Zen Buddhism, introduced into Japan from China around this time, held a great appeal for many samurai. As Yoritomo’s authority depended on their strength, he went to great lengths to establish and define the samurai’s privileged status no one could call himself a samurai without Yoritomo’s permission. The establishment of the Kamakura Shogunate, a hereditary military dictatorship, shifted all real political power in Japan to the samurai. The triumphant leader Minamoto Yoritomo–half-brother of Yoshitsune, whom he drove into exile–established the center of government at Kamakura. The war ended when one of the most famous samurai heroes in Japanese history, Minamoto Yoshitsune, led his clan to victory against the Taira near the village of Dan-no-ura. The Gempei War (1180-1185) pitted two of these great clans–the dominant Taira and the Minamoto–against each other in a struggle for control of the Japanese state. The word “samurai” roughly translates to “those who serve.” (Another, more general word for a warrior is “bushi,” from which bushido is derived this word lacks the connotations of service to a master.)ĭid you know? The wealth of a samurai in feudal Japan was measured in terms of koku one koku, supposed to be the amount of rice it took to feed one man for a year, was equivalent to around 180 liters.īeginning in the mid-12th century, real political power in Japan shifted gradually away from the emperor and his nobles in Kyoto to the heads of the clans on their large estates in the country. During the Heian Period (794-1185), the samurai were the armed supporters of wealthy landowners–many of whom left the imperial court to seek their own fortunes after being shut out of power by the powerful Fujiwara clan.
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