Shikken in the context of "Shogun"

The emperor of Japan is the hereditary monarch and head of state of Japan. The emperor is defined by the Constitution of Japan as the symbol of the Japanese state and the unity of the Japanese people, his position deriving from "the will of the people with whom resides sovereign power". The Imperial Household Law governs the line of imperial succession. Pursuant to his constitutional role as a national symbol, and in accordance with rulings by the Supreme Court of Japan, the emperor is personally immune from prosecution. By virtue of his position as the head of the Imperial House, the emperor is also recognized as the head of the Shinto religion, which holds him to be the direct descendant of the sun goddess Amaterasu. According to tradition, the office of emperor was created in the 7th century BC, but the first historically verifiable emperors appear around the 5th or 6th centuries AD.

The role of the emperor of Japan has historically alternated between a largely ceremonial symbolic role and that of an actual imperial ruler. Since the establishment of the first shogunate in 1192, the emperors of Japan have rarely taken on a role as supreme battlefield commander, unlike many Western monarchs. Japanese emperors have nearly always been controlled by external political forces, to varying degrees. Between 1192 and 1867, the shōguns, or their shikken regents in Kamakura (1203–1333), were the de facto rulers of Japan, although they were nominally appointed by the emperor. After the Meiji Restoration in 1868, the emperor was the embodiment of all sovereign power in the realm, as enshrined in the Meiji Constitution of 1889. Since the enactment of the 1947 constitution, the role of emperor has been relegated to that of a ceremonial head of state without even nominal political powers. The emperor is the head of the Japanese honors system, conferring orders, decorations, medals, and awards in the name of the state and on behalf of its people in accordance with the advice of the Cabinet.

Shogun (将軍, shōgun; English: /ˈʃoʊ.ɡʌn/ SHOH-gun, Japanese: [ɕoː.ɡɯɴ, -ŋɯɴ] ), officially seii taishōgun (征夷大将軍; Japanese: [seꜜi.i | tai.ɕo(ꜜ)ː.ɡɯɴ, seꜜː-, -ŋɯɴ] lit. 'Commander-in-Chief of the Expeditionary Force Against the Barbarians'), was the title of the military rulers of Japan during most of the period spanning from 1185 to 1868. Nominally appointed by the Emperor, shoguns were usually the de facto rulers of the country, except during parts of the Kamakura period and Sengoku period when the shoguns themselves were figureheads, with real power in the hands of the shikken (執権) of the Hōjō clan and kanrei (管領) of the Hosokawa clan. In addition, Taira no Kiyomori and Toyotomi Hideyoshi were leaders of the warrior class who did not hold the position of shogun, the highest office of the warrior class, yet gained the positions of daijō-daijin (太政大臣, Chancellor of the Realm) and kampaku (関白, Imperial Regent), the highest offices of the aristocratic class. As such, they ran their governments as its de facto rulers.

The office of shogun was in practice hereditary, although over the course of the history of Japan several different clans held the position. The title was originally held by military commanders during the Heian period in the eighth and ninth centuries. When Minamoto no Yoritomo gained political ascendency over Japan in 1185, the title was revived to regularize his position, making him the first shogun in the usually understood sense.

The Kamakura shogunate (Japanese: 鎌倉幕府, Hepburn: Kamakura bakufu) was the feudal military government of Japan during the Kamakura period from 1185 to 1333.

The Kamakura shogunate was established by Minamoto no Yoritomo after victory in the Genpei War and appointing himself as shōgun. Yoritomo governed Japan as military dictator from the eastern city of Kamakura with the emperor of Japan and his Imperial Court in the official capital city of Heian-kyō (Kyoto) as figureheads. The Kamakura shōguns were members of the Minamoto clan until 1226, the Fujiwara clan until 1252, and the last six were minor princes of the imperial family. The Hōjō clan were the de facto rulers of Japan as shikken (regent) of the shōgun from 1203. The Kamakura shogunate saw the Jōkyū War in 1221 and the Mongol invasions of Japan under Kublai Khan in 1274 and 1281. The Kamakura shogunate was overthrown in the Kenmu Restoration under Emperor Go-Daigo in 1333, re-establishing Imperial rule until Ashikaga Takauji and his offspring overthrew the imperial government and founded the Ashikaga shogunate in 1336 (Nanboku-chō period).

The Hōjō clan (Japanese: 北条氏, Hepburn: Hōjō-shi) was a Japanese samurai family who controlled the hereditary title of shikken (regent) of the Kamakura shogunate between 1203 and 1333. Despite the title, in practice the family wielded actual political power in Japan during this period compared to both the Kamakura shoguns, or the Imperial Court in Kyoto, whose authority was largely symbolic. The Hōjō are known for fostering Zen Buddhism and for leading the successful opposition to the Mongol invasions of Japan. Resentment at Hōjō rule eventually culminated in the overthrow of the clan and the establishment of the Ashikaga shogunate.

Minamoto no Yoritomo (源 頼朝; Japanese pronunciation: [mʲi.na.mo.to no (|) jo.ɾʲi.to.mo], May 9, 1147 – February 9, 1199) was the founder and the first shogun of the Kamakura shogunate, ruling from 1192 until 1199, also the first shogun in the history of Japan to hold de-facto power over Japan. He was married to Hōjō Masako, who acted as regent (shikken) after his death.

Yoritomo was the son of Minamoto no Yoshitomo and belonged to Seiwa Genji's prestigious Kawachi Genji family. After successfully maneuvering himself to the position of rightful heir of the Minamoto clan, he led his clan against the Taira from his capital in Kamakura, beginning the Genpei War in 1180. After five years of civil war, the Minamoto clan finally defeated the Taira in the Battle of Dan-no-ura in 1185. Yoritomo established the supremacy of the samurai caste and the first shogunate (bakufu) which was to be centered around Kamakura, thus beginning the feudal age in Japan, which lasted until the 17th century.

Tokusō (Japanese: 得宗) was the title (post) held by the head of the mainline Hōjō clan, who also monopolized the position of shikken (regents to the shogunate) of the Kamakura shogunate in Japan during the period of Regent Rule (1199–1333). It’s important not to confuse a regent of the shogunate with a regent of the Emperor (the latter are called Sesshō and Kampaku). Shikkens were the first regents to the shogunate.

The tokusō from 1256 to 1333 was the military dictator of Japan as de facto head of the bakufu (shogunate); despite the actual shōgun being merely a puppet. This implies that all other positions in Japan—the Emperor, the Imperial Court, Sesshō and Kampaku, and the shikken (regent of the shōgun)—had also been reduced to figureheads.