. Going into exile, in 1588 Yoshiaki formally abdicated as shogun, allowing Toyotomi Hideyoshi to take over.

He then returned to his life as a Buddhist priest. In at least its last 50 years—and arguably for longer—the shogunate had become ineffective, and warlords had once again emerged, often financing their operations by not only pillaging parts of Japan itself but with piratical raids on outlying parts of Japan and Korea.

The Ashikaga Shogunate remains a controversial period of Japanese history. During the 1930s Takauji was heavily criticized in school textbooks for his disrespect to Emperor Go-Daigo. Many historians now recognize him as the man who brought some degree of stability to the country.

The attitude toward Yoshimasa has also changed. Because he concentrated so heavily on the arts, he neglected running the country. He is now recognized as heading an inept administration that saw great suffering in much of Japan. It would lead to a period of great instability that only came to an end when Tokugawa Ieyasu became shogun in 1603.

Japanese Feudalism

Japanese Feudalism

When most people think of feudalism, medieval Europe from about the ninth to 15th centuries is most likely to come to mind. The term feudalism is of fairly recent origin, coined in the 17th century by lawyers and antiquarians who used it to describe rules of land tenure, legal customs, and political institutions that had survived from medieval times. For Marxist historians the key elements of feudalism are the relationships between the feudal landholders and their serfs, whom they compel by force, custom, or law to provide labor, money, or tribute.

Other non-Marxist historians define feudalism as a system of military and political organizations in which armed warriors or knights served leaders, who in turn provided them with land grants in return for personal service. Despite the fact that many of Japan’s governmental structures and institutions were based in part on those of China, Japan’s feudal culture was in many ways more like that of feudal Europe.

By the 19th century, historians generally agreed that the warriors of Japan were the “Oriental” counterparts to the knights of Europe. The roots of Japanese feudalism can be traced back to the seventh century in Japan and extend through the medieval period of Japanese history.


Japan’s political and economic order did not meet the definition of “full feudalism” until about the year 1300, which is much later than the onset of European feudalism. Many of the laws and institutions described as feudal protected privileges of the landholding aristocracy and allowed them to use their power over the peasant class. Feudalism from the modern historian’s perspective has taken on negative connotations as being outdated, oppressive, or irrational.

The primary virtue in the Japanese feudal system was loyalty, because the entire social-political system depended on personal relationships. Contrary to the lord-vassal relationships of European feudalism that were based on mutual and contractual obligation, the Japanese emphasized morality. Loyalty to one’s lord manifested from a belief that he was the superior moral leader.

Unlike in China, where familial loyalty was the dominant ideology, in Japan loyalty to one’s lord was paramount. This is not to say that family ties were unimportant in medieval Japanese society, as inheritance determined power and prestige as well as property ownership.

Japanese feudalism also differed from European feudalism in that there was no cult of chivalry that put women on a romantic pedestal as fragile and inferior beings. Japanese warriors expected their women to be as strong as they were and accept self-sacrifice as part of their obligation to their lord.

The Japanese warriors, who were known as samurai, or “servitors,” placed great importance on the military virtues of bravery, honor, self-discipline, and the stoical acceptance of death. Seppuku, ritual suicide by disembowelment, became the dominant alternative to dishonor or capture.

Warrior class-consciousness—a sense of the warrior class as a separate entity—did not materialize until the 13th century when the Kamakura Shogunate (rule by a military generalissimo) took power. The new institution created a new category of shogunal retainer that held special privileges and responsibilities and narrowed the scope of social classes the samurai class comprised.

Its founder, Minamoto Yoritoto, consciously helped foster this new warrior ethos by holding hunts and archery competitions that helped to solidify the warrior identity. As the samurai served as the enforcers of feudal rule, their role in Japanese history was extremely important and the lord-vassal relationship was pivotal to feudal order.

Beginning in the early seventh century the Yamato court introduced several Chinese political and governmental practices in order to increase the power of the ruler. Within one century the Yamato court transformed itself into a Chinese-style monarchy. The main players in this governmental shift came not only from members of the ruling family, but also from powerful group leaders associated with the Yamato court. China provided both political ideals and a set of political institutions that extended further than the unsophisticated attempts at centralization begun in the sixth century.


Integral to the innovations of the seventh and eighth centuries was a new concept of ruler. Reformers borrowed the Chinese notion of an absolute monarch whose authority went beyond kinship ties. The monarch was considered “the master of the people and the master of the whole land,” and people pledged their allegiance to him and him alone. By the end of the seventh century the ruler was called tenno, or emperor, and the title brought with it increased authority.

The establishment of an imperial capital also helped legitimize the emperor’s ruling status. The first capital was constructed in the southern end of the Yamato Basin but was eventually moved to Nara in 710. In 794 the capital was moved to Heian, later known as Kyoto, where it remained until the 19th century. However the monarchial state did not survive much beyond the eighth century.

Part of the demise of the monarchy can be attributed to the emphasis placed on heredity rather than meritocracy. The members of the Yamato clan were unwilling to share power, as it was synonymous with wealth in the form of land grants, household servants, and agricultural laborers. The old clan leadership was thus transformed into a new ruling class that was dependent on imperial supremacy.

Notwithstanding the departure of the monarchial state from the goals originally intended by the reformers of the seventh century, the emperor, the court, and the aristocracy at the capital survived for several more centuries largely because of the rise of private estates called shoen.

Private estates became the primary source of aristocratic wealth and allowed court aristocrats to exert more power and control. By the end of the 12th century, some historians estimate, more than half the cultivated land was owned privately.

By the late 10th and early 11th centuries warrior chieftains threatened political order and began to emerge with more regularity. Powerful chieftains like Taira Masakado, who owned vast landed estates in the Kanto region, capitalized on the imperial government’s weakness and challenged its authority.

These challenges contributed to the breakup of the court into many aristocratic factions that competed for power and drew certain warrior families into capital politics. Most influential were the Seiwa branch of the Minamoto family and the Ise branch of the Taira family. By the late 11th century the Seiwa influence in the east and the Taira influence in the west had both established important connections in the capital.

After a series of power struggles, Taira Kiyomori emerged with increased influence in the court and political power. With a lack of local authority, however, Kiyomori’s ascendancy ended with the outbreak of the Gempei War (1180–85). Minamoto Yorimoto and his followers succeeded in driving the Taira out of the capital and in 1185 their armies were defeated in the west. The victory meant that Yorimoto became the most powerful chieftain in Japan.

This victory was a defining moment in Japanese history because it resulted in the founding of the Kamakura Bakufu, or “tent government.” Yorimoto sought political independence and wanted to avoid immersion in court politics. Yorimoto’s success can largely be attributed to the lord-vassal bonds he established during the Gempei War. In 1192 Yorimoto took the title of shogun or “generalissimo.”

This title brought with it the responsibility of preserving national peace and order. Eventually however the shogun became a warrior monarch whose power came from the imperial government and actually extended beyond it. Yorimoto remained in power until his death in 1199.

His death started a crisis of sorts because Yorimoto, perhaps because he distrusted his closest kin, did not make effective arrangements for a successor. Hence power fell into the hands of the Hojo clan, where it remained until the end of the Bakufu in 1333. The Kamakura Bakufu marked a big step toward a purely feudal political order.

The decline of Bakufu authority was integral to the onset of full political feudalism, and the Kamakura government was overthrown in 1334, driven by the anarchistic ambitions of Go-Daigo, who hoped to reinstate direct imperial rule. This demise combined with civil war brought the estate system to an end. Go-Daigo’s reign was short-lived and in 1336 Ashikaga Takauji, a powerful warrior leader, was named shogun by Go-Daigo’s successor.

Civil war ended in 1392, and, even though some order was restored, Japan was less unified. By the mid15th century, social and political unrest led to the Onin War in Japan. The period after the Onin War is considered the beginning of the “warring states” period in Japanese history, a time when the Ashikaga Shogunate was destroyed and a new group of feudal magistrates emerged from the local warrior class. Domains fell into the hands of feudal lords, known as daimyo, who used force and their loyal vassals to maintain their power, enforcing land taxes to keep the peasantry under much stricter control.

By 1500 the country was divided into the hands of roughly 300 daimyo. By the 1560s many of the more powerful daimyo sought power beyond their realms and some even hoped to control all of Japan. Unification, however, was largely the work of three men, sometimes called “the great unifiers,” Oda Nobunaga, Toyotomi Hideyoshi, and Tokugawa Ieyasu.

Nobunaga seized Kyoto in 1568, allegedly in support of the last Ashikaga shogun; crushed the power of the lesser lords in central Japan; and destroyed the Buddhist monasteries. Nobunaga was assassinated in 1590 and power fell into the hands of his most able general, Hideyoshi. By 1590 Hideyoshi established control over the entire realm.

Hideyoshi never took the title of shogun but did assume high positions in imperial government. Hideyoshi monopolized foreign trade, had land surveyed, and confiscated weapons from the peasant class. These actions further divided the samurai and peasant classes while increasing Hideyoshi’s military might. In 1592 he set out to conquer Korea, a first step toward world conquest, which for him essentially meant China.

However Chinese armies in northern Korea stopped the Japanese, and they were forced to withdraw after Hideyoshi’s death in 1592. Hideyoshi did not leave an heir, and power shifted to the victor of the Battle of Sekigahara in 1600, Tokugawa Ieyasu. Ieyasu took the title of shogun and moved his residence from Kyoto to Edo (modern Tokyo). He closed the country to foreigners and for more than 250 years, Japan remained in seclusion from the rest of the world.

While feudalism in Japan began later than in Europe, its demise was much more recent. In 1600 when Tokugawa Ieyasu took power, Japan entered the period of rule known as “centralized feudalism.” In this system, the Tokugawa Shogunate ruled Japan but gave relative autonomy to his vassal daimyo in exchange for loyalty. Tokugawa rule continued in Japan until 1868, when the Meiji Restoration ended feudal rule, abolished the warrior class, and opened Japan to the rest of the world.

Fujiwara Clan

The Fujiwara clan rose to power as a result of the coup d’etat of 645 that overthrew the Soga, which had dominated the Japanese government until then. The period between c. 857 and 1160 is called the Fujiwara period. Even after losing power it continued to monopolize positions in the imperial court at Kyoto until 1867.

In 645 a nobleman named Nakatomi Katamari helped a prince, who later became Emperor Tenchi (Tenji), to overthrow the politically dominant Soga clan. In gratitude Tenchi granted a new surname to his ally, who became Fujiwara Katamari (Japanese list their surnames before personal names).

He was the founder of the Fujiwara clan and assisted Tenchi in launching the Taika Reforms that continued Prince Shotoku’s policy to Sinicize Japan’s government. They sponsored five embassies to China between 653 and 669 that sent young Japanese to learn about every aspect of the Chinese civilization.


Katamari’s descendants continued to accumulate power in the court of Emperor Tenchi’s successors through marrying their daughters to each generation of emperors. As a result almost all emperors since that time were sons of Fujiwara women, and the few whose mothers were not Fujiwara made no headway in restoring power to the imperial family.

Initially Fujiwara men were content taking important government positions, but after 858 Fujiwara Yoshifusa went a step further— he placed a grandson on the throne and became regent. This pattern of ruling through a nominal emperor continued even when the emperor became adult, because then the regent just took another title, as kampaku or civil dictator, and continued ruling. This practice continued until 1867.

The Fujiwara clan proliferated into five branches by the 13th century, each named after the area in Kyoto where their palaces were located. They were the Konoe, Kujo, Nijo, Ichijo, and Takatsukasa. Each branch kept a meticulous genealogy. One descendant of the Konoe house served as Japan’s prime minister at the beginning of World War II.

The Fujiwara used their government positions to accumulate huge estates throughout the country and became the richest family in Japan, richer than even the imperial family. They also used their court positions to become protectors of other nobles, taking a cut of each protégé’s income. However the Fujiwara never attempted to usurp the throne. This is because of the deep reverence all Japanese felt for the emperor as descendant of the sun goddess and therefore Shinto high priest.

Fujiwara clan reaching its zenith under Fujiwara Michinaga (966-1027)

Fujiwara power began to decline by the mid-1100s, partly because of the growing impotence of the central government. On the other hand the provincial nobility who had to gain protection by organizing armies became more powerful; they then withheld revenues meant for the central government and their Fujiwara patrons. Rivalries between different branches of the Fujiwara clan also weakened all of them. As a result two new groups rose to undermine their dominance.

One group was the retired emperors (adult emperors were often induced to retire and take up monastic life in favor of their young sons, who were easily controlled by their Fujiwara maternal grandfathers or uncles), who tried to reassert power by forming a shadow government from their retirement palaces. The other group consisted of provincial nobles who were no longer content with their subservient status.

In the 12th century the provincial military class banded behind the banners of two great noble houses, the Taira and Minamoto, each descended from a cadet branch of the imperial family. In two great wars in the late 1100s the Taira and Minamoto would in succession gain ascendancy and thus control of the court. In victory the Taira attempted to mimic the Fujiwara by moving to Kyoto and marrying their daughters to the emperors. But they soon succumbed to the decadent life at court and were eliminated by the Minamoto in 1185.


The victorious Minamoto leader Yoritomo did not move to Kyoto but established his headquarters at a town called Kamakura, where he ruled as Seii-tai-shogun, or “Barbarian Quelling Generalissimo.” The Fujiwara were allowed to regain their monopoly of supplying empresses and concubines to the emperors in a court that no longer held power but retained its religious and ceremonial functions.

The Fujiwara era was one of decline of central authority in Japan but also one of flourishing high culture, especially at the imperial court in the capital Heian (later Kyoto). Although frequent contact with China continued, the Japanese became increasingly confident and began to experiment with innovations.

Buddhism became popular throughout Japanese society, but with Japanese characteristics, assimilating elements of native Shintoism and identifying with local deities. Rejecting earlier Buddhist schools, which identified with the upper classes, a Japanese monk, Ennin, returned to Japan after a lengthy stay in China in the late ninth century and popularized a school called Pure Land Buddhism.

The Japanese also developed a new writing system based on simplified Chinese characters used for their sound. It was called kana and was a phonetic syllabary system used for writing Japanese. Kana was popular with court ladies, who wrote a new genre of literature—novels and witty commentaries that described court life and romances between noble ladies and courtiers who no longer governed and had been reduced to social butterflies.

The most notable works of the genre were The Tale of Genji by Murasaki Shikibu and the Pillow Book by Sei Shonagon; both authors belonged to the Fujiwara clan. The Fujiwara clan was important in Japanese history for dominating the imperial family for many centuries. It also presided over a period that initially imitated Chinese ways and then developed into a unique Japanese culture.

Gempei War

Gempei War

Part of the Taira-Minamoto wars the Gempei War in Japan lasted from 1180 until 1185. It was fought between the Taira clan, which was losing influence, and the Minamoto clan, which hoped to replace the Taira clan. It resulted in a victory for the Minamoto clan, and the emergence of Minamoto Yoritomo as the shogun (“general who subdues barbarians”) in 1192. The name Gempei came from a contraction of the names Genji and Heike, which were the kanji characters for “Minamoto” and “Taira.”

The Minamoto clan previously tried to topple the Taira, in the Hogen War of 1156 and the Heiji War of 1159–1160. In the first the Minamoto had supported a rival claimant to the throne and lost. In the second, they staged a surprise coup but were decisively defeated by the Taira.

In the Gempei War in 1180, as the Minamoto were gaining strength, the Taira attacked first. Taira supporters surprised Prince Mochihito, the claimant to the imperial throne and favored by the Minamotos, at a temple near Kyoto. Deciding that it was impossible to defend the temple, they fled across the Uji River, removing the planks on the bridge across the river.


However the Taira forces were able to ford the river and cornered their opponents. Yorimasa, injured by an arrow, commited ritual suicide by seppuku, disemboweling himself—the first known time this had taken place. Soon afterward Prince Mochihito was killed.

The Taira then capitalized on their victory at Uji by attacking Nara, the base of warrior monks opposed to them. Although the monks were in strong defensive positions, the Taira used their cavalry to great advantage, capturing and then destroying all the temples in Nara except Enryakuji. It is reported that 3,500 people were killed during the sacking of Nara.

Following this, Minamoto Yoritomo, assisted by men from the Miura clan, tried to regroup, but the Taira launched a quick attack and routed them at the Battle of Ishibashiyama. Soon afterward Minamoto Yoritomo rallied his troops and turned on the Taira. At the Battle of Fujigawa, it was said that when a flock of birds surprised the Taira, they fled in panic.

In 1181 Minamoto Yukiie attempted to attack Taira Tomomori, whose army was encamped along the Sunomata River. The Minamoto were driven back with heavy losses and retreated across the Yahagigawa River, pursued by the Taira. When Tomomori fell ill, the Taira pulled back. After a lull in fighting, in 1183 Taira Koremori launched an attack on a Minamoto castle at Hiuchiyama.

The fortifications were capable of withstanding a siege, but a traitor from within the castle tied a message to an arrow and shot it into the Taira camp, showing how they could breach a dam around the castle. The Taira attacked and the Minamoto forces fled. Although the Taira won the first part of the war, their leadership had grown arrogant and annoyed smaller clans, who were won over by the Minamoto.

Making the most of this victory Taira Koremori pursued the Minamoto to Kurihara (also known as the Battle of Tonamiyama). Minamoto Yoshinaka cunningly split his forces and ambushed the Taira as they went through a mountain pass. By disguising the strengths of the three wings of the army, Minamoto Yoshinaka surrounded the Taira. It was the turning point in the war, as many of the Taira forces were killed, and they were forced to withdraw their garrison from Kyoto and fled along with their ally Emperor Antoku to Shikoku.

On November 17, 1183, Minamoto Yoshinaka sent his ships against the Taira in the Battle of Mizushima— the first naval battle of the Gempei War. The Taira were victorious, but soon afterward a Minamoto army captured the castle of Fukuryuji, which had been held by a supporter of the Taira. The Minamoto then tried to press their military advantages by engaging the Taira in another battle at Muroyama but were defeated.

A struggle suddenly broke out with Minamoto Yoshinaka trying to wrest power from his cousins Minamoto Yoritomo and Minamoto Yoshitsune. Yoshinaka captured the Hojoji Palace in Kyoto, took Emperor Go-Shirakawa prisoner, and named himself shogun. Soon after the rest of the clan surrounded him, forcing him to choose between inevitable defeat in battle or flight. He chose the latter and his men fled across the Uji River, but Yoshitsune’s cavalry forded the river and in the second Battle of Uji, Yoshinaka was defeated. He made a final stand at Awazu and was killed by an arrow.

With Yoshinaka dead the Minamoto concentrated on the final defeat of the Taira. At Ichi-no-Tani, the Minamoto attacked a Taira fortress near modern-day Kobe. The battle became legend in Japanese folklore, with many famous warriors engaging in combat. Eventually the 16-year-old Taira leader, Atsumori, was killed, later dramatized in plays and works of fiction. The Minamoto then followed up their victory by attacking and defeating Taira allies at the Battle of Kojima.

The last two battles of the war were both at sea. At Yashima on March 22, 1185, Minamoto Yoshitsune launched a surprise attack on the Taira. Bluffing that he had far more men, Yoshitsune sent the Taira into premature retreat, abandoning their fortifications at Shikoku. Most of the Taira fleet escaped, but at the Battle of Dannoura, off the southern tip of Honshu island, on April 25, 1185, the Minamoto attacked their outnumbered opponents—it was estimated that the Minamoto used 850 ships against their opponents’ 500.

At a crucial time a Taira ally switched sides and told the Minamoto which ship the six-year-old Emperor Antoku was hiding on. The Minamoto attacked it, killing the emperor along with his grandmother, a member of the Taira clan.

With the Taira totally defeated, Minamoto Yoritomo, the older half brother of Yoshitsune, became the first shogun in Japanese history and established what became the Kamakura Shogunate. It was not long before Yoshitsune, Yoshiie, and Yoshinaka were killed by orders of Yoritomo or were forced to commit suicide. The system of rule by the shogun continued, in several different forms, until the Meiji Restoration of 1868.

Heian

Heian building

The term Heian is derived from modern-day Kyoto’s previous name of Heian-kyo, a city founded in 794. The literal translation of Heian-kyo is “Capital of Peace and Tranquility” and was meant to reflect its peaceful and protected surroundings. The literal translation of Heian is “peace” in Japanese.

Located near the village of Uda, between the Katsura and Kamo Rivers, and with Mount Hiei providing spectacular natural geographical protection, the new capital was similar in design to the Chinese city Chang’an and was built according to Chinese feng shui principles. Heian-kyo was the center of political power and the capital of Japan until 1868, when the Meiji Restoration saw Emperor Kammu move to the city of Edo.

Edo was then renamed as Tokyo (Eastern Capital) to illustrate the shift in power. The Imperial Court remained at Heian-kyo. The Heian period witnessed the emergence of a Japanese identity that was distinct from Chinese influences and is often regarded as a golden age of Japanese culture.


The Heian period can be broken into three distinct eras. The first period, referred to as the Early Heian era, witnessed the foundation of Heian-Kyo in 794 b.c.e. and extended to around the late 960s b.c.e. The Middle Heian period extended to 1067 c.e. and was characterized by the rule of the Fujiwara clan and their courtly behavior. The Late Heian period extended to 1192 and is known for the insei (cloistered government) and for providing the framework for the establishment of the feudal system in Japan.

The move to Heian-kyo from the capital Nagaoka was necessary to curb the increasing struggles over the throne. The ongoing clan struggles resulted in Emperor Kammu taking drastic political and social reforms to try to stabilize the situation. As a result the Heian period experienced one of the longest periods of sustained peace in classical Japanese history.

Four noble families attempted to control the political scene during the Early Heian period. The Minamoto, Tachibana, Taira, and Fujiwara families all tried to influence the political atmosphere for the benefit of their own interests and pursuits. During the Middle period the Fujiwara family clearly dominated the government and because of familial ties influenced the imperial family.

The families required the services of the warrior classes to provide protection (much like security guards) thus creating the initial surge in the samurai and bushi numbers. Another important family that emerged during the Late Heian period, the Taira, eventually overthrew the Fujiwara family. The Minamoto clan then overthrew the Taira.

The Early period was also defined by the start of a clear religious doctrinal change. There was movement away from the Chinese influenced Neo-Confucianism toward a Buddhist religious perspective that echoed aspects of Japan’s indigenous religion Shinto. The imperial court adopted Mahayana Buddhism relatively quickly and it in turn merged with aspects of Shinto to create an essentially Japanese religion (called Shinbutso Shugo) that flourished.

It was during this period that Shinto architecture and art started to transform and mass temple building began. Buddhist artisans were abundant and produced sculptures as religious objects, but also as art objects for wealthy families. Stoneware and bronze were used by both the imperial households and the lay people, while the emperor preferred silver for monastic and royal events.

Metal craft reached its pinnacle during the Heian era, particularly during the Middle to Late periods, where samurai armor incorporated various motifs (according to the house that they served) and sword-smiths began to engrave their swords with their names. Armor was held in such high regard that the most powerful families and warlords offered them to Shinto shrines as holy relics.

The Early period also witnessed the introduction of new Buddhist sects called the Tendai (Heavenly Terrace) in 805 b.c.e. by Saicho and the Shingon (True Word), and in 806 b.c.e. by Kukai. The introduction of these sects contributed to stylistic changes in architecture—for example, Shingon temples adopted the use of the pagoda.

Pure Land Buddhism also began to take root within Heian society and around the same time Korean monks started introducing the now well-known Zen (or Ch’an) Buddhism. Gardens were used as contemplative areas and there was a movement toward meditative practice. Cultural festivals (Buddhist, Shinto, and Confucian) shaped the whole Heian period, and more festivals were introduced and conceived, including the Cherry-Blossom Feast and the Feast of Red Autumn Foliage.

The concept of art underwent a transformation during the Heian periods—it was used for aesthetic as well as religious purposes, and new art practices were created. Art for art’s sake was encouraged and artists, poets, and writers began to create and recognize a distinct Japanese identity.

Secular paintings and art have been referred to in literature of the day; however very little survived to the present. Japanese artists would paint sutras (Buddhist writings) or intricate landscapes onto folding fans, which became highly desirable and exported items during this period.

Heian painting

Literature also started to become fashionable, especially diaries of court providing details of life inside the palace. The most popular book of the early era was Makura no soshi (The Pillow Book) written by Sei Shonagon. Sei came from a literary family, her father Kiyohara Motosuke (a poet) and her great-grandfather the well-known Fukayabu.

It in turn influenced many other writers to pen their experiences in the imperial household, thus creating a distinct phase of early Japanese literature. Monogatari-e (illustrations for novels) emerged during the late 10th century and was viewed as the perfect coupling of prose and painting. It became the preferred pastime of those in the imperial household and during the Late Heian period, art competitions and shows were commonplace.

The Heian Middle to Late period is generally viewed as the most productive sociocultural period in Japanese history, as it marked a move away from Chinese influence on culture, society, and religion toward the creation of an essentially Japanese identity. The Middle Heian period witnessed a flourishing of literary and artistic pursuits and is often described as the “early” history of Japan.


During the late stages of the Early Heian period and blossoming during the Middle period, a new writing system was developed. Based upon syllables (hiragana and katakana), the new kana writing system allowed for the creation of Japanese literature and texts without depending upon kanji. It initiated a new sociocultural identity, a unique Japanese perspective that would profoundly influence Japanese life.

Calligraphy and calligraphers were attached to imperial offices and were required to provide calligraphy for things as diverse as imperial temple walls and hanging scrolls. New calligraphy styles such as “Women’s Hand” became widely recognized because of their use in calligraphic poems. It was also popular to determine one’s character by the style of writing, and use of medium.

A favorite pastime of imperial ladies was to swap poetry in elaborate folded pieces of paper, using different fasteners to convey hidden meanings. Decorative paper was highly prized and paper collages became an art form that has continued to the present time. The majority of lay people (other than the warrior classes) were not exposed to such hobbies as most were illiterate.

Literary forms experienced change with the advent of court diaries and their tendency toward long sections of prose and observation. The Middle to Late Heian period witnessed a further flourishing of literature. The establishment of an office of poetry by the imperial court in 951 accounted for the initial explosion of interest in waka (tradtional Japanese poetry).

Diplomatic ties were increasingly cut with the Chinese Tang (T’ang) dynasty during the Middle Heian period and thus there was a movement away from the Chinese style of poetry (kanshi). There were frequent poetry contests between noble contestants—the imperial palace often acting as a backdrop to the proceedings. Although the Heian court demanded its subjects write in Chinese, they compromised by writing sections of their poems with Japanese script toward the end of the prose.

A popular literary writer of the Middle to Late Heian period was Murasaki Shikibu, who created a sensation with her novel Genji Monogatari (Tale of Genji). Written around 1000 to 1008, it is often credited as the world’s first novel. The novel relates the customs and practices common to the Heian era. Men and women of high status powdered their faces white.

The imperial households wore stately robes, which were modeled on Chinese state robes. Several types of hats were worn, depending upon rank and the formality of the events. Women in the court would wear white silk with heavy brocade jackets and wore their hair long, often with the aid of wig attachments. It was fashionable to leave it unfastened so it flowed freely.

The Late Heian period witnessed what could be described as an elitist form of social hierarchy; it was highly formalized and exclusive. Although the Heian period underwent enormous social and cultural change it was economically stagnant; thus the majority of people were poor and uneducated.

Little social or cultural change occurred within this class with the exception of the rise of the warrior class, which was able to exist on the fringes of both classes with relative ease. Despite this, the Heian period left a great cultural heritage and contributed toward the social and cultural psyche of modern Japan.