Database: Shogun

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Officially, shogun or rather sei i tai shōgun (generalissimo tasked with subduing the barbarians of the east), was a provisional military function that in the ancient state designated the commander in charge of pacifying the rebellious populations in the east, and northeast of the archipelago. However, after 1192 the title became one conferred by the emperor to the Minamoto family to designate the head of military power, the bakufu or shogunate. The title was reclaimed in 1338 by Ashikaga Takauji from a cadet branch of the Minamoto, who then founded the second shogunate, that of the Ashikaga, also called the Muromachi shogunate, established in Kyoto. The power of the Ashikaga shoguns waned during the 16th century and Oda Nobunaga expelled the last shōgun of the dynasty in 1573. The shogunate was reestablished in 1603 by Tokugawa Ieyasu, who claimed descent from the Minamoto and established his capital in Edo (the future Tokyo). The shogunal system was definitively abolished in 1867 when the 15th shogun, Tokugawa Yoshinobu, returned his powers to the emperor.

Originally, the bakufu was the government of the warriors, and the shogun was their supreme suzerain. He appointed his liegemen to positions of military governors (shugo) in the provinces and military stewards (jitō) on the estates. These warriors were responsible for maintaining order, suppressing conspiracies, and pursuing brigands. They were required to guard the regime and especially to go to war when called upon. This system gradually ceased to function and by the 16th century the shogun's power had dwindled and was effectively reduced to controlling Kyoto and its immediate surroundings. After a series of lordly wars that allowed him to eliminate his rivals and enter Kyoto in 1568, Oda Nobunaga was at the head of a considerable military force and the shogun had only theoretical power, reduced income, and had to rely on allied lords to provide military force. The shogunate was swept away by Nobunaga before being reconstituted by Ieyasu after his triumph at the Battle of Sekigahara in 1600.