Politics of Kozakura

The way Kozakura is governed and the politics that control it seem strange to many outsiders. To understand how the politics of Kozakura work, it is helpful to know a little of their background.
The politics begin with the Akimatsu clan and the Emperor Mori. The rise of the Akimatsu family was accomplished by skillful use of military might and diplomacy, primarily marriage alliances. Through these marriages, the Akimatsu wed their daughters to the powerful nobles of other clans. From there, they maneuvered and worked to see that children of these marriages assumed control of the other clans. Such maneuvers gave the Akimatsu huge influence.
However, the Akimatsu family was never able to put together a strong tradition of imperial authority. Too much of their control relied on the cooperation of allied families, who had to be rewarded with titles, offices, and land. Alone, the Akimatsu lacked the might to defeat their enemies.
To maintain the position of emperor, the Akimatsu quickly dominated the Dai Plain. There they gave lands to branches of their own family, cadet families (lesser families related to their line), and allies. Over time, their daughters married into more outside families, cementing the bonds of further alliances. Lastly, the Akimatsu launched a series of campaigns against the korobokuru who still held large portions of the various islands. The land captured in these campaigns was dispensed to loyal families or added to their own territories.
In time, the policies of the Akimatsu worked against them. After the first several decades, the family became quite large and split into several branches. Although only those from the main family could become emperors, the other branches sought to control the emperor. Most often this was done through marriage, wedding a daughter to the emperor or his sons. A child of such a marriage could be named emperor and the grandfather of the child could effectively control the court.
Naturally, with such a system, the reigning emperor was often too young to actually govern. This task was done by a regent (sessho), almost always the child emperor's grandfather from his mother's side. This was the most powerful position in the imperial court. The sessho controlled most appointments, grants of land, and tax immunities.
Furthermore, the old emperor had to retire, since there could not be two emperors at the same time. But the retired emperor was not necessarily eager to give up what little power he had. For several reigns, the old emperor was forced into retirement after a difficult power struggle.
With time, this retirement became a tradition and the Office of the Retired Emperor was established. The retired emperor became a force to be dealt with. Usually retiring in their twenties or thirties, retired emperors controlled many of the functions of the court. Indeed, at times there were two retired emperors, the father and grandfather of the current emperor. In such cases, the senior retired emperor (In) held the greater power of the two.
Thus there were sometimes three main factions in the imperial court—the regent (sessho), the retired emperor, and the emperor. Each held some degree of power and influence, the regent having the most and the actual emperor the least At the same time, other groups and families were also striving to gather power.
The politics of the capital were complicated and demanded all the attention of the nobles. Indeed, to be forced to travel more than 20 or 30 miles from the capital was a terrible banishment. The provinces were the home of the uncultured and inferior and very little attention was paid to the families in the provinces.
Forced more and more to manage without assistance from the capital, provincial families grew in armed strength and landholdings. Temples also grew in power as they were granted lands by emperors, regents, retired emperors, and other nobles. They attracted and trained sohei and often engaged in skirmishes and wars with rival temples. They allied themselves with those nobles who would advance their cause (or enrich their coffers). They sometimes entered the capital in force, threatening dire curses unless their demands were met.
The power of the Akimatsu and the other nobles of the court eventually weakened. They lacked both the trained troops to win battles and the landholdings to finance their enterprises. More and more they called upon provincial families related to their line. These families, in return for more land and rights, provided military muscle.
Blind to the danger, the noble families kept courting their own destruction. Eventually, the provincial families, their ranks swelled with samurai, were stronger than the nobles. Seeing that the imperial court was weak and in disarray, one family, the Hojo, forced the emperor to grant their family head the title of shogun. The shogun became the supreme military commander of the land.
Although of a lower position than the emperor and the sessho, the shogun had a great advantage—military might. The shogun was the real ruler of Kozakura. However, a careful pretense was maintained that the shogun obeyed the will of the emperor. This was necessary since the common folk believed the emperor was descended from the gods (and indeed was a god himself).
A daimyo could not just proclaim himself shogun. Only those of the proper family line (one related to the emperor, however distantly) could be shogun. He also had to receive his title from the emperor. While this was a mere formality, it meant only those who controlled the emperor could become the shogun.
Still, Kozakura was quite large and even the shogun could not control all of it. His power base was the same as that of the early emperors—a collection of families. These included the main family line, various branch families, cadet families, and allies. None of these alone were sufficient to maintain control or defeat the others. Retaining real power was a careful balancing act. Very soon the title of shogun became hereditary, passing from father to son or grandson. With this came all the ills and maneuvering that haunted the imperial succession. Other families used marriage politics to dominate the shogun. Children too young to govern were given the title, resulting in shogunal regents (shikken). The position of shogun was on its way to becoming what the emperor had fallen to—an empty title.

The Offices of the Imperial Government of Kozakura are:

In Order of Power	In Order of Prestige
Shikken	Emperor
Retired Emperor	Retired Emperor
Shogun	Shogun
Emperor	Shikken