Rise of the Shogun
Photograph by Ira Block, Hayashibara Museum of Art, Okayama

Swords raised, samurai surge into combat on a period scroll depicting the naval battle of Danno-ura in 1185, which vaulted the warrior class to power. The clash pitted the clans of two warlords: the Taira and the Minamoto. Aided by a change in the tides and the defection of an enemy officer, the Minamoto troops annihilated the Taira forces. The child emperor, Antoku, present at the battle, was drowned by his family to prevent his being taken captive. Soon after the decisive victory, Yoritomo, the Minamoto leader, was proclaimed shogun, or commander in chief, by Antoku's successor. Under this military form of government, the emperor became little more than a figurehead.