The Sengoku period (戦国時代 Sengoku jidai, "Age of Warring States"; c. 1467 – c.

1603) is a
period in Japanese history marked by social upheaval, political intrigue and near-constant military
conflict. Japanese historians named it after the otherwise unrelated Warring States period in
China.[1] It was initiated by the Ōnin War, which collapsed the Japanese feudal system
under Ashikaga shogunate, and came to an end when the system was re-established under
the Tokugawa shogunate by Tokugawa Ieyasu.[2][3]

Contents
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 1Summary
 2Timeline
 3Gekokujō
 4Unification
 5Notable people
o 5.1Three unifiers of Japan
 6See also
 7Notes
 8References
 9External links

Summary[edit]
During this period, although the Emperor of Japan was officially the ruler of his nation and every lord
swore loyalty to him, he was largely a marginalised, ceremonial, and religious figure who delegated
power to the Shogun, a noble who was roughly equivalent to a Generalissimo. In the years
preceding this era the Shogunate gradually lost influence and control over the daimyōs (local lords).
Although the Ashikaga shogunate had retained the structure of the Kamakura shogunate and
instituted a warrior government based on the same social economic rights and obligations
established by the Hōjō with the Jōei Code in 1232,[clarification needed] it failed to win the loyalty of
many daimyōs, especially those whose domains were far from the capital, Kyoto. Many of these
Lords began to fight uncontrollably with each other for control over land and influence over the
shogunate. As trade with China grew, the economy developed, and the use of money became
widespread as markets and commercial cities appeared. This, combined with developments in
agriculture and small-scale trading, led to the desire for greater local autonomy throughout all levels
of the social hierarchy. As early as the beginning of the 15th century, the suffering caused
by earthquakes and famines often served to trigger armed uprisings by farmers weary of debt and
taxes.
The Ōnin War (1467–1477), a conflict rooted in economic distress and brought on by a dispute over
shogunal succession, is generally regarded as the onset of the Sengoku period. The "eastern" army
of the Hosokawa family and its allies clashed with the "western" army of the Yamana. Fighting in and
around Kyoto lasted for nearly 11 years, leaving the city almost completely destroyed. The conflict in
Kyoto then spread to outlying provinces.[2][4]
The period culminated with a series of three warlords, Oda Nobunaga, Toyotomi Hideyoshi,
and Tokugawa Ieyasu, who gradually unified Japan. After Tokugawa Ieyasu's final victory at
the siege of Osaka in 1615, Japan settled down into several centuries of peace under the Tokugawa
Shogunate.

Timeline[edit]
The Ōnin War in 1467 is usually considered the starting point of Sengoku period. There are several
events which could be considered the end of it: The Siege of Odawara (1590), the Battle of
Sekigahara (1600), the establishment of the Tokugawa Shogunate (1603), or the Siege of
Osaka (1615).

Time Event

1467 Beginning of Ōnin War

1477 End of Ōnin War

1488 The Kaga Rebellion

Hosokawa Masamoto succeeds in the Coup of Meio

1493
Hōjō Sōun seizes Izu Province

1507 Beginning of Ryo Hosokawa War (the succession dispute in the Hosokawa family)

1520 Hosokawa Takakuni defeats Hosokawa Sumimoto

1531 Hosokawa Harumoto defeats Hosokawa Takakuni

1535 Battle of Idano The forces of the Matsudaira defeat the rebel Masatoyo

The Portuguese land on Tanegashima, becoming the first Europeans to arrive in Japan,
1543
and introduce the arquebus into Japanese warfare

1549 Miyoshi Nagayoshi betrays Hosokawa Harumoto

1551 Tainei-ji incident: Sue Harukata betrays Ōuchi Yoshitaka, taking control of western Honshu
1554 The tripartite pact among Takeda, Hōjō and Imagawa is signed

Battle of Itsukushima: Mōri Motonari defeats Sue Harukata and goes on to supplant the
1555
Ōuchi as the foremost daimyo of western Honshu

Battle of Okehazama: The outnumbered Oda Nobunaga defeats and kills Imagawa
1560
Yoshimoto in a surprise attack

1568 Oda Nobunaga marches toward Kyoto

1570 Beginning of Ishiyama Hongan-ji War

1573 The end of Ashikaga shogunate

Battle of Nagashino: Oda Nobunaga decisively defeats the Takeda cavalry with innovative
1575
arquebus tactics

1580 End of Ishiyama Hongan-ji War

Akechi Mitsuhide assassinates Oda Nobunaga (Honnō-ji Incident); Hashiba

1582
Hideyoshi defeats Akechi at the Battle of Yamazaki

Hashiba Hideyoshi is granted title of Kampaku, establishing his predominant authority; he

1585
is granted the surname Toyotomi a year after.

Siege of Odawara: Toyotomi Hideyoshi defeats the Hōjō clan, unifying Japan under his
1590
rule

1592 First invasion of Korea

1597 Second invasion of Korea

 1598 Toyotomi Hideyoshi dies

Battle of Sekigahara: The Eastern Army under Tokugawa Ieyasu defeats the Western
1600
Army of Toyotomi loyalists

1603 The establishment of the Tokugawa shogunate

Siege of Osaka: The last of the Toyotomi opposition to the Tokugawa shogunate is
1615
stamped out

Gekokujō[edit]

Japan in 1570

The upheaval resulted in the further weakening of central authority, and throughout Japan regional
lords, called daimyōs, rose to fill the vacuum. In the course of this power shift, well-
established clans such as the Takeda and the Imagawa, who had ruled under the authority of both
the Kamakura and Muromachi bakufu, were able to expand their spheres of influence. There were
many, however, whose positions eroded and were eventually usurped by more capable underlings.
This phenomenon of social meritocracy, in which capable subordinates rejected the status quo and
forcefully overthrew an emancipated aristocracy, became known as gekokujō (下克上), which means
"low conquers high".[2]
One of the earliest instances of this was Hōjō Sōun, who rose from relatively humble origins and
eventually seized power in Izu Province in 1493. Building on the accomplishments of Sōun, the Late
Hōjō clan remained a major power in the Kantō region until its subjugation by Toyotomi
Hideyoshi late in the Sengoku period. Other notable examples include the supplanting of
the Hosokawa clan by the Miyoshi, the Toki by the Saitō, and the Shiba clan by the Oda clan, which
was in turn replaced by its underling, Toyotomi Hideyoshi, a son of a peasant with no family name.
Well-organized religious groups also gained political power at this time by uniting farmers in
resistance and rebellion against the rule of the daimyōs. The monks of the Buddhist True Pure
Land sect formed numerous Ikkō-ikki, the most successful of which, in Kaga Province, remained
independent for nearly 100 years.
Unification[edit]
Main article: Azuchi–Momoyama period
After nearly a century of political instability and warfare, Japan was on the verge of unification
by Oda Nobunaga, who had emerged from obscurity in the province of Owari (present-day Aichi
Prefecture) to dominate central Japan, when in 1582 Oda was assassinated by one of his
generals, Akechi Mitsuhide. This in turn provided Toyotomi Hideyoshi, who had risen through the
ranks from ashigaru (footsoldier) to become one of Oda's most trusted generals, with the opportunity
to establish himself as Oda's successor. Toyotomi eventually consolidated his control over the
remaining daimyōs and, although he was ineligible for the title of Seii Taishogun because of his
common birth, ruled as Kampaku (Imperial Regent). During his short reign as Kampaku,
Toyotomi attempted two invasions of Korea. The first spanning from 1592 to 1596 was initially
successful but suffered setbacks to end in stalemate; the second begun in 1597 was less successful
(as the Koreans and their Ming Chinese allies were prepared for the Japanese the second time
around) and ended with Toyotomi's call for retreat from Korea on his deathbed in 1598.
When Toyotomi died in 1598 without leaving a capable successor, the country was once again thrust
into political turmoil, and this time Tokugawa Ieyasu took advantage of the opportunity.[3]
Toyotomi had on his deathbed appointed a group of the most powerful lords in Japan—
Tokugawa, Maeda Toshiie, Ukita Hideie, Uesugi Kagekatsu, and Mōri Terumoto—to govern as
the Council of Five Regents until his infant son, Hideyori, came of age. An uneasy peace lasted until
the death of Maeda in 1599. Thereafter a number of high-ranking figures, notably Ishida Mitsunari,
accused Tokugawa of disloyalty to the Toyotomi regime.
This precipitated a crisis that led to the Battle of Sekigahara in 1600, during which Tokugawa and his
allies, who controlled the east of the country, defeated the anti-Tokugawa forces, which had control
of the west. Generally regarded as the last major conflict of the Sengoku period, Tokugawa's victory
at Sekigahara effectively marked the end of the Toyotomi regime, the last remnants of which were
finally destroyed in the Siege of Osaka in 1615.
Tokugawa Ieyasu received the title Seii Taishogun in 1603, and abdicated in favour of his
son Tokugawa Hidetada in 1605 (while retaining real control himself), to emphasize the family's
hereditary hold on the post; he thereby established Japan's final shogunate, which lasted until
the Meiji Restoration in 1868.

Notable people[edit]
Main article: List of daimyōs from the Sengoku period

Japan in the late 16th century

Gun workman, Sakai, Osaka

Ōzutsu (Big Gun)

Three unifiers of Japan[edit]

 Oda Nobunaga
 Toyotomi Hideyoshi
 Tokugawa Ieyasu
The contrasting personalities of the three leaders who contributed the most to Japan's final
unification—Oda, Toyotomi, and Tokugawa—are encapsulated in a series of three well
known senryū:

 Nakanu nara, koroshite shimae, hototogisu (If the cuckoo does not sing, kill it.)
 Nakanu nara, nakasete miyō, hototogisu (If the cuckoo does not sing, coax it.)
 Nakanu nara, naku made matō, hototogisu (If the cuckoo does not sing, wait for it.)
Oda, known for his ruthlessness, is the subject of the first; Toyotomi, known for his resourcefulness,
is the subject of the second; and Tokugawa, known for his perseverance, is the subject of the third
verse.