Kamakura period
Later, the prevailing theory was that the year was 1185, when Yoritomo established the Shugo (守護), which controlled military and police power in various regions, and the Jitō (地頭), which was in charge of tax collection and land administration.
To reduce the amount of chaos, the Hōjō rulers decided to decentralize power by allowing two imperial lines – Northern and Southern court, to alternate the throne.
In the 1330s, the Southern court under Emperor Go-Daigo revolted and eventually led to the Siege of Kamakura in 1333 which ended the rule of the shogunate.
These provided the opportunities for other military lords to exercise judicial and legislative authority and the government established a council centered around collective leadership.
The Kamakura period marked Japan's transition to a land-based economy and the concentration of advanced military technologies in the hands of a specialized fighting class.
The old court resided in Kyoto, continuing to hold the land over which it had jurisdiction, while newly organized military families were attracted to Kamakura.
In 1225 the third regent Hōjō Yasutoki established the Council of State, providing opportunities for other military lords to exercise judicial and legislative authority within the Kamakura regime.
While legal practices in Kyoto were still based on 500-year-old Confucian principles, the new code was a highly legalistic document that stressed the duties of stewards and constables, provided means for settling land disputes, and established rules governing inheritances.
[3]: 562 Throughout the Kamakura period, older Buddhist sects including Shingon, Tendai, and the Nara temple schools such as Kegon, Hossō, Sanron, and Ritsu continued to thrive and adapt to the trend of the times.
[3]: 561–563 At the start of the Kamakura period, the Mount Hiei monasteries had become politically powerful, appealing primarily to those capable of systematic study of the sect's teachings.
The times that gave way to the Kamakura period were marked by political and military conflict, natural disasters, and social malaise attributed to the perceived arrival of the Latter Day of the Law.
The new social order of a declining aristocracy and ascending military and peasant classes resulted in new forms of religion, both indigenous[5]: 12 and Buddhist while Indian and Chinese influence continued.
[3]: 556–557 [5]: 11, 13 [6] Furthermore, the Shōen manor system which had taken root in this era resulted in the increased prosperity and literacy of peasants which in turn provided more financial support for Buddhist teachers and their studies.
[3]: 556 The final stage of Kamakura Buddhism, occurring some 50 years after Hōnen, was marked by new social and political conditions as the aristocracy declined, the military class asserted new influence, and Buddhist-infused local kami practice among peasants flourished.
[3]: 555–556 Nichiren rejected the focus on "next-worldly" salvation such a rebirth in a Pure Land and instead aimed for "this-worldly" personal and national liberation through a simple and accessible practice.
At a time when the shogunate had little interest in foreign affairs and ignored communications from China and the Goryeo dynasty, news arrived in 1268 of a new Mongol-led regime in Beijing.
Unused to such threats, Kyoto raised the diplomatic counter of Japan's divine origin, rejected the Yuan demands, dismissed the Goryeo messengers, and started defensive preparations.
More than 600 ships carried a combined ethnic Mongol, Han, and Korean force of 23,000 troops armed with catapults, combustible missiles, and bows and arrows.
Although Shinto priests attributed the two defeats of the Mongols to a "divine wind" or kamikaze,[7] a sign of heaven's special protection of Japan, the invasion left a deep impression on the shogunate leaders.
This period of reform, known as the Kenmu Restoration, aimed at strengthening the position of the emperor and reasserting the primacy of the court nobles over the warriors' caste.
Early in the conflict, Go-Daigo was driven from Kyoto, and the Northern Court contender was installed by Ashikaga, who established a new line of shoguns.
