Hōjō family summary

Written and fact-checked by The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica

Below is the article summary. For the full article, see Hōjō Family.

Hōjō family, Family of hereditary regents to the shogunate of Japan who exercised actual power from 1199 to 1333. Hōjō Tokimasa (1138–1215) joined the cause of Minamoto Yoritomo against Taira Kiyomori, then ruler of Japan. Together they prevailed, and Yoritomo became Japan’s new ruler, taking the title of shogun. Tokimasa’s daughter married Yoritomo, and when Yoritomo died in 1199 Tokimasa became regent to Yoritomo’s heir, his own grandson. The position of shogunal regent became hereditary; this office oversaw the constables and tax collectors that the shogunate placed in each province. The system worked well through the first half of the 13th century; its decline came about after resources had been depleted defending Japan against two Mongol invasions and because of the personal failings of the last Hōjō regent. Hōjō rule ended when Ashikaga Takauji captured Kyōto in the name of the emperor Go-Daigo and the Ashikaga family assumed the title of shogun. See also Kamakura period.

government Summary

Government, the political system by which a country or community is administered and regulated. Most of the key words commonly used to describe governments—words such as monarchy, oligarchy, and democracy—are of Greek or Roman origin. They have been current for more than 2,000 years and have not

Japan Summary

Japan, island country lying off the east coast of Asia. It consists of a great string of islands in a northeast-southwest arc that stretches for approximately 1,500 miles (2,400 km) through the western North Pacific Ocean. Nearly the entire land area is taken up by the country’s four main islands;

family Summary

Family, a group of persons united by the ties of marriage, blood, or adoption, constituting a single household and interacting with each other in their respective social positions, usually those of spouses, parents, children, and siblings. The family group should be distinguished from a household,