The hereditary shogun has become a puppet ruler much like the emperor, as real power in Japan has passed into the hands of the Hojo family, whose leaders take the title of shikken (regent) and direct the Emperor in his appointments of puppet shoguns.

The imperial court and the Bakufu, the military government at Kamakura, now function virtually independently of each other.

Japan’s house of Genji perishes with the third shogun Ninamoto-no-Sanetomo, assassinated in 1219.

Emperor Go-toba (Toba II), realizing that his influence is severely limited, abdicates in hope of gaining more by manipulating, from off his throne, important officials.

Having gained the backing of large, militarily strong monasteries, he attempts in 1221 to raise an imperial army to break the power of the Bakufu in Kamakura.