The was a senior government post held by members of the Hōjō clan, officially a regent of the shogunate. From 1199 to 1333, during the Kamakura period, the shikken served as the head of the bakufu (shogun's government). This era was referred to as .
During roughly the first half of that period, the shikken was the de facto military dictator of Japan. Both the posts of shikken and tokusō were monopolized by the Hōjō clan.