Sengoku period
The was a time of social upheaval, political intrigue, and nearly constant military conflict in
Japan that lastedroughly from the middle
15th to the early
17th century.
Although the
Ashikaga shogunate had retained the structure of the
Kamakura bakufu and instituted awarrior government based on the same social economic rights andobligations established by the
Hōjō with the
Jōei Code in
1232, it failed to win the loyalty of many
daimyo, especiallythose whose domains were far from
Kyoto. As trade with
China grew, the economy developed, and the use of money became widespread as markets and commercial cities appeared. This, combined with developments in agriculture and small-scale manufacturing, led to the desire for greater local autonomy throughout all levels of the social hierarchy. As early as the beginning of the 15th century, suffering and misery caused by natural disasters such as
earthquake and famine often served to trigger armed uprisings by farmers weary of debt and taxes.
The
Onin War (1467"1477), a conflict rooted in economic distress andbrought on by a dispute of shogunal succession, is generally regarded asthe onset of the
sengoku-jidai. The "eastern" army of theHosokawa family and its allies clashed with the "western" army of theYamana, and fighting in and around Kyoto lasted for nearly 11 years, afterwhich it spread to outlying provinces.
Not surprisingly, this upheaval resulted in the further weakening ofcentral authority, and throughout Japan, regional lords, or
daimyo, roseto fill the vacuum. Some well established families such as the
Takeda and the
Imagawa, who had ruledtheir domains under the authority of both the Kamakura and Muromachi
bakufu, were able to expand their sphere of influence. Others saw theirpositions eroded and eventually usurped by more capable underlings. Mostnotably, the
Hosokawa were supplanted by the
Miyoshi, the
Shiba by the
Oda, and the
Toki by the
Saito.
Well organized religious groups also gained political power at this timeby uniting farmers in resistance and rebellion against the rule of thedaimyo. The monks of the
Buddhist True Pure Land sectformed numerous
Ikko-ikki, the most successful of which, in
Kaga Province remained independent for nearly 100 years.
This phenomenon of social meritocracy, in which capable subordinatesrejected the status quo and forcefully overthrew an emaciatedaristocracy, became known as
gekokujō (下克上), which literallymeans "the underling conquers the overlord."
After nearly a century and a half of political instability and warfare,Japan was on the verge of unification by
Oda Nobunaga, who had emerged from obscurity in the province of
Owari (present-day
Aichi Prefecture) to dominate the region surrounding Kyoto, when in 1582 Oda himself fell victim to the treachery of one of his own disaffected generals,
Akechi Mitsuhide. This in turn provided
Toyotomi Hideyoshi, who had risenthrough the ranks from footsoldier to become one of Oda's most trustedgenerals, with the opportunity to establish himself as Oda's successor. Hideyoshieventually consolidated his control over the remaining
daimyo, andalthough he was ineligible for the title of
Seii Taishogun becauseof his common birth, ruled as
Kampaku.
When, in
1598, Hideyoshi died without leaving a capable successor, the country was once again thrust into political turmoil, and this time it was
Tokugawa Ieyasu who took advantage of the opportunity.
Hideyoshi had on his deathbed appointed a group of the most powerful lords in Japan"Tokugawa, Maeda,Ukita, Uesugi, Mori"to govern as the
Council of five regents untilhis infant son, Hideyori, came of age. An uneasy peace lasted until thedeath of Maeda Toshiie in
1599. Thereafter, Ishida Mitsunari accusedIeyasu of disloyalty to the Toyotomi name, precipitating a crisis thatled to the
Battle of Sekigahara. Generally regarded as thelast major conflict of the
sengoku-jidai, Ieyasu's victory at Sekigaharamarked the end of the Toyotomi reign. Three years later, Ieyasu received the title
Seii Taishogun, and established Japan's final shogunate,which lasted until the
Meiji Restoration in 1868.
*
Oda Nobunaga *
Toyotomi Hideyoshi*
Tokugawa Ieyasu The contrasting personalities of the three leaders who contributed the most toJapan's final unification"Nobunaga, Hideyoshi, and Ieyasu"areencapsulated in a series of three well known
senryu:
Nakanunara, koroshiteshimae, hototogisu (If the cuckoo does not sing, kill it.)
Nakanunara, nakashitemiseyou, hototogisu (If the cuckoo does not sing, coax it.)
Nakanunara, nakumadematou, hototogisu (If the cuckoo does not sing, wait for it.)
Nobunaga, known for his ruthlessness, is the subject of the first; Hideyoshi, known for his resourcefulness, is the subject of the second; and Ieyasu, known for his perseverance, is the subject of the third verse.
*
Uesugi Kenshin *
Takeda Shingen*
Date Masamune*
Sanada Masayuki *
Maeda Toshiie*
Saito Dosan *
Hojo Soun *
Mouri Motonari*
Ukita Hideie*
Chosokabe Motochika*
Shimazu Yoshihiro*
Akechi Mitsuhide*
Honda Tadakatsu*
Ishida Mitsunari *
Sanada YukimuraJust as with the American "Wild West," the
sengoku-jidai has been used as the setting for myriad books, films, anime, video games, and factoids too trivial to be listed in what purports to be a serious encyclopedia article. See the article
Sengoku Period Trivia for more.
*Mikiso Hane,
Modern Japan: A Historical Survey (Westview Press, 1992)
*
Sengoku Expo: Japanese Design, Culture in the Age of Civil Wars held in Gifu Prefecture, 2000-2001
*
SengokuDaimyo.com The website of Samurai Author and Historian
Anthony J. Bryant**Anthony J. Bryant is the author of
Sekigahara 1600: The Final Struggle for Power, Praeger Publishers;(September, 2005)
