A shugo, literally meaning 'protector', made decisions according to local customs and military laws and, like the jito, they collected regular taxes in kind for the shogunate government, a portion of which they were entitled to keep for themselves. In the 14th century CE, there were 57 such provinces and so a shugo was involved in several estates at once, unlike the jito who only had one to worry about one. Here, too, is another difference with European feudalism as stewards never (officially) owned land themselves, that is until the wheels started to come off the feudal system.Īnother layer of estate managers was the shugo or military governor or constable who had policing and administrative responsibilities in their particular province. Jito (and shugo - see below) was not a new position but had been used on a smaller scale in the Heian Period (794-1185 CE) and, appointed by the shogunate government, they became a useful tool for managing land, taxes and produce far from the capital. Some of the loyal followers of the shogun received many estates ( shoen), which were often geographically disparate or distant from their traditional family homes, and so, rather than manage them directly themselves, they employed the services of an appointed steward ( jito) for that purpose. The system allowed the shogun to have direct control of most of his territory, but the lack of formal institutions of government would be a lasting weakness of the shogunates as personal loyalties were rarely passed on to successive generations. Unlike in Europe, the feudal system of Japan was less contractually based and a much more personal affair between lords and vassals with a strong paternalistic influence coming from the former, who were often referred to as oya or 'parent.' This 'family' feel was further strengthened by the fact that many lord-vassal relationships were inherited. The system allowed the shogun to have direct control of most of his territory, but the lack of formal institutions of government would be a lasting weakness. Feudalism as a nation-wide system thus broke down, even if the lord-vassal relationship did continue after the medieval period in the form of samurai offering their services to estate owners. However, over time, the jito and shugo, operating far from the central government, gained more and more powers with many of them becoming large landowners ( daimyo) in their own right and, with their own private armies, they challenged the authority of the shogunate governments. Unlike in European feudalism, these often hereditary officials, at least initially, did not own land themselves. The shogunates distributed land to loyal followers and these estates ( shoen) were then supervised by officials such as the jito (stewards) and shugo (constables). Although present earlier to some degree, the feudal system in Japan was really established from the beginning of the Kamakura Period in the late 12th century CE when shoguns or military dictators replaced the emperor and imperial court as the country's main source of government. Feudalism in medieval Japan (1185-1603 CE) describes the relationship between lords and vassals where land ownership and its use was exchanged for military service and loyalty.
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