Timeline of Samurai Rule in Japan

premodern Japan or as it is popularly referred to feudal Japan has become synonymous with the samurai Japan's iconic warrior class who came to dominate the country for much of its history but really when can we say Samurai rule officially started and when can we say it actually ended although we can point to very simple answers to this question what I want to do here today is try to expand upon it all a bit more by mapping out a solid timeline line of Samurai rule starting from when they truly became an influential force in the government to the EB and flow in between and finally when they were not any longer and as you may come to discover what many of our preconceived ideas of how long the Sarai actually ruled for might need to be adjusted but besides all that this video will also just try to serve as a general timeline of Samurai history for anyone else who may be curious about it what this video won't B is an overview of the evolution of warfare in Japan this is another fascinating subject I would like to cover in its own video but trying to add all of that detail in here would just end up being a lot to try to cram in so instead we are just going to be focusing on the rule of the iconic warrior class throughout Japanese history with that said let's take a look at our timeline what I've tried to do here is not only map out the actual historical periods but also layer on the additional periods or sub periods periods which overlap as we can see here with periods such as the namboku Cho soku and bakumatsu obviously we could go even more in depth than this if we really wanted to cover even more specific details but this layout I believe should more than suffice for what we are trying to get at today so let's start things off by diving way back into the past with when the warrior class first became influential in the government We Begin our journey in the hon period although can trace earlier origins of the budding Warrior culture back to even older times it is really not until the hon period that our idea of Bushi and Samurai arguably come to take their recognizable form the hon period which lasted roughly from around 794 to 1185 like many other Japanese historical periods was named after where the center of power was located at the time which Now by this point in history was in hanano or Kyoto as we now call it the location with which would serve as the seat of the emperor for a little over a millennium until he would later relocate to Modern Tokyo but for now the government was centered here as the emperor and his court were coming to have increased control over the provinces of honu shikoku and kushu now in the provinces Bushi who were professional warriors were starting to flourish especially after their significant role in helping to conquer the northern region of honu from the amishi and soon enough the influence of the this emerging Warrior culture would spread and eventually find its way into the very inner workings of the Imperial court itself and this is where things start to get pretty complicated based on terminology what happens is we can start to separate Warriors based on their roles when we think of Bushi what often comes to mind is the role of a professional Warrior specifically at this time in the provinces while Warriors of the capital who served Nobles and who perhaps came to take up significant government positions came to be referred to as terms such as sabura or saburai both of which roughly translating to mean someone who serves a superior these are the precursor terms to what would many years later evolve into the term Samurai we know and use today but it is important to remember that this distinction exists between the roles and terminology within the rising warrior class and that it only gets more complicated from here as although a difference does exist now eventually we do reach a point in history where all the lines become so incredibly blurred that the term we know would transform into the overarching samurai we use today for most members of warrior households or bouet but by the hon period we eventually see how the rise of this Warrior culture would eventually lead to the militarization of important noble families namely that of the Tyra and minamoto whose own power began to steadily Eclipse that of the once influential Fuji family these are of course the two famous Clans who would come to Duke it out in the legendary Gene War the real climax of the haon period which would of course lead to the eventual rise of the first shogunate the Kamakura bakufu and although we could point to this moment the rise of the first shogunate as the real beginning of warrior rule in Japan I think you can actually start it several decades earlier following the Hogan and Hai rebellions these were two chaotic clashes in the imperial capital which to put it simply were the result of political instability and rivalry and by the end of the Hai rebellion in 1160 the Tyra family under the rule of the great Tyra noori solidified the Tyra's dominance over Kyoto and therefore much of the central government so what I would do personally is put 1160 as the true start of warrior rule or at least Warrior influence but that does not mean yet that this was the true start of a warrior government 20 years later the taida would finally be challenged by the Insurgent MiniMoto who throughout the gene War would crush their Rivals and take over from there under the leadership of MiniMoto no Yori Tomo he would establish a more complete form of authority with the rise of his new power base in Kamakura ushering in a new age where now true power no longer rested in Kyoto but rather in Kamakura in 1192 yuo would officially be granted the old title of seun or simply Shogun trans transforming his government into the first shogunate or bakufu yet it should be noted that Yodi Tomo arguably already had such power before as he was already able to Grant land and act as an Arbiter of sorts for the lands and warriors under his control without Imperial sanction his appointment to Shogun merely expanded his power and soon we can see that Warrior rule no longer just existed sporadically or only within the capital but instead had become widespread Yi Tomo was able to Grant land to those loyal to him as he appointed Shugo military land Governors and Jito stewards to manage provinces and plots of land far and wide which work to be a much more efficient form of governance than what was seen before thus throughout most corners of the country we can see that Warrior families had come into control the samurai had fully seized power and they all answered to one leading figure the Shogun the Kamakura period is usually considered to have blasted from the end of the gpe war in 1185 to the fall of the bakufu in 1333 all in all it was relatively a period of some semblance of order and stability barring a small number of conflicts that the nation had to contend with yet what is also interesting here to note is that while minamoto yor Tomo had founded the Kamakura bakufu the power of the shogunate would ultimately not rest with his direct descendants for too long yoritomo would die in 1199 9 and after him two of his sons would each briefly come to rule yet after Shogun minamoto noan Tomo died in 1219 Yo's line had ended thus we enter into the age of the Hojo Regency the Hojo family of IU had become a dominating political force in the new regime one which had deep connections to it being that Hojo masako the daughter of the prominent Hojo tokimasa had been married to Yori Tomo thus her family became instrumental figures Within the shogunate soon their grip became absolute working behind the scenes to manage the government even the Shogun himself despite his higher status was subservient to their influence often because most of the Kamakura Shogun from this point on were children who were not allowed to rule in their own right their control of the bakufu would last throughout the duration of the Kamakura period with perhaps its most storyed leader being that of hjo tokimune who would become the eighth Hojo Regent or Shain in 1268 tokimune is significant for several different reasons but perhaps the greatest one was his leadership during both Mongol invasions of Japan in 1274 and 1281 Japan would of course repel the Mongols from their Shores and although popular stories suggest that this may have been enlarged thanks to divine intervention in the form of the divine wind or kamikaz great typhoons which wrecked the Mongol Fleet more recent Studies have shown that it was actually Japanese milit milary success against the Mongols that truly won the day yet although Japan had emerged triumphant in face of the Mongol incursion cracks within the shogunate were starting to form from failed policies to favoritism when appointing officials to even a lack of substantial reward given to those who had fought as the first line of defense against the Mongol invasion pressure against the shogunate was beginning to mount and finally by 1331 with the rise of the ambitious Emperor kodigo it Coalition arose to topple the Kamakura bakufu this would result in the genko war or genko noan which ended in 1333 with the fall of Kamakura and the return of full power to the emperor thus we enter into the very brief period of the kenmu restoration it was here that godigo sought to rid Warrior influence from most if not all parts of the government so that the emperor and the court could rule unchallenged once more if he had gotten his way the warrior class in Japan may have ceased to exist as we know it and the Kamakura bakufu may have appeared in history as only a short-lived experiment instead as you might expect his efforts greatly alienated most of the Samurai who had just fought in his name angering and rallying them against him under the leadership of ashikaga takuji who had previously been one of goo's most significant allies and commanders Samurai armies would force godigo out of the Capital by 1336 godigo would flee down into Yamato Province where he established a new Southern Imperial Court while in Kyoto a new emperor KOMO would eventually proclaim takuji the new Shogun by 1338 this was officially the start of the ashikaga shogunate or murachi bakufu which instead of separating its capital from Kyoto like the previous regime had done decided to remain in Kyoto as well and although godigo had been chased out his establishment of the Southern Imperial Court obviously went counter to the remaining Northern Court in Kyoto thus conflict inevitably dragged on in fact it would go on for roughly 56 more bloody years as Clans throughout Japan continued to clash over which court was seen as legitimate this time is known as The namboku Cho period literally meaning the period of the northern and southern Court thus although the ashikaga were technically in control of the country by means of their bakufu Unfortunately they did not enjoy the same semblance of stability that their predecessors were able to achieve War now gripped the land and both takuji and his son and Heir yoshiakira were forced to contend with continued Strife it would not be until the rise of ashikaga yoshimitsu the third ashikaga Shogun and often seen as the greatest of his line who was able to finally reconcile the courts by promising to restore the old practice of alternating succession to the Imperial Throne a promise which he ultimately did not keep but by then it was already too late however it can be argued that the entire nanoko period had caused significant damage to the ashikaga regime that it would never quite recover from their Authority would remain somewhat stagnant and they were unable to stop various minor Regional conflicts which would arise throughout the country over the next s decades all while in Kyoto each success of ashikaga Shogun fell away from their true role of leadership to instead embrace the flourishing culture of the capital this was something MiniMoto Yori Tomo had sought to avoid when he had separated his power Base by placing it in Kamakura yet here with the ashikaga there were no guard rails to keep the family line from sinking into the Meer that was the Grandeur of the capital contributing to their diminishing influence and finally like a house of cards things would ultimately come Crashing Down by 146 7 with the start of the Onin War it began over a succession dispute following the announcement that the current Shogun ashikaga yoshimasa was planning to retire being that he had no heirs originally it was planned that his brother was to come out of his religious life to succeed him as Shogun however when an air did later emerge things got more complicated as two of the most powerful Clans near the capital at this time the hosokawa and yamana threw their support behind behind the opposing candidates in a bid to expand their own influence conflict erupted originally throughout the streets of Kyoto ravaging the city but eventually spreading more widely throughout the country the Onan War itself as we like to Define it only lasted a mere 10 years considered to have ended by 1477 yet the effect it had caused was irreversible the shogunate had lost all authority and the many landholding families throughout Japan had become pretty much autonomous States most of whom then began competing for further Regional dominance this was the start of the sing Goku period which as we can see overlaps with several other historical periods now I made a video a while back which I will link that addresses when we can consider the singu period to have started and ended being that the dates tend to get a bit blurry when we want to consider its starting point and stopping point I have been a fan in the past of separating the onion War itself from the rest of the soku perod being that I used to like to separate the cause from the effect however for this video I have decided for Simplicity it is easier to just lump the two together like we most commonly see done anyway the soku period would last for roughly 150 years and really would become the absolute Pinnacle of Samurai Warfare additionally this was also the age in which European powers would first find their way to Japan as well initially by the Portuguese who arrived in 154 43 bringing with them such things as new religion and also western style Firearms which the Japanese would quickly adopt yet besides this the sokku period is also the point in history where we start to see more changes in regards to terminology as this is really where the term Samurai started to take the form we know it to be today previously in this video I have tried to separate the term Bushi and samurai or simply lump the two together by just saying Warrior Bushi and Samurai are both similar but also different to put it into simple terms I have seen it describe that while all Samurai were Bushi not all Bushi were perhaps Samurai it can become an incredibly confusing topic and not one where it appears there is a solid Universal consensus on the matter what gets even more complicated is that by the soku period there are a wide variety of terms which relate to all Warriors depending on their varying statuses yet this is also the point in history and more specifically into the following Edo period where we start to lump most of the terms together as most members of the warrior class or within bouquet Samurai households regardless of their actual status within the class start to be considered as simply Samurai especially when we look back as many have begun to apply the term retroactively as well but it's important to note that while this shift likely began in the soku period that it's also not to say that the term Samurai itself saw too much widespread usage throughout much of the period either still I believe one reason for the beginning of the meshing of the terms is perhaps enlarged thanks to the rapidly shifting Society throughout the soku period a period which is characterized by great social change just as much as the Warfare is known for indeed we even see one of the three great unifiers who had dragged Japan out of the chaos as someone who was born in the lower depths of society beneath the warrior class but through his accomplishment would rise up through the ranks to eventually rule Japan for a time this obviously being toyotomi hioshi and he was not alone in this as many people enjoyed this same social Mobility at least until it was put to an end late in the period the iconic chaos and warfare of the soku period would take its major turn around the year 1560 this is where we can start charting the rise of Ora Nobunaga who after His stunning Victory against the mighty imagawa that year put him on the path to becoming the first great unifier had Nobunaga lost and was perhaps even killed all of Japanese history following this point would have changed drastically but he won and would be able to launch further campaigns which eventually saw him seize the capital by 1568 with the initial intent of restoring ashikaga yoshiaki to the position of Shogun the ashikaga shogunate by this time had become mere puppets to the powerful Clans around the capital and yoshiaki thought that now with the might of the Oda at his side he could truly restore the strength of the murachi bakufu he was wrong Nobunaga was now in control and the ashikaga would only rule in name for just another few years with the full dissolution of the shogunate by Nobunaga in 1573 thus the murachi period comes to an end allowing us to move on into the azuchi momoyama period one named after the significant power bases of Nobunaga and his successor it was nobunaga's ambition to unite the land and end the Wars all while vastly updating Japanese Society itself however his efforts would be tragically cut short of his actual Victory when he was assassinated in 1582 allowing toyotomi hioshi to succeed him after defeating the treacherous Aki mitsu hidoshi would finish the fight and unify Japan by 1590 yet he then did something which in hindsight was likely the worst decision he could have made at the time he invaded Korea with the goal of eventually plowing through and conquering China he would die in 1598 without realizing his Mainland Ambitions and leaving Japan in an extremely unstable spot due to his failure thus we then enter into the rise of the third and final of the three great unifiers Tokugawa yasu who had emerged as the mightiest power in Japan following the death of hidoshi easu made careful and calculated moves to gain power for himself ultimately doing so by 1600 when he would win what is largely considered the greatest battle in Japanese history at se gahara Japan was essentially now his and 3 years later he would be granted the title of Shogun which neither of his predecessors had claimed this is the start of the Edo period but not the end of the soku period just yet as the finale came in 1615 when easu finally wiped out the last vestages of the toyotomi family at the great Siege of Osaka But Here we are now in the Edo period the period named after where yasu would situate his Capital Ido which would one day transform into modern Tokyo his power base was once again located in the Kanto region like the Kamakura bakufu had been and yasu had the great Fortune of being able to establish L the mightiest regime which had learned from everything in the past so far not only did the Edo bakufu start with the previous knowledge of what worked and didn't work from both prior shogunates but yasu was also able to continue to build off of all the great progress and improvements that the prior great unifiers had laid as well the end result was that the Tokugawa shogunate would go down as the strongest and longest lasting regime in all of Samurai history a period of over 260 years years of relative peace and stability though there were occasional conflicts such as the shimabara Rebellion the Tokugawa pretty much ensured Japan was Secure both internally and externally and as you can see on the timeline I've added an extra layer to Showcase Japan's period of sakoku this period has been described as one of isolation but really that isn't quite accurate more truthfully it was an age of Maritime restrictions that dictated who could come and go from the country and from where for example the only European Presence at this time were the Dutch who were allowed to trade with Japan strictly through the trade Port of deima in Nagasaki what is interesting about this period though is the odd limbo that Japan fell into as while some things Advanced other things fell behind Japan was able to still learn a lot from Trading with the outside world helping to advance medical practices and other Sciences but at the same time military advancements were not as quickly adopted partly due to a lack of needing them for war wars being that Japan was now at peace but also the fact that the shogunate likely wanted to ensure no chance of rebellion yet Perhaps what this period is most known for is its boom in culture many have come to say that the Japan we know today would not exist were it not for the Edo period finally however the sun would come to set on the Edo bakufu beginning in 1853 with the arrival of American warships led by Commodore Matthew Perry demanding that Japan open up to trade with the West the semblance of security and stability that the Tokugawa had established was shattered and we enter into the bakumatsu period meaning the end of the bakufu trade with Japan would be fully open to the west and with this came unequal treaties which caused the Japanese economy to run into Hard Times there was already plenty of anti- Tokugawa sentiment which existed in Japan as it was but now a concentrated opposition really began to mount the Tokugawa shogunate wanted to find a way to modernize itself not only technologically but also politically while those opposed to the shogunate wanted it dismantled while also expelling all Western powers in the end they got their wish as faced with mounting pressure Tokugawa yoshinobu the final Tokugawa Shogun would step down from his post in 1867 returning power back over to the emperor yet Tokugawa influence over the government was still quite strong thus the pro-imperial Clans needed to forcibly remove the Tokugawa from the government this brings us to the bin War which lasted almost a year and a half and although the prot Tokugawa forces had the manpower to crush their enemies they ultimately were unprepared for the level of military modernization the pro-imperial Clans had achieved the Tokugawa and their allies although they had attempted to modernize their Armed Forces never quite reached the level that their Rivals did and after their disastrous defeat at Toba Fushimi and later surrender of Edo most Clans had switched to join the new Imperial government the Imperial armies pressed North and the whole conflict came to an end in 1869 at the Battle of hakodate which took place in Hokkaido Japan was now in a new age with the Magi restoration and shortly thereafter the samurai class itself would be dissolved after a series of new decrees being abolished somewhat completely by 18 76 a year later saigo takamori would launch his Satsuma Rebellion something which often gets labeled as the Last Stand of the Samurai however that is simply not the case and takamore's motives are not clear-cut pro Samurai as people like to believe in reality the samurai whether in name or not were still largely in control of this new Imperial Japan the Clans that had risen up against the Tokugawa during the bakumatsu were rewarded with powerful position within the new government and their roles transformed into the new Japanese purage system or kazoku which tried to emulate aristocratic systems of European powers the end result was that these former Samurai families still remained highly influential within the government yet being that officially the samurai class had been abolished it is easy for most people to point to either the end of Tokugawa rule or simply the disillusion of the class as when Samurai rule quote unquote ended but this was simply not the case into the age of Imperial Japan samurai warrior culture and traditions still thrived taking new forms as well spurred on by former Samurai families who still held a firm grip throughout this age Japan's militarism soared to new heights as the Empire conquered new lands all throughout Asia even surprising the World by besting Western powers on several occasions yet despite this the West continued to look down upon Japan refusing to consider them as equals by the 1930s many of Japan's leading figures had become increasingly fanatical and intensely nationalistic with their aims ever exceeding Japan's actual capabilities they would enter into the second world war aligned with the Axis powers of Germany and Italy and by 1945 were ultimately defeated in the wake of this great conflict Japan would be occupied by the United States who took to rebuilding the nation into a proper ble question of democracy the old systems were almost completely torn down barring the actual full removal of the emperor himself yet with this the influence of the old Samurai families within the government was finally brought to a true end so as we can see although popular or perhaps more convenient definitions plac the rule of the Samurai as beginning with the rise of the Kamakura bakufu and ending with the fall of to ugawa Authority in reality true samurai influence over the government perhaps started earlier beginning with the Tyra family at their height in power and not ending until roughly 785 years later when Japan was finally defeated and occupied after the end of the second world war now I'm not saying one definition is necessarily better than the other like I said it's far more convenient to Simply say Samurai rule started with the Kamakura shogunate and ended with the Tokugawa shogunate but we should also not ignore how early the warrior families actually came to hold considerable influence and how far past the actual abolition of the Samurai class itself that these old Warrior families still held such influence either way I hope you enjoyed this dive into a timeline of Samurai rule it's quite easy to see how Japanese history is so intertwined with the history of its iconic warrior class forging the nation into the Japan we know today I also want to thank singu studies for helping me check over the script for this video being that we covered quite a lot here I wanted to make sure I was being as accurate as I could be I know that at some point in the future singu studies will also be releasing a video of his own discussing periods in Japanese history as well so keep an eye out for that I'll also be sure to link it down below when it goes live and with that said thank you for watching and don't forget to like subscribe and ring that 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