The Development Of Kamakura Rule 1180 1250

An examination of a formative period in medieval Japanese history, this study analyzes the origins and consequences of the Jokyu War of 1221, a struggle of modest military proportions but of major political and legal importance. In defeating the traditional Court at Kyoto, the warrior government at Kamakura became the dominant national power; it subsequently created a highly efficient administration that gave Japan a century of social and political stability. Crucial to the success of Kamakura rule was the development of a system of justice that has long been recognized as one of Japan's outstanding achievements. The author studies this system in detail, describing the forms and techniques for arbitrating disputes and showing exactly how suits were brought, expedited, and resolved. The book includes annotated translations of 144 documents, a selection from the materials on which the book is based. These documents illuminate the changing power relationships after the Jokyu War and the developing stages of the judicial process.

The Kamakura period, 1180-1333, is known as the era of Japan's first warrior government. As the essays in this book show, however, the period was notable for the coexistence of two centers of authority, the Bakufu military government at Kamakura and the civilian court in Kyoto, with the newer warrior government gradually gaining ascendancy.

Japan's modern written law is Western. However, this law operates in a society whose values are pre-Western. In order to understand the function of modern law one has to study older systems of law as well. The main phases of Japan's pre-modern legal development are first, the indigenous customary law of the Yamato state. Next, the import and adaptation of Chinese codes from the 7th century onwards. Third, the use of Chinese legal techniques to bring order to the indigenous feudal law, culminating in the thirteenth century, and leading to the independence of Japan's legal system from that of China. Fourth, the mature system of written law and custom of the Tokugawa state. It is owing to the existence of well-functioning channels of law that Japan was able to modernise rapidly.

A Companion to Japanese History provides an authoritative overview of current debates and approaches within the study of Japan’s history. Composed of 30 chapters written by an international group of scholars Combines traditional perspectives with the most recent scholarly concerns Supplements a chronological survey with targeted thematic analyses Presents stimulating interventions into individual controversies

Japan was ruled by warriors for the better part of a millenium. From the twelfth to the nineteenth century its political history was dominated by the struggle of competing leagues of fighting men. This paperback volume, comprised of chapters taken from volumes 3 and 4 of The Cambridge History of Japan, traces the institutional development of warrior rule and dominance. Fourteenth-century warfare weakened the aristocratic and clerical control over provincial estates, and the power of military governors grew steadily. By the eighteenth century, however, warrior rule had come full circle. Centuries of peace brought a transformation and bureaucratization of the samurai class. Although samurai malcontents resisted the Meiji Restoration, many of the Meiji government's leaders were former samurai, and warrior values remained central to the ethical code of modern Japan.

This book addresses critical questions about how legal development works in practice. Can law be employed to shape behavior as a form of social engineering, or must social behavior change first, relegating legal change to follow as ratification or reinforcement? And what is legal development's source of legitimacy if not modernization? But by the same token, whose version of modernization will predominate absent a Western monopoly on change? There are now legal development alternatives, especially from Asia, so we need a better way to ask the right questions of different approaches primarily in (non-Western) Asia, Africa, the Islamic world, plus South America. Incoming waves of change like the 'Arab spring' lie on the horizon. Meanwhile, debates are sharpening about law's role in economic development versus democracy and governance under the rubric of the rule of law. More than a general survey of law and modernization theory and practice, this work is a timely reference for practitioners of institutional reform, and a thought-provoking interdisciplinary collection of essays in an area of renewed practical and scholarly interest. The contributors are a distinguished international group of scholars and practitioners of law, development, social sciences, and religion with extensive experience in the developing world.

“In a government, military matters are the essential thing,” said Japan’s “Heavenly Warrior,” the Emperor Temmu, in 684. Heavenly Warriors traces in detail the evolutionary development of weaponry, horsemanship, military organization, and tactics from Japan’s early conflicts with Korea up to the full-blown system of the samurai. Enhanced by illustrations and maps, and with a new preface by the author, this book will be indispensable for students of military history and Japanese political history.