HOJO FAMILY

family of hereditary regents to the shogunate of Japan who exercised actual rule from 1199 to 1333. During that period, nine successive members of the family held the regency. The Hojo took their name from their small estate in the Kanogawa Valley in Izu Province. Additional reading George Sansom, A History of Japan to 1334, vol. 1 (1958), an excellent general history of the period; Shinoda Minoru, The Founding of the Kamakura Shogunate, 11801185 (1960), a prime source for the feudal period, based on the Azuma Kagamiexplains the origin of military government; Frdric Joon des Longrais, Age de Kamakura: Sources (11501333), vol. 3 (1950), a detailed guide to feudal law, government, and documents; John Hall, Japanese Feudal Laws: The Hojo Code of Judicature, Tasj, 1st Series, vol. 34 (1906).