JOEI SHIKIMOKU

(1232), in Japanese history, administrative code of the Kamakura shogunate (central military government) by which it pledged just and impartial administration of law to its vassal subjects. The shikimoku, or formulary (called Joei because of its promulgation during the year so named), was a collection of rules for the guidance of the shogun's courts; it dealt with religious matters, land disputes, and criminal offenses. Moderate and conciliatory, especially in its leniency to former enemies of the shogunate and in its acknowledgement of the separate administrative system headed by the emperor, it generally applied to the upper classes only.