was the chief governing body of an important family or monastic complex in ancient

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 north ...

. This name was borrowed for the administrative department of the

Shogunate , 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 Kamakur ...

in feudal times.

History

The earliest usage of the term was found in the

Heian period The is the last division of classical Japanese history, running from 794 to 1185. It followed the Nara period, beginning when the 50th emperor, Emperor Kanmu, moved the capital of Japan to Heian-kyō (modern Kyoto). means "peace" in Japanese. ...

, referring to a governing body consisting of royalty and high-ranked

kuge The was a Japanese aristocratic class that dominated the Japanese Imperial Court in Kyoto. The ''kuge'' were important from the establishment of Kyoto as the capital during the Heian period in the late 8th century until the rise of the Kamakur ...

(higher than ju-sammi). Subsequently, during the

Kamakura is a city in Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan. Kamakura has an estimated population of 172,929 (1 September 2020) and a population density of 4,359 persons per km² over the total area of . Kamakura was designated as a city on 3 November 1939. Kamak ...

and

Muromachi period The is a division of Japanese history running from approximately 1336 to 1573. The period marks the governance of the Muromachi or Ashikaga shogunate (''Muromachi bakufu'' or ''Ashikaga bakufu''), which was officially established in 1338 by t ...

s, the primary executive branch of the

Bakufu , 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 Kamakur ...

(office of the Shogunate) was called by this name. During the Kamakura Shogunate, the Mandokoro governed administration and finance. It was formerly called Kumonjo, and the date when it was renamed is argued. There are two major proposed dates, 1191 or 1185. The first chief of the Mandokoro was

Ōe no Hiromoto Ōe no Hiromoto (, 1148–1225) was a Japanese '' kuge'' (court noble) and vassal of the Kamakura shogunate, and contributed to establishing the shogunate's governmental structure. Life A great-grandson of the famous scholar Ōe no Masaf ...

. Later,

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 rou ...

rensho The was the assistant to the ''shikken'' (regent) of the Kamakura shogunate in Japan.Iwanami Kōjien, "Rensho" The rensho placed his signature next to that of the ''shikken'' on official orders. In 1224 the third ''shikken'' Hōjō Yasutoki appoi ...

occupied this position. The position of executive director, serving also as the treasurer, was held by the

Nikaidō clan is a Japanese samurai kin group. Papinot, Jacques Edmond Joseph. (1906). ''Dictionnaire d’histoire et de géographie du Japon''; Papinot, (2003)"Nikadō," ''Nobiliare du Japon'', p. 42 retrieved 2013-5-5. History The Nikaidō claim desce ...

. During the Muromachi Shogunate, the Mandokoro was the office of finance and process on fiefs. Except in its earliest days, the position of chief of the Mandokoro was held by members of the

Ise clan Ise may refer to: Places *Ise, Mie, a city in Japan **Ise Grand Shrine, a Shinto shrine located in Ise, Mie *Ise Ekiti, a city in Nigeria *Ise, Norway, a village in Norway * Ise Province, an ancient province of Japan * River Ise, a tributary of the ...

, starting in 1379.

''Kita no Mandokoro''

As (lit. North Mandokoro), ''Mandokoro'' was also used as an honorific title referring to the wife of the '' sesshō'' (regent) or the '' kampaku'', these women had great political power and influence in their own right. For example,

Kōdai-in (died October 17, 1624), formerly known as , , , was an aristocrat and Buddhist nun, founder of the temple Kōdai-ji in Kyoto, Japan. She was formerly the principal samurai wife of Toyotomi Hideyoshi under the name of . Nussbaum, Louis-Frédé ...

, the wife of

Toyotomi Hideyoshi , otherwise known as and , was a Japanese samurai and ''daimyō'' (feudal lord) of the late Sengoku period regarded as the second "Great Unifier" of Japan.Richard Holmes, The World Atlas of Warfare: Military Innovations that Changed the Cour ...

, who held the rank of ''Kampaku'' in 1586, was styled ''Kita no Mandokoro'' (lit. North Mandokoro), and his mother was styled ''

Ōmandokoro Ōmandokoro (大政所, 1516 – 29 August 1592) or Ōmandokoro Naka was the mother of the Japanese ruler Toyotomi Hideyoshi. She was also the mother of Asahi no kata, Tomo and Toyotomi Hidenaga. Biography It is said that Ōmandokoro was born ...

'' (lit. Great Mandokoro). During the Heian period, the wives of the ''

'' were often called ''Kita-no-kata'' (北の方 Lady in the North), since their residence was normally placed in the northern complex of the palace.

History

''Kita no Mandokoro''

See also