From 1192 to 1867, sovereignty of the state was exercised by the shoguns, or their shikken regents (1203-1333), whose authority was conferred by Imperial warrant.
After the United States Navy Commodore Matthew C. Perry's Black Ships forcibly opened Japan to foreign trade, and the shogunate proved incapable of hindering the "barbarian" interlopers, the Emperor Kōmei began to assert himself politically.