The Sengoku period , also known as Sengoku Jidai ( Japanese : 戦国時代 , Hepburn : Sengoku Jidai , lit. ' Warring States period ' ) , is the period in Japanese history in which civil wars and social upheavals took place almost continuously in the 15th and 16th centuries. The Kyōtoku incident (1454), Ōnin War (1467), or Meiō incident (1493) is generally chosen as the period's start date, but there are many competing historiographies for its end date, ranging from 1568, the date of Oda Nobunaga's march on Kyoto , to the suppression of the Shimabara Rebellion in 1638, deep into what is traditionally considered the Edo period . Regardless of the dates chosen, the Sengoku period overlaps substantially with the Muromachi period (1336–1573).
74-593: The Amakasu clan ( 甘粕氏·甘糟氏 , Amakasu-shi) was a minor Japanese clan of the Sengoku period . Originally from Echigo Province, they were led to oblige the powerful Nagao clan and later the Uesugi clan . In the 16th century Amakasu Kagemochi was forced to fight for Uesugi Kenshin . After his death in 1578, descendants of Kagemochi continued to serve the Uesugi during the Edo period . Under
148-435: A Shugodai ( 守護代 , deputy Shugo ) who attained power by weakening and eventually replacing his lord. The most spectacular example of a sengoku -era rise is often considered to be that of Toyotomi Hideyoshi , who rose from a peasant background to successively become a samurai, sengoku daimyo , and kampaku (Imperial Regent). Modern Japan recognizes Oda Nobunaga , Toyotomi Hideyoshi , and Tokugawa Ieyasu as
222-530: A Noh performance at their residence in Kyoto and assassinated him during the evening play. Yoshinori was 47 at the age of his assassination which was organized by Mitsusuke, who had learned that Yoshinori planned to bestow three provinces belonging to him to his cousin Akamatsu Sadamura, who came to be given an important position by Yoshinori because Sadamura's younger sister became his concubine and gave birth to
296-570: A common enemy of Kenshin and Ujiyasu, but Shingen died of illness in 1573. After Takeda Shingen's death, he fell out with Oda Nobunaga and destroyed the Noto Hatakeyama clan, which was close to Nobunaga, at the Siege of Nanao in 1577, pacifying Noto Province . He then defeated Oda Nobunaga's forces at the Battle of Tedorigawa . However, he died of a cerebral hemorrhage in 1578 at the young age of 49. When
370-565: A letter to the shogunate via the kingdom of the Ryūkyū Islands ; Yoshinori responded favorably. Receiving the Ming-designated title "King of Japan" allowed Yoshinori to monopolize Japan's trade with China, advantaging him over local lords. According to Mansai Jugo Nikki (満済准后日記), the system of the Tosen-bugyō (唐船奉行) was established in 1434 to mediate overseas trade. The functions of
444-420: A local power, rose to power. The people rebelled against the feudal lords in revolts known as Ikkō-ikki ( 一向一揆 , Ikkō-shū uprising) . The period saw a breakdown in the traditional master-servant relationship between a lord and his vassals, with many instances of vassals rebelling against their lords, internal dynastic conflict over lordships within noble families (in which vassals would take sides), and
518-570: A lottery was held. The sixth shogun was Ashikaga Yoshinori . But he was not educated to be a shogun, and his temperamental and despotic behavior caused resentment. Akamatsu Mitsusuke assassinated him during the Kakitsu Rebellion . This led to instability in the Ashikaga shogunate system. The shogunate gradually lost influence and control over the daimyo . The beginning of the Sengoku Period
592-464: A son. Shortly thereafter, it was determined that his 8-year-old son, Yoshikatsu, would become the new shōgun . Akamatsu Mitsusuke had already a problem in 1427 with the fifth Shogun Ashikaga Yoshimochi , who tried to confiscate his territory; Mitsusuke burned down his own residence in Kyoto and went to own Harima province, and gathered his family and retainer to prepare for the battle. This infuriated Yoshimochi, who ordered to search and kill them, but
666-615: A struggle for the succession of the Hosokawa clan, which was divided into the Hosokawa Sumimoto faction and the Hosokawa Takakuni faction, and started a war called Ryō Hosokawa War ( 両細川の乱 ) , which was won by Hosokawa Takakuni. Hosokawa Takakuni installed Ashikaga Yoshiharu as the 12th shogun. Meanwhile, Hosokawa Harumoto , son of Hosokawa Sumimoto, who had lost the war, collaborated with Miyoshi Motonaga to defeat Takakuni at
740-530: A successor before he himself died in 1428. Yoshinori, who had been a Buddhist monk since the age of ten, became Sei-i Taishōgun on the day of Yoshimochi's death. From amongst the handful of possible Ashikaga candidates, his name was selected by the shogunal deputy ( Kanrei ), Hatakeyama Mitsuie , who drew lots in the sanctuary of Iwashimizu Hachiman Shrine in Kyoto ; and it was believed that Hachiman 's influence had affected this auspicious choice. Yoshinori
814-457: A wave of unbridled conflict would spread across Japan and consume the states in an age of war. Furthermore, weariness of war, socioeconomic unrest and poor treatment by aristocrats provoked the wrath of the peasant class. Farmers, craftsmen, merchants and even villages would organize uprisings (known as "ikki") against the ruling class. An extraordinary example is the Kaga Rebellion , in which
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#1733115838791888-604: Is considered to be the Kyōtoku incident , Ōnin War , or Meiō incident . The Kyōtoku Incident was a major war in the Kanto region that lasted from 1454 to 1482. The war began when Ashikaga Shigeuji of Kantō kubō ( 関東公方 ) , the office of the Ashikaga shogunate in charge of the Kanto region, killed Uesugi Noritada of Kantō kanrei ( 関東管領 ) , Kantō kubō's assistant. The various forces in
962-552: Is usually considered the starting point of the Sengoku period. There are several events which could be considered the end of it: Nobunaga's entry to Kyoto (1568) or abolition of the Muromachi shogunate (1573) or entry into Azuchi Castle (1576), Hideyoshi's promulgation of the Sōbujirei ( ja ) law prohibiting war (1587), the siege of Odawara (1590) , the Battle of Sekigahara (1600),
1036-635: The Hatakeyama clan who served as Kanrei , and in 1547 defeated the 12th shogun, Ashikaga Yoshiharu and Hosokawa Ujitusna , son of Hosokawa Takakuni, in the Battle of Shari-ji ( 舎利寺の戦い ) . This further reduced the power of the Ashikaga Shogunate. Miyoshi Nagayoshi was told by a retainer of the Hosokawa family that Miyoshi Masanaga had played a dark role in his father's death, and he petitioned his lord Hosokawa Harumoto to overthrow Masanaga, but this petition
1110-714: The Honnō-ji Incident of 1582. At the same time, the Mōri clan overthrew the Ouchi clan in the Chūgoku region , and the Shimazu and Otomo clans became major powers in Kyushu . In this way, regional unification was promoted. Though a peasant by birth, Toyotomi Hideyoshi had risen through the ranks of ashigaru ( 足軽 , foot soldier) , samurai, and sengoku daimyo under Nobunaga to become
1184-558: The Kinai , the most politically important region in Japan, Oda Nobunaga allied with Tokugawa Ieyasu to increase his power. Nobunaga defeated Imagawa Yoshimoto at the Battle of Okehazama in 1560 and moved to Kyoto in 1568 to support the 15th shogun, Ashikaga Yoshiaki . Nobunaga defeated Miyoshi Yoshitsugu in 1569, laid siege to Mount Hiei in 1571, defeated Asakura Yoshikage at the Siege of Ichijōdani Castle in 1573, defeated Asai Nagamasa at
1258-479: The Kiyosu Conference , and Hideyoshi began his path to becoming Nobunaga's successor. In 1582, Hideyoshi defeated Shibata Katsuie and Oda Nobutaka , who had been enemies over Nobunaga's succession, at the Battle of Shizugatake , and in 1583 he began construction of Osaka Castle . In 1584, he fought bitterly against the allied forces of Tokugawa Ieyasu and Oda Nobuo at the Battle of Komaki and Nagakute , but
1332-602: The Nanboku-cho period , the Ashikaga shogunate gradually expanded the authority of the Shugo ( 守護 ) , the local military and police officials established by the Kamakura shogunate , giving the Shugo jurisdiction over land disputes between gokenin ( 御家人 ) and allowing the Shugo to receive half of all taxes from the areas they controlled. The Shugo shared their newfound wealth with
1406-567: The Shimazu clan in a Kyūshū campaign and pacified Kyūshū . In 1590, he defeated the Later Hōjō clan in the Siege of Odawara and pacified the Kantō region. In the same year, he forced the clans of the Tōhoku region to swear allegiance to him and finally achieved the unification of Japan. Date Masamune was a one-eyed warlord, a famous sengoku daimyo who is often said to have had the potential to unite
1480-529: The Siege of Odani Castle in the same year, and expelled Ashikaga Yoshiaki from Kyoto in 1573, thus destroying the Ashikaga shogunate. He overpowered the Nagashima ikko ikki in 1574, defeated Takeda Katsuyori at the Battle of Nagashino in 1575, and defeated Ishiyama Hongan-ji in the Ishiyama Hongan-ji War in 1580. However, he was betrayed by his vassal Akechi Mitsuhide , who drove him to suicide in
1554-643: The Takeda and the Imagawa , who had ruled under the authority of both the Kamakura and Muromachi bakufu , were able to expand their spheres of influence. There were many, however, whose positions eroded and were eventually usurped by more capable underlings. This phenomenon of social meritocracy, in which capable subordinates rejected the status quo and forcefully overthrew an emancipated aristocracy, became known as gekokujō ( 下克上 ) , which means "low conquers high". One of
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#17331158387911628-659: The Toki by the Saitō , and the Shiba clan by the Oda clan , which was in turn replaced by its underling, Toyotomi Hideyoshi, a son of a peasant with no family name. Well-organized religious groups also gained political power at this time by uniting farmers in resistance and rebellion against the rule of the daimyōs . The monks of the Buddhist True Pure Land sect formed numerous Ikkō-ikki ,
1702-584: The Tosen-bugyō included: (1) guarding trading ships in Japanese waters, (2) procuring export goods, (3) mediating between the Muromachi shogunate and shipping interests, and (4) managing record-keeping. It is significant that the Muromachi shogunate was the first to appoint the executive officers of the samurai class to high positions in its diplomatic bureaucracy. After Yoshinori's time, the totosen (渡唐船) (the fleet of ships going from Japan to Ming China) consisted of
1776-461: The sengoku daimyo Miyoshi Nagayoshi and his forces, and was finally killed in an attack by the forces of Miyoshi Yoshitsugu and Matsunaga Hisahide . Ashikaga Yoshiteru was known as a great swordsman and was a student of Tsukahara Bokuden , who was known as one of the strongest swordsmen. According to Yagyū Munenori , a swordsmanship instructor in the Tokugawa Shogunate, Ashikaga Yoshiteru
1850-519: The Ōnin War (1467–1477) between the Eastern Army, led by Hosokawa Katsumoto and including Hatakeyama Masanaga , Shiba Yoshitoshi, and Ashikaga Yoshimi, and the Western Army, led by Yamana Sōzen and including Hatakeyama Yoshinari, Shiba Yoshikado, and Ashikaga Yoshihisa. In 1469, the war spread to the provinces, but in 1473, Hosokawa Katsumoto and Yamana Sōzen, the leaders of both armies, died. In 1477,
1924-516: The 10th shogun Ashikaga Yoshitane from Kyoto and installed Ashikaga Yoshizumi as the 11th shogun. Around this time, civil wars began to occur frequently throughout the country, and Buddhist temples in various regions grew as armed forces. Ashikaga Yoshihisa , who had become the ninth shogun during the Onin War, died at the age of 25, and Ashikaga Yoshitane became the 10th shogun. However, in 1493, Hosokawa Masamoto raised an army while shogun Yoshitane
1998-561: The Aki-Takeda clan at the Siege of Koriyama in 1541. Motonaga adopted his sons into the Kikkawa clan and Kobayakawa clans to expand the power of the Mōri clan, and the three clans cooperated with each other. In 1554, Motonaga became independent of the Ōuchi clan, and after inciting the Ōuchi clan to internal divisions through political maneuvering, he defeated Sue Harukata , who had been in control of
2072-505: The Battle of Katsuragawa ( 桂川の戦い ) in 1527 and expel him from Kyoto. The authority of the Kanrei was thus destroyed, and with almost no support for Hosokawa Takakuni, he was forced to move from place to place. He gained the sengoku daimyo Uragami Muramune as an ally and fought Hosokawa Harumoto in a war called Daimotsu kuzure ( 大物崩れ ) in 1531, but was defeated. Hosokawa Harumoto seized power, but he alienated Miyoshi Motonaga, who
2146-462: The Kanto region divided and fought between the Kubō and Kanrei sides, with the Ashikaga shogunate supporting the Kanrei side. Ashikaga Yoshimasa , the 8th shogun, tried to strengthen the power of the shogun, but his close associates did not follow his instructions, leading to political chaos and increasing social unrest. Since he had no sons, he tried to install his younger brother Ashikaga Yoshimi as
2220-744: The Kantō and Tōhoku regions left to unify Japan, enacted a law called the Sōbujirei ( 惣無事令 ) in 1587, which prohibited sengoku daimyo from waging war against each other, and Masamune's conquest of the Tōhoku region was a serious violation of this law. After destroying the Later Hōjō clan at the Siege of Odawara, Hideyoshi wanted to destroy the Date clan and other sengoku daimyo in the Tōhoku region who were reluctant to show their deference. Hideyoshi had his subordinate Maeda Toshiie question Masamune, who had arrived late to give
2294-472: The Kyoto area. However, one by one, his sons died in war or from disease, and the Miyoshi clan began to decline rapidly. By the time of the 13th shogun, Ashikaga Yoshiteru , the shogun already had few direct fiefs and direct military forces, and his sphere of influence was limited to a few lands around Kyoto, losing both economic and military power. As a result, Ashikaga Yoshiteru was often chased out of Kyoto by
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2368-510: The Miyoshi clan. However, after the assassination of the 13th Shogun, the trio fell out with another Miyoshi follower, Matsunaga Hisashige, over the 14th Shogun, Ashikaga Yoshihide , and war broke out. The latter three also came into conflict with Yoshitsugu. The Miyoshi regime virtually collapsed when Oda Nobunaga entered Kyoto in 1568. Miyoshi Yoshitugu and Matsunaga Hisahide submitted to Nobunaga, but were later killed by Nobunaga's forces. The trio
2442-566: The Portuguese brought the matchlock gun to Japan in 1543, it was improved and mass-produced in Japan, and a gun called the tanegashima began to be used in wars. With the introduction of guns, a standing army of ashigaru ( 足軽 , foot soldier) became essential to victory in war, making it impossible for small local lords to remain independent, and lands were consolidated under sengoku daimyo with vast territories, and battles between sengoku daimyo became more intense. During this period,
2516-625: The West" as a battle in which a small force defeated a large army. Motonari became head of the Mōri clan in 1523 at the age of 27. The Amago and Ōuchi clans were sharing power in the Chūgoku region at the time, and he switched the Mōri clan's allegiance from the Amago to the Ōuchi clan in 1525. Motonari destroyed the Takahashi clan by 1535 and ruled Aki province , Iwami province , and Bingo province , and destroyed
2590-645: The age of 75. In 1546, Hōjō Ujiyasu defeated Uesugi Tomosada at the Siege of Kawagoe Castle , and the Later Hōjō clan established its power in the Kantō region . Uesugi Kenshin (Nagao Kagetora) was a sengoku daimyo based in Echigo Province who fought various sengoku daimyo and increased his power through aggressive invasions. After unifying Echigo in 1551, he invaded the Kantō region several times from 1552 to 1569 and fought against Hōjō Ujiyasu. He also invaded
2664-472: The beginning and end dates of the following Azuchi-Momoyama period. The Azuchi-Momoyama period refers to the period when Oda Nobunaga and Toyotomi Hideyoshi were in power. They and Tokugawa Ieyasu are the three unifiers of Japan. The name "Azuchi-Momoyama" comes from the fact that Nobunaga's castle, Azuchi Castle , was located in Azuchi, Shiga , and Fushimi Castle , where Hideyoshi lived after his retirement,
2738-439: The beginning of the Sengoku period. Hosokawa Masamoto remained a bachelor for the rest of his life and adopted three people as his heirs. Following the advice of his vassals, Masamoto named Hosokawa Sumimoto as his successor instead of Hosokawa Sumiyuki , who had been adopted first. As a result, Masamoto was killed by Sumiyuki in 1507. This incident is called Eishō no sakuran ( 永正の錯乱 , Eishō delirium) . This triggered
2812-511: The confusion continued as those who were ordered to subjugate them refused to dispatch troops. Another person who died in the incident was Yamana Hirotaka (Shugo of Iwami province ), Kyogoku Takakazu (Shugo of Yamashiro , Izumo , Oki and Hida province ), and Ouchi Mochiyo (Shugo of Suo , Nagato , Buzen and Chikuzen province ). Mitsusuke confined himself in Yamashiro Castle, and died with 69 members of his family on October 12, after he
2886-626: The country if only he had been born 20 years earlier. He became the head of the Date clan in 1584, two years after the death of Oda Nobunaga, destroyed the Nihonmatsu clan and other clans, and then in 1589, at the Battle of Suriagehara , defeated the Ashina clan to conquer the Aizu province , and continued to expand his territory to conquer most of the Tōhoku region . On the other hand, Toyotomi Hideyoshi, who had only
2960-497: The domain or proclaim independence as a separate domain. Thus began the Sengoku period, a period of civil war in which the daimyo of various regions fought to expand their own power. Daimyo who became more powerful as the shogunate's control weakened were called sengoku daimyo ( 戦国大名 ) , and they often came from shugo daimyo , Shugodai , and kokujin or kunibito ( 国人 , local masters) . In other words, sengoku daimyo differed from shugo daimyo in that sengoku daimyo
3034-555: The earliest instances of this was Hōjō Sōun , who rose from relatively humble origins and eventually seized power in Izu Province in 1493. Building on the accomplishments of Sōun, the Hōjō clan remained a major power in the Kantō region until its subjugation by Toyotomi Hideyoshi late in the Sengoku period. Other notable examples include the supplanting of the Hosokawa clan by the Miyoshi ,
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3108-538: The establishment of the Tokugawa shogunate (1603), the siege of Osaka (1615), or the suppression of the Shimabara Rebellion (1638). The old, well-known definition is that the Onin War initiated the Sengoku period in 1467; and that it ended in 1568, when Oda Nobunaga entered Kyoto in support of Ashikaga Yoshiaki . However, even if 1568 is the end date of the Sengoku period, there are also various theories about
3182-497: The following year as dissatisfaction with Yoshinori continued to grow. During this period, Ming Chinese contacts were increased and Zen Buddhism gained influence, which had broad cultural consequences. For example, the Hon-dō or main hall at Ikkyu-ji is today the oldest standing Tang -style temple in the Yamashiro (southern Kyoto Prefecture) and Yamato (Nara Prefecture) Provinces. It
3256-473: The foundations of the city as the center of the present-day Tōhoku region. In 1613, he sent Hasekura Tsunenaga as an ambassador to Europe, where he was granted an audience with the Pope Paul V . The upheaval resulted in the further weakening of central authority, and throughout Japan, regional lords, called daimyōs , rose to fill the vacuum. In the course of this power shift, well-established clans such as
3330-421: The installation of figurehead lords by cadet branches of noble families. The period was also marked by the loosening of samurai culture, with people born into other social strata sometimes making a name for themselves as warriors and thus becoming samurai. In turn, events sometimes allowed common samurai to rise to the rank of sengoku daimyo ; these included Hōjō Sōun (the first to do so), and Uesugi Kenshin ,
3404-453: The lands, leaving the management of the lands to his retainers. This made it possible to efficiently change territories according to the performance of the vassals, thus eliminating land disputes. In addition, he made it possible to form a standing army by assigning military service to each region according to rice production. He encouraged the economic activities of the common people. In this way, he rapidly increased his power. In and around
3478-496: The local ikki had staged a large-scale revolt with the support of the True Pure Land sect (thereby establishing the term ikkō ikki ) and assumed control of the entire province of Kaga . It is suggested by both scholars and authors that " these succession disputes still might not have led to war were it not for the shōgun's lack of leadership ." The Kyōtoku incident in 1454, Ōnin War in 1467, or Meiō incident in 1493
3552-465: The local samurai, creating a hierarchical relationship between the Shugo and the samurai, and the first early daimyo ( 大名 , feudal lords) , called shugo daimyo ( 守護大名 ) , appeared. In 1428, Ashikaga Yoshimochi , the fourth shogun, was ill and the question of his succession arose. Ashikaga Yoshikazu , the 5th shogun, died of illness at the age of 19, so the 6th shogun was chosen from among Yoshimochi's four brothers, and to ensure fairness,
3626-402: The military confrontations between separate states, there was also domestic fallout. In contempt of the shogunate, the daimyo who were subjected to remain in Kyoto instead returned to their provinces . Consequentially, some of these daimyo found that their designated retainers or shugodai , representatives of their states appointed in a daimyo's absence, rose in power either to seize control of
3700-473: The most capable general of them all. When he learned that his lord Nobunaga had been effectively killed by Akechi Mitsuhide, he immediately made peace with the Mōri clan, who were in the midst of a battle, and turned his army back faster than anyone could have predicted, defeating Akechi Mitsuhide at the Battle of Yamazaki . Hideyoshi avenged his lord's death only 11 days after Nobunaga's death. The men who had been Nobunaga's chief vassals discussed future policy at
3774-516: The most successful of which, in Kaga Province , remained independent for nearly 100 years. Ashikaga Yoshinori Ashikaga Yoshinori ( 足利 義教 , July 12, 1394 – July 12, 1441) was the sixth shōgun of the Ashikaga shogunate who reigned from 1429 to 1441 during the Muromachi period of medieval Japan . Yoshinori was the son of the third shōgun Ashikaga Yoshimitsu . His childhood name
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#17331158387913848-478: The ninth shogun, but when his wife Hino Tomiko gave birth to Ashikaga Yoshihisa , a conflict arose among the shugo daimyo as to whether Yoshimi or Yoshihisa would be the next shogun. The Hatakeyama and Shiba clans were also divided into two opposing factions over succession within their own clans, and Hosokawa Katsumoto and Yamana Sōzen , who were father-in-law and son-in-law, were politically at odds with each other. In 1467, these conflicts finally led to
3922-459: The order to participate in the Siege of Odawara, but after hearing Masamune's bold attitude, he decided to meet with Masamune. Masamune showed his reverence by appearing before Hideyoshi in a pure white death robe, ready to be executed. Hideyoshi placed his staff on Masamune's neck and said, "If you had come a little later, you would have been beheaded," and Masamune pledged his reverence to Hideyoshi. He did not lose his life, only some of his territory
3996-515: The orders of Uesugi Kenshin , Uesugi samurai officer, Amakasu Kagetsugu , became the head of the Amakasu clan This Japanese clan article is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Sengoku period This period was characterized by the overthrow of a superior power by a subordinate one. The Ashikaga shogunate , the de facto central government, declined and the sengoku daimyo ( 戦国大名 , feudal lord of Sengoku period) ,
4070-420: The organized use of large numbers of tanegashima (guns) was essential to winning the war. In order for the daimyo to win the war, they had to secure a large number of gunsmiths and arms dealers, import large quantities of lead , the raw material for bullets, and nitre , the raw material for gunpowder, conduct routine marksmanship training, and secure large quantities of materials for building war positions. It
4144-425: The ships belonging principally to three different kinds of owners: the Muromachi shōgun , shrines and temples, and the shugo daimyō . In 1441, Yoshinori granted the Shimazu clan suzerainty over the Ryūkyū Islands . Yoshinori was notorious for his oppressive measures and unpredictable dictatorial whims. In 1441, Yoshinori was assassinated by Akamatsu Noriyasu, son of Akamatsu Mitsusuke who invited him to
4218-717: The territory of Takeda Shingen , who ruled Kai and Shinano Provinces from 1553 to 1573, and fought in the Battle of Kawanakajima five times between 1553 and 1564. In 1559, Kenshin had an audience with Emperor Ōgimachi and the 13th Shogun, Ashikaga Yoshiteru. When Imagawa Yoshimoto was killed by Oda Nobunaga 's forces at the Battle of Okehazama in 1560, the Alliance Kai-Sagami-Suruga formed in 1554 between Takeda Shingen in Kai, Hojo Ujiyasu in Sagami , and Imagawa Yoshimoto in Suruga
4292-420: The three "Great Unifiers" ( 三英傑/さんえいけつ ) for their restoration of Japan's central government . During this period, although the Emperor of Japan was officially the ruler of the state and every lord swore loyalty to him, he was largely a marginalized, ceremonial, and religious figure who delegated power to the shōgun , a noble who was roughly equivalent to a military dictator . From 1346 to 1358, during
4366-442: The war ended when the western lords, including Hatakeyama Yoshinari and Ōuchi Masahiro , withdrew their armies from Kyoto. The war devastated two-thirds of Kyoto, destroying many aristocratic and samurai residences, Shinto shrines , and Buddhist temples, and undermining the authority of the Ashikaga shoguns, greatly reducing their control over the various regions. The war caused disarray which rippled across Japan. In addition to
4440-403: The Ōuchi clan, at the Battle of Itsukushima in 1555, and defeated Ōuchi Yoshinaga in 1557, destroying the Ōuchi clan and pacifying Nagato and Suou provinces. Motonari destroyed the Amago clan at the Siege of Gassantoda Castle in 1567, and then pacified Izumo , Oki , and Hōki provinces , thus pacifying the Chūgoku region, and later extended his power to parts of Shikoku . He died in 1571 at
4514-415: Was Harutora ( 春寅 ). In 1433, he initiated the compilation of the last imperial waka anthology, Shinshoku Kokinwakashū , but was not satisfied with its compilation agenda which undermined his authority. After the death of the fifth shōgun Ashikaga Yoshikazu in 1425, the fourth Shōgun Ashikaga Yoshimochi resumed his role as head of the shogunate . Yoshimochi had no other sons, nor did he name
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#17331158387914588-403: Was Oda Nobunaga who did this most successfully. He built Azuchi Castle at a strategic distribution point, brought several gunsmithing centers under his control, and established friendly relations with the Portuguese and merchants in Sakai , which had become an international port. He examined the rice yields of the lands under his control and did not allow his retainers to take private ownership of
4662-447: Was able to make a truce with Nobuo by making peace with him. In 1585, he defeated Chōsokabe Motochika in an Invasion of Shikoku and pacified Shikoku . In 1586, he became Kampaku ( 関白 , Imperial Regent) and Daijō-daijin ( 太政大臣 , Chancellor of the Realm) for the first time in history, although he was not a native-born aristocrat. In 1586, he also succeeded in getting Ieyasu to swear allegiance to him. In 1587, he defeated
4736-413: Was able to rule the region on his own, without being appointed by the shogun. Historians often consider the Ōnin War, a ten-year conflict wrought by political turmoil, to be the trigger for what would come to be known as the Sengoku period. This civil war would clearly reveal the Ashikaga shogunate's reduced authority over its shogunal administration, the provincial daimyo and Japan as a whole; thereby
4810-439: Was appointed shōgun in 1429, one year before the surrender of the Southern Court . However during his reign, several rebellions erupted, including the Ōtomo rebellion and the uprising of rebel monks on Mount Hiei , both occurring in 1433; and the Eikyō Rebellion occurred under the leadership of Kantō kubō Ashikaga Mochiuji in 1438. Yoshinori strengthened the power of the shogunate by defeating Mochiuji, who committed suicide
4884-460: Was away in Kyoto and installed the 11th shogun, Ashikaga Yoshizumi, in a de facto coup known as the Meio incident ( 明応の政変 ) . Masamoto held the position of Kanrei ( 管領 ) , second only to the shogun in the Ashikaga shogunate, and the equivalent of Shikken ( 執権 ) in the Kamakura shogunate. This made the shogun a puppet of the Hosokawa clan , which served as the Kanrei . In recent years, it has been theorized that this incident marked
4958-446: Was broken. Kenshin used this as an opportunity to seize Hojo Ujiyasu's territories one by one, and cornered the Later Hōjō clan at the Siege of Odawara in 1561, but was unable to defeat them. On his return from the Siege of Odawara, he performed a ceremony at the Tsurugaoka Hachimangū and assumed the position of kantō kanrei . Kenshin made peace with Hōjō Ujiyasu, who ceded part of his territory to him in 1569, and made Takeda Shingen
5032-530: Was built in 1434 and was dedicated by Yoshinori. The Yasaka Pagoda at Hokanji in Kyoto was destroyed by fire in 1436 but was reconstructed four years later by Yoshinori. Earlier in 1432, the samurai Akamatsu Mitsusuke had fled the region and later murders Yoshinori in the Kakitsu Incident; Akamatsu is in turn killed by Yamana. In 1432, trade and diplomatic relations between the shogunate and Ming China were restored. Both had been discontinued by Yoshimochi. The Chinese emperor reached out to Japan by sending
5106-414: Was confiscated. He was later interrogated by Hideyoshi on suspicion of inciting a peasant uprising and participating in the rebellion of Toyotomi Hidetsugu , but he defended himself with his usual courage and dignity and was not punished. He was on the side of Tokugawa Ieyasu at the Battle of Sekigahara , and as the first lord of the Sendai domain during the Edo period , he developed Sendai and laid
5180-403: Was his retainer but still held a strong position of power. Harumoto seduced the Ikkō-shū into a Ikkō-ikki against Motonaga, which resulted in Motonaga's death in 1532. Miyoshi Motonaga's son, Miyoshi Nagayoshi , fought against Hosokawa Harumoto, but chose to subordinate himself to Harumoto. As a follower of Harumoto, Miyoshi Nagayoshi defeated Kizawa Nagamasa , the most powerful member of
5254-550: Was located in Momoyama. The beginning date could be either when Oda Nobunaga entered Kyoto in 1568 to support Ashikaga Yoshiaki, or when Nobunaga expelled Ashikaga Yoshiaki from Kyoto in 1573 and destroyed the Muromachi Shogunate, or when Nobunaga moved to Azuchi Castle in 1576. It ended either when Toyotomi Hideyoshi died in 1598, or at the Battle of Sekigahara in 1600, or with the opening of the Tokugawa shogunate in 1603. Kaga ikki occurred in 1488, Hōjō Sōun conquered Izu province in 1491, and in 1492 Hosokawa Masamoto banished
5328-415: Was not accepted, and, in turn, Nagayoshi was almost eliminated by Harumoto. In response, Miyoshi Nagayoshi attacked and defeated Miyoshi Masanaga, expelled Hosokawa Harumoto, Ashikaga Yoshiharu, the 12th shogun, and his son Ashikaga Yoshiteru from Kyoto, and established control over the Kyoto area in 1549. After that, he fought several times against Ashikaga Yoshiteru, who became the 13th shogun, for control of
5402-433: Was one of the five best swordsmen of his time. According to several historical books, including Luís Fróis ' Historia de Japam , he fought hard with naginata and tachi during a raid, defeating many of his enemies, but eventually ran out of strength and was killed. The trio ( 三好三人衆 ) of Miyoshi Nagayasu , Miyoshi Soui , and Iwanari Tomomichi supported the young head of the clan, Miyoshi Yoshitsugu, in leading
5476-416: Was weakened and the Miyoshi clan declined. Mōri Motonari was a sengoku daimyo who pacified the Chūgoku region and is famous for his parable of the "Three Arrows", which explains the importance of clan unity. In his first battle, the Battle of Arita-Nakaide in 1517, he defeated the overwhelming majority of the Aki-Takeda clan with a small force, which later became known as the " Battle of Okehazama in
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