Go-Shirakawa issues edict of pacification

1184

The retired Japanese emperor, a nominal political figure manipulated by whichever warrior clan held Kyoto, issued an edict favoring the Minamoto over the Taira and authorizing Yoritomo's eastern government. It was the first formal imperial recognition of the Kamakura regime. The edict gave Yoritomo the legal authority to appoint military stewards and constables across Japan, creating the administrative skeleton of the shogunate.