ABSTRACT
PRESIDENT OF THE MILITARY REPUBLIC GOVERNMENT.-The Minamoto Government lasted only twenty-nine years, from II92 (3rd year of Kenkyu), when Minamoto Yoritomo assumed the power of the Shogunate, to 1219, when his son Sanetomo was killed. The Minamoto lasted only three generations, and were then put into the background by the Hojo clan, the head of which became the Regent, and took charge of all the administration, as if he were the Shogun. During this period nobles and princes from Kyoto were nominated Shogun, but the actual administration was in the hands of the Hojo clan. In the period of land economy, when the lords had possessed extensive manors and maintained their families and followers, their economic influence and vast fighting power brought the actual authority of administration into their hands, a clear proof of how strong the power of the soil is. The authority of land-steward, that of high constable, and that of the generalissimo, were not the gift of the sovereign, but were all born from the soil. A federation of all these great and small lords with deep local roots was the Kamakura Government, which might, therefore, be called a military republic, with the head of the Hojo clan elected president by these lords. In so far as the position of the Hojo was only a presidency without the historical power of the Court or the superstitious worship of the people for the Court nobles, they had to rely only on the lords and military classes, and this support was dependent on good administration. Consequently their principle was to be impartial, efficient, and courageous, as well as uncovetous, in their administration, and their government was the most admirable in the history of Japan.
