The Military Epoch
history seems to show that unlimited monarchy is an impossible polity in Japan.
By the beginning of the twelfth century, the military power, as distinguished from that of the Court and the priests, had fallen, in tolerably equal proportions, into the hands of two families, the Taira and the Minamoto.[1] Both were descended from Emperors, and both were divided into a number of clans established in different parts of the Empire. The Taira had their headquarters in Kyōtō, and their clans were paramount in the provinces near the capital. The Minamoto's sphere of influence was in the north and east. It was inevitable that these two should come into collision. The events that immediately preluded the shock may be briefly dismissed by saying that they sprang out of a dispute about the succession to the Throne. The Taira triumphed, and their leader, Kiyōmori, became the autocrat of the hour.
Kiyōmori was a man of splendid courage and audacity, but originality and political insight were not among his gifts. Nothing shrewder suggested itself to him than to follow the example of the Fujiwara by placing minors upon the Throne. He caused one Emperor to retire at the age of five, and he put the sceptre into the hands of another at the age of eight. He filled all the high offices with his own people; made himself Prime Minister; his eldest son, Minister
5
