The Japanese military title meaning “great general pacifying the barbarians” was sei-i taishōgun. Shōgun is the shortened form commonly used in English, while the full title was granted by the emperor to certain military leaders.
The title originated in the early imperial campaigns against peoples whom the court called eastern barbarians. Minamoto no Yoritomo later made the office the basis of a durable warrior government in the late 12th century. Although the emperor remained the formal source of legitimacy, the shogun exercised practical control through military and administrative institutions.
The title was used by several ruling families, including the Kamakura, Ashikaga, and Tokugawa houses. Not every military leader in Japanese history was shogun, and the office’s real authority varied considerably. The last shogun, Tokugawa Yoshinobu, returned governing power to Emperor Meiji in 1867, and the title disappeared as Japan formed a modern centralized state.