Jeffrey P. Mass
Lordship and Inheritance to Early Medieval Japan: A Study of the Kamakura Soryo System.
Stanford University Press, 1989. First edition. 0804715408 viii/332 pages.
Volume, measuring approximately 6.25" x 9.5", is bound in black cloth, with stamped gilt lettering to spine. Book is in fine condition, with firm binding, clean and bright interior. Dust jacket displays light shelfwear. Jacket is preserved in mylar cover.
"The appearance of Japan's first warrior government, the Kamakura Bakufu, in the 1180's marked an important stage in the maturation of the provincial warrior elite. The Bakufu's emergence meant a shift in the center of gravity away from the court and absentee estate-holders to a warrior class now seeking to wield authority in its own right. This book concentrates on the rank-and-file warrior houses that made up the Bakufu's constituency, and examines the social and economic milieu in which these provincial families operated. It is the first full-length study in English of the institutional bases of the medieval Japanese family."