Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Masako became a Buddhist nun, a traditional fate of samurai widows, becoming kno
wn as "The General in Nun s Habit". She bullied the samurai class into supporting
her son, Minamoto no Yoriie, as the first Hojo Shikken (regent) in Kamakura.[3]
Through the collective efforts of Masako and a few political puppets, laws gover
ning the shogun s court in the early 13th century allowed women equal rights of in
heritance with fraternal kin. Even though the primary role of women in ancient J
apan continued to be the support to their family and their husbands, they acquir
ed a higher status in the household. These laws also allowed Japanese women to c
ontrol finances, bequeath property, maintain their homes, manage servants, and r
aise their children with proper, loyal, samurai upbringing. Most importantly, Ja
panese women were also expected to defend their homes in times of war.