The Last of the Minamoto

Yoritomo died suddenly from the effect of a fall from his horse, and was succeeded by his son, who, however, was not yet of age. His mother's father, Hojo, was appointed as his guardian. You remember that this old man had been a captain in the Taira clan, but that his daughter had persuaded him to help Yoritomo. Hojo had remained faithful to his son-in-law, of whom he was somewhat afraid. But now that the regent was dead, the captain made up his mind to be the real regent, even if his grandson held the title.

But when the son of Yoritomo grew up to man's estate, he wanted to rule as his father had done before him, and would not be satisfied with the mere honors and rank of regent. So his grandfather quietly ordered his head to be shaved, and sent him off to a cloister, where he was locked up. And when even within the walls of this prison,—for such it was,—he continued to protest against the actions of his grandfather, he was murdered by order of the captain, and his younger brother was made regent.

Yoritomo

Now, until within recent years, Japanese boys were wont to marry very young, and so you will not wonder that the poor murdered regent had left a son, who brooded over the violent death of his father. When this lad was old enough to handle a sword, he attacked his uncle, the new regent, and killed him. Hereupon Hojo condemned him to death, and the boy was executed.

Yoritomo had no other sons, and you might think that the family had died out. But you would be mistaken. In Japan it is the custom when there are no male heirs in a family, to adopt a child, who takes the name of his foster father and has all the rights and privileges of a son. Hence there was no difficulty to provide a new regent: all that had to be done was to adopt a baby, and the widow of Yoritomo wrote to Kyoto to have one sent.

"But," you will ask, "why did not this widow interfere with her father to prevent the murder of her oldest son, and the execution of her grandson?" If you have not forgotten what I have said of the filial duties of a Japanese, you will know that the mother was in duty bound to yield blind obedience to her father. His will was law, and it would have violated every Japanese principle if she had dared oppose him in any of his resolutions.

Another question you are apt to ask is what the faithful Minamoto clansmen did when they saw the family of their lord ruthlessly slaughtered by one who belonged to their foes, the Taira. To this I must answer that the old captain was sly enough to keep the death of a regent secret until he had another one safe and sound on the throne. And the clansmen were satisfied as long as they knew that a head of the Minamoto was, in name at least, the regent. They obeyed, not him, but the orders issued over his name and seal.

The loyalty of a Japanese is intense; it is so strong that he will shrink from no danger, and will even commit suicide when the order is given by those who have lawful authority. But until the revolution of 1868 this loyalty was to the clan as a political body, and not to the head of the clan personally. It was the crest or seal that was revered as the personification of the clan, and if the official documents containing commands bore the seal of the clan, they were obeyed without hesitation, whoever might be the temporary head that issued them.

From what I have said here, you will understand why the Taira captain, who was without doubt the actual ruler of Japan, did not dare proclaim himself as regent, and why he and his descendants continued to place on the regent's throne at Kamakura babies, who are known in Japanese history as "shadow regents," because they were regents only in name. And this will further explain how the Japanese writers of history of this day boast, in good faith, of the loyalty of the people for the emperor and his family, while at the same time they tell the story much as I have told it to you thus far. And the people were  loyal, according to their idea; that is, they obeyed cheerfully any order given under the crest and seal of the Tennô. And when they did take up arms against him, it was with no disloyalty, for they announced that they were fighting only against his advisers; that is, against the men who used his crest and seal to further their own schemes. The story of Japan is not easy to understand; but if you can remember what I have said above, you will find less difficulty.

You will see now that, even at this early time, the Tennô had no real power; that the country was ruled by regents from Kamakura as the capital; and that the man who could make and depose the regents was the real ruler of people, regent, and emperor.