Introduction
Shogunate Japan (1185-1868) was a time of malicious warfare, as different families and individuals fought for the power, which ultimately controlled Japan. Japan's rulers had changed from being courtly aristocrats to warriors. The shoguns were the head of the warrior class called samurai and supervised private estates, placed provinces under military control and created legal posts. Whilst Kyoto remained the Imperial capital, the Emperor was little more than a figurehead. As the Shogunate era came to an end, so to did the period of Japan's world isolation. |