It is belived that the Kamakura Shogunate had a large number of manors on which it exercised its own proprietorship. These manors must have been an indispensable base of financial resources for the Kamakura goverment. In this essay, this writer attempts to study how the Kamakura Shogunate dominated its manors, most of which had been formerly controlled by members of the Taira faction. There were a considerble number of manors with two lords appointed by Kamakura. One was a resident lord and the other an estate manager who acted for the Kamakura Shogunate. Why did Kamakura establish two posts in one manor? After considering some manors formerly controlled by the Taira faction, this writer comes to the conclusion that the estate manager was appointed by Kamakura for the purpose of watching and surpressing the resident lord who had taken up arms with the Taira faction in the war between 1180 and 1185. This writer also gives attention to the fact that the greater part of manors under Kamakura's direct control were located in the provinces of western Japan and tries to account for this paradox. It is small wonder that the Kamakura Shogunate expected it own manors to take a prominent role in its domination over the western part of Japan.
