The Samurai and the Early Japanese Shogun

Samurai Swords

The Japanese have had several, bloody and complicated, historical warring factions that fought for control of the country, which often involved thousands of warriors that came to be called Samurai; you might say the “generals” or leaders of these samurai were called Shoguns or the Shogunate.   

The Samurai are a class of very accomplished warriors that over a long period of years evolved in Japan, following reforms that began as early as 646 A.D. The reforms included land redistribution plus heavy new taxes, which were meant to support an elaborate “Chinese-style” empire.

During this time, a few of the large landholders amassed power and wealth, which in turn created a feudal system similar to that seen in medieval Europe.  As in Europe, the new feudal lords needed defenders or warriors to protect their riches. In this way, the samurai warrior was born. They employed a wide range of weapons such as bows and arrows, spears and much later even guns, but their main weapon and symbol was the sword.

While some samurai were relatives of the lords / landowners, others you might say were little more than hired swords.

The “code” of the samurai emphasized loyalty to one's master, even beyond family loyalty; history shows that those most loyal were typically family members or those individual samurai that were financial dependent on their lords.

The Emperor of the nation lost control of rural Japan during the 900’s, resulting in widespread revolt; the emperor soon wielded power only within the capital. Meanwhile all across the country, the warrior class of the samurai stepped in to fill the resulting power vacuum.  By 1100, the samurai, in point of fact, held both military and political power over much of Japan.

The already weak imperial line received a fatal blow to its power in 1156, when Emperor Toba died without a clear successor. His 2 sons, fought for control in a short civil war called the Hogen Rebellion. At the end of the war, both would-be emperors you might say lostlost; in fact, the imperial office soon found it had very little real power. Although Go-Shirakawa who was one of the surviving sons won the battle, his rule as an all powerful emperor lasted 4 short years.

During the first civil war / rebellion (in 1156) both, the “Taira” and the “Minamoto” samurai clans rose to prominence. Four years later, they fought one another a second time (they had fought each other in the 1156 rebellion) in the brief Heiji Rebellion of 1160.  The Taira clan was victorious and they established the first samurai-led government, or Shogunate, with the emperor as a mere figurehead.  However, the two clans fought yet again 20 years later in the Genpei War (1180-1185), which ended in victory for the Minamoto clan. They in turn established the Kamakura Shogunate, which ruled most of Japan until 1333.

Aside from an occasional “in-country” conflict the Shogunate of Kamakura remained in power, even with standing two major attacks by Kublai Khan, the Mongol ruler of Yuan China, in 1274 and 1281.  Both attacks had been repelled by the Japanese primarily due to natural occurring typhoon strikes during both Chinese attempts at landing upon Japan’s shores with hundreds of ships and men. Regardless, the Shogun was overthrown by Japanese Emperor Go-Daigo in 1333.

But this emperor’s rule was short lived.  By 1336, the Ashikaga Shogunate under Ashikaga Takauji reasserted samurai rule again, but it was weaker than the Kamakura had been because regional constables called “daimyo” had developed considerable power, and they habitually interfered with the succession of the shogunate.

Over 500 years later in 1868, a form of government that became known as the Meiji Restoration signaled the beginning of the end for the samurai.

The Meiji system was a constitutional monarchy which included such democratic reforms as term limits for public office and popular vote casting. With public support, the Meiji Emperor outlawed the samurai, reduced the power of the daimyo, and moved the governments capital from Kyoto to Tokyo.

This new government created or drafted, you could say, an army in 1873; as you might expect, many of the officers were drawn from the ranks of former samurai.

In 1877, angry ex-samurai revolted against the Meiji in the battle known as the Satsuma Rebellion; they lost, and the era of the samurai was over.

Sources …                                       http://asianhistory.about.com/od/warsinasia/p/SamuraiProfile.htm                                           http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2127.html                                                    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Katana