Kamakura Japan was run by regents controlling puppet shoguns who overshadowed a figurehead emperor
For much of the Kamakura era, Japan's real rulers were neither emperors nor shoguns. The Hojo family governed as regents for shoguns who were themselves figureheads, while the emperor sat in Kyoto as a symbol. This layered arrangement lasted 135 years, survived two Mongol invasions, and was finally undone by the cost of victory.
Minamoto no Yoritomo founded the regime after beating the rival Taira clan in the Genpei War of 1180 to 1185. He ruled from the eastern city of Kamakura, leaving the emperor and court in Heian-kyo, modern Kyoto, with only ceremonial roles. Even the start date is debated: 1192, when he took the title of shogun, used to be standard, then 1185, when he set up military governors and land stewards, gained favour, and textbooks as of 2016 name no year at all.
After Yoritomo died in an accident in 1199, power slid to his in-laws. His father-in-law Hojo Tokimasa claimed the regency, and his widow, Hojo Masako, became so influential that people called her the nun shogun. When Tokimasa plotted in 1205 to replace the shogun with his own son-in-law, Masako had the pretender killed and sent her father to a monastery. The Minamoto line ended in 1219 when the shogun Sanetomo was assassinated by his nephew. From then on, shoguns were chosen from Fujiwara or imperial lines purely for legitimacy, while Hojo regents governed. The system ran through 9 shoguns and 16 regents.
The Mongols under Kublai Khan attacked twice. Korean intelligence, earned by earlier help against pirate raids, warned the shogunate, which had rejected Kublai's demands with contempt. In 1274 a storm wrecked about a third of a 40,000-strong force. The Hojo then built a wall around Hakata Bay and organised western defences, and in 1281 a much larger fleet fought for about seven weeks in Kyushu without breaking through before another typhoon struck. Japanese credited a divine wind, kamikaze, with saving them.
Victory proved ruinous. Years of vigilance drained money, and a defensive war produced no spoils to reward warriors, breeding resentment. Emperor Go-Daigo rose in 1331; when the Hojo general Ashikaga Takauji switched sides and Nitta Yoshisada captured Kamakura, the regime fell in 1333. Takauji made himself shogun in 1336.
Source: Kamakura shogunate
