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89-603: The Seiwa Genji ( 清和源氏 ) is a line of the Japanese Minamoto clan that is descended from Emperor Seiwa , which is the most successful and powerful line of the clan. Many of the most famous Minamoto members, including Minamoto no Yoshitsune , Minamoto no Yoritomo , the founder of the Kamakura shogunate ; and Ashikaga Takauji , the founder of the Ashikaga shogunate , belonged to this line. Tokugawa Ieyasu (1543–1616), founder of

178-579: A gon-dainagon (acting dainagon ). These were non-royal descendants of Emperor Ōgimachi . At first they were buke , but they later became dōjō-ke , the Hirohata family . Sengoku period 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

267-455: 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 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

356-570: 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

445-461: 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 , 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

534-774: A non-exhaustive listing of the Seiwa Genji and the clans that branched from the family. Legend: Solid lines represent blood relationship; dashed lines represent adoptions. An asterisk indicates a monk (who would not have been allowed to retain the Minamoto name). Minamoto In the late Heian period, Minamoto rivalry with the Taira culminated in the Genpei War (1180–1185 AD). The Minamoto emerged victorious and established Japan's first shogunate in Kamakura under Minamoto no Yoritomo , who appointed himself as shōgun in 1192, ushering in

623-478: 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 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

712-615: 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

801-457: 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

890-457: Is known to survive. These were descendants of Emperor Kazan . They became the dōjō Shirakawa family , which headed the Jingi-kan for centuries, responsible for the centralised aspects of Shinto . These were descendants of Emperor Sanjō 's son Prince Atsuakira . Starting with one of them, Minamoto no Michisue , the position of Ōkimi-no-kami (chief genealogist of the imperial family) in

979-410: Is termed the ancestor of the Seiwa Genji, there is evidence (rediscovered in the late 19th century by Hoshino Hisashi ) suggesting that he was actually the grandson of Emperor Yōzei rather than of Emperor Seiwa. This theory is not widely accepted as fact, but as Yōzei was deposed for reprehensible behaviour, there would have been a compelling motive to claim descent from more auspicious origins if it were

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1068-552: 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),

1157-519: The Ashikaga , Hatakeyama , Hosokawa , Imagawa , Mori , Nanbu , Nitta , Ogasawara , Ōta , Satake , Satomi , Shiba , Takeda , Toki and the Tsuchiya , among others. The Shimazu and Tokugawa clans also claimed to belong to this line. A group of Shinto shrines connected closely with the clan is known as the Three Genji Shrines (源氏三神社 Genji San Jinja ). The following family trees are

1246-507: The Ashikaga shogunate (1333 to 1573). The Minamoto clan is also called the Genji ( 源氏 , "Minamoto clan") , or less frequently, the Genke ( 源家 , "House of Minamoto") , using the on'yomi readings of gen ( 源 ) for "Minamoto", while shi or ji ( 氏 ) means " clan ", and ke ( 家 ) is used as a suffix for " extended family ". The Emperors of Japan bestowed noble surnames upon members of

1335-455: The Ashikaga shogunate of Muromachi period ), Nitta , Takeda , and Tokugawa (founders of the Tokugawa shogunate of Edo period ) clans claim descents from the Minamoto clan (Seiwa Genji branch). The protagonist of the classical Japanese novel The Tale of Genji (The Tale of Minamoto clan)— Hikaru Genji , was bestowed the name Minamoto for political reasons by his father the emperor and

1424-635: 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

1513-714: 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

1602-573: The Hōgen Rebellion (1156), when the Taira executed most of the line, including Minamoto no Tameyoshi . During the Heiji Disturbance (1160), the head of the Seiwa Genji, Minamoto no Yoshitomo , died in battle. Taira no Kiyomori seized power in Kyoto by forging an alliance with the retired emperors Go-Shirakawa and Toba and infiltrating the kuge . He sent Minamoto no Yoritomo (1147–1199),

1691-515: The Kamakura period (1192–1333 AD) of Japanese history. The name "Genpei" comes from alternate readings of the kanji "Minamoto" (源 Gen ) and "Taira" (平 Hei ). The Kamakura Shogunate was overthrown by Emperor Go-Daigo in the Kenmu Restoration of 1333. Three years later the Kenmu government would then itself be overthrown by the Ashikaga clan , descendants of the Seiwa Genji who established

1780-564: The Kawachi Genji was a leader of a buke . His descendants set up the Kamakura shogunate , making his a prestigious pedigree claimed by many buke , particularly for the direct descendants in the Ashikaga clan (that set up the Ashikaga shogunate ) and the rival Nitta clan . Centuries later, Tokugawa Ieyasu would claim descent from the Seiwa Genji by way of the Nitta clan. These were descendants of Emperor Yōzei . While Minamoto no Tsunemoto

1869-558: 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

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1958-479: 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

2047-729: The Ministry of the Imperial Household was passed down hereditarily. These were descendants of Emperor Go-Sanjō 's son Prince Sukehito . Sukehito's son Minamoto no Arihito was a sadaijin . Minamoto no Yoritomo 's vassal Tashiro Nobutsuna , who appears in the Tale of the Heike , was allegedly Arihito's grandson (according to the Genpei Jōsuiki ). This line consisted solely of Emperor Go-Shirakawa son Mochihito-ō (Takakura-no-Miya). As part of

2136-609: The Sasaki clan of the Ōmi Genji , and the Izumo Genji . These were descendants of Emperor Daigo . His son Minamoto no Takaakira became a sadaijin , but his downfall came during the Anna incident . Takaakira's descendants include the Okamoto and Kawajiri clans. Daigo's grandson Minamoto no Hiromasa was a reputed musician. These were descendants of Emperor Murakami . His grandson Morofusa

2225-567: 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

2314-489: The Shugo to receive half of all taxes from the areas they controlled. The Shugo shared their newfound wealth with 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 ,

2403-580: 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

2492-643: 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

2581-659: 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 ,

2670-517: The Tokugawa shogunate , also claimed descent from this lineage. The family is named after Emperor Seiwa, whose four sons and twelve grandsons founded the Seiwa Genji. Emperor Seiwa was father of Imperial Prince Sadazumi (貞純親王 Sadazumi Shinnō ) (873–916), who was in turn the father of Minamoto no Tsunemoto (源経基) (894–961), one of the founders of the Seiwa Genji, from whom most Seiwa Genji members are descended. Many samurai families belong to this line and used "Minamoto" clan name in official records, such as

2759-522: The imperial dynasty , making both clans distant relatives. The most prominent of the several Minamoto families, the Seiwa Genji , descended from Minamoto no Tsunemoto (897–961), a grandson of Emperor Seiwa . Tsunemoto went to the provinces and became the founder of a major warrior dynasty. Minamoto no Mitsunaka (912–997) formed an alliance with the Fujiwara. Thereafter the Fujiwara frequently called upon

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2848-602: The imperial family who were excluded from the line of succession and demoted into the ranks of the nobility . In May 814, the first emperor to grant the surname "Minamoto" was Emperor Saga , to his seventh son— Minamoto no Makoto , in Heian-Kyō (modern Kyōto ). The practice was most prevalent during the Heian period (794–1185 AD), although its last occurrence was during the Sengoku period . The Taira were another such offshoot of

2937-572: The royal class (and therefore outranked members of Minamoto clans). The bestowing of the Minamoto name on a (theretofore-)prince or his descendants excluded them from the royal class altogether, thereby operating as a reduction in legal and social rank even for ō -princes not previously in the line of succession. Many later clans were formed by members of the Minamoto clan, and in many early cases, progenitors of these clans are known by either family name. There are also known monks of Minamoto descent; these are often noted in genealogies but did not carry

3026-461: 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

3115-565: 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,

3204-516: 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

3293-520: 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

3382-463: 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, 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

3471-561: 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

3560-586: The Ashikaga shogunate system. The shogunate gradually lost influence and control over the daimyo . The beginning of the Sengoku Period 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

3649-505: 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

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3738-632: The Kanto region, killed Uesugi Noritada of Kantō kanrei ( 関東管領 ) , Kantō kubō's assistant. The various forces in 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

3827-744: 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

3916-472: 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

4005-490: The Minamoto to restore order in the capital, Heian-Kyō (modern Kyōto ). Mitsunaka's eldest son, Minamoto no Yorimitsu (948–1021), became the protégé of Fujiwara no Michinaga ; another son, Minamoto no Yorinobu (968–1048) suppressed the rebellion of Taira no Tadatsune in 1032. Yorinobu's son, Minamoto no Yoriyoshi (988–1075), and grandson, Minamoto no Yoshiie (1039–1106), pacified most of northeastern Japan between 1051 and 1087. The Seiwa Genji's fortunes declined in

4094-510: 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

4183-566: 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,

4272-625: 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

4361-491: 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

4450-424: 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,

4539-439: 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

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4628-530: The case. These were descendants of Emperor Kōkō . The great-grandson of his firstborn Prince Koretada , Kōshō , was the ancestor of a line of busshi , from which various styles of Buddhist sculpture emerged. Kōshō's grandson Kakujo established the Shichijō Bussho workshop. These were descendants of Emperor Uda . Two sons of Prince Atsumi , Minamoto no Masanobu and Minamoto no Shigenobu became sadaijin . Masanobu's children in particular flourished, forming five dōjō houses as kuge , and as buke

4717-425: The clan name (in favour of a dharma name ). The Minamoto is the ancestor and parent clan of many notable descendant clans, some of which are Ashikaga , Tokugawa , Matsudaira , Nitta , Takeda , Shimazu , Sasaki , Akamatsu , Kitabatake , Tada, Ota , Toki , Yamana , Satomi , Hosokawa , Satake , Yamamoto, Hemi, Ogasawara , Yasuda , Takenouchi, Hiraga, Imagawa , Miyake , etc. There were 21 branches of

4806-425: The clan, each named after the emperor from whom it descended. Some of these lineages were populous, but a few did not produce descendants. The Saga Genji are descendants of Emperor Saga . As Saga had many children, many were bestowed the uji Minamoto, declassing them from imperial succession. Among his sons, Makoto , Tokiwa , and Tōru took the position of Minister of the Left ( sadaijin ); they were among

4895-434: 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

4984-499: The dates chosen, the Sengoku period overlaps substantially with the Muromachi period (1336–1573). 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) , 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

5073-497: 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

5162-406: 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 ,

5251-427: 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

5340-422: 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

5429-453: 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

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5518-440: 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

5607-402: 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

5696-473: 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

5785-654: The most powerful in the Imperial Court in the early Heian period . Some of Tōru's descendants in particular settled the provinces and formed buke . Clans such as the Watanabe , Matsuura , and Kamachi descend from the Saga Genji. Noted Saga Genji and descendants include: History records indicate that at least three of Emperor Saga's daughters were also made Minamoto ( Minamoto no Kiyohime , Minamoto no Sadahime , and Minamoto no Yoshihime ), but few records concerning his daughters are known. They were descendants of Emperor Ninmyō . His sons Minamoto no Masaru and Minamoto no Hikaru were udaijin . Among Hikaru's descendants

5874-478: 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

5963-459: 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

6052-420: 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

6141-421: The succession dispute that led to the opening hostilities of the Genpei War , he was declassed (renamed " Minamoto no Mochimitsu ") and exiled. These were descendants of Emperor Juntoku 's sons Tadanari-ō and Prince Yoshimune . The latter's grandson Yoshinari rose to sadaijin with the help of Ashikaga Yoshimitsu . This line consisted solely of Emperor Go-Saga 's grandson Prince Koreyasu . Koreyasu-ō

6230-507: 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

6319-441: The third son of Minamoto no Yoshimoto of the Seiwa Genji, into exile. In 1180, during the Genpei War , Yoritomo mounted a full-scale rebellion against the Taira rule, culminating in the destruction of the Taira and the subjugation of eastern Japan within five years. In 1192, he received the title shōgun and set up the first bakufu in the history of Japan at Kamakura — Kamakura shogunate . The later Ashikaga (founders of

6408-442: 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

6497-403: 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

6586-599: Was Minamoto no Atsushi , adoptive father of the Saga Genji's Watanabe no Tsuna and father of the Seiwa Genji's Minamoto no Mitsunaka 's wife. These were descendants of Emperor Montoku . Among them, Minamoto no Yoshiari was a sadaijin , and among his descendants were the Sakado clan who were Hokumen no Bushi . These were descendants of Emperor Seiwa . The most numerous of them were those descended from Minamoto no Tsunemoto , son of Prince Sadazumi . Hachimantarō Yoshiie of

6675-450: 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

6764-495: 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

6853-413: 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

6942-403: Was an udaijin and had many descendants, among them several houses of dōjō kuge . Until the Ashikaga clan took it during the Muromachi period , the title of Genji no Chōja always fell to one of Morofusa's progeny. These were descendants of Emperor Reizei . Though they are included among the listing of 21 Genji lineages, no concrete record of the names of his descendants made Minamoto

7031-556: 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

7120-508: 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

7209-462: 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

7298-451: Was delegated to civilian life and a career as an imperial officer. The Genpei War is also the subject of the early Japanese epic The Tale of the Heike ( Heike Monogatari ). Even within royalty there was a distinction between princes with the title shinnō ( 親王 ) , who could ascend to the throne, and princes with the title ō ( 王 ) , who were not members of the line of imperial succession but nevertheless remained members of

7387-503: 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

7476-568: Was installed as a puppet shōgun (the seventh of the Kamakura shogunate ) at a young age, and was renamed " Minamoto no Koreyasu " a few years later. After he was deposed, he regained royal status, and became a monk soon after, thereby losing the Minamoto name. These were descendants of Emperor Go-Fukakusa 's son Prince Hisaaki (the eighth shōgun of the Kamakura shogunate ). Hisaaki's sons Prince Morikuni (the next shōgun ) and Prince Hisayoshi were made Minamoto. Hisayoshi's adopted "nephew" (actually Nijō Michihira 's son) Muneaki became

7565-575: 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 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

7654-714: 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

7743-415: 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

7832-433: 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

7921-416: 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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