1.
Kamakura period (1185–1333)
The period of Japan's first warrior government, the shogunate that Minamoto no Yoritomo set up at Kamakura, from about 1185 until its fall in 1333. Power passed from court nobles to the samurai, and new schools of Buddhism spread among ordinary people.
Named after 鎌倉, the seaside town south of present-day Tokyo where the shogunate had its seat.
Common collocations
- 鎌倉幕府: the Kamakura shogunate
- 鎌倉時代の武士: Kamakura-period samurai
- 鎌倉仏教: the new Buddhist schools of the period
Cultural note
Students once memorized the founding year as いい国つくろう (1192); textbooks now favor 1185, remembered as いい箱つくろう. Its key figures include 源頼朝, the Hōjō regents, and the monks 親鸞, 道元, and 日蓮.