shogunal

Shogunal is an English adjective that denotes relation to a shogun or to a shogunate, the military government of feudal Japan. A shogunate, or bakufu, was the system in which the shogun held supreme military and political authority, while the emperor remained the nominal ruler.

Derived from shogun (将軍, general), the term shogunal is used in historical and comparative contexts to describe laws, institutions, offices, or events connected with the shogunate.

Three main shogunates shaped Japanese politics: the Kamakura shogunate (1192–1333) established by Minamoto no Yoritomo; the Muromachi or Ashikaga shogunate (1336–1573); and the Tokugawa shogunate (established 1603, governed from Edo, continued until 1868). In these periods, real power resided with the shogun and their samurai administration, while the emperor's role was largely ceremonial or symbolic. The bakufu centralized or distributed power, implemented policies, and regulated land, taxation, and defense. The Edo period pursued centralized control through the sankin-kōtai system and controlled foreign contact (sakoku).

In modern English, shogunal is used primarily in historical discourse or fiction to indicate a relation to shoguns or the shogunate. It appears in descriptions of laws, decrees, or artifacts associated with those regimes. The term highlights the distinction between the imperial center and the feudal military government at various points in Japanese history.