The Shogunate

In Chapter 8, episode 5, Minamoto no Yoritomo was made shogun by Former Emperor Go-Shirakawa. After the Genpei War, Yoritomo amassed large amounts of power in Kamakura, which can be considered his "homebase". This military government, or bakufu, became known as the Kamakura shogunate. The office of the shogunate can serve an interesting historical allusion from the Tale of the Heike.

During and before the Genpei War, the shogun was merely a military commander who served under the Emperor. Following Yoritomo, the shogun became someone who ran the country behind the scenes while still technically serving the Emperor. Shoguns often would work with land, taxes, and trade. This power would be passed down hereditarily following the death of the previous shogun. After Yoritomo used his military position to gain political power as well, he set a precedent for those shoguns to follow, one that would subsist for hundreds of years until the end of the shogunate in the 19th century.

Sources:

• https://www.britannica.com/topic/shogunate
• https://www.nationalgeographic.org/thisday/aug21/first-shogunate-japan/
• http://web.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/Minamoto_no_Yoritomo