征夷大将軍Shōgun

Shōgun (将軍, shōgun; English: SHOH-gun, Japanese: ), officially sei-i taishōgun (征夷大将軍; Japanese: [sé̞ì.ì | tä̀í.ɕó̞ò̞.ɡɯ̈̀ɴ̀, sé̞è̞-, -ŋɯ̈̀ɴ̀] lit. 'Commander-in-Chief of expelling the Barbarians'), was the title of the military rulers of Japan during most of the period spanning from 1185 to 1868. Nominally appointed by the Emperor, shoguns were usually the de facto rulers of the country, except during parts of the Kamakura period and Sengoku period when the shoguns themselves were figureheads, with real power in the hands of the shikken (執権) of the Hōjō clan and kanrei (管領) of the Hosokawa clan. In addition, Taira no Kiyomori, Oda Nobunaga and Toyotomi Hideyoshi were leaders of the warrior class who did not hold the position of shogun, the highest office of the warrior class, yet gained the positions of daijō-daijin (太政大臣, Chancellor of the Realm), udaijin (右大臣, Minister of the Right) and kampaku (関白, Imperial Regent) respectively, the highest offices of the aristocratic class. As such, they ran their governments as its de facto rulers.

The office of shogun was in practice hereditary, although over the course of the history of Japan several different clans held the position. The title was originally held by military commanders during the Heian period in the eighth and ninth centuries.

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