The+Shogun

=The Shogun= The Shogun was the head of the military in Japan by heredity from the late 12th century to the mid 20th century. With the Shogunate also came the role of Samurai in feudal Japan. Shogun were appointed by the Emperor to this position, although at times this was a purely ceremonial gesture. This system of rulers started when Minamoto no Yoritomo seized power of a chunk of the central government of Japan and established a Feudal system in which the Samurai gained some political power but the emperor and the rest of the aristocracy in Japan maintained political power in practice. This changed when Minamoto was appointed to be the Shogun by in 1192. Up until the seventeenth century, Japan 's shogun system was plagued by turbulence and fighting between families. This changed in 1600 when Tokugawa Ieyasu seized power of Japan and established the capitol city and Edo (hence the name Edo period). He was appointed to the Shogun position by the emperor who at that time had little more than ceremonial powers. From 1603 on to 1867, the power resided in the Shogun of Japan in not just from a military but in also from an economic and diplomatic standpoint as well. This created a virtual dictatorship during the Tokugawa rule in the Shogun.