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.

Nonetheless, Go-Shirakawa and Kiyomori were ruthless, and Yoshitomo found himself as the head of the Minamoto clan, while Yoritomo became the heir.

Only Yoshitomo's three young boys remained alive, so that Kiyomori and the Taira clan were now the undisputed leaders of Japan.

[9] Parents Consorts and issues In 1180, Prince Mochihito, a son of Cloistered Emperor Go-Shirakawa, made a national call to arms of the Minamoto clan all over Japan to rebel against the Taira.

[7]: 278–281, 291 Yoritomo established himself as the rightful heir of the Minamoto clan and set up a capital in Kamakura to the east.

Ishibashiyama, Minamoto no Yoritomo fled into the Hakone mountains, stayed in Yugawara, then escaped from Manazuru-Iwa to Awa (south of present-day Chiba).

[7]: 319 From 1181 to 1184, a de facto truce with the Taira-dominated court allowed Yoritomo the time to build an administration of his own, centered on his military headquarters in Kamakura.

In the end he triumphed over his rival cousins, who sought to steal control of the clan from him, and over the Taira, who suffered a terrible defeat at the Battle of Dan-no-ura in 1185.

Yoritomo established the supremacy of the samurai caste and the first shogunate (bakufu) at Kamakura, thus beginning the feudal age in Japan, which lasted until the 17th century.

Thus, Yoritomo gave himself the title of Sei-i Tai Shōgun (Barbarian-quelling Generalissimo) which formally placed all the feudal lords and both the jitō and shugo under his direct control.

Thus creating a new feudal state organized around Kamakura while Kyoto was relegated to the role of "national ceremony and ritual".

The imperial messenger Nakahara no Yasusada, who met Yoritomo in Kamakura in August 1183, said that "he is short and his face is large, his appearance is graceful and language is civilized.

"[18] Kujō no Kanezane writes in his diary Tamaha that "Yoritomo's body is of rigorous power, and his fierce nature is accompanied with a clear distinction and firm resolution of the judgement of right and wrong.

[20] Historian Hideo Kuroda organized and examined the portraits and statues of Minamoto no Yoritomo and has concluded as follows.

When comparing the statues of Minamoto no Yoritomo in Higashihirozo and Hōjō Tokiyori in Kenchō-ji, from the facial expression to size, they are almost identical, and there is evidence that the kariginu was remodeled into a sokutai, the formal dress of the shogun, by adding a hirao and sekitai.

[21] In the words of George Bailey Sansom, "Yoritomo was a truly great man … his foresight was remarkable, but so was his practical good sense in setting up machinery to match his own expanding power.

"[7]: 334–335 Yoritomo's wife's family, the Hōjō, took control after his death at Kamakura, maintaining power over the shogunate until 1333, under the title of shikken (regent to the shōgun).

He appears as the final boss in Genpei Toma Den, an arcade game created by Namco in which the player character is Taira no Kagekiyo, another Japanese historical figure.