<P> The Kamakura period ended in 1333 with the destruction of the shogunate and the short re-establishment of imperial rule under Emperor Go - Daigo by Ashikaga Takauji, Nitta Yoshisada, and Kusunoki Masashige . </P> <P> The Kamakura period marks the transition to land - based economies and a concentration of advanced military technologies in the hands of a specialized fighting class . Lords required the loyal services of vassals, who were rewarded with fiefs of their own . The fief holders exercised local military rule . </P> <P> Once Minamoto Yoritomo had consolidated his power, he established a new government at his family home in Kamakura . He called his government a bakufu (幕府, tent government), but because he was given the ancient high military title Sei - i Taishōgun by the Emperor, the government is often referred to in Western literature as the shogunate . Yoritomo followed the Fujiwara form of house government and had an administrative board Mandokoro (政所), a board of retainers (Samurai - dokoro (侍 所)), and a board of inquiry (Monchūjo). After confiscating estates in central and western Japan, he appointed stewards for the estates and constables for the provinces . As shōgun, Yoritomo was both the steward and the constable general . The Kamakura shogunate was not a national regime, however, and although it controlled large tracts of land, there was strong resistance to the stewards . The regime continued warfare against the Northern Fujiwara, but never brought either the north or the west under complete military control . However, the 4th leader of the Northern Fujiwara Fujiwara no Yasuhira was defeated by Yoritomo in 1189, and the 100 - year - long prosperity of the north disappeared . The old court resided in Kyoto, continuing to hold the land over which it had jurisdiction, while newly organized military families were attracted to Kamakura . </P> <P> Despite a strong beginning, Yoritomo failed to consolidate the leadership of his family on a lasting basis . Intrafamily contention had long existed within the Minamoto, although Yoritomo had eliminated most serious challengers to his authority . When he died suddenly in 1199, his son Minamoto no Yoriie became shōgun and nominal head of the Minamoto, but Yoriie was unable to control the other eastern warrior families . By the early thirteenth century, a regency had been established for the shōgun by Hōjō Tokimasa--a member of the Hōjō clan, a branch of the Taira that had allied itself with the Minamoto in 1180 . The head of Hōjō was installed as a regent for the shōgun; the regent was termed the Shikken during the period, although later positions were created with similar power such as the Tokusō and the Rensho . Often the Shikken was also the Tokuso and Rensho . Under the Hōjō, the shogun became a powerless figurehead . </P>

What event in japan ushered in the kamakura period around 1185 ad