Prologue

From the decline of the Muromachi shogunate to the Warring States period, and the unification of the world

Uncorrectable. “Onin War”

The Onin War was a civil war that lasted for about 11 years (1467-1477) in the middle of the Muromachi period.
This war was caused by a succession dispute in the shogun’s family and a feud over the inheritance of the “kanrei” family, who were high-ranking officials of the shogunate.
The powerful feudal lords of the shogunate split into two factions, the East and the West, and fought against each other.

The East faction was led by “Hosokawa Katsumoto” and “Hatakeyama Masanaga”, while the West faction was led by “Yamana Sozen” and “Shiba Yoshitane”.
The battles that took place in Kyoto burned down the city and destroyed many cultural properties and temples.
During the war, both factions became even more factional within themselves and the situation got out of control.
Several attempts were made to make peace, but they failed to reach an agreement.

Finally, in 1477, when Yamana Sozen of the West faction died, the fighting in Kyoto came to a natural end.
However, the feud between feudal lords continued in various parts of the country.
The authority of the shogunate was lost due to this Onin War.
As the power of the shogunate declined, various warlords emerged in different regions, leading to the Sengoku period.

The arrival of the Sengoku period

As a result of the loss of authority of the shogunate in the Onin War, a power struggle for territory broke out among local warlords throughout the country.
In particular, the shugo daimyo (feudal lord), who had participated in the Onin War, had entrusted their home provinces to their vassals called shugodai.
These shugodai accumulated power while their lord shugo daimyo were away, and by the time their lords returned, they had gained a lot of influence, and they overthrew and replaced their lords who were shugo.

This is called “gekokujou”, which means that those below overthrow those above.
Some of the Sengoku daimyo who came from shugodai were “Asakura clan”, “Nagao clan”, “Amako clan”, and “Rokkaku clan”.

Also, as a result of the Onin War, some people who were in lower positions than feudal lord deputies became lords of one province.
Some of the Sengoku daimyo who rose from lower positions than feudal lord deputies were “Oda clan”, “Tokugawa clan”, “Mori clan”, and “Hojo clan”.

Not all feudal lords were replaced by gekokujou.
Some feudal lords who had strong abilities successfully transformed themselves into Sengoku daimyo.
Some of the Sengoku daimyo who were former feudal lords were “Takeda clan”, “Shimazu clan”, “Satake clan”, and “Imagawa clan”.

Warlords vying for supremacy

The Sengoku daimyo who fought each other in various regions eventually became large Sengoku daimyo who dominated one region.

Although the order is not chronological,the Date clan from Tohoku, the Hojo clan from Kanto, the Uesugi clan from Echigo, the Takeda clan from Kai-Shinano, the Miyoshi clan from Shikoku Kinki, the Mori clan from tyuugoku, the Shimazu clan from Kyushu.

The first one to come out to Kyoto and try to take control of politics was the Miyoshi clan.

The head of the Miyoshi clan, Nagayoshi Miyoshi, wielded great influence over the barely surviving Muromachi shogunate with the support of his able brothers.
He was so powerful that he was called “the vice-king of Japan”.
However, he lost his talented brothers and heir one after another.
Nagayoshi himself also suffered from mental and physical problems due to successive deaths of his relatives and the Miyoshi clan’s power declined rapidly.

Unification of Japan by the Three Great Unifiers

Soon, a feudal lord who tried to unify Japan appeared.

He was one of the Three Great Unifiers of the Warring States Period, Nobunaga Oda.

He implemented economic policies and utilized talents regardless of their social status, and quickly expanded his power.
However, he was attacked by his vassal Mitsuhide Akechi and lost his life before he could achieve his goal.
This is called the Honnō-ji Incident, named after the temple where he was attacked.

After that, Oda’s vassal Hideyoshi Hashiba emerged as a prominent figure by defeating Mitsuhide Akechi, who killed his lord.
He defeated Akechi in the Battle of Yamazaki, and then eliminated his rivals one after another and quickly rose to the position of ruler of Japan.
He was the second of the Three Great Unifiers, Hideyoshi Toyotomi.

Japan was once unified by Hideyoshi Toyotomi, but Toyotomi’s glory ended with Hideyoshi’s death.
After Hideyoshi’s death, a power struggle broke out within the Toyotomi regime.
The last of the Three Great Unifiers, Ieyasu Tokugawa, who won this struggle, finally destroyed the Toyotomi clan and established the Edo shogunate.

Epilogue