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79-573: During the Muromachi period , the area around Numata was controlled by the Numata clan, with a fortification built on this location by Numata Akiyasu in 1532. Sanada Masayuki , a vassal of Takeda Katsuyori captured the castle in 1580, and most of the Numata clan perished in a failed attempt to retake their ancestral home the following year. The area was subsequently contested between the Sanada clan and

158-760: A collection of books and so priests and warriors from all over the country gathered there to learn. For the Ashikaga Gakko , the Gohojo clan in Odawara provided protection later. Francis Xavier , a missionary of the Society of Jesus , who propagated Christianity in Japan, described that "the Ashikaga Gakko is the biggest and most famous academy of Bando in Japan (the university of eastern Japan)." Shukyu Banri,

237-523: 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

316-727: A cultural perspective, the period can be divided into the Kitayama and Higashiyama cultures (later 15th – early 16th centuries). The early years from 1336 to 1392 of the Muromachi period are known as the Nanboku-chō or Northern and Southern Court period. This period is marked by the continued resistance of the supporters of Emperor Go-Daigo , the emperor behind the Kenmu Restoration . The Sengoku period or Warring States period, which begins in 1465, largely overlaps with

395-537: A former samurai in the service of the Toki clan, Kume Tamenosuke, purchased the castle site, and he donated it to the town of Numata in 1926 for use as a park. The park contains the Ubukata House, an Edo period structure that was once used as a pharmacy in the Numata castle town. The structure is an Important Cultural Property and serves as a local history museum. It also contains a scale model of Numata Castle under

474-421: A number of attendants, and do not in the least care to save money. They are, in short, a very warlike people, and engaged in continual wars among themselves; the most powerful in arms bearing the most extensive sway. They have all one sovereign, although for one hundred and fifty years past the princes have ceased to obey him, and this is the cause of their perpetual feuds. The Spanish arrived in 1587, followed by

553-688: A priest and a composer of Chinese-style poems, went down to Mino Province in the Onin War, and then left for Edo at Dokan Ota's invitation. He traveled all over the Kanto region, Echigo Province , and Hida Province . The above-mentioned Sesshu visited the Risshaku-ji Temple in Yamagata City , Dewa Province . In this period, local lords and local clans considered it indispensable to acquire skills of reading, writing, and arithmetic for

632-517: 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

711-517: A smaller scale by re-excavating some of the filled-in moats and restoring some of the earthen works, but a new donjon or yagura were never built. The castle then passed into the hands of a junior branch of the Kuroda clan before passing into the hands of the Toki clan in 1742. The Toki resided in a residence built within the third bailey, but the "castle" remained little more than a jin'ya . In 1912,

790-489: 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

869-576: A vast scale Numata Castle in 1597, incorporating stone walls and a large five-story donjon and several three-story yagura . Numata became a separate domain from the main Sanada holding at Ueda Castle in 1656. However, in 1681 Sanada Nobutoshi was dispossessed by the Tokugawa shogunate for gross under-representation of his revenues, and the castle of destroyed. Numata Domain was restored in 1703 and given to Honda Masanaga , who rebuilt Numata Castle on

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948-696: 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

1027-487: 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

1106-520: Is nothing of which they are so proud as of weapons adorned with gold and silver. They always wear swords and daggers both in and out of the house, and when they go to sleep they hang them at the bed's head. In short, they value arms more than any people I have ever seen. They are excellent archers, and usually fight on foot, though there is no lack of horses in the country. They are very polite to each other, but not to foreigners, whom they utterly despise. They spend their means on arms, bodily adornment, and on

1185-578: The Jinnō Shōtōki . This chronicle emphasized the importance of maintaining the divine descent of the imperial line from Amaterasu to the current emperor, a condition that gave Japan a special national polity ( kokutai ). Besides reinforcing the concept of the emperor as a deity, the Jinnōshōtōki provided a Shinto view of history, which stressed the divine nature of all Japanese and the country's spiritual supremacy over China and India. Buddhism, arriving in

1264-555: 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

1343-528: 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

1422-601: 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

1501-589: 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

1580-506: The Ming dynasty (1368–1644) began when China was renewed during the Muromachi period after the Chinese sought support in suppressing Japanese pirates in coastal areas of China. Japanese pirates of this era and region were referred to as wokou by the Chinese (Japanese wakō ). Wanting to improve relations with China and to rid Japan of the wokou threat, Yoshimitsu accepted a relationship with

1659-489: The Muromachi or Ashikaga shogunate ( Muromachi bakufu or Ashikaga bakufu ), which was officially established in 1338 by the first Muromachi shōgun , Ashikaga Takauji , two years after the brief Kenmu Restoration (1333–1336) of imperial rule was brought to a close. The period ended in 1573 when the 15th and last shogun of this line, Ashikaga Yoshiaki , was driven out of the capital in Kyoto by Oda Nobunaga . From

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1738-656: The Odawara Hōjō clan. In 1589, Toyotomi Hideyoshi attempted to arbitrate the dispute by giving Numata to the Hōjō and awarding nearby Nagurumi Castle to the Sanada. However, the Hōjō castellan Inomata Kuninori was dissatisfied with this arrangement and attacked the Sanada. However, after the defeat of the Hojo at the Battle of Odawara in 1590 the control of Numata was firmly restored to the Sanada. Sanada Nobuyuki comprehensively rebuilt on

1817-549: The daimyōs and other regional strongmen. The shōgun ' s influence on imperial succession waned, and the daimyōs could back their own candidates. In time, the Ashikaga family had its own succession problems, resulting finally in the Ōnin War (1467–77), which left Kyoto devastated and effectively ended the national authority of the bakufu . The power vacuum that ensued launched a century of anarchy. The Japanese contact with

1896-555: The shōgun and the daimyōs ; the three most prominent daimyō families rotated as deputies to the shōgun at Kyoto. Yoshimitsu was finally successful in reunifying the Northern and Southern courts in 1392, but despite his promise of greater balance between the imperial lines, the Northern Court maintained control over the throne thereafter. The line of shoguns gradually weakened after Yoshimitsu and increasingly lost power to

1975-518: The tea ceremony , landscape gardening, and flower arranging—all flourished during Muromachi times. There was renewed interest in Shinto , which had quietly coexisted with Buddhism during the centuries of the latter's predominance. Shinto, which lacked its own scriptures and had few prayers, had, as a result of syncretic practices begun in the Nara period, widely adopted Shingon Buddhist rituals. Between

2054-608: 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

2133-930: The 6th century, impacted education but did not replace Shinto. Confucianism began to be recognized as essential to the education of a daimyo in the Muromachi period. When Genju Keian, who returned from the Ming dynasty, traveled around Kyushu, he was invited by the Kikuchi clan in Higo Province and the Shimazu clan in Satsuma Province to give a lecture; and later, he established the Satsunan school (school of Neo-Confucianism in Satsuma). In Tosa, Baiken Minamimura, who lectured on Neo-Confucianism, became known as

2212-537: The Ashikaga bakufu, a new national culture, called Muromachi culture, emerged from the bakufu headquarters in Kyoto to reach all levels of society, strongly influenced by Zen Buddhism. Zen played a central role in spreading not only religious teachings and practices but also art and culture, including influences derived from paintings of the Chinese Song (960–1279), Yuan , and Ming dynasties. The proximity of

2291-483: The Ashikaga shogunate was not as strong as Kamakura had been, and was greatly preoccupied with civil war. Not until the rule of Ashikaga Yoshimitsu (as shōgun , 1368–94, and chancellor, 1394–1408) did a semblance of order emerge. Yoshimitsu allowed the constables, who had had limited powers during the Kamakura period, to become strong regional rulers, later called daimyōs . In time, a balance of power evolved between

2370-519: The Chinese that was to last for half a century. In 1401 he restarted the tribute system, describing himself in a letter to the Chinese Emperor as "Your subject, the King of Japan". Japanese wood, sulfur, copper ore, swords, and folding fans were traded for Chinese silk, porcelain, books, and coins, in what the Chinese considered tribute but the Japanese saw as profitable trade. During the time of

2449-576: The Dutch in 1609. The Japanese began to attempt studies of European civilization in depth, and new opportunities were presented for the economy, along with serious political challenges. European firearms, fabrics, glassware, clocks, tobacco, and other Western innovations were traded for Japanese gold and silver. Significant wealth was accumulated through trade, and lesser daimyō, especially in Kyūshū, greatly increased their power. Provincial wars became more deadly with

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2528-770: 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

2607-544: 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

2686-490: 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

2765-585: 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

2844-757: The Muromachi period. The Muromachi period is succeeded by the Azuchi–Momoyama period (1568–1600), the final phase of the Sengoku period, and later by the Edo period (1603–1867). Emperor Go-Daigo 's brief attempt to restore imperial power in the Kenmu Restoration alienated the samurai class, and Ashikaga Takauji deposed Emperor Go-Daigo with their support. In 1338 Takauji was proclaimed shōgun and established his government in Kyoto . However, Emperor Go-Daigo escaped from his confinement and revived his political power in Nara . The ensuing period of Ashikaga rule (1336–1573)

2923-479: 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

3002-471: The Sanada. Numata Castle was listed as one of　the Continued Top 100 Japanese Castles in 2017. Muromachi period The Muromachi period or Muromachi era ( 室町時代 , Muromachi jidai ) , also known as the Ashikaga period or Ashikaga era ( 足利時代 , Ashikaga jidai ) , is a division of Japanese history running from approximately 1336 to 1573. The period marks the governance of

3081-519: 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

3160-546: 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

3239-599: 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

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3318-496: 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

3397-513: 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

3476-574: 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

3555-534: The central region, which no daimyō had been able to control, and to the Inland Sea . Economic developments and the desire to protect trade achievements brought about the establishment of merchant and artisan guilds. By the end of the Muromachi period, the first Europeans had arrived. The Portuguese landed in Tanegashima south of Kyūshū in 1543 and within two years were making regular port calls, initiating

3634-747: The century-long Nanban trade period . In 1551, the Navarrese Roman Catholic missionary Francis Xavier was one of the first Westerners who visited Japan . Francis described Japan as follows: Japan is a very large empire entirely composed of islands. One language is spoken throughout, not very difficult to learn. This country was discovered by the Portuguese eight or nine years ago. The Japanese are very ambitious of honors and distinctions, and think themselves superior to all nations in military glory and valor. They prize and honor all that has to do with war, and all such things, and there

3713-628: The children are quick to grasp our lessons and instructions. They learn to read and write our language far more quickly and easily than children in Europe. The lower classes in Japan are not so coarse and ignorant as those in Europe; on the contrary, they are generally intelligent, well brought up and quick to learn." Teikin Orai (Home Education Text Book), Joe-shikimoku (legal code of the Kamakura shogunate), and Jitsugokyo (a text for primary education) were widely used in shrines and temples as textbooks for

3792-436: 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

3871-402: 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

3950-412: 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

4029-430: The education of children of the warrior class. It was in the Sengoku Period that the following books were published: Setsuyoshu (a Japanese-language dictionary in iroha order) written by Soji MANJUYA, and "Ishotaizen" (The Complete Book of Medicine), a medical book in Ming's language, translated by Asai no Sozui, who was a merchant in Sakai City and a physician. The new Zen monasteries, with their Chinese background and

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4108-413: The eighth and fourteenth centuries, Shinto was nearly totally absorbed by Buddhism, becoming known as Ryōbu Shinto (Dual Shinto). The Mongol invasions in the late thirteenth century, however, evoked a national consciousness of the role of the kamikaze in defeating the enemy. Less than fifty years later (1339–43), Kitabatake Chikafusa (1293–1354), the chief commander of the Southern Court forces, wrote

4187-416: 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

4266-425: The founder of Nangaku (Neo-Confucianism in Tosa); in Hokuriku region , Nobutaka Kiyohara lectured on Confucianism for various daimyo such as the Hatakeyama clan in Noto Province , the Takeda clan in Wakasa Province , and the Asakura clan in Echizen Province . Meanwhile, in the eastern part of Japan, Norizane Uesugi re-established the Ashikaga Gakko , Japan's oldest surviving academic institution, by adding

4345-408: The imperial court to the bakufu resulted in a co-mingling of imperial family members, courtiers, daimyō, samurai, and Zen priests. During the Muromachi period, the re-constituted Blue Cliff Record became the central text of Japanese Zen literature; it still holds that position today. Art of all kinds—architecture, literature, Noh drama, Kyōgen (comedy) , poetry, sarugaku (folk entertainment) ,

4424-408: 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

4503-558: The initial creative restrictions, Japanese Zen ink painting soon achieved poetic and indigenous expression as elements were rearranged in a Japanese manner, and brushstrokes became gentle, fluid and more impulsive. The Ōnin War (1467–77) led to serious political fragmentation and obliteration of domains: a great struggle for land and power ensued among bushi chieftains and lasted until the mid-sixteenth century. Peasants rose against their landlords and samurai against their overlords as central control virtually disappeared. The imperial house

4582-464: The introduction of firearms, such as muskets and cannons, and greater use of infantry. Christianity affected Japan, largely through the efforts of the Jesuits , led first by the Spanish Francis Xavier (1506–1552), who arrived in Kagoshima in southern Kyūshū in 1549. Both daimyō and merchants seeking better trade arrangements as well as peasants were among the converts. By 1560 Kyoto had become another major area of missionary activity in Japan. In 1568

4661-563: The management of their territories. A growing number of land deeds were written by peasants, which means that literacy was widespread even among the commoner class. The Italian Jesuit, Alessandro Valignano (1539–1606), wrote: "The people are white (not dark-skinned) and cultured; even the common folk and peasants are well brought up and are so remarkably polite that they give the impression that they were trained at court. In this respect they are superior to other Eastern peoples but also to Europeans as well. They are very capable and intelligent, and

4740-438: The martial rulers in Kamakura sought to produce a unique cultural legacy to rival the Fujiwara tradition. Hence, Chinese painter-monks were frequently invited to the monasteries while Japanese monks travelled back and forth. This exchange led to the creation of Muromachi ink painting which often included Chinese themes, Chinese ink-washing techniques, fluid descriptive lines, dry brushes, and almost invisible facial features. Despite

4819-437: 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

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4898-476: 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

4977-454: 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

5056-437: 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

5135-591: 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

5214-462: The peasantry in permanent serfdom in exchange for protection. Most wars of the period were short and localized, although they occurred throughout Japan. By 1500 the entire country was engulfed in civil wars. Rather than disrupting the local economies, however, the frequent movement of armies stimulated the growth of transportation and communications, which in turn provided additional revenues from customs and tolls. To avoid such fees, commerce shifted to

5293-461: The port of Nagasaki , in northwestern Kyūshū, was established by a Christian daimyō and was turned over to Jesuit administration in 1579. By 1582 there were as many as 150,000 converts (two percent of the population) and 200 churches. But bakufu tolerance for this alien influence diminished as the country became more unified and openness decreased. Proscriptions against Christianity began in 1587 and outright persecutions in 1597. Although foreign trade

5372-502: 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

5451-406: 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

5530-442: 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

5609-417: Was called Muromachi after the district of Kyoto in which its headquarters – the Hana-no-gosho ( 花の御所 , Flower Palace) – were relocated by the third shōgun Ashikaga Yoshimitsu , in 1378. What distinguished the Ashikaga shogunate from that of Kamakura was that, whereas Kamakura had existed in equilibrium with the imperial court, Ashikaga took over the remnants of the imperial government. Nevertheless,

5688-473: 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

5767-471: 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

5846-559: Was left impoverished, and the bakufu was controlled by contending chieftains in Kyoto. The provincial domains that emerged after the Ōnin War were smaller and easier to control. Many new small daimyō arose from among the samurai who had overthrown their great overlords. Border defenses were improved, and well fortified castle towns were built to protect the newly opened domains, for which land surveys were made, roads built, and mines opened. New house laws provided practical means of administration, stressing duties and rules of behavior. Emphasis

5925-445: 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

6004-416: Was put on success in war, estate management, and finance. Threatening alliances were guarded against through strict marriage rules. Aristocratic society was overwhelmingly military in character. The rest of society was controlled in a system of vassalage. The shōen (feudal manors) were obliterated, and court nobles and absentee landlords were dispossessed. The new daimyō directly controlled the land, keeping

6083-459: 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

6162-461: Was still encouraged, it was closely regulated, and by 1640, in the Edo period , the exclusion and suppression of Christianity became national policy. Azuchi%E2%80%93Momoyama period The Azuchi–Momoyama period ( 安土桃山時代 , Azuchi–Momoyama jidai ) was the final phase of the Sengoku period ( 戦国時代 , Sengoku jidai ) in Japanese history from 1568 to 1600. After the outbreak of

6241-487: 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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