The title Shogun is a derivative of Sei-i-tai-shogun, which literally translates as "Great Barbarian Subduing General" and was first used around the sixth century to designate generals sent to subdue caucasian Ainu tribes inhabiting the eastern and northern portions of Honshu. In 1192, when Minamoto clan leader Yoritomo established himself as the supreme military power in the country, he was given the title Sei-i-tai-shogun by the emperor, apparently because it was the highest military title in the land. The closest English translation would probably be generalissimo, but in effect it meant that Yoritomo was the military dictator of Japan.

Yoritomo thus became Japan's first Shogun. Rather than remain in Kyoto which he saw as a society of weaklings, Yoritomo chose Kamakura in distant eastern Honshu for the site of his administrative government, which was called bakufu or "camp office". He retired in 1199 in favor of his son, Yoriie, in order to ensure that the position would be passed on to his descendents. Yoriie was succeeded by his younger brother Senetomo, but the latter was assasinated in 1219.

Sanetomo was the last of the Yoritomo's family, so the Hojos, the most powerful members of the bakufu government in Kamakura, invited Yoritsune Fujiwara, whose family had virtually ruled Japan before the previous 300 plus years, to fill the post of Shogun.

Yoritsune accepted the invitation, but actual power was in the hands of Yoshitoki Hojo. His descendents were to continue acting as regents for the shogun until 1333, when the Kamakura Shogunate fell.

The fifth Kamakura shogun was also a Fujiwara (Yoritsuga), but from 1252 on, the Hojos invited imperial princes to assume the role, while they maintained power. The Imperial prince-shoguns were Munetaka (1252-1266), Koreyasu (1266-1289), Hisaakira (1289-1308), and Morikuni (1308-1333).

In 1333, Takauji Ashikaga rose in rebellion and defeated the Kamakura Shogunate, which had been weakened by its defense against the Mongol invasions of 1274 and 1281. He was appointed Shogun in 1338. His descendants were to rule as Shogun for the next 234 years until 1573.

By the 1500s, the Ashikaga shoguns, who set up their government in Kyoto, had lost control of the country, bringing on an age of wars between clan leaders fighting for supremacy.

First there was Nobunaga Oda (1534-1582), a descendant of the famous Taira clan. In the series of battles, he emerged as the paramount leader but was assasinated by one of his own retainers when he was 49 years old.

Nobunaga was succeeded by Hideyoshi Toyotomi, his ablest general, who went on to consolidate his power over all of Japan. Hideyoshi was still a young boy.

In the battles that followed Hideyoshi's death, one of his chief allies, Ieyasu Tokugawa, emerged the victor and in 1603 established the Tokugawa Shogunate in Edo (Tokyo).

Fourteen of Ieyasu's direct descendants were to reign as Shogun until the year 1867, when the last one Yoshinobu, abdicated in favor of restoring the emperor to power.

Western contact with Japan began in earnest in the last half of 1500s, but was to end abruptly in the 1630s when Tokugawa Iemitsu, Ieyasu's grandson, closed the country to outsiders.

Finally, it was the inability of the last four Tokugawa shoguns to deal with eternal problems and the Western powers that brought the downfall of Japan's last great feudal dynasty.