(Japanese; " tent government ")
Military rule of the country by a hereditary shogun , as opposed to rule by the imperial court and the emperor.
There have been three periods of bakufu government in Japanese history: Minamoto Yoritomo established the Kamakura bakufu (see Kamakura period ) at the end of the 12th century, Ashikaga Takauji established the Muromachi bakufu (see Muromachi period ) in the early 14th century, and Tokugawa Ieyasu established the Edo bakufu (see Tokugawa period ) at the beginning of the 17th century. The Edo bakufu was the most successful, a time of peace and prosperity that lasted over 250 years. See also daimyo ; Hōjō family ; jitō .