shoguns

Cultural  

1. Japanese military leaders who ruled the country from the twelfth to the nineteenth centuries. There was still an emperor in Japan under the shoguns, but he was reduced to a mere figurehead.

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Example Sentences

In that era, the cranes were kept as pets — as well as prepared as culinary delicacies — for the shoguns who ruled the realm.

From New York Times • Mar. 21, 2022

It was worn by the Tokugawa shoguns and declared a national treasure of Japan in 1939.

From The Guardian • May 18, 2018

For her, World War II must seem as remote as the time of the shoguns.

From National Geographic • Aug. 7, 2015

This sort of informal influence has proved powerful in other cultures--particularly premodern Japan, where retired shoguns and Emperors continued to make pivotal decisions.

From Time • Feb. 14, 2013

The first and third shoguns are buried at Nikko, while the fourth, fifth, eighth, ninth, eleventh and thirteenth lie in Uyeno Park, Tokio.

From The Critic in the Orient by Fitch, George Hamlin