d enemy if he deemed the latter's
submission to be sincere, and throughout his whole career he showed a
strong respect for justice. The men of his time ultimately gave him
credit for sincerity, and his memorial won universal approval and
popularity.

POLITY OF THE KAMAKURA BAKUFU

Under the Dadka (A.D. 645) system, various administrative organs were
created in accordance with Tang models, and a polity at once imposing
and elaborate came into existence. But when the capital was overtaken
by an era of literary effeminacy and luxurious abandonment, the
Imperial exchequer fell into such a state of exhaustion that
administrative posts began to be treated as State assets and bought
and sold like commercial chattels, the discharge of the functions
connected with them becoming illusory, and the constant tendency
being in the direction of multiplication of offices with a
corresponding increase of red tape. Yoritomo and his councillors
appreciated the evils of such a system and were careful not to
imitate it at Kamakura. They took brevity and simplicity for guiding
principles, and constructed a polity in marked contrast with that of
Kyoto.

At the head of the whole stood the shogun, or commander-in-chief of
the entire body of bushi, and then followed three sections. They
were, first, the Samurai-dokoro, which term, according to its literal
rendering, signified "samurai place" and may be appropriately
designated "Central Staff Office." Established in 1180, its functions
were to promote or degrade military men; to form a council of war; to
direct police duties so far as they concerned bushi', to punish
crime, and to select men for guards and escorts. The president
(betto) obviously occupied a post of prime importance, as he
practically controlled all the retainers (keniri) of the Minamoto
clan and its allied houses. Its first occupant was Wada Yoshimori,
representative of a famous family in the Kwanto, who had greatly
distinguished himself in the Gen-Hei War. He held the post until the
year 1213, when, taking up arms against Hojo Yoshitoki, he was
defeated and killed. Thereafter, it being deemed inadvisable that the
functions of such an important office should be delegated
independently, they were made supplementary to those of the military
regent (shikken), to be presently spoken of.

MAN-DOKORO

The second of the three great sections of the Bakufu polity was the
Mandokoro (literally, "place of administration"), which, at