Chris Perry, Author

Tag: Toyotomi Hideyoshi

  • Kings in the North, Part 3

    Kings in the North, Part 3

    Last time, we looked at how Date Masamune defied an order from Toyotomi Hideyoshi to end his local wars. In 1590, the Date were summoned to take part in the upcoming campaign against the Hojo, based at Odawara, and Masamune knew better than to push his luck. Hideyoshi, however, had not forgotten his earlier defiance.

    Date Masamune

    When Masamune arrived at Odawara, he was stripped of all the territory he had taken in Aizu and confined to the 13 counties in Mutsu and Dewa Provinces that the Date had controlled before the peace order, obliging Masamune to leave the recently conquered Kurokawa Castle and return to his family’s seat at Yonezawa. In 1591, a rebellion broke out in Masamune’s home province, and after he put it down, letters were ‘found’ that implicated Masamune in instigating the violence.

    The rumours reached Hideyoshi in Kyoto, and he ordered Masamune to come in person to explain himself, which he promptly did, eventually being pardoned, but having his territory reduced still further. Despite the fact that Masamune then fought in Hideyoshi’s invasion of Korea, it wasn’t long before further rumours of treason surrounded him.

    In 1595, Hideyoshi’s nephew, Hidetsugu, was accused of treason, allegedly plotting either to overthrow his uncle or else usurp the regency after his death. Even at the time, the accusations were considered dubious, and the exact reasons are still murky today, but Hidetsugu was obliged to commit seppuku, and 39 members of his family and household were purged (read, murdered).

    Toyotomi Hidetsugu. The accusations of his treasonous conduct were considered dubious even at the time.

    The brutality of the crackdown and the somewhat flimsy evidence would eventually backfire for Hideyoshi, but for now, we can focus on how this purge would eventually involve Masamune. He and Hidetsugu had enjoyed a close relationship, and when accusations of treason were being thrown around, it didn’t take long for people to point that out.

    Masamune was summoned to explain himself once again. He had good reason to worry; his cousin had been Hidetsugu’s concubine (and had died in the purge), and it was widely thought that Hideyoshi believed that Masamune was guilty. In the end, a combination of Masamune’s eloquent denial and the intervention of several influential retainers led to his pardon. He was, however, obliged to sign a document, witnessed (and potentially enforced) by 19 powerful vassals, stating that if he were ever to commit treason, his position as head of his clan would be forfeit.

    Hideyoshi died in 1598, leaving his young son in the care of a council of five regents. Masamune was not on this council, but he quickly reached an understanding with Tokugawa Ieyasu, arguably the council’s most powerful member. In 1599, Masamune’s daughter married Ieyasu’s fifth son, something that was believed to be an example of Ieyasu securing illegal alliances, though modern scholars suggest that this is an example of a violation of the ‘spirit’ rather than the letter of the law.

    Tokugawa Ieyasu. He found a willing ally in Masamune.

    By 1600, it had become clear that the Council of Regents was not going to last, and a new conflict swiftly broke out. Ieyasu secured the support of Masamune by promising to restore all the lands he had lost in 1590. Date forces would not be present at the decisive Battle of Sekigahara, however, and despite some successes against Ieyasu’s enemies in the north, an attempt to retake the promised territories by force was ultimately unsuccessful.

    Despite this, Masamune still petitioned Ieyasu for the return of the territory, which Ieyasu refused to do, and in fact, Date lands were reduced further (though they would remain the fifth richest clan by koku (rice production)). In 1601, Masamune moved his headquarters to Sendai, establishing the Sendai Domain, which would continue to be the centre of the Date Clan for the next 250 years.

    Though distant from the capital and never entirely trusted, Masamune would play a significant role in Japan’s future. In 1613, he ordered the construction of a European-style galleon, the San Juan Bautista. Masamune was the only Daimyo to receive permission from the Tokugawa to send missions overseas to represent Japan. The so-called Keicho Embassy departed Japan in October 1613, travelling across the Pacific to New Spain (modern Mexico) and from there, across the Atlantic to Europe. The embassy would receive an audience with the King of Spain in January 1615, and then one with the Pope in October of the same year. The Embassy would not return to Japan until 1620, by which time Christianity had been outlawed by the Shogunate, meaning that the Ambassador and anyone involved had come under suspicion.

    A European portrait of Hasekura Tsunenaga, the ambassador in the Keicho Embassy. By the time he returned to Japan, Christianity had been outlawed, and his achievement as the first Japanese representative to Europe was largely forgotten.

    Meanwhile, Masamune at the Date had continued to support the new Shogunate, taking part in both Sieges of Osaka in 1614-15. However, once again, Masamune would find himself under attack by rumours of treason, this time after a supposed ‘friendly fire’ incident, in which Date troops fired on their allies. It’s not clear from surviving records if this incident actually happened, but in 1616, the rumour spread that Ieyasu planned to march against the Date.

    When the two men met in early 1616, Masamune was cleared of any suspicion, and after Ieyasu passed away in June of that year, any serious suggestion that the Date and Tokugawa would go to war seems to have died out (though later texts suggest that Masamune had a plan to fight the Shogunate, should it come down to it)

    With the age of constant civil war coming to an end, Masamune focused on developing his home territory. He ordered the construction of a canal that became the Teizan Canal (though it wouldn’t take its final form until the 19th century). He established a port at Ishinomaki, which was heavily damaged in a tsunami in 2011, and has since been largely rebuilt.

    The Teizan Canal as it appears today. Though largely remodelled in the 19th century, its origins lay with Masamune in the 1600s.

    He also developed agriculture in the Kitakami River basin, which remains a major rice producer to this day. In the Edo Period, the Sendai Domain was valued at around 620,000 koku, but produced in excess of 745,000 koku annually, indicating how effective Masamune’s investments had been, and how inefficient Japanese land valuation was in the pre-modern period.

    In his later years, Masamune would establish a warmer relationship with the Shogunate than he had known previously. When the third Shogun, Iemitsu, began to rule in his own right in 1632, he was said to have idolised Masamune, who by then was one of the last remaining Daimyo to have actually fought during the Sengoku period. The Shogun is said to have frequently asked Masamune for stories of the period, especially the battles he had fought, and what it had been like to serve Ieyasu and Hideyoshi (both of whom were legendary figures by that point)

    Masamune remained vigorous until late in life, but in 1634, he began to develop serious health problems, and his condition declined quickly before he eventually passed away in June 1636. His death was mourned in Edo, with the Shogun banning revelry, fishing, and even the playing of music for seven days afterwards.

    Zuihoden, in modern Sendai, the final resting place of Date Masamune.
    663highland 投稿者自身による著作物, CC 表示 2.5, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=2631054による

    Masamune’s reforms and investments had left the Date in a strong financial position, and the Clan would often be treated generally by the Shogunate, with the clan being one of the few ‘outside’ Daimyo (a clan that had not been a vassal of the Tokugawa before Sekigahara) who was granted a marriage into the Shogun’s family.

    Despite, or perhaps because of this, the third Lord, Tsunamune (Masamune’s grandson), proved to be something of a “rich kid” spending his days engaged in what is politely called “debauchery”. Although a certain amount of wine, women (or men), and song was expected of a Daimyo, Tsunamune was extreme to the point that his retainers tried to get rid of him. In August 1660, they petitioned the Shogunate directly, asking that Tsunamune be removed.

    The Shogunate agreed, replacing Tsunamune with his two-year-old son, Tsunamura. Given his young age, Tsunamura needed a regent, and what followed was a decade of violence as rival factions sought influence over the young Lord. Finally, in 1671, a meeting was called in the house of Sakai Tadakiyo, a roju (senior minister) in Edo.

    Date Tsunamune, whose debauchery led to his downfall, and nearly that of his clan.

    What was supposed to be a peaceful meeting to seek a solution to the ongoing violence in Sendai quickly turned into a bloody brawl, and by the end of it, swords had been drawn, and several men lay dead. Tsunamune, as a child, was not held responsible, but the families of those responsible for the bloodshed were executed in turn (in line with the law at the time).

    As the Edo Period went on, the Sendai Domain, much like many Samurai holdings, began to suffer economic hardship. The problem was that the value of the land was estimated based on rice production in the 17th century, and by the early 19th century, those numbers simply didn’t add up.

    Financial problems didn’t stop the Date from remaining loyal to the Tokugawa; during the Boshin War in 1868-69, the Sendai Domain was central to the Shogunate’s efforts to retain power. The Shogunate would ultimately lose the war, and the Date had their lands confiscated, though they were partially restored in the peace that followed. With the abolition of the domains, the Date joined the new aristocracy and continued to serve the new Meiji regime into the 20th century.

    Date Munemoto, the last lord (and first governor) of the Sendai Domain.

    The Date were not always on the right side of the law, however. One infamous member of the clan was Junnosuke, who was known for carrying a knife to school and, in 1909, was sentenced to 12 years in prison for shooting a fellow student during a brawl. His sentence was eventually suspended when his lawyer ‘proved’ it was self-defence. In 1916, he left Japan for Manchuria (not yet under Japanese rule at that point), where he joined the Manchurian Independence Movement.

    He had a varied career after this, serving in the Border Guards in Korea (then under Japanese control), but in 1923, he seems to have been operating as little more than a bandit in and around the Shandong Peninsula. In 1931, he became a naturalised Chinese citizen, but in 1937, he was at the head of some 4000 soldiers from Manchukuo and took part in the Japanese invasion of China; however, his unit was disbanded in 1939. After the war, he was caught by the Chinese, tried as a war criminal, and shot in 1948, bringing a violent career to a violent end.

    Date Junnosuke in the uniform of a Border Guard.

    In the interest of ending things on a lighter note, another descendant of the Date clan (a branch of it, anyway) is Date Mikio, one half of the famous comedy duo Sandwichman, who have won many awards and are arguably one of Japan’s most prolific duos, so that’s nice.

    The main branch of the Date Clan survives into the modern era as well, with the current head, Date Yasumune, serving as a curator of the Zuihoden Museum, burial place of Date Masamune, and a repository for numerous artefacts related to the clan.

    Sources
    https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E4%BC%8A%E9%81%94%E9%A8%92%E5%8B%95
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Date_S%C5%8Dd%C5%8D
    https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E6%96%B0%E7%99%BA%E7%94%B0%E9%87%8D%E5%AE%B6
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Date_Masamune
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tokugawa_Ieyasu
    https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E4%BC%8A%E9%81%94%E7%B6%B1%E5%AE%97
    https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E4%BC%9A%E6%B4%A5
    https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E4%BA%8C%E6%9C%AC%E6%9D%BE%E5%9F%8E
    https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E8%8B%A5%E6%9D%BE%E5%9F%8E
    https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E6%91%BA%E4%B8%8A%E5%8E%9F%E3%81%AE%E6%88%A6%E3%81%84
    https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E8%B1%8A%E8%87%A3%E7%A7%80%E6%AC%A1
    https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E3%82%B5%E3%83%B3%E3%83%BB%E3%83%95%E3%82%A1%E3%83%B3%E3%83%BB%E3%83%90%E3%82%A6%E3%83%86%E3%82%A3%E3%82%B9%E3%82%BF%E5%8F%B7
    https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E4%BB%99%E5%8F%B0%E8%97%A9
    https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E6%85%B6%E9%95%B7%E9%81%A3%E6%AC%A7%E4%BD%BF%E7%AF%80
    https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E7%9F%B3%E5%B7%BB%E6%B8%AF
    https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E8%B2%9E%E5%B1%B1%E9%81%8B%E6%B2%B3
    https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E4%BC%8A%E9%81%94%E6%94%BF%E5%AE%97
    https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E4%BC%8A%E9%81%94%E6%B0%8F
    https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E4%BC%8A%E9%81%94%E9%A0%86%E4%B9%8B%E5%8A%A9
    https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E4%BC%8A%E9%81%94%E6%B3%B0%E5%AE%97
    https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E3%82%B5%E3%83%B3%E3%83%89%E3%82%A6%E3%82%A3%E3%83%83%E3%83%81%E3%83%9E%E3%83%B3_(%E3%81%8A%E7%AC%91%E3%81%84%E3%82%B3%E3%83%B3%E3%83%93)
    https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E4%BC%8A%E9%81%94%E5%AE%97%E5%9F%BA

  • Kings in the North, Part 2

    Kings in the North, Part 2

    This is the 50th post on this blog. Well done for getting this far.

    In 1565, Date Harumune retired and handed control of the clan over to his son Terumune. Despite this, Harumune held onto the real power, and it wasn’t until 1570, when Terumune accused several of his father’s supporters of treason and had them removed, that he gained actual power.

    Date Terumune

    Despite this, Terumune continued most of his father’s policies, especially in diplomacy. The alliance with the Ashina Clan was maintained, and Date diplomats reached out to the Hojo, Oda, and Shibata Clans, establishing friendly relations with several of Japan’s most powerful warlords. The Sengoku in Sengoku Jidai literally means ‘country at war’; however, alongside his diplomatic efforts, Terumune showed he wasn’t afraid to throw his weight around if an opportunity presented itself.

    In 1578, the death of Uesugi Kenshin presented just such an opportunity, and Terumune dispatched forces to intervene in the internal struggle that followed. The Date intervention was ultimately unsuccessful, largely due to the military skills of the Shibata Clan, vassals of the Uesugi, who fought off the Date in several engagements.

    Frustrated, Terumune withdrew, but the Shibata had apparently expected more generous rewards for their service, and in 1581, when it was clear that they would not beforthcoming, the Shibata rebelled. Terumune dispatched his army once again, this time in support of the Shibata, and the conflict within the Uesugi Clan would drag on for years.

    Shibata Shigeie, one of the Shibata brothers who gave the Date so much trouble.
    さどこ – http://blog.livedoor.jp/sadosado_4hi/archives/8412806.html, CC 表示-継承 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=99877267による

    Closer to home, the long war against the nearby Soma Clan continued into Terumune’s reign. The Soma were based in southern Mutsu Province (the area of modern Fukushima Prefecture) and had proven to be tenacious opponents of the Date, with neither side ever able to establish a permanent advantage over the other, despite decades of conflict.

    In the period of 1582-84, however, the Date finally managed to overcome the Soma. Although the latter clan was not completely subdued, the strategic situation compelled them to make peace in 1584, with the border between the two clans agreed upon by treaty.

    Also in 1584, the long-time allies of the Date, the Ashina Clan, fell prey to an internal power struggle, after their lord, Moritaka, was murdered by a retainer (the official reason is said to be ‘due to sodomy’, so make of that what you will). The new head of the clan was just a month old, and so the Ashina were effectively subordinate to the Date, despite nominally remaining independent.

    Shortly after this, Terumune retired, handing leadership over to his son, Masamune. Sources disagree on the exact reason for this, with some suggesting that Terumune planned to make his second son head of the Ashina, only to encounter serious opposition from within the Ashina and his own clan, who then forced him to abandon the idea and retire in disgrace. Other sources say that Terumune learned a lesson from the fate of the Ashina and decided to hand over the leadership of the Date to his son while he was still alive, rather than leave the succession to chance.

    Date Masamune

    Regardless of the reason, Masamune became head of the clan in 1585, and immediately set out to prove that he was not going to do things the same way as his father had. Whilst Terumune had intended to continue the war against the Uesugi, along with his Ashina and Mogami allies, Masamune made peace, without consulting either clan, leading to a sudden and serious decline in relations.

    Masamune would definitively end the alliance shortly afterwards when he invaded Ashina territory, which the Ashina, unsurprisingly, interpreted as a hostile act. The invasion would prove to be a back-and-forth affair, with the Ashina successfully repelling the Date’s first attacks only to be defeated by a second wave, led by Masamune himself.

    In late 1585, the Ashina asked for a truce, and a peace was mediated by Terumune and his uncle, Sanemoto. The negotiations would prove to be a ruse, however, as Ashina forces kidnapped Terumune at sword point and tried to escape back to their own territory. What happened next is a matter of debate; some sources state that Terumune, seeing that he couldn’t escape, ordered the pursuing Date forces (his own men) to open fire with their bows, killing the entire party, including Terumune.

    Another source suggests that the Ashina, trapped by the Date pursuit, killed Terumune themselves, and were then cut down. A third source (written later) states that Masamune himself was responsible for Terumune’s death, and may have orchestrated the whole thing to get rid of his father. Though the exact circumstances will never be known, Terumune’s death also signalled the end of serious attempts to end the local conflicts through negotiation.

    Shortly after his father’s somewhat controversial death, Masamune continued the war. In January 1586, he laid siege to Nihonmatsu Castle (in the city of the same name, in modern Fukushima). At this time, an army led by the Satake Clan, from Hitachi province (to the south), arrived to relieve the castle. The Date were defeated at the Battle of Hitotori Bridge, and Masamune himself was badly wounded before a rearguard action allowed him to escape.

    The restored Nihonmastu Castle.
    baku13 – 投稿者自身による著作物, CC BY-SA 2.1 jp, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=11354374による

    The defeat was evidently not serious, because only a few months later, after the Satake had withdrawn, Masamune tried again, once again besieging Nihonmatsu Castle, forcing its surrender in July. Not long after this, he negotiated a peace with the Satake with the intention of focusing his efforts on finishing off the Ashina. This peace was short-lived, even by the standards of the day, as a succession crisis within the Ashina Clan drew the attention of the Satake, who supported a rival candidate to Masamune’s preferred choice.

    Masamune interpreted this as the Satake intending to bring the Ashina under their control, which would have put the Date in an extremely vulnerable situation. In response, he declared his intention to wage a full-scale war against both the Ashina and Satake. In 1587, Toyotomi Hideyoshi, by now acting as regent, issued an order that all private wars should halt, an order that Masamune, for now at least, ignored.

    Masamune initially had reason to regret his continued belligerence. In 1588, his old enemies, the Mogami Clan, took advantage of Masamune being distracted elsewhere and invaded Date territory at the same time as the Ashina Clan attacked in the south. After defeats at the Battle of Osaki and then at Koriyama, Masamune was obliged to seek peace with both clans, stabilising the situation in the short term.

    In 1589, the peace with the Ashina Clan broke down once again, with Masamune invading the Aizu region (in the west of modern Fukushima). Masamune won a decisive victory at the Battle of Suriagehara in July 1589, causing the Ashina to flee their home castle at Kurokawa (modern Aizuwakamatsu) and seek help from the Satake. The Satake were obeying Hideyoshi’s peace order, however, and no help was forthcoming. Shortly after this, Masamune moved his base to Kurokawa Castle, and when a second order from Hideyoshi arrived, threatening direct intervention, Masamune took the opportunity to make peace.

    Fukushima Prefecture, where Aizu is located.

    A year later, Hideyoshi ordered the Date to join him in his attack on the Hojo Clan at the siege of Odawara. This put Masamune in a difficult spot, since the rule of his father, Terumune, the Date and Hojo had been nominal allies, and when Hideyoshi’s order arrived, it wasn’t immediately clear which side Masamune would join. Masamune eventually marched in support of Hideyoshi, but the regent wouldn’t forget Date disobedience of his peace order.

    Sources
    https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E4%BC%8A%E9%81%94%E6%94%BF%E5%AE%97
    https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E8%B1%8A%E8%87%A3%E7%A7%80%E6%AC%A1
    https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E6%91%BA%E4%B8%8A%E5%8E%9F%E3%81%AE%E6%88%A6%E3%81%84
    https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E8%8B%A5%E6%9D%BE%E5%9F%8E
    https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E4%BA%8C%E6%9C%AC%E6%9D%BE%E5%9F%8E
    https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E4%BD%90%E7%AB%B9%E6%B0%8F
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hitachi_Province
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aizu
    https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E4%BC%8A%E9%81%94%E6%B0%8F
    https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E4%BC%8A%E9%81%94%E8%BC%9D%E5%AE%97

  • The Shimazu, Part 2

    The Shimazu, Part 2

    By 1582, the Shimazu were once again masters of southern Kyushu and had recently defeated the rival Otomo Clan so comprehensively that they effectively ceased to be an obstacle to Shimazu dominance of the whole island. This ambition would be curbed by the intervention of Oda Nobunaga, who wanted to get the Otomo to join his attack on the Mori Clan.

    The situation in 1582. The Shimazu are in blue, and the Otomo in purple. The Mori are in yellow, and Oda Nobunaga is the big red blob in the middle.
    By Alvin Lee – Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=39198356

    Nobunaga’s plans, along with his life, would be cut short in the Honnoji Incident in June 1582, and the Shimazu once again found themselves as the strongest clan on Kyushu. In the far north-west of the island, close to the modern city of Nagasaki, lay the base of the Ryuzoji Clan. For generations, the Ryuzoji had been a secondary clan in the region. However, under the leadership of Ryuzoji Takanobu, they had expanded their power to control the whole of Hizen Province (modern Nagasaki and Saga Prefectures), and although they had nominally been subordinates of the Otomo Clan, the aftermath of the Battle of Mimikawa in 1578 (which the Otomo lost) gave the Ryuzoji the opportunity to expand even further. (They are in the light-green on the map above).

    It was inevitable that the Shimazu and Ryuzoji would clash, and in 1584, a member of the Arima Clan wrote to Shimazu Yoshihisa, requesting his aid against the Ryuzoji. This was a convenient excuse to do what he probably would have done anyway, and Yoshihisa dispatched an army under his brother Iehisa. What followed was a lightning campaign in which the Shimazu, despite being outnumbered more than three-to-one, engaged and defeated the Ryuzoji at the decisive Battle of Okitanawate in May 1584.

    This proved to be yet another decisive victory for the Shimazu. Not only did they defeat the Ryuzoji army, Takanobu, but the lord of the clan was also killed, cutting the head off the proverbial snake. The Ryuzoji had expanded rapidly, and their control collapsed just as quickly. Clans who had been forced to submit quickly switched sides to the Shimazu, and any holdouts were destroyed in short order.

    In 1586, Yoshihisa turned his attention to the remnants of the Otomo Clan, invading Bungo Province and crushing the final remnants of what had once been Kyushu’s pre-eminent clan. Yoshihisa might have had time to reflect on the fleeting nature of power in that era, but he wouldn’t have had long. No sooner did the Shimazu deal the final blow to the Otomo than the last holdouts of that clan appealed to the new power in Japan for help, Toyotomi Hideyoshi.

    The situation in 1586, after Toyotomi Hideyoshi secured power, and the Shimazu came so close to unifying Kyushu.
    By Alvin Lee – Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=39214208

    The Shimazu were at the height of their power, and it is perhaps no surprise that, when Hideyoshi order them to cease their attacks on the Otomo, they refused. Yoshihisa went even further, when he suggested that the Shimazu, and old and storied clan, had no need to accept an ‘upstart’ like Hideyoshi as regent. Hideyoshi had been born a peasant, but he was the most powerful warlord in Japan by that point, and Yoshihisa would come to regret the disrespect.

    When it became clear that Hideyoshi meant to invade Kyushu, the Shimazu doubled their efforts to crush the Otomo and secure the whole island. They rightly guessed that any Otomo holdouts would be used by Hideyoshi’s forces as a base for any campaign. Though they would ultimately be unable to fully subjugate the Otomo, the Shimazu’s confidence seemed to have been well placed when, in early 1587, Chosokabe forces, under Hideyoshi’s orders, invaded Bungo province and were heavily defeated at the Battle of Hetsugigawa.

    Shimazu celebrations would be short-lived, however. Hideyoshi, reportedly enraged by the ease with which the Shimazu had apparently defeated the initial invasion, mustered a force of between 250,000 and 300,000 men (reports vary), possibly the largest army seen in Japan up to that time. Throughout the spring and summer of 1586, this huge force steamrolled the Shimazu. There were instances of brave resistance, but the writing was on the wall, and in June, the Shimazu sued for peace.

    Taiheiji Temple in modern Kagoshima, where Shimazu Yoshihisa met with Toyotomi Hideyoshi, and a peace was agreed.
    Sakoppi – 自ら撮影, CC 表示 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=12570199による

    The terms were harsh, but ultimately secured the survival of the clan. Hideyoshi demanded that the Shimazu give up control of almost the whole of Kyushu, essentially wiping out centuries of conquest and expansion. In return, the Shimazu were confirmed as lords of Satsuma province, and later, after further negotiations, Osumi as well.

    The Shimazu would prove to be somewhat unreliable vassals. When Hideyoshi invaded Korea in 1592, he ordered all feudal lords to commit troops. The Shimazu were apparently slow to comply with this order, leading Hideyoshi to suspect they were disloyal (which they probably were, having been only recently conquered)

    The Shimazu would eventually obey and dispatch troops to Korea, but it appears that Yoshihisa had been replaced as head of the clan in the eyes of Hideyoshi, as formal letters recognising Shimazu control of their provinces were written in the name of Shimazu Iehisa, Yoshihisa’s younger brother, though it appears that Yoshihisa retained the actual power.

    Shimazu Iehisa (sometimes called Yoshihiro), the nominal head of the Shimazu after Hideyoshi’s invasion of Kyushu.

    Hideyoshi’s death and the end of the war in Korea refocused the realm’s attention back home, as Hideyoshi’s son and heir was just a child. The Shimazu would not be members of the Council of Regents, but when the final rupture occurred in 1600, and war became inevitable, Shimazu Iehisa (nominal head of the clan) was in Kyoto and swore loyalty to the Western (or pro-Toyotomi) army.

    This move was apparently not supported by his older brother and the wider Shimazu clan, as when Iehisa requested reinforcements, he received none. This might have been a deliberate ploy by the Shimazu to play both sides, but it’s also possible that an outbreak of fighting in Kyushu caused the Shimazu to focus their efforts closer to home.

    The fighting was relatively small-scale and was nominally between supporters of the Toyotomi and Tokugawa Ieyasu (who had just won the decisive Battle of Sekigahara). In reality, this was probably an example of a breakdown in central authority being taken advantage of by local warlords. Unlike in previous eras, however, central control was swiftly reestablished. After his victory at Sekigahara, Ieyasu turned his attention to subduing the rest of the realm, Kyushu included.

    Tokugawa Ieyasu.

    A planned campaign against the Shimazu was cancelled in favour of negotiations that lasted nearly two years. Ieyasu suggested that Yoshihisa travel to Kyoto in person, but Yoshihisa always had an excuse not to go; he was ill, the roads were bad, the weather was awful, he hadn’t got enough money, etc. Finally, in 1602, Ieyasu, who apparently had no real appetite for a campaign in Kyushu, confirmed Shimazu control of Satsuma and Osumi Provinces after Yoshihisa’s brother, Iehisa, went to Kyoto in his place (some sources say Yoshihisa actually opposed this idea, only approving it after the fact, when his brother had already departed)

    The Shimazu would be largely left in peace in the decades that followed. In 1609, Iehisa, but now more or less dejure lord of the Shimazu, received permission from the Tokugawa to invade the Ryukyu Kingdom (modern Okinawa). This meant that the Shimazu became the only clan to control a foreign kingdom, and meant that, when Japan entered its period of isolation (Sakoku), the Shimazu were one of the few who still had access to the outside world.

    These contacts would grant the Shimazu an unusual level of economic strength in the Edo period, and this, combined with some strategic marriages into the Tokugawa, meant that the clan, despite (or perhaps because of) its distance from Edo (modern Tokyo), became one of the richest and most powerful of the era.

    A Ryukyu tributary mission to China. The relationship between Ryukyu and China allowed the Shimazu to maintain indirect trade links with mainland Asia.

    This proved to be important in the 19th century, when the irresistible tide of modernisation swept Japan after the first American, but later, other powers sought to take advantage of Japan’s weak position for their own ends. It would be the Shimazu (better known as Satsuma Domain by then) under their leader Nariakira, who were amongst the first to grasp the potential for Western-style industrialisation and warfare.

    Satsuma Domain would be at the vanguard of the Meiji Restoration, with its alliance with the Mori clan of the Choshu Domain proving to be the decisive factor in the brief, but bloody Boshin War that saw the Tokugawa overthrown and Imperial rule reestablished.

    The Shimazu themselves would endure the tumultuous years of the late 19th and 20th centuries, and the family survives today, with the 33rd head of the clan, Shimazu Tadahiro, serving as CEO of the Shimazu Corporation, which works to promote not only the cultural legacy of the Shimazu family, but also tourism and business development in and around Kagoshima, the traditional heart of the Satsuma Domain.

    Sources
    https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E5%B3%B6%E6%B4%A5%E7%BE%A9%E4%B9%85
    https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E5%B3%B6%E6%B4%A5%E7%BE%A9%E5%BC%98
    https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E5%B3%B6%E6%B4%A5%E6%B0%8F#
    https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E5%B3%B6%E6%B4%A5%E5%BF%A0%E8%A3%95
    https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E5%B3%B6%E6%B4%A5%E8%88%88%E6%A5%AD
    https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E5%B3%B6%E6%B4%A5%E6%96%89%E5%BD%AC
    https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E6%A0%B9%E7%99%BD%E5%9D%82%E3%81%AE%E6%88%A6%E3%81%84
    https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E4%B9%9D%E5%B7%9E%E5%B9%B3%E5%AE%9A
    https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E6%88%B8%E6%AC%A1%E5%B7%9D%E3%81%AE%E6%88%A6%E3%81%84
    https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E6%B2%96%E7%94%B0%E7%95%B7%E3%81%AE%E6%88%A6%E3%81%84
    https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E9%BE%8D%E9%80%A0%E5%AF%BA%E9%9A%86%E4%BF%A1
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_daimy%C5%8Ds_from_the_Sengoku_period

  • Memento Mori, Part 3

    Memento Mori, Part 3

    Last time, we looked at how the relationship between Mori Terumoto and Oda Nobunaga broke down, leaving both sides on the verge of conflict. After Terumoto declared for the Shogun, Ashikaga Yoshiaki (the last Ashikaga Shogun) declared that Terumoto would serve as ‘Vice Shogun’, a slightly ambiguous position which was rendered largely moot in practice, as the Shogun relied almost entirely on Mori’s strength of arms, reducing him to little more than a figurehead.

    Ashikaga Yoshiaki, the last of the Ashikaga Shoguns, and little more than a figurehead.

    The first action of this new ‘Shogunate’ (read: Mori) army was supporting the besieged warrior monks of Ishiyama Hongan-ji. You may recall in the post about the Ikko-Ikki, we mentioned Nobunaga’s campaigns against Hongan-ji, which ultimately lasted more than a decade, and left the temple a charred ruin.

    The Mori, possessing one of the most powerful navies amongst the Sengoku Daimyo, dispatched a fleet which made short work of the Oda forces in Osaka Bay, opening the way for supplies to be delivered to Hongan-ji. This victory prolonged the siege and gave the Mori unchallenged control of the Seto Inland Sea in the short term.

    Later that year, Nobunaga sought to restore the Amago Clan (long-time enemies of the Mori) to a position of strength, putting up Amago Katsuhisa, the last Amago ‘lord’ at Kozuki Castle, in Harima Province, hoping to attract Amago loyalists and any other opponents of the Mori, and make life difficult for Terumoto.

    A later image of Amago Katsuhisa, the last ‘lord’ of the Amago Clan.

    In response, Terumoto himself led an army to lay siege to Kozuki, and when a relief force, led by Hashiba (later Toyotomi) Hideyoshi, arrived, Terumoto handily defeated it, driving the Oda out of Harima Province, taking Kozuki Castle, and obliging the remaining Amago partisans to commit seppuku, which isn’t bad for a day’s work.

    Not long after this success, Terumoto would expand his influence in Harima still further, convincing several lords to defect to the Mori, and bottling up Nobunaga’s remaining loyalists in the province. After this series of successes, Terumoto had Nobunaga on the back foot, and in response, he pressured the Imperial Court to issue an order that Hongan-ji make peace with Nobunaga. The monks of Hongan-ji expressed a desire to make peace, but not without Terumoto, to whom they owed a debt of gratitude. In response, Nobunaga agreed and began negotiations with Hongan-ji and the Mori.

    The strategic situation shifted considerably in the early winter, however, as a Mori fleet dispatched to deliver further supplies to Hongan-ji was defeated by new ironclad ships of the Oda Navy. The exact nature of these vessels isn’t clear; the word ‘ironclad’ is a direct translation from Japanese, implying the vessels were at least partially armoured, though the exact style and extent of armour isn’t clearly recorded.

    An example of the type of warship used by the Mori Navy.

    Shortly after this victory, which drove the Mori beyond Awaji Island and opened Osaka Bay to the Oda, Nobunaga swiftly called off negotiations and made plans to continue the war. Despite the defeat, the Mori were still in a very strong position, however, and at this point, Terumoto made plans to advance on Kyoto and take the fight to Nobunaga directly.

    Plans were laid, including negotiation with Takeda Katsuyori for a simultaneous attack on Nobunaga’s ally, Tokugawa Ieyasu, and Terumoto set the date of the start of the campaign for early 1579. However, early 1579 came and went, and the Mori did not march. A series of rebellions broke out around the same time, supposedly instigated by both Nobunaga and the Otomo Clan (rivals to the Mori on Kyushu), and Terumoto had his hands full.

    The situation went from bad to worse for the Mori throughout 1579, as several border clans, angered at what they saw as a ‘betrayal’ when Terumoto failed to march on Kyoto, defected to the Oda side, disrupting communications with troops on the front line, and opening several gaps in Mori defences. The Mori failure to march also resulted in no further attempts to relieve Hongan-ji, and it was forced to surrender in early 1580.

    Not long after that, Nobunaga was able to focus significant forces on the Mori, and an army led by Hashiba Hideyoshi took advantage of the Mori’s weak position and launched a series of successful attacks against them, capturing castle after castle. A counter-attack in February 1582 led to a brief reprieve, but news from elsewhere was bad.

    A later artistic depiction of Toyotomi Hideyoshi (then still called Hashiba) around 1582.

    The Takeda, with whom the Mori had allied against Nobunaga, were decisively defeated in early Spring, and with their removal, Nobunaga turned his entire attention to the Mori. The situation was dire. A little more than five years earlier, the Mori had been a match for Nobunaga; indeed, had Terumoto marched on Kyoto, he would have had a good chance of success.

    Now, however, Nobunaga was stronger than ever, and internal rebellion, defections, and military defeats meant that the Mori were far weaker in comparison. Had Nobunaga advanced, he almost certainly would have won.

    As is so often the case, however, fate intervened. Nobunaga was betrayed by one of his generals in June 1582 and killed. His supporters immediately turned on each other, with Hashiba Hideyoshi, the man who had been leading the charge against the Mori, wishing to establish himself as Nobunaga’s successor, and so he concluded a swift peace with the Mori. For his part, Terumoto was glad to accept, even though it meant sacrificing three provinces. When news of Nobunaga’s death broke, Ashikaga Yoshiaki, still with the Mori, ordered Terumoto to march on Kyoto and take advantage of the situation.

    A 19th century depiction of Oda Nobunaga’s final moments.

    Terumoto refused, still forced to deal with internal rebellion, and although there would be plenty of opportunities to involve himself in the chaotic fighting that followed Nobunaga’s betrayal, the Mori would not move, instead adopting a ‘wait and see’ approach, which, in hindsight was wise, as although history would record Hideyoshi as the ultimate victor, in the summer of 1582, that was far from certain.

    One thing that Terumoto did agree to, however, was refusing to accept the ceding of three provinces to Hideyoshi as part of their peace deal. No doubt the Mori felt that Hideyoshi had misled them (Terumoto hadn’t known about Nobunaga’s death before the agreement), and with Nobunaga’s successors tearing each other apart, the Mori were in a good position to keep hold of their territory.

    Negotiations dragged on, even after Hideyoshi was able to win a decisive victory at the Battle of Shizugatake in April 1583, and he began to lose patience, threatening a resumption of war if the Mori didn’t concede. It would not be until early 1585 that a peace was actually agreed, and it was achieved largely without fresh fighting. The Mori would be allowed to keep seven provinces, representing much of the territory that had been taken by Terumoto’s grandfather, Motonari. In exchange, the Mori agreed to support Hideyoshi’s campaigns to unite the realm, especially in Shikoku and Kyushu, which the Mori assisted in invading in May 1585 and August 1586, respectively.

    The strategic situation in 1584, just after Hideyoshi secured power. The Mori are represented in yellow, and Hideyoshi in red.
    By Alvin Lee – Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=39198357

    Finally, in the summer of 1586, Terumoto formally became a vassal of Hideyoshi (by now known as Toyotomi), ending decades of conflict and proving to be a significant step in bringing the Sengoku Jidai to an end more generally. A testament to the new trust placed in the Mori came in 1590, when Hideyoshi attacked the Hojo Clan, masters of the Kanto. Though the Mori did not join the campaign, Mori troops were entrusted with guarding the capital while Hideyoshi was away.

    Around this time, Terumoto completed his new base at Hiroshima Castle and would take part in Hideyoshi’s ill-fated invasion of Korea in 1592. We will go into more detail about the events that followed later, but after Hideyoshi’s death in 1598, Terumoto was named as one of five regents for his infant son, Hideyori.

    The five regents were meant to stabilise the realm until Hideyori came of age, but it didn’t work; Tokugawa Ieyasu was swiftly opposed by the other four as it was believed (rightly as it turned out) that he wished to overthrow the current government and make himself Shogun. The tension would eventually lead to a new outbreak of violence, and a brief campaign culminated in the decisive Battle of Sekigahara in 1600.

    Teruhito and the Mori Clan were officially in opposition to the victorious Ieyasu, but had dispatched only a small force to Sekigahara, keeping their main strength at Osaka Castle to guard the heir. This was the strongest castle in the realm, and Terumoto had tens of thousands of fresh troops with which to hold it. Ieyasu, apparently aware of this, dispatched a letter to Terumoto, expressing his desire for positive relations between the two, and hoping that the Mori would depart Osaka without further violence.

    The walls of Osaka Castle as they appeared in 1865.

    Terumoto agreed when Ieyasu confirmed that the Mori would lose no territory in the aftermath. However, Ieyasu would almost immediately go back on his word once Terumoto was safely away from Osaka. The Mori were reduced to just two provinces in the far west, Suo and Nagato, and almost all the territory taken by Motonari and Terumoto was lost.

    Terumoto himself would officially retire as head of the clan not long after Sekigahara and became a monk, though in reality, he would retain most of the actual authority within the clan. One challenge that came about almost immediately was the loss of income that came with the loss of territory. Before Sekigahara, the Mori had had an income of more than 1 million koku (a Koku being approximately how much rice one man needed for a year). After Sekigahara and the loss of five of their provinces, this income was down to less than 300,000.

    This loss in income led to a loss in strength, as many of the clan’s retainers found their stipends reduced or lost entirely, leading them to seek employment elsewhere (just in case you thought Samurai were all about unquestioned loyalty.) Terumoto rather astutely recognised that this reduction might actually benefit the clan long term, as disloyal vassals would leave quickly, and even those who remained could be chosen based on ability, leading to a reduction in the clan’s overall strength, but perhaps improving skill and efficiency, at least in theory.

    A 19th century photograph of Hagi Castle, where the Mori Clan were based after their forced relocation.

    This would prove a wise move, as a land survey in 1610 showed that the Mori’s financial situation was better than originally assumed, and the reduction in vassals and retainers had led to a leaner, more efficient administration.

    Peace in the realm would last a while under Tokugawa Ieyasu’s rule, but it was a fragile thing. In 1614, the now adult Toyotomi Hideyori (Hideyoshi’s heir) brought about a crisis when a new prayer bell was inscribed with language that was interpreted as calling for the overthrow of the Tokugawa. Hideyori holed up in Osaka Castle and called on all ‘loyal vassals’ to come to his aid. Most, including Terumoto, ignored him, and when Ieyasu marched on Osaka, he requested the Mori dispatch their navy in support, which they duly did.

    Terumoto also led an army to Osaka, though the Mori would ultimately play a relatively small role in the so-called Winter Siege of Osaka. The following year, during what is called the Summer Siege, Ieyasu attacked Osaka again, this time successfully, capturing and executing Hideyori, and bringing his line to an end.

    Tokugawa Ieyasu, the man who would ultimately bring the Sengoku Jidai to an end.

    The Mori were again asked to dispatch an army, but delays in orders and the length of the march meant they arrived only after Osaka had fallen. There was some concern that this delay might be interpreted as treachery by Ieyasu; however, even the savvy political operator, Ieyasu, chose to lay the blame on slow communication instead, sparing the blushes of the Mori.

    Terumoto, his health failing and age catching up with him, handed full control of the clan over to his heir, Hidenari, in 1621, and although a formal system of ‘dual leadership’ would continue, it was becoming increasingly clear that Terumoto’s time was running out.

    He would continue to play a role in the affairs of the Mori until his death in 1625, and his clan’s distant position from the new capital in Edo afforded them a certain degree of autonomy, at least with regard to internal affairs, in the years that followed.

    That would prove important in the 19th century, as the arrival of American ships in Edo Bay forced Japan to end its period of isolation. It would be the Mori Clan, based in what by then was called the Choshu Domain, who would lead the charge against the Tokugawa Shogunate, overthrowing it, and re-establishing Imperial Rule in the so-called Meiji Restoration, but we are getting way ahead of ourselves.

    Mori Motonari, the last lord of Choshu Domain.

    Mori Terumoto is one of the giants of the Sengoku Era. Building on the successes of his grandfather, Motonari, he led the Mori to a position in which they may well have been able to take power for themselves, had things gone a little differently. Ultimately, despite never gaining ultimate power for themselves, Terumoto and his successors would prove to be one of the success stories of this period, surviving the turmoil and even thriving in the new Japan of the 19th Century.

    Sources
    https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E6%AF%9B%E5%88%A9%E8%BC%9D%E5%85%83
    https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E5%BA%83%E5%B3%B6%E5%9F%8E
    https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E4%BA%AC%E8%8A%B8%E5%92%8C%E7%9D%A6
    https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E9%B3%A5%E5%8F%96%E5%9F%8E
    https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E9%89%84%E7%94%B2%E8%88%B9
    https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E5%89%AF%E5%B0%86%E8%BB%8D
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M%C5%8Dri_Terumoto
    https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E5%B0%BC%E5%AD%90%E5%8B%9D%E4%B9%85
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toyotomi_Hideyoshi
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tokugawa_Ieyasu

  • The Dragon of Echigo

    The Dragon of Echigo

    Much like Takeda Shingen, Kenshin’s real name wasn’t Kenshin, but Kagetora, with Kenshin being a religious name given in later life. However, as this is the name he is best known by, we will be referring to him as it throughout.

    Uesugi Kenshin, the Dragon of Echigo and the topic of this post.

    If you live your life in such a way that you earn the nickname ‘Dragon of something’ and have followers who think of you as an avatar of the God of War, then I’d say you’ve done pretty well for yourself. By this standard, our subject for today, Uesugi Kenshin, is a historical figure worthy of a closer look.

    Confusingly enough, Uesugi Kenshin wasn’t actually a member of the Uesugi family to begin with. He was a scion of the Nagao family, a strong clan who were vassals of the Yamanouchi branch of the Uesugi Clan, based in Echigo Province, in what is now Niigata Prefecture.

    Echigo Province.
    By Ash_Crow – Own work, based on Image:Provinces of Japan.svg, CC BY 2.5, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=1655309

    Born in 1530, it is quite likely that Kenshin’s mother was a concubine, and what’s more, the boy himself was the second son. He was never intended to inherit control of the Nagao Clan, and he entered the temple at Risenji at age 11, apparently set on a life as a monk.

    He doesn’t seem to have stayed at Risenji for long, however, as when his father died in 1542, just a year later, he was at the funeral with armour and sword at his side, and shortly after that, he was at Tochio Castle when a rebellion against Kenshin’s brother (the new Lord Nagao) broke out. Despite being just 14, Kenshin is supposed to have led the defence of the castle and won his first victory.

    At the time, though the Uesugi were nominally the lords of the region, the Nagao served as deputy (and de facto) governors in their place. After the death of Kenshin’s father, it was his elder brother, Harukage, who inherited this position. The brothers don’t seem to have gotten along very well, however, and in the late 1540s, a movement emerged within the Nagao clan that sought to replace Harukage with Kenshin as head of the clan.

    The remains of Tochio Castle, site of Kenshin’s first victory.
    nubobo – 栃尾城本丸跡, CC 表示 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=59682349による

    Exactly why the clan was so against Harukage isn’t clear, but their efforts were ultimately successful. In 1548, under mediation from Uesugi Sadazane (their nominal overlord), Harukage agreed to adopt Kenshin, then retire as head of the clan, clearing the way for Kenshin to become head of the Nagao Clan aged just 18 or 19 (depending on the source).

    In 1550, Sadazane died without an heir, leaving Echigo Province without a lord. At this point, Shogun Ashikaga Yoshiteru instructed Kenshin to take the position of shugo of the province, effectively making him the new lord. Shogunate recognition was not quite the prestigious thing it had once been, however, and not long after this, supporters of Kenshin’s brother rose up in rebellion against him.

    Kenshin quickly bottled up the rebels at Sakado Castle, when the castle fell, the leader of the rebels was spared because he was Kenshin’s brother-in-law, and following this, Kenshin, still aged just 22 had established effectively control over the whole of Echigo Province.

    Looking back for a moment, five years earlier, the Uesugi Clan (or more accurately, the Ogigayatsu branch of the clan) had been defeated at the Battle of Kawagoe by the new rising star of the Kanto, the Hojo Clan. The Ogigayatsu-Uesugi were wiped out after this battle, leaving only the Yamanouchi Branch of the clan. In 1552, Uesugi Norimasa, who was, on paper, the Kanto Kanrei (Shogun’s deputy) was finally driven out of the Kanto entirely and sought refuge with Kenshin.

    A later depiction of Kawagoe Castle.

    Unsurprisingly, harbouring their enemies didn’t do much for the relationship between Kenshin and the Hojo, and Kenshin would send an army to oppose the Hojo’s invasion of Kozuke Province (modern Gunma Prefecture), capturing Numata Castle, and forcing the Hojo to retreat.

    A year later, Kenshin would face a new enemy, as Takeda Shingen’s long-running invasion of Shinano eventually obliged some of the clans there to flee and seek refuge with Kenshin in Echigo. Much like the Hojo, the Takeda didn’t take kindly to someone giving refuge to their enemies, and one of Japanese history’s most famous rivalries was born.

    In August 1553, an army led by Kenshin himself advanced against the Takeda in Shinan, defeating Shingen himself at the Battle of Fuse on August 30th, then again at Yuwata on September 1st. After this, Shingen adopted a strategy of avoiding direct battle with Kenshin, and the conflict settled into a stalemate that was later called the First Battle of Kawanakajima.

    A modern view of Kawanakajima.
    日本語版ウィキペディアのBlogliderさん – 原版の投稿者自身による著作物 (Original text: Photo by Bloglider.), CC 表示-継承 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=12400636による

    In 1554-55, Kenshin was obliged to face a rebellion launched by treacherous vassals in league with Shingen. Putting down the rebellion quickly, Kenshin again marched into Shinano in April 1555 to face the advancing Takeda forces, again led by Shingen.

    At the Second Battle of Kawanakajima, the two sides faced each other in another stalemate, which dragged on for five months, before mediation from the Imagawa Clan led to both sides withdrawing after little actual fighting.

    In the following year, Kenshin apparently announced he would retire and become a monk, however, another outbreak of Takeda-backed rebellion forced him to change his plans, and after a period of peace, in 1557, Shingen again advanced against Kenshin’s allies in Shinano, forcing him to intervene and leading to the Third Battle of Kawanakajima, which, much like the previous two, swiftly settled into stalemate.

    A year later, Kenshin dispatched an army in an ultimately unsuccessful invasion of Kozuke Province and then in 1559 he was ‘invited’ for a meeting with the Shogun, Ashikaga Yoshiteru. Some sources say that Kenshin was granted the title of Kanto Kanrei at this time, the position traditionally held by the Uesugi Clan. He also apparently donated funds towards the maintenance and repair of the Imperial Palace.

    Swords supposedly gifted to Kenshin by the Emperor, photographed in 1928.

    It seems that Kenshin enjoyed good relations with the Shogunate, but the already well-established decline of the Shogun’s power is highlighted again when he asked Kenshin, Shingen, and the Hojo to make peace in order to combine their forces against the Shogun’s enemies. All three parties refused.

    In March 1560, the Imagawa Clan’s devastating defeat at Okehazama opened the way for Kenshin to intervene directly in the Kanto again, as the Imagawa had been allied to his enemies, the Hojo, and their defeat left the Hojo vulnerable. Later that year, Kenshin launched another large-scale invasion of Kozuke Province, driving the Hojo back and capturing several important castles before celebrating New Year at Maebashi Castle, the gateway to the Kanto Plain.

    In March 1561, Kenshin was formally adopted by the Yamanouchi-Uesugi Clan (the only remaining branch) and changed his surname to match. Though he would be known as Uesugi Kagetora from this point, we will continue to call him Kenshin to keep things simple.

    In August of that year, Kenshin led another large army into Shinano, and engaged the Takeda at the Fourth Battle of Kawanakajima. Unlike the previous three, this battle was not an extended stalemate, but a bloody one. Both sides suffered heavy casualties, with sources ranging from around 20% losses, to as high as 60 or 70%, and when the battle was over, the Takeda held the field, but made no attempt to intervene as the Uesugi withdrew, leading some to suggest the battle was a bloody draw.

    A legendary depiction of the Fourth Battle of Kawanakajima, depicting the (possibly apocryphal) moment that Uesugi Kenshin and Takeda Shingen met on the field.

    The Takeda and Hojo clans, recognising the Uesugi as their common enemy, renewed their combined efforts and launched a joint counter-attack in Musashi Province in late 1561. At first, Uesugi forces were successful against the alliance, even getting as far as besieging Odawara Castle, the Hojo’s main stronghold, before being forced to withdraw after allied counter-attacks in other parts of the Kanto.

    The strategic situation in the Kanto would ebb and flow over the following years, as Uesugi, Takeda, and Hojo armies advanced and retreated, and the local lords would switch sides depending on whoever appeared to be in the ascendancy.

    All three factions would be occupied with fighting each other, but also engaged in other battles and proxy wars with allies and supporters of each other’s enemies. For Kenshin, this meant being obliged to dispatch forces into neighbouring Etchu Province in 1568, to deal with Ikko Ikki forces nominally allied with Shingen.

    Etchu Province.

    Seeking to take advantage of this distraction, Takeda forces attacked in Shinano and were ultimately defeated, but a rebellion in Echigo (Kenshin’s home province) meant he was unable to take advantage of this victory in the short term.

    Later that year, the strategic situation would shift in Kenshin’s favour, however, as the long-term decline in Takeda-Imagawa relations finally led to open conflict between two of his main rivals. The Imagawa would request aid from both the Uesugi and the Hojo, and while Kenshin would refuse, the Hojo dispatched forces to oppose the Takeda, bringing an end to the alliance that had done so much to oppose Kenshin.

    However, years of expensive (and bloody) campaigns in the Kanto had left the Uesugi exhausted, and in 1569, Kenshin reluctantly agreed to a peace deal with the Hojo, which saw the Uesugi withdraw from Musashi Province (modern day Tokyo and Saitama) and the Hojo withdrew from Kozuke.

    With his borders with the Hojo (relatively) secure, Kenshin was able to focus on campaigning against the Takeda again. In 1570 and 1571, he would engage the Takeda and their allies in Etchu and Shinano Provinces, generally having the better of the fighting, but the situation would shift again in 1572 when the lord of the Hojo, Ujiyasu, passed away, and was replaced by Ujimasa, who made peace with the Takeda, turning on the Uesugi. At the same time, the Etchu Ikko Ikki launched a fresh attack, instigated by Takeda Shingen.

    Hojo Ujimasa, who reversed his father’s diplomatic policy.

    The Ikko Ikki would initially be successful against Kenshin, but by mid-1573, the momentum had shifted back in his favour, and several key fortresses within Etchu were taken. Also in that year, Kenshin’s long-time rival, Takeda Shingen, passed away, an event that apparently caused Kenshin to weep openly, but also significantly weakened the Takeda.

    Over the following two years, Kenshin was forced to split his focus between his ongoing campaign in Etchu and the situation in the Kanto. By the end of 1574, the Hojo had effectively ended any Uesugi presence in the region, and although Kenshin would launch counterattacks, the writing was on the wall for Uesugi power in the Kanto.

    In 1576, Kenshin would receive a request for aid from the Shogun, seeking support against Oda Nobunaga, who now dominated central Japan and had forced the Shogun into exile. In order to get to Kyoto, Kenshin was obliged to focus all his resources on securing Etchu and Noto Provinces. This campaign would drag on throughout 1576 and 1577, delayed by intervention from the Hojo and internal rebellion, but by November 1577, Kenshin had secured control of the provinces and was poised to strike at Kyoto itself.

    Noto Province.
    By Ash_Crow – Own work, based on Image:Provinces of Japan.svg, CC BY 2.5, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=1690738

    Mustering a large army, Kenshin would march out to meet a force led by Nobunaga’s generals, Shibata Katsuie and Hashiba Hideyoshi (better remembered to history as Toyotomi Hideyoshi), who were not fond of each other. A dispute led to Hideyoshi withdrawing his forces early, and when the two sides clashed at the Battle of the Tedori River on November 3rd, Kenshin would emerge victorious.

    The exact course of the battle, and even the size of the forces involved, is not clear from contemporary sources, but Kenshin would withdraw temporarily, issuing instructions for a renewed campaign to begin in the spring. The battle at the Tedori River had opened a strategic opportunity for Kenshin, and it has been speculated that he might have been able to complete his march on Kyoto.

    Much like his rival, Shingen, however, Kenshin would never make the march. In early March, Kenshin would collapse (allegedly whilst in the toilet) and fall into a coma from which he would never wake up; he died on March 13th, aged 49.

    The site of Kenshin’s grave at Risenji, where he studied as a boy.
    By shikabane taro, CC BY 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=54071606

    Much like the Takeda after the death of Shingen, the Uesugi would be seriously weakened by Kenshin’s death. Though they had been a threat to Nobunaga, Kenshin’s death, and the ongoing effects of years of more or less constant conflict, rendered them powerless to stop the rise of Nobunaga, and after his death in 1582, the Uesugi would make their peace with his successors.

    Decisions made at the end of the Sengoku Jidai would see the clan’s star fall even further, though that is a story for another time.

    Sources
    https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E4%B8%8A%E6%9D%89%E8%AC%99%E4%BF%A1
    https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E6%89%8B%E5%8F%96%E5%B7%9D%E3%81%AE%E6%88%A6%E3%81%84
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Tedorigawa
    https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E5%B7%9D%E4%B8%AD%E5%B3%B6
    https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E5%89%8D%E6%A9%8B%E5%9F%8E
    https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E6%B2%BC%E7%94%B0%E5%9F%8E
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battles_of_Kawanakajima

  • Soun – Rise of the Hojo

    Soun – Rise of the Hojo

    The mon of the Hojo, and Later Hojo clans.

    Late 15th-century Japan was a chaotic place, but as we all know by now, chaos also presents opportunity. As central authority declined, local clans would move to fill the void. Some of these clans would fall almost as quickly as they had risen, others would continue to survive in one form or another throughout the Sengoku Period, and a select few would go on to be truly great.

    The focus of this post is one of them, the Hojo (hence the title). Right away, I want to be clear that this Hojo and the Hojo we looked at previously (the ones who were regents during the Mongol Invasions) were not related, despite the same name and mon. Sometimes, this second Hojo Clan is called the “Later” Hojo (Go-Hojo) in Japanese, but for our purposes, we’ll just call them the Hojo and hope you remember the distinction.

    Adding to our confusion, the founder of the clan, Hojo Soun, wasn’t actually called that. He was a member of the Ise Clan, and it was his son, the second “Lord” Hojo, who adopted the name and mon. Again, while it is technically more accurate to refer to this founder as Ise Souzui, we’ll call him Hojo Soun, because a) that’s the name he’s best remembered by, and b) it’ll get confusing if we keep changing his name.

    Hojo Soun, who wasn’t called Hojo Soun, during his lifetime.

    Side Note: Name changes were common in Japanese culture, with someone’s birth name rarely being the name they are recorded by historically. When you factor in nicknames, titles, honorifics, etc, you have individuals who may have gone by any number of names. Up until now (and continuing after this), I have always called historical characters by their most commonly used name, just in case you were wondering.

    The man who would become Hojo Soun is the subject of considerable mythologising. In the pre-modern period, it was widely assumed that he had been a poor samurai who had risen to a position of power by sheer force of will, pulling himself up by the proverbial bootstraps.

    20th-century scholarship has shed more light on his origins, however. He was a member of the Ise Clan, as we mentioned previously, and was born either in Kyoto or Ibara, in modern Okayama Prefecture. His family were not at the highest ranks, but they were administrators for the Shogun, meaning that they were often close to the centre of power and were certainly not the impoverished provincial family of later myth and legend.

    Modern Okayama Prefecture, a possible birthplace of Soun.
    By Lincun – 国土交通省 国土数値情報(行政区域), CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=3916728

    Soun’s exact origins are still a little unclear (we’re not even 100% sure what year he was born, though 1456 is considered most likely), but his rise to power came during the chaotic violence of the Onin War. As we looked at previously, one of the ancillary conflicts was in the Kanto, where Ashikaga Shigeuji and the Uesugi Clan clashed violently. Officially, Shigeuji was a rebel against the Shogunate, and the Uesugi were loyal servants, although in reality, neither side paid much attention to the capital.

    One of the other clans in the Kanto at this time was the Imagawa, who remained loyal to the interests of the Shogun. In 1476, the head of the Imagawa was killed in battle, and his heir was just a boy (Ujichika). Factions quickly formed within the clan seeking to assert rival claims to leadership.

    With the clan fracturing and external rivals seeking to take advantage, Soun, who was the brother of Lady Kitagawa, Ujichika’s mother, is said to have arrived at the Imagawa home in Suruga Province (in modern Shizuoka) to negotiate a peaceful settlement at the request of his sister. An agreement was reached in which the cousin of the previous leader (Norimitsu) would stand in as acting leader until the young boy came of age, whilst the rival factions were convinced (or compelled) to withdraw.

    It is debated exactly what role Soun played in this negotiation. It is noted that he was very young (perhaps 20 or 21) to be a negotiator, and his name doesn’t appear in any official government records. The withdrawal of rival forces is also suggested to have been a reaction to problems elsewhere (the Uesugi faced rebellion at home, for example) and not a result of Soun’s negotiating prowess. While peace was certainly achieved within the Imagawa Clan, it is entirely possible that Soun’s role in achieving it was minimal, or perhaps even a later fabrication.

    The first ‘official’ records of Soun come from the period of 1481-87, when he is recorded as a subordinate to the Shogun, presumably taking some role in the administrative affairs of the government. It is also speculated that Soun’s later departure for Suruga Province was motivated by legal troubles surrounding unpaid debts. Again, the exact nature of this problem isn’t clear, but there was certainly a legal case involving Soun and one of his creditors dated to this period, although the outcome is apparently lost.

    In 1487, the previous agreement that had led to peace within the Imagawa Clan broke down. Norimitsu, who had been chosen to stand as ‘regent’ during the minority of Imagawa Ujichika, refused to step down. Although Soun’s role in the initial negotiation is debated, he certainly returned to Suruga Province around this time to force a settlement, apparently with the approval (or possibly at the direct order) of the Shogun and at the request, once again, of his sister, Lady Kitagawa.

    Norimitsu had once been able to call on the support of external clans, but the political situation in the Kanto had changed in the decade since the original settlement, and that support no longer existed. Soun based himself at Ishiwaki Castle (in modern Yaizu, Shizuoka) and gathered supporters of Ujichika to his banner.

    A view of Mt Fuji from a spot near modern Yaizu.
    alonfloc, CC 表示 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=52973978による

    In late 1487, Soun led an attack on Norimitsu and his supporters, defeating them in a short, sharp campaign that ended with Norimitsu’s suicide and Ujichika’s confirmation as leader of the Imagawa Clan. Soun was rewarded for his actions, but the exact location of his new lands is disputed, with several possible locations including the aforementioned Ishiwaki Castle.

    Though the exact location of his base isn’t known for sure, Soun certainly remained in Suruga Province in the immediate aftermath of his success, acting as a protector for the young Ujichika. It is also suggested that during this period he acquired or was rewarded with estates in Izu Province, though again, that isn’t recorded with certainty.

    Soun’s actions following this are murky; he appears to have returned to the direct service of the Shogun in around 1491, though he seems to have remained physically in Suruga Province. In 1493, the Meio Coup changed Soun’s situation considerably, although again the exact circumstances are open to speculation.

    Suruga Province, where Soun made a name for himself. Izu Province is the peninsula to the bottom right of Suruga, and Sagami is just above that.
    By Ash_Crow – Own work, based on Image:Provinces of Japan.svg, CC BY 2.5, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=1691794

    What is certain is that Soun would lead an attack into neighbouring Izu Province that would eventually see him take control of the entire province. Some sources suggest that Soun was acting on the orders of Hosokawa Masatomo, the instigator of the Meio Coup; others indicate that Soun was acting on his own initiative. The situation in the Kanto was already volatile, and the coup in Kyoto had only made things worse, giving Soun a chance to improve his fortunes.

    Soun’s actual conquest of Izu is subject to considerable mythologising, with some stories telling us that he spied on the province in person, posing as a pilgrim to the area’s many hot springs, whilst others say that he was welcomed as a liberator and kept his army under tight control, preventing any pillaging. Soun is also supposed to have secured the province in under 30 days, launching a surprise attack on the residence of the previous lord of Izu, and either killing him or forcing him to commit suicide.

    The reality seems to have been a protracted campaign, with Soun trying to capture the leader of the province in a rapid advance, but failing to do so, leading to a drawn-out war that would not be finally resolved until 1498, though the historical record does seem to suggest that Soun’s victory was more or less guaranteed after around 1495.

    Despite his conquest of Izu, Soun remained a nominal vassal of the Imagawa Clan and took an active part in their campaigns in the Kanto. He would campaign on their behalf in Kai Province, and in Sagami (modern-day Yamanashi and Kanagawa Prefectures), famously capturing Odawara Castle in late 1495. The legends tell us that Soun captured the mighty fortress through trickery, convincing the lord to go hunting and then taking the castle while he was away. Modern scholars suggest that a large earthquake that year undermined the fortifications of Odawara and made holding it untenable.

    The remains of the moat at Odawara. The castle that stands on the modern site is a 20th century reconstruction of the fortress as it appeared in 1590. The castle that Soun took in 1495 would have been an formidable, but considerably smaller structure.
    By 柴錬アワー – Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=81578474

    In the short term, Soun would continue to support the Imagawa Clan, but as time went on, he began to take on an increasingly independent appearance, as his power grew, and the Imagawa found themselves distracted by events elsewhere. In 1507, the Eisho Disturbance (which led to the Hosokawa Rebellion we talked about previously) ended what little remained of Shogunate influence in the Kanto, and with the Imagawa distracted (or by some accounts, overstretched), Soun was able to extend his direct control of Sagami and Izu Provinces.

    Soun would clash with the Miura Clan of Sagami, who were in turn supported by the Ogigayatsu branch of the Uesugi Clan. Soun would advance on Edo Castle (on the site of the modern Imperial Palace in Tokyo) in early 1510, but a counterattack by the Miura and Ogigayatsu would drive him back as far as his base at Odawara.

    Soun would survive this crisis, and the destruction of the Miura Clan is said to have become the singular focus of his later life. Starting in the summer of 1512, Soun would make steady advances against the Miura, driving them out of Sagami Province, and defeating supporting attacks from the Ogigayatsu, until, by July 1516, the Miura had been bottled up in the eponymous Miura Peninsula (in modern Kanagawa Prefecture) before being destroyed with the capture of their final fortress at Misaki Castle.

    Soun would engage in several further campaigns, even crossing into modern Chiba, but in 1518, he handed control of the clan over to his son, Ujitsuna, before passing away in August the following year.

    Hojo Ujitsuna, who would adopt the name and symbol of the Hojo after his father’s death.

    Though Soun himself would never take the name Hojo, his actions secured the dominance of his clan in the Kanto region for most of the 16th Century. Though they would never be completely unchallenged, the clan would eventually rise to become masters of the area around modern Tokyo, until they eventually fell foul of Toyotomi Hideyoshi’s campaigns to unite the realm, with their mighty fortress at Odawara being taken, and the clan destroyed in 1590.

    In many ways, Soun is the archetype of what would become known as a “Sengoku Daimyo”, a kind of warlord who was not content with simply fighting with his neighbours, but worked to improve the lands he ruled. In 1506, Soun ordered a land survey in Sagami Province, the first of its kind in this new era, and he would introduce sweeping reforms to law and justice in his territories that would serve as inspiration for generations of Samurai that followed him, and in some cases, formed the basis for the legal system in place during the Edo Period, and even into more modern times.

    Sources
    https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E5%8C%97%E6%9D%A1%E6%97%A9%E9%9B%B2
    https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E5%BE%8C%E5%8C%97%E6%9D%A1%E6%B0%8F
    https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E4%B8%89%E6%B5%A6%E5%8D%8A%E5%B3%B6
    https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E7%AB%8B%E6%B2%B3%E5%8E%9F%E3%81%AE%E6%88%A6%E3%81%84

  • The Ikko-ikki

    The Ikko-ikki

    History often focuses on the rich and powerful doing rich and powerful things. Kings, Emperors, Shoguns, and Daimyo ride around on magnificent horses, hacking each other to bits with their swords, while hundreds of thousands of anonymous lower-class types charge into certain death for the honour and glory of whoever paid for the records to be written.

    Just look at all that honour and glory.

    While this particular version of history is suitably exciting and dramatic, it does tend to overlook those anonymous lower-class types. Sometimes, however, those same lower-class types take matters into their own hands, pick up whatever weapons are to hand, and do some hacking of their own.

    As Japan collapsed into the chaotic violence of the Sengoku Jidai, peasants, priests, and clergymen found themselves at the mercy of local Samurai lords who sought to exploit their labour, or burn their homes, and sometimes both. Many peasants found themselves (willingly or otherwise) in the service of one such lord or another, forming the Ashigaru who would eventually go on to form the backbone of most armies in the later Sengoku Period.

    Some, however, weren’t keen on dying for some rapacious shugo or in the service of a Shogun who was so far removed he might as well have been on the moon. These peasants formed what would become known as Ikko-shu, which is often translated as “Single Minded Schools”. Often inspired by religious teachings and based at fortified temples, the ikko-shu were quite diverse in their objectives, but were often motivated by local defence and what we might now think of as social justice.

    The religious component of the ikko-shu is debated even today. The progenitor of the movement was a monk called Rennyo, who became the abbot of the Honganji Temple, espousing the Jodo Shinshu sect. Rennyo was a charismatic guy, perhaps best highlighted by the fact he ended up with five wives and 27 children, three of whom were born when he was already in his 80s, which suggests he was more than a little compelling.

    Profound reproduction aside, Rennyo preached a doctrine that was incredibly radical for its time. It would take far too long to explore the complete details of his preaching, but for the purposes of this post, the key idea is that faith, not social class, defines a person’s worth.

    A contemporary portrait of Rennyo, which doesn’t do much to capture his apparent charisma.

    This was an explosive idea in a society that was as rigidly stratified as medieval Japan. Rennyo would go on to preach the ideas of spiritual equality, communal support, and collective morality, a powerful combination of ideas that found many willing followers amongst the peasantry, who were often victimised by a warrior and noble class who justified their oppression in spiritual and religious terms (the Emperor was a literal son of heaven, after all.)

    Rennyo himself was no revolutionary, even by the standards of the time. Though his ideas were radical, he preached order and obedience in accordance with the beliefs of Jodo Shinshu, emphasising the importance of peace and harmony, even at a time when the country was already tearing itself apart. His followers initially followed these teachings quite closely. The growing communities of ikko-shu were self-reliant, but largely peaceful.

    Unfortunately, peaceful intentions don’t necessarily result in peaceful outcomes. The autonomy of the ikko-shu inevitably attracted the ire of the powerful Daimyo, who would not tolerate any group of peasants defying their will. Peasant uprisings in and of themselves were nothing new; Japan, much like most medieval states, had a long history of often violent tension between ruler and ruled.

    What made the ikko-shu different was their belief that everyone, regardless of education or social class, had the potential for divine salvation. This upset just about everybody in the upper classes, and opposition to the ikko-shu became one of the few things that rival factions could agree on.

    One aspect of the early Sengoku Period, especially around Kyoto, was the presence of rival temples, which would often have cadres of warrior monks at their disposal. Honganji would become the target of the Enryakuji Temple in 1465, when the monks there declared that Rennyo and his followers were enemies of Buddhism.

    A later recreation of how warrior monks might have dressed.

    It might seem slightly strange to think of Buddhist monks being so militant, but it is important to remember that the temples of this period were political players in their own right; some would even go on to have power rivalling later Daimyo. In this context, then, it isn’t so unusual for one of them to have decided to destroy Honganji and remove the threat of the ikko-shu.

    The attack was largely successful, and Rennyo and his followers were forced to flee. This actually turned out to be good for them in the long term, as Rennyo was able to find supporters amongst the enemies of Enryakuji, leading to the establishment of several new temples loyal to Rennyo and his teachings.

    The profile of the ikko-shu would continue to rise, and they were often viewed as a potent counterweight to other Buddhist sects, which had already proved themselves willing and able to meddle in the ongoing political chaos. In 1474, the guardian of Kaga Province, Togashi Masachika, called on Rennyo to support him in a conflict within the wider Togashi clan. Rennyo agreed when he learned that a rival sect had taken the side of Masachika’s opponents.

    The intervention of the ikko-shu was decisive, and Masachika was able to overcome his foes. However, he began to sour on the support of Rennyo and his followers as he began to worry that their egalitarian message would spread amongst the peasants of Kaga Province.

    He was right to worry, although Rennyo himself departed the area shortly after the fighting, and would go on to establish several other temples, his followers remained in Kaga, and their teachings indeed proved popular with the locals, swelling their numbers and establishing several fortified temples in the province.

    The wider ikko-shu movement would continue to grow under Rennyo’s leadership, but we’re going to focus on Kaga Province in particular. As we’ve mentioned, although previously happy to make use of the military strength of the ikko-shu, Togashi Masachika grew increasingly alarmed about the spread of the movement.

    In 1475, he drove the ikko-shu out of Kaga, forcing them to seek refuge in neighbouring Etchu Province. Just like Masachika before him, the shugo (governor) of Etchu, Ishiguro Mitsuyoshi, was alarmed by the presence of the ikko-shu and sought to suppress them. However, when he launched an attack in 1481, he was defeated, and the ikko-shu, basing themselves at the Zuisenji Temple, took control of large parts of the province.

    Back in Kaga, events elsewhere in Japan led Masachika to impose increasingly burdensome taxes on the population, and in 1488, a similar revolt broke out amongst the peasantry, willingly aided by the ikko-shu crossing back from Etchu. Although the events in Etchu resulted in the first widely recognised independent action of the ikko-shu, the revolt in Kaga is typically considered to be the first example of Ikko-Ikki, that is, “Single Minded Uprising”, and a catch-all name that would eventually refer to the movement as a whole.

    Rennyo himself actually spoke out against the rebellion and attempted to persuade his followers not to support it, but the die had been cast, and although the initial uprising would not lead to complete Ikko control of Kaga by 1506, Kaga Province was being referred to as “ruled by peasants” in contemporary sources.

    Rennyo died in 1499, and with his passing, the Ikko-Ikki movement transitioned from simple self-defence to full participation in the Sengoku Period’s many wars. As early as 1494, there had been attempts to provoke similar uprisings in neighbouring provinces, with limited success; even when the uprisings had been triggered, they were often badly organised and swiftly put down.

    In 1506, the Kaga Ikko-Ikki decided on a more direct approach and invaded neighbouring Echizen Province, home of the Asakura Clan. Some sources estimate the Ikko Army had as many as 300,000 peasant warriors, and although this is certainly an exaggeration, it goes some way towards highlighting the anxiety shown towards the popularity and relative success of the movement.

    The invasion was stopped by the Asakura Clan, and the defeat of the Ikko-Ikki is supposed to have cost them 100,000 casualties (perhaps interpretable as a third of their army). Regardless of the actual numbers, the victory gave the Asakura the momentum to issue an edict banning the Ikko-shu ideology in their lands.

    Edicts alone didn’t do much to stop the popularity of the movement, though there was another serious uprising near Kyoto in 1531 (the Tenbun Disturbance) and a supporting uprising in Nara the next year.

    Other parts of Japan would also suffer serious outbreaks of Ikko-Ikki, most significantly in 1563-4, when a major uprising in Mikawa Province would sorely test Tokugawa Ieyasu (then using the clan name Matsudaira), who was able to achieve a military victory but would be forced to deal with the political fallout of the uprising for nearly 30 years after the event.

    A later illustration of the Mikawa Uprising.

    Probably the most famous of the Ikko-Ikki conflicts would be the one against Oda Nobunaga. Actually several conflicts the ongoing feud between Nobunaga and the Ikko-Ikki, would lead to some of the bloodiest episodes in an already bloody period.

    In 1568, Nobunaga arrived in Kyoto, nominally to support the last of the Ashikaga Shoguns but in reality to rule himself. In response, the Ikko-shu leaders at Ishiyama (in modern Osaka) issued a 1570 decree stating that Nobunaga was an enemy of the movement and should be opposed.

    Nobunaga was naturally taken aback by that and responded by laying siege to Ishiyama. He simultaneously launched attacks against other Ikko establishments, notably at Nagashima (near modern Nagoya) in a siege that lasted until 1574, and cost the lives of 20,000 or more Ikko-shu adherents.

    Another later illustration, this time of the Battle at Nagashima

    He would continue his attacks on the movement throughout 1574 and beyond, advancing against them in Echizen as part of his conquest of that province, before finally reducing the great fortress temple at Ishiyama in 1580, after a ten-year siege (the longest in Japanese history), but a fire broke out shortly before peace could be finalised. Sources disagree on the origin of the blaze, but it destroyed Ishiyama and tore the spiritual heart out of the Ikko movement.

    Later, in one of his last campaigns, Nobunaga sent his subordinates to put down the Ikko-Ikki in Kaga, where it was finally crushed in March 1582, and the “Province ruled by peasants” was brought to an end after almost a century of independence.

    Though the political independence of the Ikko movement would not survive the end of the Sengoku Period, the religion itself endured, though not without difficulty. After Nobunaga’s suppression, the movement made a comeback under Toyotomi Hideyoshi, gaining lands and privileges in Kyoto.

    There would be a doctrinal and later physical split in the 17th Century, and an East Honganji and West Honganji (named after their relative locations in Kyoto) would emerge. In the modern period, changes in laws, customs, and further factional splits mean there are now dozens of sects of various sizes, all claiming to be descended from the original Jodo Shinshu, which is now the most widespread Buddhist Sect in Japan, with more than 22,000 temples associated with it in one form or another

    The Nishi-Honganji as it appears today.
    By 663highland, CC BY 2.5, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=56357164

    Sources
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ikk%C5%8D-ikki
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ikk%C5%8D-sh%C5%AB
    https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E4%B8%80%E5%90%91%E4%B8%80%E6%8F%86
    https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E9%95%B7%E5%B3%B6%E4%B8%80%E5%90%91%E4%B8%80%E6%8F%86
    https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E8%B6%8A%E5%89%8D%E4%B8%80%E5%90%91%E4%B8%80%E6%8F%86
    https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E7%9F%B3%E5%B1%B1%E5%90%88%E6%88%A6
    https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E4%B8%89%E6%B2%B3%E4%B8%80%E5%90%91%E4%B8%80%E6%8F%86
    https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E4%B9%9D%E9%A0%AD%E7%AB%9C%E5%B7%9D%E3%81%AE%E6%88%A6%E3%81%84
    https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E5%8A%A0%E8%B3%80%E4%B8%80%E5%90%91%E4%B8%80%E6%8F%86
    https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E8%B6%8A%E4%B8%AD%E4%B8%80%E5%90%91%E4%B8%80%E6%8F%86
    https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E7%9C%9F%E5%AE%97%E5%A4%A7%E8%B0%B7%E6%B4%BE%E4%BA%95%E6%B3%A2%E5%88%A5%E9%99%A2%E7%91%9E%E6%B3%89%E5%AF%BA
    https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E5%AF%8C%E6%A8%AB%E6%94%BF%E8%A6%AA
    https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E6%9C%AC%E9%A1%98%E5%AF%BA%E3%81%AE%E6%AD%B4%E5%8F%B2
    https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E4%B8%80%E5%90%91%E5%AE%97
    https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E4%B8%80%E6%8F%86
    https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E8%93%AE%E5%A6%82
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hongan-ji

  • The Power in the Provinces – Honourable Mentions

    The Power in the Provinces – Honourable Mentions

    I have a confession, this ended up being quite the rabbit hole. When researching the early stages of the Sengoku Jidai, it’s almost impossible to narrow down who the “major” clans were, without also having read up on the clans who would go on to play the biggest role in the century to come.

    I originally thought this’d be a one or two post sideshow, but it quickly became apparent that the sheer volume of information and my inability to focus meant that it risked spiralling out of control.

    With that in mind, and with a desire to actually get back on track with the history, the last six clans are not going to get quite the same level of detail, but I can assure you, we will definitely be revisiting clan deep dives in the future.

    Kyushu

    Kyushu, the southernmost of Japan’s big four islands, and often a law unto itself.

    The Shimazu

    The mon of the Shimazu Clan

    The Shimazu would prove to be one of the most enduring and influential clans in Japanese history. Originating in Satsuma Province in modern Kagoshima Prefecture, they would eventually rise to become masters of the whole of Kyushu, before running into the rise of Toyotomi Hideyoshi.

    The Shimazu would also find themselves on the wrong side during the closing stages of the Sengoku Jidai, but their position in Satsuma was so far removed from the capital at Edo (modern Tokyo) that the new government had little influence.

    Satsuma Domain would be one of the few that were allowed to continue international trade (through their dominance of Okinawa), and this relatively outward-looking approach meant that they would first fight, and then ally with the British during the mid-19th Century.

    A 19th Century photograph of Samurai of the Satsuma Domain

    Interesting side note: The Shimazu Clan’s mon, which appears to show a cross, led some scholars to speculate that they were a clan with Christian origins, and one wild theory suggesting that the Shimazu’s real origins lay with one of the Lost Tribes of Israel (this is the Japanese-Jewish origin theory, and it’s pretty racist, in a clumsy, Victorian kind of way.)

    The Otomo

    The mon of the Otomo Clan.
    By Mukai – Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=6752905

    The Otomo Clan ruled lands in North-Eastern Kyushu (modern Oita and Fukuoka Prefectures) and would become one of the major beneficiaries of Portuguese Trade in Japan during the 16th Century, with many of the clan’s more powerful members even converting to Christianity, some say our of genuine faith, whilst others suggest it was more to do with keeping the Catholic Portuguese on side.

    These lucrative trade links didn’t do much to protect them from their powerful neighbours. With the Shimazu to the south, and the Mori across the sea to the East, the Otomo were hemmed in by powerful rivals, and they were ultimately obliged to seek alliance with the Mori.

    This proved to be the wrong course, as the Mori would be punished for picking the wrong side at the end of the Sengoku Period, and they and their allies saw their lands reduced. The Otomo wouldn’t have to suffer for long, however, as the main line of the clan would die out in 1619.

    Otomo Yoshimune, the last head of the Otomo to rule any serious territory. He would die in internal exile after 1600.

    The Otomo name would endure, however, as a cousin was allowed to adopt the name shortly afterwards, and during the Meiji Restoration, this branch of the Otomo was raised to the peerage, and would go on to play a role in the new Meiji government.

    Northern Japan

    Northern Japan during the 15th Century didn’t include Hokkaido, and was often viewed as the furthest fringes of civilisation.

    The Nanbu

    The mon of the Nanbu Clan
    By Mukai – Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=8313849

    Much like the Shimazu in the south, the Nanbu would prove to be one of the most enduring Clans during this period. They would rule most of what is the modern Tohoku region for close to 700 years, and by the dawn of the Sengoku Period, they were firmly entrenched in their home region, which became one of the most famous areas for the breeding of war horses, in face, the “Nanbu” Breed was one of the best regarded breeds during that era, although they would become extinct around 1940.

    Unlike the Shimazu, however, the Nanbu would choose the winning side at the end of the Sengoku era, and would serve as one of the leading clans in the North during the following Edo Period.

    Their illustrious position would come to an end in the 1860s, however, as their loyalty to the Shogun led them to oppose the forces of the Meiji Restoration. The Imperial forces would win the Boshin War, and the Nanbu Clan suffered a sharp decrease in property.

    During the period of reconciliation after the restoration, the Nanbu would be ennobled, and the family would go on to play a significant role in the Meiji Period and beyond, remaining prominent in the Tohoku Region into the modern day.

    The Date

    The mon of the Date Clan

    The Date (pronounced Da-Tay) were the other long-lasting clan in the north. They benefited from a position that was far enough away to make attacking them a relatively unattractive prospect. The Date were not idle, however; they were the dominant clan in the region for a reason, with strength and resources comparable to many of the clans further south.

    The Date’s lands were reduced by Toyotomi Hideyoshi, but their support for Tokugawa Ieyasu meant that the clan would eventually become one of Japan’s wealthiest, controlling the Sendai Domain.

    The clan would not survive the Edo Period unscathed, however. In the 1660s, the lord of the clan was arrested in the capital for drunkenness, and his rivals within the wider Date Clan took advantage, seeking his removal. This led to nearly 10 years of conflict within the Date Clan, eventually leading to a bloody showdown in 1671, which has been the subject of considerable mythologising in Japanese popular culture ever since (they love a bloody story).

    The clan would endure, however, and although, like the Nanbu, they were much reduced due to their opposition to the Meiji Restoration, the head of the clan would join the ranks of the new Imperial aristocracy.

    Sources
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shimazu_clan
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese-Jewish_common_ancestry_theory
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Satsuma_Province
    https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E5%B3%B6%E6%B4%A5%E6%B0%8F
    https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E5%A4%A7%E5%8F%8B%E6%B0%8F
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C5%8Ctomo_clan
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nanbu_clan
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Date_clan
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Date_S%C5%8Dd%C5%8D