Hello, and welcome to the History of Japan podcast. Episode 6, A New Order.

We left off last week with the arrival of warrior rule in Japan.

To recap, the Hojo family, after the death of the third and final Minamoto Shogun, ruled over Japan using the title of Shikken, or Regent.

The Hojo were not technically shoguns in their own right,

but held essentially the same powers a shogun would,

so that functionally there was no particular distinction

between a Hojo Shikin and the Minamoto Shogun's.

Now, once the Hojo assumed control of the country,

their first order of business was to suppress

all of their rivals. There was a lot of resentment against the new regime, particularly amongst

the Kyoto aristocracy. The Kuge aristocrats in Kyoto still saw themselves as rulers of the

country, and they looked for pretty much any chance they could get to overthrow these new

upstart warriors.

All of this discontent in Kyoto flared into a short-lived rebellion in 1221, referred to as

the Joku rebellion.

One of the retired emperors named Golthoba attempted to lead a revolt against the Hojo.

He built an army around those with a political grudge against the new regime, particularly the few remaining survivors of the Tyra family.

However, his ambitions were short-lived.

His army was crushed in a single decisive battle near the city of Uji, which is to the south of Kyoto.

Go-Toba was exiled and the court was stripped completely of all its remaining power.

However, the court still controlled substantial economic estates surrounding Kyoto.

The new chogunate was also forced to suppress an independent northern realm, led by a branch of the Fujiwara family.

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