Rokuhara Tandai

One of the strongest forces protecting the Imperial Palace of Heian Capital

Rokuhara Tandai (六波羅探題) was the post of the chiefs of the Kamakura shogunate in Kyoto whose agency, the Rokuhara (六波羅), kept responsibility for security in Kinai and judicial affairs on western Japan, and negotiated with the imperial court. Despite keeping security, the Rokuhara were also a sort of secret police and widely feared.

Rokuhara Tandai was set up after the Jōkyū Incident in 1221. The two chiefs were called Kitakata (北方) and Minamikata (南方). Kitakata was higher-ranking than Minamikata. Like shikken and rensho, both posts were monopolized by the Hōjō clan. The agency was destroyed with the fall of Kamakura shogunate in 1333.