![]() ![]() To protect themselves from both they decided to forge an alliance with the Imagawa and take out the Oda.īy 1560, Imagawa Yoshimoto amassed an army of almost 25,000 men and started marching towards Kyoto. The Matsudaira’s territory was located between the two rivals. During all this time of trying to straighten up his clan, Nobunaga was also continuing his wars with rival clans, like the Imagawa and the smaller Matsudaira clan. It wasn’t until 1559 that Nobunaga was able to quash all of the resistance within his clan and the Owari Province. He was the legitimate heir, but not everyone supported him. Oda Nobunaga, known as one of Japan’s Three Great Unifiers during the Sengoku Jidai, became daimyo of the Oda clan after Oda Nobohide died in 1551. Three Great Unifiers of Japan The Rise of Oda Nobunaga This endless warfare would last over 100 years and decimate the countryside time and time again. The Hosokawa clan was replaced by Miyoshi, the Toki clan was replaced by the Saito, and the Shiba clan was replaced by the Oda. Toyotomi Hideyoshi would seize power of the Hojo clan later on in the Sengoku Jidai. Hojo Soun took control of the Izu province in 1493. The leaders of many clans were overthrown during this period. The process of these usurpations of power by the underlings forcefully taking control became common enough that it got it’s own name, gekokujo. ![]() Many positions of power eroded and were subsequently usurped by their underlings. Not just the central government’s authority was shaken. With the stage set by a weakened central authority, the daimyos throughout the land rose up to take full control over their territory and to expand as much as possible. ![]() There wasn’t a clear winner however the result was that in all but title, the Hosokawa Clan was now in charge and the Ashikaga Shogunate was under their rule as a puppet. Thus, in 1467 the Onin war began as the war for rightful succession. It was decided that the winner of their war would be the rightful heir. The fighting forced the Ashikaga shogunate and their forces to try to stop tensions, but it was too late. The disagreement led to each side looking for military support to back up their claims and caused fighting to break out in the capital, Kyoto. Tomiko wanted her son to be heir and for her to reign as regent until he came of age. Yoshimi and the leader of the Hosokawa clan sought to keep their new claim as heir, but Tomiko disagreed. However in 1465, Yoshimasa’s wife, Hino Tomiko, gave birth to an unexpected son, Yoshihisa, and the idea of who should be heir came back into question. Thus, at the time he convinced his younger brother, Ashikaga Yoshimi, to leave his life as a monk and become his heir. The war began as a disagreement over who would succeed Ashikaga Yoshimasa, as in 1464 he had no heir. The Onin war is considered the start of the Sengoku Jidai and lasted for ten years, from 1467 to 1477. The system was chaos and the constant upheavals led Japan to become fragmented into many sections run by individual daimyos in their fortified estates or castles. The daimyos consisted of aristocrats, military leaders no longer beholden to the shogunate, and even angry peasants who were able to rally others to take land for themselves. The system of government was extremely decentralized to begin with and the plethora of small and large daimyos all with their own self interests led to much in-fighting and attempts to seize one another’s land.Įach daimyo had their own armies made up of samurai and anyone else who wanted to fight to protect and expand their land. ![]() This made it difficult for the Ashikaga to collect taxes and demand fealty. The local leaders called daimyos, meaning “great name”, were able to rule their land without much fear of the Shogunate’s power. The Ashikaga had a tight grip on the capital region surrounding Kyoto, but their shogunate was one of the weaker in Japanese history and held little authority over lands farther away. The Sengoku Jidai begins in the middle of the Ashikaga Shogunate, which was the period where the similarly-named clan currently had control of Japan’s capital. The entire period is a roller coaster ride and is one of Japan’s most exciting moments of history to learn about. It’s a time of clans rising to power and falling just as quickly. It’s the time most people think of when they think of Samurai. The period contains the collapse of Japan’s feudal system, allies and enemies constantly switching sides, battles of unwinnable odds, and some of Japan’s most recognizable historical figures. The Sengoku Jidai is a period in Japanese history that is known for its near-constant civil war. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |