The Nun Who Was Also Shogun Of All Japan? | Mother Of The Shogunate | Hōjō Masako

Hojo Masako was a woman who defied the conventions of her time, taking charge of Japan's government from the shadows, shaping her destiny while maintaining the desired standards of her time for a woman, well, most of the time. This video looks at what we know of her, and how much influence Masako held, and how much influence she had on Japan. For a start, Masako is a name she has been given from her father's name by historians, as we don't actually know her real given name, and Hojo was her family name. She was born in 1157 to a noble family, and her father was Hojo Tokimasa. He would be the first shogun of the Kamakura shogunate, as well as the leader of his family's clan in the Isu province. His wife was Hojo Nomaki, and both were still in their teens when their eldest child was born, and Masako would be the oldest of 15 children. But Masako wasn't born into a calm period of Japan's history, but instead just after the Hogen Rebellion. This was essentially a short civil war over who should be in charge, after a complicated imperial struggle for power. In Japan at that time, emperors could enter what was known as cloistered rule. This was essentially an abdication, where the emperor would go to live in a monastery, but would also retain much of their power and influence over the throne. Emperor Toba had done this in 1141, but when his son Emperor Sutoku abdicated in favor of his younger brother Emperor Konoe, he didn't get to hold any power at all, and was in fact shunned by the court. Konoe was only three when he took the throne, so it was clear both that the real reins of power remained with their father Toba, and that as he grew older he would likely remain a puppet ruler. But it wouldn't last long. On the 23rd of August 1155, Konoe died, and he was replaced by yet another brother who became emperor, Go Shirakawa. However, Sutoku had hoped one of his sons would take the chrysanthemum throne, so wasn't happy when yet another brother, who was also younger than him like the last, got it instead. On top of this, it was compounded by the fact Toba still had control of things from his cloistered rule. When Toba finally passed away on the 20th of July 1156, the family rivalry burst over into a family squabble, which turned into a civil war pretty quickly. Many noble families chose either Sutoku or Go Shirakawa, as well as fighting over the idea of whether cloistered rule should continue at all, considering the challenges it created over who was really in charge. This was the world Masako was born into, but her family wisely kept out of the fight. In 1159, during the Heiji Rebellion, the Taira clan, from whom Masako's family were descended, defeated the Minamoto clan who fought for the Empress Sutoku. Both families were descended from the imperial royal line, but the Taira were now effectively in charge, with Go Shirakawa still in cloistered rule. Minamoto no Yoshitomo, the leader of the clan, was defeated, and his sons and daughters were either sent to religious institutions or were executed. Keen to avoid this fate, one of his three surviving sons, Minamoto no Yoritomo, was exiled to Itsu at the age of just 13. And this is relevant to Masako's story because this domain was in the control of her father, Tokimasa. It's likely that despite being a son of the enemy, as he was still also an imperial descendant and a political refugee, Yoritomo would have been placed under the watchful eye of Tokimasa, and would probably have lived with his household. Masako herself would have been only a toddler at this point, no more than two years old. She would have grown up with Yoritomo, and probably knew him very well throughout her childhood. And her upbringing was apparently not the normal expected of a girl at that time. Apparently she was taught horseback riding, fishing and hunting as if she were a boy, and often ate with the men instead of the women. There is probably some truth to this and some not-truth to this, especially for the sources on this that were written after her death. Masako being taught these skills is not necessarily strange, as although women in Japan were, just like their counterparts in other areas of the world in the 12th century, subject to the rule of men in their society, the truly oppressive nature of later centuries had not yet started across the world. Many noble and royal women in Europe at that time also learned how to hunt and ride horses, and many were given an education just like their brothers. However, it is unlikely that Masako would have not been expected to eat with her mother and sisters, and that she would also not have to conform to the expectations of her time, even more so as she was the eldest daughter, and would have been expected to make a marriage that was useful to her family. But in a true act of late teenage rebellion, that wasn't going to happen. Around 1174, Masako's mother died, and she had to temporarily take on the duties of the household in her mother's place. Her father left to fulfill guard duties for the emperor in Kyoto, and would be gone for three years. Plenty of time for a lonely young girl to cozy up to the young man living in her father's household. In 1177, when she was around 19 or 20 years old, Masako and Yoritomo, then around 31, made plans to marry. Tokimasa wasn't happy about this for a number of reasons, but tantamount was the fact that marrying Yoritomo wasn't a good move politically, compared to a number of other husbands he had planned for Masako. Compared to a number of other potential husbands he had planned for Masako. A wedding to one of these others was arranged, but on the night of her wedding, Masako snuck out of her house and hid herself away in a nearby mountain temple with Yoritomo. They were guarded by the warrior monks who resided there, and eventually Tokimasa could see his headstrong daughter wasn't going to give in, and he reluctantly gave his permission for the marriage. Masako and Yoritomo were married that same year, and Tokimasa would even later throw his lot in with his new son-in-law when the chance came. And this chance came in 1180. Prince Moshihito, a son of the emperor Go Shirakawa, who had grown somewhat disillusioned with his father's cloistered rule, decided he was going to make a pitch for himself, and called upon the Minamoto clan across Japan to rise up once more in an act of rebellion. As he was now the eldest surviving son, Yoritomo was the head of the Minamoto clan now, and he teamed up with his father-in-law to attack the Taira clan. Yoritomo set up a makeshift capital for himself in Kamakura, although again there was familial strife as his uncle and cousins both made a play for head of the clan. As his wife, Masako was an important representative for the Hojo clan, as well as her father, and she began participating in the administrative duties required of her husband to aid him when he was away in battle. In 1179 she had given birth to their first child, a daughter named Ohime, and was now left to be a mother as well as holding down the fort in Kamakura while Yoritomo fought against the Taira armies. But in that same year Masako also lost her brother Munetoki, and her husband took her late brother's place as heir to the Hojo clan, strengthening his position further. Between 1181 and 1184 there was something of a tenuous peace between the two sides, and the couple found time to have another child, their first son Minamoto no Yorie on the 11th of September 1182. But the lull wouldn't last long. In 1183 Minamoto no Yoshinaka, Yoritomo's cousin and rival, managed to push his army into Kyoto, and forced out the Taira and the Emperor they had installed, Antoku. This gave them the opportunity to place their own choice of ruler on the throne, Emperor Gotoba, who was a grandson of Go Shirakawa, and most importantly was only three years old, so would need a regent. But this was where Yoritomo swept in and made his move. His two half-brothers Minamoto no Yoshitsune and Minamoto no Noriori, used the opportunity to attack Yoshinaka and execute him. This left Kyoto open for Yoritomo to step in and claim the capital for himself and his clan. The Minamoto and Hojo families now had complete control of the capital, the Emperor, and by 1185 all remaining rivals were wiped out, as the Taira clan and Emperor Antoku were executed or killed in battle. This left the way clear for Yoritomo to establish his own form of government. Masako and her family had stood by him throughout this process. It's highly likely that Masako had taken on many roles in order to support her husband in his although they were less written about than the exciting back and forth of military skirmishes. But Yoritomo would not have been able to concentrate on taking power for himself if Masako had not been there to help administer the state. Part of how Yoritomo had grown his hold over Japan and his armies had been to give away pieces of land in exchange for oaths of loyalty, thereby creating the feudal state which would become known as the Shogunate, as well as elevating the samurai caste. Masako would have helped with the structuring of these land gifts, as well as managing the relationships between members of the family and administering judgements and gifts when her husband was not physically present. There is little of the actual flavour of Masako's character at this point however, although her tenacity in choosing who she would marry and her tomboy upbringing do give some hints. So does a story about her from her married years, although there are no sources for the truth of it, it is still an interesting story. However even if untrue, as it suggests something of how Masako was seen as a person. Apparently when finding out about a mistress Yoritomo was keeping, Masako understandably did not want to share any of the power she held as his wife. She rounded up some warriors and made them set the woman's house on fire. The woman was actually inside at the time and she barely escaped the blaze. Giving out lands and titles to loyal followers had undermined the authority of the cloistered emperor Go Shirakawa and when the emperor finally died in 1192, there was no one left to argue about it. Yoritomo declared himself Shogun, essentially taking official control of Japan and its rule and he was now effectively in charge. In 1186 Masako had given birth to another daughter Sanman and in 1192 she then had their second son Minamoto no Sanetomo. They were now the most powerful family in Japan with two heirs, two daughters who would strengthen their position through marriage and a loyal following. However there were signs that Masako was a tough mother and she expected a lot of her children. In May 1193 Yoritomo took his eldest son Yorie on a hunting trip and on the 16th of May the 11 year old boy shot his first deer. His father was overjoyed and paused the hunting to allow a festival in his son's honour to go ahead that evening, sending a messenger to tell Masako the news. But she was unimpressed and sent the messenger back with her response that the son of a military commander being able to shoot a deer was nothing to get excited about. On the one hand we can see that she was a woman of her time, hardened by growing up with war and ruthlessness and that she wanted to probably toughen her children up to withstand the same. However the downside of this is that it likely made her son resent her and there would be further proof of this in years to come. On February 7th 1199 Yoritomo left his family home and went to a temple, being ordained there as a Buddhist monk. Two days later he died, which suggests he left because he knew he was ill. The position of Shogun now passed to his son Yorie, but as he was only 17 he would need a regent. And on top of this Masako was traditionally supposed to now, as a widow, shave her head and become a Buddhist nun. Both of these things would happen, but not quite as anyone expected. Masako did indeed shave her head and declare she was now a nun, but she didn't enter a nunnery. And her father Tokimasa decided to take over as shiken or regent for his grandson, while Masako formed a council to help her son with ruling that Tokimasa was head of. Unfortunately putting a headstrong 17 year old teenager in a position of rule and yet not actually ruling made him rather upset and he grew closer to his wife's family instead of his mother's as a result. Yorie was overheard speaking to his father-in-law Hiki Yoshikazu about possibly bumping off his grandfather. On top of this he wasn't an especially competent shogun, although we can argue we will never really know how good he could have been with one hand tied behind his back. This plot got back to Masako and when she told her father he had Yoshikazu imprisoned and later executed for treason in 1203. He didn't harm his grandson at that time, but Masako stripped him of his title and had him exiled to Isu province. In 1204 Yorie would also be murdered on Tokimasa's orders, although it's clear Masako had no knowledge of this. It was a hint of her father's ambitions. In 1203 Masako then had her second son placed as shogun, Sanetomo. She was close to her second son and he was only 11 at the time which made him more pliable than her eldest. This time although Tokimasa was still shiken, Masako also put herself on the council essentially making herself another regent. But there would be yet more family drama as both Masako and her brother Yoshitoki, now the heir to the Hojo clan, came up against none other than their own father in 1205. Tokimasa was now the most powerful man in Japan and after their mother died he had remarried to a woman his daughter's age. He now had other sons and he planned to remove Sanetomo from his position as shogun and put one of his sons there instead of his grandson. Aside from how awkward this would have made family gatherings, Masako was not about to give up her own power or that of her family's and she and her brother ordered Tokimasa to step down as regent and become a monk or they would rebel against him. Rather than create yet another civil war Tokimasa agreed and got himself to a monastery where he shaved his head and indeed became a monk living there for the next 10 years until his death in 1215. Masako was still a main negotiator and advisor to her young son and her brother Yoshitoki took over as shiken. However Sanemoto did not really have a happy time as shogun. Aware that he was pretty powerless in his position he threw himself into writing poetry and would become an accomplished author of waka poetry in his lifetime. He never lost his anxiety of being assassinated or overthrown however and turned to alcohol to stem his nerves. Sanemoto would be only 26 when he died on the 13th of February 1219 by unfortunately being assassinated as he had always feared. Masako's first son Yorie had since died but presumably he had never stopped telling his young family including his four sons about the injustice done to him by his mother and brother. When Yorie died his second son Kugyo was adopted by his emperor uncle and sent to a monastery to become a monk. Kugyo was only six years old at this point and we can already see where the mental trauma was going to take him. As Sanemoto came down the staircase from the senior shrine at Suragoko Hachimangu his nephew Kugyo now aged 19 appeared from beside the staircase and yelled before attacking his uncle with a sword and cutting off his head. He then took the head and ran off hiding at the home of the temple's guardian while sending a message to Miura Yoshimura that he was the new shogun. Yoshimura instead of meeting with the young assassin instead sent another messenger to Hojo Yoshitoki and the reply came back that Kugyo was to be executed in turn. A trusted samurai was sent with a group of five men who met Kugyo on his way there and they beheaded him for the murder. It must have been a double shock for Masako. Not only had she lost her remaining son but as he had no sons of his own she was no longer in any position to hold power or was she? Not forgetting it wasn't only Masako who stood to lose power but also her brother Yoshitoki. The two of them got the council to agree on selecting a new shogun from a somewhat more distant branch of the Minamoto line. This was Kugyo Yoritsune who at the time was only one year old. His grandmother had been niece to Masako's husband Yoritomo so there was a tenuous link. By 1225 however a deal had been reached with his father and Yoritsune became the fourth shogun at the age of just seven. Five years later they attempted to strengthen the ties between the families by having him married to one of Yorie's daughters who was 15 years older than her new husband. But Masako was able to be an undisputed regent this time around and she used her power to continue to keep rule tightly within the council and not with the emperor to manage the many relationships that now existed between the imperial family and the nobility and to once again be the one to oversee giving out rewards and titles. Yet again there was a threat of civil war when the Jokyo war broke out when the emperor Gotoba decided to have a go at overthrowing the Hojo family. It was Masako who rallied those in Kamakura with a speech in which she reminded those loyal to her not only of the traditional past with Yoritomo but of the many many many gifts lands and titles they had received and of the perceived obligation they owed to her family because of these gifts. Yoshitoki and his eldest son were successful in beating back the emperor's forces retaking Kyoto and exiling Gotoba. Although women did not often hold the same position as men in Japanese society at that time it was acknowledged that a woman could indeed hold as much power and authority as a man and Masako was looked up to as a matriarch of both her family and of Japan as a whole. Her influence allowed the Hojo clan to hold power in the Kamakura shogunate until 1333 however her influence could not live forever and in 1225 she died at the age of 69. Masako due to her own form of cloistered rule was known as the Amashogun or nun shogun. It was an acknowledgement not only of her cloistered rule but of the fact she was a shogun in all but name. The details of Masako's life have not been examined in the west in the same way as the men who surrounded her and yet she was a central character to the destiny of many of them. She was an ambitious headstrong woman but her loyalty to her clan often intersected with her own desire to hold power and this led to her confronting her own father and removing her eldest son from the throne when she deemed it necessary. Masako was clearly a woman who was intelligent and determined as she was entrusted with the administration of the state not only by her husband but also by the council who acted as regent for the emperor and when needed the shogun. In short Masako worked within the accepted boundaries of her time but she exceeded them by being the real power behind the chrysanthemum throne.