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literature. But after that family had for about 400 years "monopolized nearly all the important offices in the government," and from 888 had held the regency in hereditary tenure, it was finally deposed by the so-called "military families."

The first of these was the Taira, who, after only a short period of power (1156-1185) through Kiyomori, were utterly overthrown in the "wars of the red and white flags," and practically annihilated in the great naval battle of Dan-no-ura. Next came the Minamoto, represented by Yoritomo,^[1] whose authority was further enhanced when the Emperor bestowed on him the highest military title, Sei-i-Tai-Shōgun. And from this time (1192) till 1868 the emperors were practical nonentities, and subordinates actually governed the empire. The Japanese Merovingians, however, were never deprived of their titular honor by their "Mayors of the Palace."

But the successors of Yoritomo in the office of Shōgun were young and sensual, and gladly relinquished the executive duties to their guardians of the Hōjō family, who, as regents, ruled "with resistless authority" and "unexampled cruelty and rapacity," but yet deserve credit for defeating (in 1281) an invading force of Tartars sent by Kublai Khan. The great patriots, Kusunoki and Nitta, with the aid of Ashikaga, finally overthrew the Hōjō domination in 1333; but the Ashikaga rule succeeded and continued till 1573.