, or Defense Commissioner of the West, was the name given to a post created in 1186 to oversee the defense of
Kyūshū. At the time, the primary mission of the ''Bugyō'' was to seek out and eliminate anyone who had supported
Minamoto no Yoshitsune
was a military commander of the Minamoto clan of Japan in the late Heian and early Kamakura periods. During the Genpei War, he led a series of battles which toppled the Ise-Heishi branch of the Taira clan, helping his half-brother Yoritomo conso ...
over his brother
Yoritomo to become ''
shōgun
, officially , was the title of the military dictators of Japan during most of the period spanning from 1185 to 1868. Nominally appointed by the Emperor, shoguns were usually the de facto rulers of the country, though during part of the Kamak ...
''. However, less than a hundred years later, the ''Chinzei'' (Western Defense Headquarters) took on the responsibilities of a true Defense Headquarters, acting as the first line of
defense against the Mongols. Over time, the position of ''Bugyō'', the head of the Defense Headquarters, became known as ''Chinzei Shugo'' or ''Chinzei Tandai''. This was but one of several similar posts established across the country.
The first ''Chinzei Bugyō'' was
Amano Tōkage
is a Japanese surname. Notable people with the surname include:
*, tattoo artist , Brazil , SP
*, manga artist
*Eugene Amano, a Filipino-born NFL player
*, physicist, inventor of blue LED light, 2014 Nobel laureate
*, Japanese baseball player
...
, who was succeeded soon afterwards by
Nakawara Nobufusa, who was sent to suppress resistance in Kyūshū. He established the Chinzei at
Dazaifu, where he received all the Shogun's orders for Kyūshū; local lords could not be trusted to obey local constables, and so the Kyūshū
Tandai
The term is a Kamakura and Muromachi period colloquialism for any very important governmental, judiciary or military post in a determinate area."Tandai", ''Iwanami '' Japanese dictionary, 5th Edition (2000), CD version During the Kamakura shoguna ...
(as the ''Chinzei Bugyō'' was sometimes known) had to act as intermediary between Kyūshū and the capital at
Kamakura.
References
*Sansom, George (1958). ''A History of Japan to 1334''. Stanford, California: Stanford University Press. pp355, 441.
Government of feudal Japan
Military history of Japan
{{Japan-mil-hist-stub