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= = =Japan under the Shoguns' (c. 794 - 1867)=

A **shogun** (将軍 , //shōgun//) (literally, "a commander of a force") was one of the military dictators of Japan. In this period, the shoguns were the //de facto// rulers of Japan though they were appointed by the emperor. The emperor was viewed as having great symbolic authority but little political power. Although the original meaning of "shogun" is simply "a general", as a title, it is used as the short form of seii taishōgun (征夷大将軍), the governing individual at various times in the history of Japan, ending when Tokugawa Yoshinobu relinquished the office to the Meiji Emperor in 1867. media type="custom" key="15384122"