Hōjō Tokiyori (, June 29, 1227 – December 24, 1263) was the fifth

shikken The was a titular post held by a member of the Hōjō clan, officially a regent of the shogunate, from 1199 to 1333, during the Kamakura period, and so he was head of the ''bakufu'' (shogunate). It was part of the era referred to as . During ro ...

(regent) of the Kamakura shogunate in

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the n ...

Early life

He was born to warrior monk

Hōjō Tokiuji was a son of Yasutoki and the father of Tsunetoki and Tokiyori. Tokiuji was expected to be the future shikken (regent) by his father, but he lost his health while he served as the Rokuhara Tandai (Kitakata) in Kyoto. His wife Matsushita Zenni ...

and a daughter of

Adachi Kagemori Adachi Kagemori (安達景盛) (died 1248) was a Japanese warrior. He was part of the Adachi clan, and then he joined the Hojo clan Hojo or Hōjō may refer to: Hojo or HoJo: *Howard Johnson's, a U.S. chain of restaurants and hotels *A nickna ...

Rule

Tokiyori became shikken following his brother Tsunetoki's death. Immediately after the succession, he crushed a coup plot by former ''

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 Kamaku ...

'' Kujō Yoritsune and Tokiyori's relative Nagoe Mitsutoki. In the next year, he let Adachi Kagemori destroy the powerful Miura clan in the

Battle of Hochi A battle is an occurrence of combat in warfare between opposing military units of any number or size. A war usually consists of multiple battles. In general, a battle is a military engagement that is well defined in duration, area, and force ...

. He recalled his experienced grandfather's brother, Hōjō Shigetoki, from Kyoto and appointed him as rensho. In 1252, he replaced Shogun Kujō Yoritsugu with

Prince Munetaka was the sixth '' shōgun'' of the Kamakura shogunate of Japan who reigned from 1252 to 1266.Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005). "Munetaka shinnō" in . He was the first son of the Emperor Go-Saga and replaced the deposed Fujiwara no Yoritsugu as ...

, and so successfully solidified the power base.

Reforms

Tokiyori has been praised for his good administration. He worked on reforms mainly by writing various regulations. He reduced service of the

vassals A vassal or liege subject is a person regarded as having a mutual obligation to a lord or monarch, in the context of the feudal system in medieval Europe. While the subordinate party is called a vassal, the dominant party is called a suzera ...

to guard

Kyoto Kyoto (; Japanese: , ''Kyōto'' ), officially , is the capital city of Kyoto Prefecture in Japan. Located in the Kansai region on the island of Honshu, Kyoto forms a part of the Keihanshin metropolitan area along with Osaka and Kobe. , the c ...

. He worked toward resolving the increasing land disputes of his vassals. In 1249, he set up the legal system of '' Hikitsuke'' or High Court.

Personal life and dictatorship

In 1252, he started to make policies at private meetings held at his residence instead of discussing at the Hyōjō (), the council of the shogunate. In 1256, when he became a Buddhist priest, he transferred the position of ''shikken'' to

Hōjō Nagatoki Hōjō Nagatoki (, 1227–1264) was the sixth ''Shikken'' (1256–1264) of the Kamakura Bakufu The was the feudal military government of Japan during the Kamakura period from 1185 to 1333.Louis-Frédéric, Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005) ...

, a son of Shigetoki, while his infant son with women named Akiko, Tokimune, succeeded to become '' tokusō'', the head of the Hōjō clan and his son with Tsubone Sanuki, Hōjō Tokisuke succeeded as the head of rokuhara. thus separating the positions for the first time. He continued to rule in fact but without any official position. This is considered the beginning of the tokusō dictatorship.

Legends

There are a number of legends that Tokiyori traveled incognito throughout Japan to inspect actual conditions and improve the lives of the people.

Death

Tokiyori died in 1263 at the age of 36.

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hojo, Tokiyori 1227 births 1263 deaths Adachi clan Tokiyori Regents of Japan People of Kamakura-period Japan