HOJO YOSHITOKI

born 1163, Japan died July 1, 1224, Kamakura, Japan warrior responsible for the consolidation of the power of the Kamakura shogunate, the military dictatorship that ruled Japan from the city of Kamakura in central Japan (11921333). Yoshitoki succeeded his father, Hojo Tokimasa (q.v.), as regent, making this office the hereditary post of the Hojo family. Thereafter, although the emperor at Kyoto was the official governmental authority, he ruled through his shogun in Kamakura, whose real power was vested in his regent. In 1219 the Shogun was assassinated, and Yoshitoki replaced him with an infant son of the Fujiwara lineage (a family with high standing among the aristocracy at Kyoto). That move further strengthened the power of the Kamakura government over the Imperial court. But the court resented usurpation of its power by the Hojo, and in 1221 the retired emperor Go-Toba tried unsuccessfully to overthrow Yoshitoki in the Jokyu Disturbance (Jokyu no ran). Go-Toba and his two sons were exiled, several of his generals were executed, and Yoshitoki established a military headquarters at Rokuhara, just south of Kyoto, to supervise the future activities of the court. The Hojo family took over many of the estates of the Kyoto court aristocracy, which had hitherto remained outside Hojo power, and gave them to loyal Kamakura retainers, thus strengthening Hojo rule and assuring the shogunate's continuing dominion over Japan.