Countries and cultures - Cultures and customs - Shogun - Samurai governments - Japanese history - Japan
What was a shogun in feudal Japan?
Correct!
The shogun was originally a military commander. From the late 12th century onward, real political power in Japan increasingly shifted from the imperial court to a samurai-led military government. This government was known as the bakufu, or shogunate. The shogun formally received his position from the emperor but exercised actual political power for long periods. Japan experienced several shogunates. The Tokugawa shogunate is especially well known; Tokugawa Ieyasu established it in 1603 in Edo, today's Tokyo. It shaped Japan until the restoration of imperial rule in the 19th century.
A shogun was a military ruler formally appointed by the emperor who often held Japan's real political power.
