The Sengoku Period was an era of unrest in which daimyo vied for power after 250 years of Ashikaga Shogunate rule. Unrest had been smouldering away for generations in Japan: local lords were at odds with one another and with the Kamakura Shogunate. In the 16th century centralized authority broke down and wholesale violence erupted: the country became a battleground for the feuding clans.
Background[]
15th-century Japan was at peace under the Kamakura Shogunate. Nonetheless, bitter enemies were evident, as many lords and their samurai followers felt overlooked.
A Troubled Past[]
Japan's military clans had plunged the country into a civil war in the 12th century, before saving it from Chinese invasion in the 13th century. The Onin War (1467-77) had brought another round of conflict as the daimyo (feudal lords) fought for supremacy.
Armed and Dangerous[]
The arrival of Portuguese merchants with firearms and gunpowder added a dangerous new ingredient to an already volatile mix. The Europeans arrived in 1543, when a ship en route to China was caught in a storm and forced to put in on the island of Tanegashima. In spite of this, guns almost certainly found their way into Japan before this, brought by Asian traders.
Sengoku Era[]
The daimyo Nobunaga Oda, came to the fore in the 1550s in Owari, in the present-day Aicih Prefecture of southeastern Honshu. He was ready to extend his power by 1560, but the Imagawa and Matsudaira clans had other ideas. So, as Nobunaga headed towards Kyoto with 1,800 men, he heard that an army of over 20,000 was marching out to meet him. Unperturbed, he devised a dummy army, setting up a row of soldiers' hats and banners along a lengthy skyline to give the impression of a waiting force of many thousands. Meanwhile, his army discreetly made its way around to approach his enemies in the rear at Okehazama. His surprise attack sowed complete and utter panic and brought him an improbable victory.
Many of the defeated daimyo flocked to Nobunaga's banner. Among them was Motoyasu Matsudaira: born Takechiyo Matsudaira, he would later find lasting fame as Ieyasu Tokugawa (the name he gave himself in 1567). Also destined for great things was Hideyoshi Hashiba: he was now Nobunaga's sandal-bearer.
Opening fire[]
Though much reinforced by these new recruits, Nobunaga still faced enormous challenges - not least his rival, Shingen Takeda. A formidable warrior from the nearby province of Kai, Shingen had hopes of uniting honshu under his rule. But Nobunaga and Ieyasu were not to be deterred. They had set aside ancestral enmity to make common cause.
The inevitable collision with Shingen came in 1573, when his cavalry overran Ieyasu's army at Mikatagahara (Mikawa Proince). Shingen died soon after the encounter, but his son and successor, Kutsuyori was no less ambitious, and just as determined to dominate Japan.
When his much larger force met with Nobunaga's at Nagashino Castle, also in Mikawa Province, a repeat of the rout at Mikatagahara seemed likely. Instead, the impact of Katsuyori's cavalry charge was checked by the disciplined stand of Nobunaga's men, and they were cut down in their thousands by arqueusiers - men armed with muzzle-loaded firearms. Nagashino amounted to more than just a military triumph: symbolically, it marked Nobunaga out as a potential national leader. In hindsight, it was a victory, not just for Nobunaga, but also for modern ways of making war.
A Unified Japan[]
Nobunaga died in 1582, forced to commit seppuku (ritual suicidee) by one of his own generals, Mitsuhide Akechi, having allegedly insulted his mother. He was succeeded by his sandal-bearer, Hideyoshi Hashiba, who had risen in his master's trust to become his most valued general. True to Nobunaga, Hideyoshi abandoned the campaign he had been waging in the east and marched back to take on his lord's betrayer. Mitsuhide had the advantage at Yamazaki, in present-day Kyoto Prefecture, but, the night before the battle, Hideyoshi sent out small parties to harass his men from the rear, unsettling them. In the next day's fighting, firearms once more proved decisive.
Hideyoshi's authority did not go uncontested within the Oda camp. Opposition united behind Nobutaka, Nobunaga's third son. The rebels included Ieyasu Tokugawa. But Hideyoshi saw off the threat, defeating his enemies at Shizugatake, in the present-day Shiga Prefecture, in 1583. By 1585 he had secured his position as Japan's most powerful man: as regent to the emperor, he unified the country. He harboured ambitions of conquering China - and organized two invasions of Korea, although neither of these was ultimately to go as planned. Even so, by the time he died in 1598, Hideyoshi had brought order to Japan.
Ieyasu ascendant[]
Ieyasu Tokugawa had eventually made his peace with Hideyoshi, but he drew the line at respecting the succession of his son. Hideyori was only five, so was in no position to reign: fighting erupted over his regency. Hundreds of daimyo felt they had a stake in the outcome, but opposition coalesced around the figures of Ieyasu and Mitsunari Ishida, a loyal supporter of the Toyotomi. The former drew supporters from the east; the latter had his power base in the west. The showdown came on 21 October 1600, at the battle of Sekigahara (present-day Gifu Prefecture): over 150,000 warriors were involved. The fighting took place over a wide area, with small warrior-groups engaging in a series of running skirmishes. It resulted in a smashing victory for Ieyasu's army. Essentially static, given the need for laborious reloading, Ieyasu's arquebusiers had been peripheral. More crucial had been divisions in the Toyotomi camp and the Tokugawa chief's back-channel diplomacy in the days preceding, which resulted in several key daimyo switching sides once fighting commenced. Ieyasu's victory was epoch-making, though unrest continued to simmer for several years. Only when the Toyotomi were finally cornered and destroyed at the siege of Osaka in 1615, could the wars of the Sengoku era be said to have reached their end.
Aftermath[]
In 1603 Ieyasu Tokugawa was recognized as ruler of Japan by the emperor, Go-Yozei. The Tokugawa Shogunate was to endure for 265 years (Ieyasu himself died in 1616).
More Settled Times[]
Japan benefited from the stability conferred by the Tokugawa shogunate, though it could be rough and ready in its maintenance of order. Thousands lost their lives during the Shimabara Rebellion of 1637-38, when Ieyasu's grandson, Iemitsu, clamped down on Christian conerts.
Fear of the West[]
The West was perceived by the shoguns as a threat: they effectively closed and barred Japan's doors, restricting trade. To shore up their authority at home, they bore down on the samurai, defining their privileges and restricting their the use of firearms.
Suspended in Time[]
For nearly three centuries, the Tokugawa shoguns maintained Japan's isolation. But the country was poorly equipped when Commodore Perry and his American flotilla turned up in 1853, demanding commercial access. All the old structures - the shogunate, the power of the samurai - were soon swept away.
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