Shogun, officially sei-i taishōgun , was the title of the military rulers of Japan during most of the period spanning from 1185 to 1868. Nominally appointed by the Emperor, shoguns were usually the de facto rulers of the country. Although during part of the Kamakura period and Sengoku period, shoguns were figureheads themselves, with real power in the hands of the shikken (執権) of the Hōjō clan and kanrei (管領) of the Hosokawa clan. In addition, Taira no Kiyomori and Toyotomi Hideyoshi were leaders of the warrior class who did not hold the position of shogun, the highest office of the warrior class, yet gained the positions of daijō-daijin and kampaku , the highest offices of the aristocratic class. As such, they ran their governments as its de facto rulers.
Sakanoue no Tamuramaro (758–811) was one of the first shoguns of the early Heian period.
Taira no Masakado's rebellion is historically significant as the first rebellion of the warrior class and the first attempt of the warrior class to establish a government.
Minamoto no Yoritomo, the first shogun (1192–1199) of the Kamakura shogunate
Hōjō Tokimasa shifted the source of power in the shogunate from the shogun to the shogun's assistant, shikken, and established the rule of the Hōjō clan.
A military dictatorship, or a military regime, is a type of dictatorship in which power is held by one or more military officers. Military dictatorships are led by either a single military dictator, known as a strongman, or by a council of military officers known as a military junta. They are most often formed by military coups or by the empowerment of the military through a popular uprising in times of domestic unrest or instability. The military nominally seeks power to restore order or fight corruption, but the personal motivations of military officers will vary.
Polish dictator Józef Piłsudski and fellow military officers during the May Coup in 1926
Military dictator Jean-Bédel Bokassa of the Central African Empire was overthrown by a French military invasion.
A crowd during the end of the civic-military dictatorship of Uruguay in 1983
Chilean military dictator Augusto Pinochet and his Government Junta