Page 60 - History of War - Issue 05-14

Leaders
Leaders Men
Men
SHOGUN WARRIORS

Japan’s Emperors may have enjoyed all the glory, but the
men who wielded the power were the shoguns – the military
commanders who pulled al the strings

n medieval Japan, “shogun” was the term The founder of the first permanent shogunate
given to the general or military governor was Minamoto no Yoritomo, a member of the
of the country. And though the role was Minamoto clan, who defeated his family rivals
appointed by the Emperor, the head of and the opposing Taira clan to become the
state’s role was largely symbolic; it was the region’s military dictator. Yoritomo set up the
I shogun who wielded the power. first shogunate – or “bakufu” – in Kamakura,
The origin of the tile is “Sei-i Taish¯ogun”, on the coast of central Japan, far from the
which was given to military commanders during Emperor’s palace in Kyoto. This signalled the
the Heian Period in the 8th century. The first start of Japan’s feudal system which would exist
general to bear it was ¯ Otomo no Otomaro in for another 700 years.
794, who was declared “Barbarian-subduing The tile of shogun passed from father to son,
Great General” for his campaign against the until the line was wiped out and a competing
Emishi, guerrilla fighters from north-eastern family would take its place. The rule of the final
Honshu who battled the Imperial Army. shogun, Tokugawa Yoshinobu, ended in 1868.

750 800 850 900 950 1000

750 775 800 825 850 875 900 925 950 975 1000

SAKANOUE NO TAMURAMARO

JAPAN’S MOST FAMOUS BLACK GENERAL
758-811

A General and Shogun of the early Heian Period (794-1185),
Tamuramaro held many high civil and military positions
throughout his career, and worked for three successive
Emperors. However he’s more well-known for the colour of his skin, as
Tamuramaro was a black Japanese man, seen as a rarity centuries ago.
Of the black population of early Japan, he was the most picturesque
single figure; a warrior symbolised in Japanese history as a “paragon of
military values.” Doctor W.E.B DuBois (1868-1963), one of America’s
most famous scholars, placed Tamuramaro in a list of some of the most
distinguished black rulers and warriors in antiquity. He was appointed
shogun under emperor Kammu and given the DID YOU KNOW?
task of conquering the Emishi Seibatsu,
guerilla fighters from the north of Honshu. He Akakura Mountain
worshippers believe that
vanquished the Emishi and drove them to the Tamuramaro undertook
island of Hokkaido. After his death, he was Shugyo (a warrior's
remembered as the most prominent military pilgrimage) on Akakura's
person until the beginning of the warrior slopes more than 1,000
government in the late 12th century. years ago, and that his
spirit rests there still.

60 HISTORY WAR
of