Yoritomo

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Minamoto Yoritomo (1147–99) Japanese general, founder of the KAMAKURA shogunate. His family, like their rivals, the Taira, had risen to prominence when imperial factions called for military support. In 1160 the Taira, having slain his father, placed him under the surveillance of their HOJO kinsmen. Taira power reached its zenith in 1180 when Taira Kiyomori made his infant grandson, Antoku, emperor. However, by 1185 Yoritomo was master of Japan. The victories that swept him to power were won largely by his younger brother, Yoshitsune, later enshrined in history and legend as a tragic hero. After destroying the Taira's Inland Sea bases he annihilated their fleet on 25 April 1185 at Dan-no-ura at the southern tip of Honshu. Antoku was drowned.

In 1192 another child-emperor appointed Yoritomo as the first SHOGUN, whereupon he set up his military administration in Kamakura, which effectively became the central government of Japan. Yoshitsune and other Minamoto rivals had already been killed on Yoritomo's orders, but his supporters were given estates and were to become the basis of the DAIMYO. On Yoritomo's death Hojo Tokimasa, whose daughter had married Yoritomo, made himself regent. By 1219 Yoritomo's own line was extinct.

Yoritomo (Yoritomo Minamoto) , 1148-99, Japanese warrior and dictator, founder of the Kamakura shogunate. After a prolonged struggle he led his clan, the Minamoto, to victory over the Taira in 1185. He became (1192) the first shogun , established his bakufu (headquarters) at Kamakura, and rewarded his retainers with estates strategically located throughout the country. These fiefs later became the basis of the power of the daimyo . Aided by scholars drawn from the imperial court, which Yoritomo controlled, he set up an administrative network that soon became the only effective central government. His shogunate marked the beginning of a vigorous period in Japanese history. Zen Buddhism was officially sponsored, and the military virtues of bushido were cultivated. Yoritomo's system of centralized feudalism set the pattern of military rule in Japan until the mid-19th cent.

Bibliography: See J. P. Mass, Court and Bakufu in Japan: Essays in Kamakura History (1982).