Takatoki Houjou

Takatoki is easygoing, pleasure-loving and poorly suited to the responsibilities surrounding the head of a military government. He allows powerful retainers to conduct much of the shogunate's administration while he remains detached from the political problems accumulating around Kamakura.

His lack of political discipline does not make him personally cruel toward his family. Tokiyuki remembers a father who permitted him considerable freedom rather than constantly forcing the expectations of a future ruler upon him.

Takatoki also enjoys archery, a detail that influences Tokiyuki's childhood training. Tokiyuki already has some familiarity with a bow when Yorishige Suwa later begins developing his offensive abilities.

Takatoki has training appropriate to the head of the Houjou warrior family and is particularly associated with archery. The series does not present him as an extraordinary battlefield fighter comparable with the major military commanders of the period.

His formal power comes from his position at the head of the Kamakura regime. In practice, however, the political structure around him allows influential retainers such as Enki Nagasaki and Takasuke Nagasaki to exercise substantial authority.

This gap between nominal power and practical leadership contributes to the shogunate's vulnerability when coordinated rebellion reaches Kamakura.

Takatoki appears during the opening depiction of Tokiyuki's peaceful life in Kamakura. As head of the Houjou family, he sits at the center of the government that Takauji Ashikaga has ostensibly been serving.

The rebellion transforms that comfortable political environment almost immediately. Forces opposed to the shogunate converge on Kamakura while Takauji turns against his former masters, leaving the Houjou leadership with little time to recover.

With Kamakura lost and the shogunate's military position hopeless, Takatoki joins the assembled Houjou leaders and retainers at Toushouji. He dies alongside the collapsing regime, leaving Tokiyuki as one of the surviving heirs of the family.

Tokiyuki Houjou is Takatoki's younger son and intended successor. Tokiyuki remembers his father from the peaceful life that existed before Kamakura's destruction.

Kunitoki Houjou is Takatoki's eldest son, born to a concubine, and the older half-brother of Tokiyuki.

Yasuie Houjou is Takatoki's younger brother and another senior member of the Houjou family.

Enki Nagasaki and Takasuke Nagasaki are influential retainers who exercise considerable practical power within Takatoki's government.

Takauji Ashikaga is initially a trusted warrior of the shogunate. His decision to rebel helps bring Takatoki's government to an end.