Japan is the land of the rising sun, ruled by the imperial family. All residents of the state were to obey the emperor and his court. His power was unshakable and inviolable. However, there were times when power in Japan was held by representatives of the court nobility - the shoguns. It was the shogun who was considered the real ruler of the state for more than seven centuries.
Origin of the word
The word "shogun" in translation from the Chinese language means general. It also has its roots in the Japanese language. In this case, "shogun" is translated as "holding power." In fact, the shogun is the definition of a military leader who was supposed to control and pacify the population of the prefectures of Japan, in case of their dissatisfaction with the current government.
Initially, the shogun was the governor of the emperor in the provinces. He had to keep order, collect taxes and fulfill all the requirements of the imperial court. The shogun was appointed by the emperor from the viceroy clan nobility, among whose representatives an internecine struggle was constantly waged for obtaining this title.
The shogun in the provinces had the right to collect an army and manage its maintenance. Subsequently, the meaning of the word changed. Shogun not only became the governor of the emperor and holder of power, but also received the title of commander-in-chief of an independent army.
The appearance of the first shoguns in Japan
For the first time, one of the Japanese generals Yorimoto received the rank of shogun. He was able to gather his own army and defeat his predecessors. The emperor handed over to him the supreme power in the province. It happened in 1192. However, Yorimoto's power was not permanent. The general continued to fight and was able to make the title of shogun hereditary. So in Japan the shogunate was established for several centuries.
Although the title of shogun was inherited, a special ceremony was held during which the emperor himself personally welcomed the new shogun and awarded him the setto sword, transferring military power. Thus, the shogun became the real ruler of the state, and the emperor became a formal figure, whom the people worshiped as a sign of respect.
The Tokugawa Shogunate
The shogun rule reached its heyday with the rise of the Tokugawa dynasty. In Japan, a special army was created, power in the prefectures was transferred to military generals. Tokugawa banned all contact with foreign states, closed borders and isolated Japan from the outside world. A police state with a strong central authority was formed. The shogun's subjects did not have the right to move from one province to another and change their place of work. For any disobedience, the death penalty was threatened.
The Tokugawa Shogunate lasted 250 years, until the Meiji Revolution in the late 19th century. The reason for the fall of the Tokugawa shogunate is the difficult economic situation of the state. Japan's isolation from the outside world has led to disastrous consequences for the state's economy. Trade relations with neighboring countries were broken, Japan was difficult to move from a subsistence economy to a commodity one. Due to the development of monetary relations within the state, a layer of small owners appeared in the country, which was suppressed by the power of the shogun. As a result, a rebellion rises against the Tokugawa government. In 1868, the revival of the imperial power was proclaimed and the era of radical economic and political reforms began.