Chinzei Bugyo

Chinzei Bugyō (鎮西奉行, Chinzei Bugyō^?) or Commissioner of the Defense of the West, was the name given to a Japanese government post in 1186. The post's primary responsibility was to oversee the defense of Kyushu. At the same time, when the position was created, he was given the duty to search for and eliminate anyone who supported Minamoto no Yoshitsune instead of his brother Yoritomo to become shōgun. However, less than a hundred years later the Chinzei (Western Defense base of operations) assumed the responsibility of a true defense base in defending Japan against the Mongol invasion. As time went by, the position of Bugyō, head of the defense base, obtained the name Chinzei Shugo or Chinzei Tandai. Similar posts were established throughout Japan.

The first Chinzei Bugyō was a man named Amano and he was supplanted by Nakawara Nobufusa shortly after as Nakawara came to suppress a rebellion in Kyushu. He established the Chinzei in Dazaifu where he received all orders from the Shogun regarding Kyushu. As local leaders did not always follow the laws established by local commissioners, the Kyushu Tandai (another name for the Chinzei Bugyō title) was to act as an intermediary between Kyushu and the capital in Kamakura.