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Regency of Hōjō Tokiyori (1240s)

Type Event Region Japan Time 1246–1256

Hōjō Tokiyori became fifth regent of the Kamakura shogunate in March 1246, retiring in 1256 but retaining influence until his death in 1263.

Timeline

  1. 1246Kamakura · KantōTokiyori succeeded his brother Yasutoki... wait, succeeded his brother Kanetoki as regent at only 19. He swiftly crushed the plot by former shogun Kujō Yoriie and Nagoe Mitsutoki (the Miyasudokoro disturbance): Yoriie was sent back to Kyoto, Mitsutoki exiled and later executed. That same year he recalled his grand-uncle Hōjō Shigetoki (son of Yoshitoki, brother of Yasutoki, formerly the Rokuhara Tandai) from Kyoto back to Kamakura to assist in government, appointing him rensho the following year.
  2. 1247Kamakura · KantōTokiyori allied with Adake Kagesane to attack the powerful gokenin Miura clan of Yasumura; in the Battle of Hōji (June 1247) the Miura were destroyed. This removed a warrior force threatening Hōjō dominance, deepened the gokenin's dependence on the shogunate, and established the Hōjō autocratic system.
  3. 1249–1256Kamakura · KantōIn 1249 Tokiyori established the Hikitsuke to adjudicate land disputes, easing the burden on gokenin. In 1252 he deposed Fujiwara no Yoritsugu and installed Prince Munetaka, son of Emperor Go-Fukakusa, as sixth shogun, the first imperial prince to hold the post. In 1256 he retired from the regency due to illness in favor of Hōjō Nagatoki, taking the lay Buddhist name Meigetsuin-nyūdō, but retained real power until his death in 1263.

Sources