he Hojo adopted towards the shoguns the same
policy as that previously pursued by the Fujiwara towards the
sovereigns--appointment during the years of childhood and removal
on reaching full manhood.* But the shoguns were not unavenged.

*It is related that when the regent, Sadatoki, in 1289, removed
Prince Koreyasu from the office of shogun, he ordered that the bamboo
palanquin in which the prince journeyed to Kyoto should be carried
with the back in front. The people said that the prince was banished
to Kyoto.

It was owing to the social influence exercised by their entourage
that the frugal and industrious habits of the bushi at Kamakura were
gradually replaced by the effeminate pastimes and enervating
accomplishments of the Imperial capital. For the personnel and
equipage of a shogun's palace at Kamakura differed essentially from
those of Hojo regents (shikken) like Yasutoki and his three immediate
successors. In the former were seen a multitude of highly paid
officials whose duties did not extend to anything more serious than
the conservation of forms of etiquette; the custody of gates, doors,
and shutters; the care of pavilions and villas; the practice and
teaching of polite accomplishments, such as music and versification;
dancing, handball, and football; the cultivation of refined archery
and equestrianism, and the guarding of the shogun's person.*

*The officials of the shogun's court were collectively called banshu.

At the regency, on the other hand, functions of the most arduous
character were continuously discharged by a small staff of earnest,
unpretentious men, strangers to luxury or leisure and solicitous,
primarily, to promote the cause of justice and to satisfy the canons
of efficiency. The contrast could not but be demoralizing. Not
rapidly or without a struggle, but slowly and inevitably, the poison
of bad example permeated Kamakura society, and the sinecures in the
shogun's household came to be coveted by the veterans of the Bakufu,
who, throughout the peaceful times secured by Hojo rule, found no
means of gaining honours or riches in the field, and who saw
themselves obliged to mortgage their estates in order to meet the
cost of living, augmented by extravagant banquets, fine buildings,
and rich garments. Eight times between 1252 and 1330, edicts were
issued by the Bakufu fixing the prices of commodities, vetoing costly
residences, prohibiting expensive garments, censuring neglect of
military a