What the Kamakura period means
The Kamakura period is the division of Japanese history that runs from the late twelfth century, when Minamoto no Yoritomo set up a warrior government based at Kamakura in Sagami Province, to 1333, when the Kamakura shogunate fell. Its starting date depends on what is taken as the founding of the shogunate, and general histories give years ranging through the 1180s up to 1192. The end in 1333 is not disputed.
The period follows the Heian period and is followed by the Nanbokuchō period, the era of the Northern and Southern Courts, and then by the Muromachi period. The period divisions used by Cultural Heritage Online list Heian, Kamakura, Nanbokuchō and Muromachi in that order, and the national records date cultural properties by the same scheme. Some accounts fold Nanbokuchō into Muromachi, however, and building records in the national database sometimes enter a building of the Nanbokuchō years as early Muromachi, while records for art objects keep Nanbokuchō as a separate period. The scheme therefore differs with the kind of record.
For cultural properties the period marks a turning point in style. In architecture, the rebuilding of Todaiji brought the Daibutsuyō manner and the arrival of Zen brought Zenshūyō, so that by the end of the period both stood beside the older Wayō tradition. In sculpture the Kei school, led by Unkei and Kaikei, set a new direction, and statues modelled on the rebuilt figures of the Great Buddha Hall spread across the country. In painting, images of Amida's descent to receive the dying, the Raigō, were often composed on a diagonal.
How the period appears in records
Building records in the national database often divide the period into early, middle and late in the period field, entering values such as late Kamakura, and give the Japanese era year and the Western year in separate fields. Records for art objects give the period simply as Kamakura and then narrow the date within the commentary, with phrases such as the very beginning of the Kamakura period or around the middle of the thirteenth century.
The basis of the date is worth separating out. Where an inscription, a ridge tablet or a contemporary document fixes the year, a specific year appears in the date field. Where the date rests on style, the record gives only the period or a range of a century or so. A property labelled Kamakura has therefore not necessarily been dated to a known year, and a careful article distinguishes a documented date from one inferred from style so that readers understand what kind of evidence lies behind it.
When a Japanese era name is given together with a Western year, a year in which the era name changed can be written under either name, so the form used in the record should be followed.
References
- 時代から見る｜文化遺産オンライン
- https://online.bunka.go.jp/heritages/era/japan
- 荏柄天神社本殿｜国指定文化財等データベース（文化庁）
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/heritage/detail/102/00003912
- 木造四天王立像（海住山寺）｜文化遺産オンライン
- https://online.bunka.go.jp/heritages/detail/154721
- 絹本著色阿弥陀二十五菩薩来迎図｜文化遺産オンライン
- https://online.bunka.go.jp/heritages/detail/127814
- 明王院五重塔｜文化遺産オンライン
- https://online.bunka.go.jp/heritages/detail/195800
Last verified: 2026.09.26