Cutting-Edge Research
in Kyoto University

JPN HIST

Why Were Samurai Governments Established? Exploring their history from the late Heian period to the early Kamakura period (11–13th century).

Tale of Heike (Copyright 1998, Kyoto University Library)

Why were samurai (warrior) governments established in Japan? This is the question that I have been exploring in my research. Through this research, I seek to reveal certain historical characteristics of Japan, the only East Asian country in which samurai governments were formed. From the perspective of historical science, I have been elucidating the question by studying the cloister government, the Taira clan government, the Genpei War (a conflict between the Taira and Minamoto clans), the establishment of the Kamakura shogunate, and the literary Tale of Heike.

Yasuo Motoki, PhD
Professor,
Graduate School of Human and Environmental Studies