The Kamakura period is a division of Japanese history running from approximately 1185 to 1333 AD. The period marks the governance of the Kamakura Shogunate that was officially established in 1192 by the first Kamakura shogun Minamoto no Yoritomo.

The Kamakura period ended in 1333 with the destruction of the shogunate and the short reestablishment of imperial rule under the Emperor Go-Daigo by Ashikaga Takauji, Nitta Yoshisada, and Kusunoki Masashige.

The Kamakura period is also said to be the beginning of the Japanese Middle Ages which also includes the Muromachi period and the beginning of the Japanese Feudal Period which lasted until the Meiji Restoration.