Hōjō Yasutoki (; 1183 – July 14, 1242) was the third ''

shikken The was a senior government post held by members of the Hōjō clan, officially a regent of the shogunate. From 1199 to 1333, during the Kamakura period, the ''shikken'' served as the head of the ''bakufu'' (shogun's government). This era was ref ...

'' (regent) of the

Kamakura shogunate The was the feudal military government of Japan during the Kamakura period from 1185 to 1333. Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005)"''Kamakura-jidai''"in ''Japan Encyclopedia'', p. 459. The Kamakura shogunate was established by Minamoto no Yori ...

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

. He strengthened the political system of the Hōjō regency.

Life

He was the eldest son of second ''shikken'' Hōjō Yoshitoki. According to '' Azuma Kagami'', he was liked by the first ''

shōgun , officially , was the title of the military rulers 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, except during parts of the Kamak ...

'',

Minamoto no Yoritomo was the founder and the first shogun of the Kamakura shogunate, ruling from 1192 until 1199, also the first ruling shogun in the history of Japan.Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005). "Minamoto no Yoriie" in . He was the husband of Hōjō Masako ...

. In 1218, he became the chief ('' bettō'') of the Board of Retainers ('' samurai-dokoro''). In the Jōkyū War of 1221, he led shogunate forces against the

imperial court in Kyoto The Imperial Court in Kyoto was the nominal ruling government of Japan from 794 AD until the Meiji period (1868–1912), after which the court was moved from Kyoto (formerly Heian-kyō) to Tokyo (formerly Edo) and integrated into the Meiji go ...

. After his victory, he remained in Kyoto and set up the '' Rokuhara Tandai''. Yasutoki and his uncle Tokifusa became the first ''tandai''. When his father Yoshitoki and aunt

Hōjō Masako was a Japanese politician who exercised significant power in the early years of the Kamakura period, which was reflected by her contemporary sobriquet of the "nun shogun". She was the wife of Minamoto no Yoritomo, and mother of Minamoto no Yori ...

died, he succeeded to become ''shikken'' in 1224. He installed Hōjō Tokifusa as the first ''

rensho The was the assistant to the '' shikken'' (regent) of the Kamakura shogunate in medieval Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on th ...

''. In 1225 he created the Hyōjō (), the council system of the shogunate. In 1232 he promulgated the '' Goseibai Shikimoku'', the legal code of the shogunate. He was highly praised for his impartial justice. In 1242, he was ordained as a Buddhist monk and took the

Dharma name A Dharma name is a new name acquired during both lay and monastic Buddhist initiation rituals in Mahayana Buddhism and Pabbajjā, monastic ordination in Theravada Buddhism (where it is more proper to call it Dhamma or Sangha name). The name is ...

Jōshōbō Kan'a (上聖房観阿). He died in the same year. His grandson Tsunetoki succeeded him to the post of ''shikken''.

References

External links

1183 births 1242 deaths Yasutoki Regents of Japan People of the Heian period People of the Kamakura period Buddhist clergy of the Kamakura period {{japan-noble-stub