The Ikko-Ikki were a fanatical Buddhist rebel group which existed in Japan from 1457 to 1586, defined by their populist and religious opposition to the rule of governors or daimyo in feudal Japan. The Ikki, adherents of Jodo Shinshu theology and consisting of priests, peasants, merchants, and local lords, followed Rennyo's teachings, and they were motivated by religious fervor to defend temple settlements and to end feudal rule. In the Kaga Rebellion of 1486, the Ikko-Ikki overthrew the government of Kaga Province and took control of it for themselves, the first time in Japanese history that a group of commoners ruled over a province. Towards the end of the 16th century, their numbers swelled and they became more of a threat to daimyo feudalism, so Ieyasu Tokugawa and Nobunaga Oda decided to crush the politically-powerful Ikk-Ikki. From 1570 to 1580, in the Ishiyama Hongan-ji War, Nobunaga Oda launched a campaign to take down the cathedral fortress of Ishiyama Hongan-ji, and he also besieged Nagashima in 1571, 1573, and 1574. Ultimately, he succeeded in massacring every single one of the 20,000 Nagashima defenders and destroying Ishiyama Hongan-ji, which he destroyed (it was later rebuilt as Osaka Castle). In 1586, the last of the Ikko-Ikki warrior monks decided to join the Toyotomi clan.
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