Sesshō and Kampaku

In Japan, Sesshō (摂政) was a regent who was named to act on behalf of either a child emperor before his coming of age, or an empress regnant.

[1] During the Heian period (794–1185), from the middle of the 9th century, the Fujiwara clan began to marry off their daughters to the Emperor and assume the positions of Sesshō and Kampaku, thereby excluding other clans from the political centre and increasing their political power.

From then on, the cloistered rule of Cloistered Emperor took root, and the de facto Fujiwara regime, which used the positions of Sesshō and Kampaku, was over, and the Sesshō and Kampaku lost their real political power and became mere names.

Hideyoshi obtained this title, the highest position in the aristocracy, by being adopted into the Konoe family and formally becoming an aristocrat.

A retired Kampaku was called Taikō (太閤), which came to commonly refer to Toyotomi Hideyoshi.

The Kojiki reports that Emperor Ōjin was assisted by his mother, Empress Jingū, but it is doubtful if it is a historical fact.

In 887, Fujiwara no Mototsune, the nephew and adopted son of Yoshifusa, was appointed to the newly created office of kampaku.