Bakufu

At a glance:

Meaning “tent government,” bakufu is a Japanese term for the shogunate, first established by the samurai Minamoto Yoritomo in 1192. Yoritomo declared himself shogun (“barbarian-subduing generalissimo”) and based his bakufu at Kamakura, bringing a semblance of order to Japan after four centuries of feudal chaos and political vacuum. The emperor at Kyoto retained his throne, but was relegated to an increasingly ceremonial role. The Kamakura shogunate collapsed in 1333. Five years later, Ashikaga Takauji founded a new “tent government” at Kyoto, which was...

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