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75-679: After the outbreak of the Ōnin War in 1467, the power of the Ashikaga Shogunate effectively collapsed, marking the start of the chaotic Sengoku period. In 1568, Oda Nobunaga entered Kyoto to install Ashikaga Yoshiaki as the 15th and ultimately final Ashikaga shōgun . This entrance marked the start of the Azuchi-Momoyama period. Nobunaga overthrew Yoshiaki and dissolved the Ashikaga Shogunate in 1573, launching

150-523: A commoner who had risen through the ranks from foot soldier, Hideyoshi was now in a position to challenge even the most senior of the Oda clan's hereditary retainers, and proposed that Nobutada's infant son, Sanpōshi (who became Oda Hidenobu ), be named heir rather than Nobunaga's adult third son, Nobutaka, whose cause had been championed by Shibata Katsuie . Having gained the support of other senior retainers, including Niwa Nagahide and Ikeda Tsuneoki , Sanpōshi

225-594: A credible threat to military rule. The failure of the Kenmu Restoration had rendered the court weak and subservient, a situation that Ashikaga Takauji reinforced by establishing his court within close proximity to the Emperor in Kyoto. The authority of the local daimyō greatly expanded from that of Kamakura times. In addition to military and policing responsibilities, the shogunate-appointed shugo now absorbed

300-473: A share in the total profits of all the guild's members. However, the shares were not transmissible, unlike in our modern stock market. Another type of trade group, called toiya (or ton'ya in Edo ), served as wholesale merchants, focusing primarily on shipping and warehousing. At this time, Osaka came into its own as a great port, and eclipsed Kyoto as the nation's primary center of trade, contributing further to

375-659: A sharing of the profits. For example, Kyoto's yeast-brewers were associated with the Kitano Tenman-gū shrine, and the oil brokers had the Tendai monastery of Enryakuji as their patron. The gold leaf makers of Kyoto placed themselves under the protection of the Konoe family , and the fishmongers under the Saionji , a particularly powerful and wealthy family, who earned two-thirds of the profits of Kyoto's fish markets from

450-516: A significant victory over the Takeda clan in the Battle of Nagashino . Despite the strong reputation of Takeda's samurai cavalry, Oda Nobunaga embraced the relatively new technology of the arquebus , and inflicted a crushing defeat. The legacy of this battle forced a complete overhaul of traditional Japanese warfare. In 1582, after a protracted campaign, Hideyoshi requested Nobunaga's help in overcoming

525-595: A state of constant civil war known as the Sengoku period , and was finally dissolved when Shōgun Ashikaga Yoshiaki was overthrown by Oda Nobunaga in 1573. The Ashikaga shogunate's alternative name Muromachi and the Muromachi period are derived from the Muromachi district of Kyoto, where the third Shōgun , Ashikaga Yoshimitsu , established his residence nicknamed the "Flower Palace" ( 花の御所 , Hana no Gosho ) on Muromachi Street in 1379. From 1180 to 1185,

600-489: A threat politically, and it appeared that unification under the Oda banner was a matter of time. Nobunaga's enemies were not only other daimyōs but also adherents of a Jōdo Shinshū sect of Buddhism who were of the Ikkō-ikki faction, led by Kōsa . He endured though Nobunaga kept attacking his fortress for ten years. Nobunaga expelled Kennyo in the eleventh year, but, through a riot caused by Kennyo, Nobunaga's territory took

675-696: A war of conquest to politically unify Japan by force from his base in Azuchi . Nobunaga was forced to commit suicide in the Honnō-ji Incident in 1582. His successor Toyotomi Hideyoshi completed Nobunaga's campaign of unification and enacted reforms to consolidate his rule, marking the end of the Sengoku period. Hideyoshi launched the Japanese invasions of Korea in 1592, but their failure damaged his prestige, and his young son and successor Toyotomi Hideyori

750-486: Is named after Nobunaga's Azuchi Castle and Hideyoshi's Momoyama Castle , and is also known as the Shokuhō period ( 織豊時代 , Shokuhō jidai ) in some Japanese texts, abridged from the surnames of the period's two leaders in on-yomi : Shoku ( 織 ) for Oda ( 織田 ) plus Hō ( 豊 ) for Toyotomi ( 豊臣 ) . During the last half of the 16th century, a number of daimyōs became strong enough either to manipulate

825-555: The Nanban style —exotic depictions of European priests, traders, and other "southern barbarians" . The art of the tea ceremony also flourished at this time, and both Nobunaga and Hideyoshi lavished time and money on this pastime, collecting tea bowls, caddies, and other implements, sponsoring lavish social events, and patronizing acclaimed masters such as Sen no Rikyū . Hideyoshi had occupied Nagasaki in 1587, and thereafter sought to take control of international trade and to regulate

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900-805: The ie trading houses. Though very powerful at times, and enjoying certain tax exemptions and other formal governmental benefits, it is important to note that the za , at least in their original forms, were never as official or organized as the medieval guilds of Europe. It was not until the Muromachi period (1336–1467) that the za came to be a significant presence in Japan's economic world. By this time, many more za had appeared, and were larger, more organized, and more well-connected with temples, shrines, and nobles. While many associated themselves with temples and shrines, many other guilds allied themselves with noble families, gaining protection in exchange for

975-584: The Ashikaga shogunate to their own advantage or to overthrow it altogether. One attempt to overthrow the bakufu (the Japanese term for the shogunate) was made in 1560 by Imagawa Yoshimoto , whose march towards the capital came to an ignominious end at the hands of Oda Nobunaga in the Battle of Okehazama . In 1562, the Tokugawa clan who was adjacent to the east of Nobunaga's territory became independent of

1050-696: The Genpei War was fought between the Taira and Minamoto clans, which had a longstanding violent rivalry for influence over the Emperor of Japan and his Imperial Court . The Genpei War ended with victory for the Minamoto under Minamoto no Yoritomo , establishing the Kamakura shogunate after being pronounced Shōgun and beginning the Kamakura period . The Hōjō clan rose to power and governed Japan from

1125-601: The Imagawa clan , and allied with Nobunaga. The eastern territory of Nobunaga was not invaded by this alliance. He then moved his army west. In 1565, an alliance of the Matsunaga and Miyoshi clans attempted a coup by assassinating Ashikaga Yoshiteru , the 13th Ashikaga shōgun . Internal squabbling, however, prevented them from acting swiftly to legitimatize their claim to power, and it was not until 1568 that they managed to install Yoshiteru's cousin, Ashikaga Yoshihide , as

1200-588: The Kanto region , held 2.5 million koku . The surveys, carried out by Hideyoshi both before and after he took the title of taikō , have come to be known as the "Taikō surveys" ( Taikō kenchi ). A number of other administrative innovations were instituted to encourage commerce and stabilize society. In order to facilitate transportation, toll booths and other checkpoints along roads were largely eliminated, as were unnecessary military strongholds. Measures that effectively froze class distinctions were instituted, including

1275-582: The Kenmu Restoration . The Kamakura shogunate ordered Ashikaga Takauji to squash the uprising, but for reasons that are unclear, Takauji turned against Kamakura and fought on behalf of the Imperial court, successfully overthrowing the shogunate. It is possibly because Takauji was the unofficial leader of the powerless Minamoto clan while the Hōjō clan were from the Taira clan the Minamoto had previously defeated. Japan

1350-484: The Korean Peninsula and with imperial China. Bloody succession crises amongst the warrior families led to a decline in the authority of the bakufu until it almost vanished by 1441 at the death of Ashikaga Yoshinori . The lack of government control was especially acute when the daimyō feuded among themselves in the pursuit of power during the Ōnin War (1467–1477), until it erupted into open warfare in

1425-425: The Muromachi shogunate ( 室町幕府 , Muromachi bakufu ) , was the feudal military government of Japan during the Muromachi period from 1336 to 1573. The Ashikaga shogunate was established when Ashikaga Takauji was appointed Shōgun after overthrowing the Kenmu Restoration shortly after it had overthrown the Kamakura shogunate in support of Emperor Go-Daigo . The Ashikaga clan governed Japan from

1500-588: The trade associations that had contact with the outside world through this port. Although China rebuffed his efforts to secure trade concessions, Hideyoshi's commercial missions successfully called upon present-day Malaysia, the Philippines, and Thailand in red seal ships . He was also suspicious of Christianity in Japan , which he saw as potentially subversive, and some missionaries were crucified by his regime. Ashikaga Shogunate The Ashikaga shogunate ( 足利幕府 , Ashikaga bakufu ) , also known as

1575-412: The za , it seems more likely that the change was a more gradual, organic one, and that the za could be said to have continued to exist, just in new forms and with new names. One of the new types of organization was called nakama (仲間), or kabunakama (株仲間) when they were authorized by the shōgun . These groups were essentially guilds based on the idea of shareholding; each member of the guild owned

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1650-507: The 11th century, consisting not only of trade guilds, but also guilds of performers and entertainers. A woodcutters' za is mentioned in Yase near Kyoto as early as 1092, having a firewood concession in Kyoto along with corvée obligations. Even today, performers of kabuki and noh are in associations called za (see Kabuki-za ). The za trade guilds appeared as a major force in the 14th century, and lasted in their original forms through

1725-401: The 1720s. This centralization made monopolization of the industry far easier, and brought a significant wealth to the Kyoto government and to the merchant members of the various trade organizations. Over the course of the 18th and 19th centuries, the trade guilds and associations, in all their various forms, changed over into more modern, and eventually Western, modes of business, giving rise to

1800-805: The Imperial capital of Heian-kyō ( Kyoto ) as de facto military dictators along with the daimyō lords of the samurai class. The Ashikaga shogunate began the Nanboku-chō period between the Pro-Ashikaga Northern Court in Kyoto and the Pro-Go-Daigo Southern Court in Yoshino until the South conceded to the North in 1392. The Ashikaga shogunate collapsed upon outbreak of the Ōnin War in 1467, entering

1875-770: The Kinai region, Nobunaga was now powerful enough to assign his generals the task of subjugating the outlying provinces. Shibata Katsuie was given the task of conquering the Uesugi clan in Etchū , Takigawa Kazumasu confronted the Shinano Province that a son of Shingen, Takeda Katsuyori governed, and Hashiba Hideyoshi was given the formidable task of facing the Mōri clan in the Chūgoku region of western Honshū. In 1575, Nobunaga won

1950-544: The Kinai region. Resistance in the form of rival daimyōs , intransigent Buddhist monks, and hostile merchants was eliminated swiftly and mercilessly, and Nobunaga quickly gained a reputation as a ruthless, unrelenting adversary. In support of his political and military moves, he instituted economic reform, removing barriers to commerce by invalidating traditional monopolies held by shrines and guilds and promoting initiative by instituting free markets known as rakuichi-rakuza . The newly installed shōgun Ashikaga Yoshiaki also

2025-588: The Kitsuregawa domain. The shogunal residence, also known as the "Flower Palace", was in Kyoto on the block now bounded by Karasuma Street (to the east), Imadegawa Street (to the south), Muromachi Street (to the west, giving the name), and Kamidachiuri Street (to the north). The location is commemorated by a stone marker at the southwest corner, and the Kanbai-kan ( 寒梅館 , Winter Plum Hall) of Dōshisha University contains relics and excavations of

2100-489: The Korean navy and an increasing Chinese involvement in the conflict. Upon the death of Hideyoshi in 1598, his designated successor Toyotomi Hideyori was only 5 years old. As such, the domestic political situation in Japan became unstable, making continuation of the war difficult and causing the Japanese to withdraw from Korea. At this stage, most of the remaining Japanese commanders were more concerned about internal battles and

2175-568: The Ming court, asking urgently for military assistance. The Chinese emperor sent admiral Chen Lin and commander Li Rusong to aid the Koreans. Commander Li pushed the Japanese out of the northern part of the Korean Peninsula . The Japanese were forced to withdraw as far as the southern part of the Korean peninsula by January 1593, and counterattacked Li Rusong. This combat reached a stalemate, and Japan and China eventually entered peace talks. During

2250-403: The Muromachi period came to an end, in the late 15th century, other forms of economic associations arose which were less monopolistic, and which challenged the supremacy of the za . The Ōnin War of 1467 plunged the country into a period of chaos and war, called the Sengoku period , which would last over 130 years. However, the za continued to operate, and perhaps became even more powerful as

2325-479: The Oda clan. The situation became even more urgent when it was made known that Nobunaga's oldest son and heir, Nobutada , killed himself, leaving the Oda clan with no clear successor. Quickly negotiating a truce with the Mōri clan before they could learn of Nobunaga's death, Hideyoshi now took his troops on a forced march toward his adversary, whom he defeated at the Battle of Yamazaki less than two weeks later. Although

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2400-521: The Southern Court gave up during the reign of Shōgun Ashikaga Yoshimitsu in 1392. The Ashikaga shogunate was the weakest of the three Japanese military governments. Unlike its predecessor, the Kamakura shogunate , or its successor, the Tokugawa shogunate , when Ashikaga Takauji established his government he had little personal territory with which to support his rule. The Ashikaga shogunate

2475-519: The Takeda army was on the cusp of obliterating the Oda–Tokugawa alliance, Takeda Shingen suddenly perished, under mysterious circumstances. (Multiple suggestions for his demise include battlefield death from marksman, ninja assassination, and stomach cancer.) Having suddenly lost their leader, the Takeda army quickly retreated back to their home base in Kai Province and Nobunaga was saved. With

2550-598: The Tokugawa family to the Kanto region, far from the capital, and surrounded their new territory with more trusted vassals. He also adopted a hostage system, in which the wives and heirs of daimyōs resided at his castle town in Osaka . Hideyoshi attempted to provide for an orderly succession by taking the title taikō , or "retired Kanpaku (Imperial regent)", in 1591, and turned the regency over to his nephew and adopted son Toyotomi Hidetsugu . Only later did he attempt to formalize

2625-599: The Toyotomi name, precipitating a crisis that led to the Battle of Sekigahara . Generally regarded as the last major conflict of both the Azuchi–Momoyama and the Sengoku period, Ieyasu's victory at Sekigahara marked the end of Toyotomi's reign. Three years later, Ieyasu received the title Sei-i Tai-shōgun , and established the Edo bakufu , which lasted until the Meiji Restoration in 1868. The period saw

2700-573: The ability to safely travel and transport goods across the nation became increasingly scarce. Towards the end of the 16th century, one hundred years into the Sengoku period, Oda Nobunaga briefly took command of the country, and established "free" markets and guilds, known respectively as rakuichi (楽市) and rakuza (楽座). These dealt a severe blow to the power and influence of the older, monopolistic za , but did not replace them. Several other types of trade associations came into being around this time as well; though it could be argued that they replaced

2775-456: The area. Za (guilds) The za ( 座 , 'seat' or 'pitch') were one of the primary types of trade guilds in feudal Japan . The za grew out of protective cooperation between merchants and religious authorities. They became more prominent during the Muromachi period where they would ally themselves with noble patrons, before they became more independent later in the period. The za commonly organized by locality, and not by trade in

2850-482: The arrangement. During this period, agricultural and economic advancement and growth was rapid in the countryside, or " Home Provinces ", and za began to conglomerate into groups organized by their locality, not by their trade. These rural za were generally associations of wealthier peasant farmers who combined to sell oil, bamboo, rice, or other agricultural products in bulk; they occasionally allowed urban brokers to join their guilds, to act as their proxy or guide in

2925-495: The arrest of twenty-six Christians to warn Japanese who thought about converting to Christianity. They were tortured, mutilated, paraded through towns and crucified in Nagasaki . This became known as the 26 Martyrs of Japan . These measures severely curbed Christianity and foreign influence in Japan. Hideyoshi sought to secure his position by rearranging the holdings of the daimyōs to his advantage. In particular, he reassigned

3000-513: The balance of power by establishing administrative bodies. These included the Council of Five Elders , who were sworn to keep peace and support the Toyotomi , the five-member Board of House Administrators, who handled routine policy and administrative matters, and the three-member Board of Mediators, who were charged with keeping peace between the first two boards. Hideyoshi's last major ambition

3075-574: The bulk of the damage. This long war was called the Ishiyama Hongan-ji War . Nobunaga was highly interested in foreign cultures, especially those of western Europe. A significant amount of Western Christian culture was introduced to Japan by missionaries from Europe. From this exposure, Japan received new foods, a new drawing method, astronomy, geography, medical science, and new printing techniques. Most critically, trade with Europe provided Nobunaga's armies with new weapons, among them

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3150-513: The city markets. However, in the large cities, where economic progress was occurring in a different way, za formed up and began to concentrate themselves in small sections of the city. Ginza , meaning "silver za " (silver trade guild), in Tokyo , is one of the most famous place-names to reflect this activity, though the Guildhall area of London , on the other side of the world, is an example of

3225-543: The city of Kamakura , while the Emperor and his Imperial Court remained in the official capital city of Heian-kyō as largely symbolic figures. The Hōjō monopoly of power, as well as the lack of a reward of lands after the defeat of the Mongol invasions , led to simmering resentment among Hōjō vassals . In 1333, the Emperor Go-Daigo ordered local governing vassals to oppose Hōjō rule, in favor of Imperial rule in

3300-490: The death of Takeda Shingen in early 1573, the "Anti-Oda Alliance" that Ashikaga Yoshiaki created quickly crumbled as Nobunaga destroyed the alliance of the Asakura clan and Azai clan that threatened his northern flank, and soon after expelled the shōgun himself from Kyoto. Even after Shingen's death, there remained several daimyōs powerful enough to resist Nobunaga, but none were situated close enough to Kyoto to pose

3375-402: The development of large urban centers and the rise of the merchant class. The ornate castle architecture and interiors adorned with painted screens embellished with gold leaf were a reflection of a daimyō ' s power but also exhibited a new aesthetic sense that marked a clear departure from the somber monotones favored during the Muromachi period . A genre that emerged at this time was called

3450-409: The downfall of the original za . By the end of the Tokugawa period , the guilds, in these various forms, had gained a significant degree of legitimacy and power. In exchange for monopoly licenses and government support in other forms, the guilds shared a portion of the profits with the government. Employing a strongly centralized system, the za brought 90% of the nation's silk processing to Kyoto by

3525-411: The earliest relatively numerous increase of Europeans into the region. During the period from 1576 to 1579, Nobunaga constructed, on the shore of Lake Biwa at Azuchi , Azuchi Castle , a magnificent seven-story castle that was intended to serve not simply as an impregnable military fortification, but also as a sumptuous residence that would stand as a symbol of unification. Having secured his grip on

3600-453: The end of the 16th, when other guilds and trade organizations arose and subsumed the za . While no longer powerful in their original forms, it could be argued that the basic concept of the za , and most likely the same merchants running them, continued to exist as powerful agents in the market through to the 18th, going through many organizational and structural changes over the centuries, and eventually being eclipsed by other organizations like

3675-591: The equivalent English activity. Towards the end of the Muromachi period, the za began to grow independent of the noble families, temples, and shrines they had placed themselves under, having grown large enough and powerful enough to protect themselves. This independence also allowed the za to further its own interests, namely profit; the za began to realize at this time that they had the power to alter market prices, and began to show signs of monopolistic activity. While most used their monopoly power in retail sales of their particular trade good to consumers, some, such as

3750-416: The first major casualty of this war as it was completely destroyed by Nobunaga). As the Oda army was bogged down by fighting on every corner, Takeda Shingen led what was by then widely considered as the most powerful army in Japan and marched towards the Oda home base of Owari , easily crushing Nobunaga's young ally and future shōgun Tokugawa Ieyasu in the Battle of Mikatagahara in 1573. However, as

3825-464: The inevitable struggles for the control of the shogunate. Hideyoshi had on his deathbed appointed a group of the most powerful lords in Japan—Tokugawa, Maeda , Ukita , Uesugi, and Mōri, to govern as the Council of Five Elders until his infant son, Hideyori, came of age. An uneasy peace lasted until the death of Maeda Toshiie in 1599. Thereafter, Ishida Mitsunari accused Ieyasu of disloyalty to

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3900-466: The judicial, economic, and taxation powers of the local Imperial governors, while the government holdings in each province were rapidly absorbed into the personal holdings of the daimyō or their vassals. The loss of both political clout and an economic base deprived the Imperial court of much of its power, which were then assumed by the Ashikaga shōgun . This situation reached its peak under the rule of

3975-399: The late Muromachi period, also known as the Sengoku period . When the shōgun Ashikaga Yoshiteru was assassinated in 1565, an ambitious daimyō , Oda Nobunaga , seized the opportunity and installed Yoshiteru's brother Ashikaga Yoshiaki as the 15th Ashikaga shōgun and Nobunaga's puppet . However Yoshiaki was not entirely subservient to Nobunaga: he continued to strike bargains amongst

4050-455: The marketplace. Merchants would travel and transport goods in groups, for protection from bandits but also from the vacillating whims of samurai and the daimyō (feudal military lords). They would also enter into arrangements with temples and shrines to sell their goods on a pitch or platform in the temple's (or shrine's) grounds, placing themselves under the auspices and protection of the temple or shrine. The earliest za came into being in

4125-491: The matchlock rifle or arquebus. Nobunaga decided to reduce the power of the Buddhist monasteries, and gave protection to Christianity , although he never converted to Christianity himself. He slaughtered many Buddhist priests who resisted him, and burned their fortified temples. The activities of European traders and Catholic missionaries ( Alessandro Valignano , Luís Fróis , Gnecchi-Soldo Organtino ) in Japan saw one of

4200-468: The monasteries to gain favor, and mediated between powerful clans such as the Otomo and Mori . The Ashikaga shogunate was finally destroyed in 1573 when Nobunaga drove Yoshiaki out of Kyoto. Initially, Yoshiaki fled to Shikoku . Afterwards, he sought and received protection from the Mōri clan in western Japan. The Ashikaga family survived the 16th century, and a branch of it became the daimyō family of

4275-643: The neighboring Mino Province , now marched toward Kyoto. After routing the Rokkaku clan in southern Ōmi, Nobunaga forced the Matsunaga to capitulate and the Miyoshi to withdraw to Settsu. He then entered the capital, where he successfully gained recognition from the emperor for Yoshiaki, who became the 15th and last Ashikaga shōgun . Nobunaga had no intention, however, of serving the Muromachi bakufu , and instead now turned his attention to tightening his grip on

4350-504: The next shōgun . Failure to enter Kyoto and gain recognition from the imperial court, however, had left the succession in doubt, and a group of bakufu retainers led by Hosokawa Fujitaka negotiated with Nobunaga to gain support for Yoshiteru's younger brother, Yoshiaki . Nobunaga, who had prepared over a period of years for just such an opportunity by establishing an alliance with the Azai clan in northern Ōmi Province and then conquering

4425-488: The nine major daimyō coalitions and carried the war of unification to Shikoku and Kyushu. In 1590, at the head of an army of 200,000, Hideyoshi defeated the Later Hōjō clan , his last formidable rival in eastern Honshū in the siege of Odawara . The remaining daimyō soon capitulated, and the military reunification of Japan was complete. With all of Japan now under Hideyoshi's control, a new structure for national government

4500-591: The peace talks that ensued between 1593 and 1597, Hideyoshi, seeing Japan as an equal of Ming China, demanded a division of Korea, free-trade status, and a Chinese princess as consort for the emperor. The Joseon and Chinese leaders saw no reason to concede to such demands, nor to treat the invaders as equals within the Ming trading system. Japan's requests were thus denied and peace efforts reached an impasse. A second invasion of Korea began in 1597, but it too resulted in failure as Japanese forces met with better organized Korean defenses especially under Admiral Yi Sun-sin of

4575-674: The requirement that different classes live separately in different areas of a town and a prohibition on the carrying or ownership of weapons by farmers. Hideyoshi ordered the collection of weapons in a great " sword hunt " ( katanagari ). In 1586, Hideyoshi conquered Kyushu in the Kyushu Campaign (1586-1587) from the Shimazu clan . In 1587, Hideyoshi increased control over the Kirishitan daimyos by banishing Christian missionaries from Kyūshū. In January 1597, Hideyoshi ordered

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4650-406: The resistance. Nobunaga, making a stop-over in Kyoto on his way west with only a small contingent of guards, was attacked by one of his own disaffected generals , Akechi Mitsuhide , and committed suicide. What followed was a scramble by the most powerful of Nobunaga's retainers to avenge their lord's death and thereby establish a dominant position in negotiations over the forthcoming realignment of

4725-450: The rural areas; but grouped by trade in the larger cities, more familiar to their European counterparts. The monopoly of the za was challenged during the reign of Oda Nobunaga . Later in the early 18th century, the za gained in influence by working more closely with the Tokugawa government ; this brought more centralization and a return to their monopoly power. After the Meiji restoration ,

4800-473: The salt dealers of Yamato Province , would purchase raw materials wholesale, entering arrangements by which they could deny other guilds and other merchants of these materials. Though mostly independent from their former patrons, many guilds still engaged in agreements for protection with noble families on a one-time, rather than permanent, basis. However, their independence and increasing power earned many za political enemies; some from their former patrons. As

4875-645: The subject of how to govern the country. That dispute led Takauji to cause Prince Yutahito, the second son of Emperor Go-Fushimi , to be installed as Emperor Kōmyō while Go-Daigō fled Kyoto. Japan was subsequently divided between two Imperial courts: the Northern Court located in Kyoto, in favor of Kōmyō under Ashikaga influence; and the Southern Court located in Yoshino , in favor of Go-Daigō. The Northern and Southern courts engaged in an ideological struggle for power that continued for 56 years, until

4950-454: The third shōgun , Ashikaga Yoshimitsu. After Yoshimitsu however, the structural weakness of the Ashikaga shogunate was exposed by numerous succession troubles and early deaths. This became dramatically more acute after the Ōnin War , after which the shogunate itself became reduced to little more than a local political force in Kyoto. The Ashikaga shogunate's foreign relations policy choices were played out in evolving contacts with Joseon on

5025-607: The undisputed ruler of the former Oda domains. The daimyō of the Shikoku Chōsokabe clan surrendered to Hideyoshi in July, 1585, and the daimyō of Kyushu Shimazu clan also surrendered two years later. He was adopted by the Fujiwara clan , given the surname Toyotomi, and granted the superlative title kanpaku , representing civil and military control of all Japan. By the following year, he had secured alliances with three of

5100-403: The za was either replaced, eclipsed or would gradually adopt more modern forms of business, eventually giving rise to the modern zaibatsu and keiretsu monopolies of the 20th century. The word za , meaning seat, pitch, or platform, was thus applied to the guilds. The name may have also come, more simply, from the idea of merchants within a guild or association sharing a seat or platform in

5175-472: Was challenged by Tokugawa Ieyasu after Hideyoshi's death in 1598. The Azuchi–Momoyama period ended with the Tokugawa victory at the Battle of Sekigahara in 1600 – unofficially establishing the Tokugawa Shogunate and beginning the Edo period . The Azuchi–Momoyama period encompassed the transition of Japanese society from the pre-modern to the early modern period . The Azuchi–Momoyama period

5250-471: Was extremely wary of his powerful nominal retainer Nobunaga, and immediately began plotting against him by forming a wide alliance of nearly every daimyō adjacent to the Oda realm. This included Oda's close ally and brother in-law Azai Nagamasa , the supremely powerful Takeda Shingen , as well as the monk warriors from the Tendai Buddhists monastic center at Mount Hiei near Kyoto (who became

5325-445: Was named heir and Hideyoshi appointed co-guardian. Continued political intrigue, however, eventually led to open confrontation. After defeating Shibata at the Battle of Shizugatake in 1583 and enduring a costly but ultimately advantageous stalemate with Tokugawa Ieyasu at the Battle of Komaki and Nagakute in 1584, Hideyoshi managed to settle the question of succession for once and all, to take complete control of Kyoto, and to become

5400-519: Was returned to Imperial civilian rule , but Emperor Go-Daigo's policies were unpopular and failed to satisfy those who had fought for him. In 1336, Takauji established his own military government in Kyoto, effectively overthrowing the Kenmu Restoration and appointing himself as the new Shōgun . After Ashikaga Takauji established himself as the Shōgun , a dispute arose with Emperor Go-Daigo on

5475-459: Was set up. The country was unified under a single leader, but daily governance remained decentralized. The basis of power was distribution of territory as measured by rice production, in units of koku . A national survey from 1598 was instituted, with assessments showing the national rice production at 18.5 million koku , 2 million of which was controlled directly by Hideyoshi himself. In contrast, Tokugawa Ieyasu , whom Hideyoshi had transferred to

5550-463: Was thus heavily reliant on the prestige and personal authority of its shōgun . The centralized master-vassal system used in the Kamakura system was replaced with the highly de-centralized daimyōs (local lord) system, and because of the lack of direct territories, the military power of the shōgun depended heavily on the loyalty of the daimyō . On the other hand, the Imperial court was no longer

5625-535: Was to conquer the Ming dynasty of China . In April 1592, after having been refused safe passage through Korea , Hideyoshi sent an army of 200,000 to invade and pass through Korea by force. During the Japanese invasions of Korea (1592–1598) , the Japanese occupied Seoul by May 1592, and within three months of the invasion, the Japanese reached Pyongyang . King Seonjo of Joseon fled, and two Korean princes were captured by Katō Kiyomasa . Seonjo dispatched an emissary to

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