The Japan Historic Collection during Azuchi-Momoyama Period

The Japan Historic Collections

During Azuchi-Momoyama Period

Created By

Dr Iwan suwandy,MHA

Private limited e-book Edition In CD-ROM

Copyright@2012

This the sample only,the complete CD with illustration exist but only for premium member

 

INTRODUCTION

Periode Azuchi Momoyama-

(安 土 桃山 时代, Azuchi Momoyama-Jidai?)

datang pada akhir Periode Negara Perang di Jepang,

ketika penyatuan politik yang mendahului pembentukan Keshogunan Tokugawa terjadi.

 Ini mencakup tahun-tahun dari sekitar 1573-1603,

 selama waktu Oda Nobunaga dan penerusnya, Toyotomi Hideyoshi, yang dipaksakan agar pada kekacauan yang telah merasuki sejak runtuhnya Keshogunan Ashikaga. Nama periode ini diambil dari benteng Nobunaga, Azuchi Castle, hadir di kota-hari Azuchi, Shiga Prefecture dan Hideyoshi benteng, Momoyama Castle (juga dikenal sebagai Fushimi Castle), di Kyoto [1].

Meskipun tanggal mulai 1573 sering diberikan,

dalam hal luas lagi, periode ini dimulai dengan masuknya Nobunaga ke Kyoto pada 1568, ketika ia memimpin pasukannya ke ibukota kekaisaran untuk menginstal Ashikaga Yoshiaki sebagai tanggal 15, dan akhirnya akhir, shogun dari Keshogunan Ashikaga, dan berlangsung sampai datang ke kekuasaan Tokugawa Ieyasu setelah kemenangannya atas pendukung klan Toyotomi dalam Pertempuran Sekigahara pada tahun 1600 [2]. [sunting] Naik turunnya Oda Nobunaga

Selama paruh terakhir abad ke-16,

sejumlah daimyo yang berbeda menjadi cukup kuat baik untuk memanipulasi bakufu Muromachi untuk keuntungan mereka sendiri atau untuk menggulingkan sama sekali. Salah satu usaha untuk menggulingkan pemerintah Tokugawa yang dibuat pada tahun 1560 oleh Imagawa Yoshimoto, yang berbaris ke arah ibukota itu berakhir memalukan di tangan Oda Nobunaga dalam Pertempuran Okehazama.

 Pada 1562,

Klan Tokugawa yang berdekatan di sebelah timur wilayah Nobunaga menjadi independen dari klan Imagawa, dan bersekutu dengan Nobunaga. Bagian timur dari wilayah Nobunaga tidak diserang oleh aliansi ini. Dan, ia bergerak tentara ke barat.

 

 Pada 1565,

 aliansi dari Matsunaga dan Miyoshi klan mencoba kudeta dengan membunuh Ashikaga Yoshiteru, para shogun Ashikaga 13. Pertengkaran internal, bagaimanapun, mencegah mereka dari bertindak cepat untuk memperakui klaim mereka berkuasa, dan tidak sampai 1568 bahwa mereka berhasil menginstal sepupu Yoshiteru itu, Ashikaga Yoshihide, sebagai Shogun berikutnya. Kegagalan untuk masuk Kyoto dan mendapatkan pengakuan dari pengadilan kekaisaran, namun, telah meninggalkan suksesi ragu, dan sekelompok pengikut bakufu dipimpin oleh Hosokawa Fujitaka dinegosiasikan dengan Nobunaga untuk mendapatkan dukungan untuk saudara Yoshiteru muda, Yoshiaki. [Rujukan?]

Nobunaga,

 yang telah dipersiapkan selama periode tahun untuk kesempatan seperti itu dengan membentuk aliansi dengan klan Azai di utara Omi Propinsi dan kemudian menaklukkan provinsi tetangga Provinsi Mino, sekarang berbaris menuju Kyoto. Setelah routing klan Rokkaku di selatan Omi, Nobunaga memaksa Matsunaga menyerah dan Miyoshi mundur ke Settsu. Dia kemudian dimasukkan ibukota, di mana ia berhasil mendapat pengakuan dari kaisar untuk Yoshiaki, yang menjadi shogun Ashikaga 15. [Rujukan?]

Nobunaga punya niat tidak, bagaimanapun, melayani bakufu Muromachi, dan malah sekarang mengalihkan perhatian ke mengencangkan cengkeramannya pada wilayah Kinai. Perlawanan dalam bentuk daimyo saingan, Budha keras kepala biarawan, dan pedagang bermusuhan dihilangkan dengan cepat dan tanpa ampun, dan Nobunaga cepat mendapatkan reputasi sebagai musuh, kejam tak henti-hentinya. Untuk mendukung gerakannya politik dan militer, ia mengadakan reformasi ekonomi, menghilangkan hambatan perdagangan dengan meremehkan monopoli tradisional yang diselenggarakan oleh kuil dan serikat dan mempromosikan inisiatif dengan membentuk pasar bebas yang dikenal sebagai rakuichi-rakuza. [Rujukan?]

Dengan 1573

 ia telah menghancurkan aliansi Asakura klan dan klan Azai yang mengancam sisi utara nya, melenyapkan militan umat Buddha Tendai biara di Gunung Hiei pusat dekat Kyoto, dan juga berhasil menghindari konfrontasi berpotensi melemahkan dengan Takeda Shingen, yang tiba-tiba jatuh sakit dan meninggal seperti pasukannya berada di ambang mengalahkan Tokugawa dan menyerang domain Oda dalam perjalanan ke Kyoto. [rujukan?]

Bahkan setelah kematian Shingen, ada beberapa daimyo tetap cukup kuat untuk melawan Nobunaga, tapi tidak ada yang terletak cukup dekat ke Kyoto untuk menimbulkan ancaman politik, dan ternyata penyatuan di bawah bendera Oda adalah masalah waktu. [Rujukan?]

Musuh Nobunaga tidak hanya daimyo Sengoku lain tetapi juga penganut sebuah sekte Jodo Shinshu agama Buddha yang menghadiri Ikkō-Ikki. Pemimpin mereka adalah Kennyo. Dia bertahan meskipun Nobunaga terus menyerang benteng selama sepuluh tahun. Nobunaga diusir Kennyo pada tahun kesebelas, tetapi, oleh kerusuhan yang disebabkan oleh Kennyo, wilayah Nobunaga mengambil kerusakan besar. Ini perang yang panjang disebut Ishiyama Hongan-ji Perang. [Rujukan?]

Untuk menekan Buddhisme, Nobunaga didukung Kristen. Banyak budaya diperkenalkan ke Jepang oleh para misionaris dari Eropa. Dari budaya Jepang menerima makanan baru, metode gambar baru, astronomi, geografi, ilmu kedokteran, dan teknik cetak. [Rujukan?]

 

 

 

 

Jepang sekitar 1582

Selama periode 1576-1579,

Nobunaga dibangun di tepi Danau Biwa di Azuchi (di hari Prefektur Shiga) Azuchi Castle, sebuah kastil tujuh cerita yang menakjubkan yang dimaksudkan untuk melayani tidak hanya sebagai benteng militer ditembus tetapi juga sebagai tempat tinggal mewah yang akan berdiri sebagai simbol penyatuan [kutipan diperlukan].

Setelah dijamin cengkeramannya pada wilayah Kinai, Nobunaga sekarang cukup kuat untuk menetapkan jenderalnya tugas menaklukkan provinsi terpencil. Shibata Katsuie diberi tugas untuk menaklukkan klan Uesugi di Etchū, Takigawa Kazumasu dihadapkan Provinsi Shinano bahwa anak Shingen Takeda Katsuyori mengatur, dan Hashiba Hideyoshi diberi tugas berat menghadapi klan Mori di wilayah Chugoku bagian barat Honshu. [Kutipan diperlukan]

Pada 1576,

Nobunaga meraih kemenangan signifikan atas klan Takeda dalam Pertempuran Nagashino.

Meskipun reputasi yang kuat dari Takeda samurai kavaleri, Oda Nobunaga memeluk teknologi yang relatif baru dari Arquebus, dan menyebabkan kekalahan menghancurkan. Warisan pertempuran ini memaksa perombakan total dari perang tradisional Jepang. [3]

Pada 1582, setelah kampanye berlarut-larut, Hideyoshi meminta bantuan Nobunaga dalam mengatasi perlawanan ulet. Nobunaga, membuat stop-over di Kyoto di sebelah barat jalan dengan hanya satu kontingen kecil dari penjaga, diserang oleh salah satu jenderal sendiri yang tidak puas, Akechi Mitsuhide bunuh diri [rujukan?] Dan berkomitmen..

 

 

 Hideyoshi melengkapi unifikasi
Yang terjadi selanjutnya adalah pertarungan oleh yang paling kuat dari pengikut Nobunaga untuk membalas kematian tuan mereka dan dengan demikian membangun posisi dominan dalam negosiasi atas penataan kembali yang akan datang dari klan Oda. Situasi menjadi semakin mendesak ketika diketahui bahwa putra Nobunaga tertua dan ahli waris, Nobutada, juga tewas, meninggalkan klan Oda tanpa pengganti yang jelas. [Rujukan?]

Cepat negosiasi gencatan senjata dengan klan Mori sebelum mereka bisa belajar dari kematian Nobunaga, Hideyoshi sekarang mengambil pasukannya pada pawai dipaksa ke arah lawannya, yang ia dikalahkan pada Pertempuran Yamazaki, kurang dari dua minggu kemudian. [Rujukan?]

Meskipun orang biasa yang telah naik melalui pangkat dari prajurit kaki, Hideyoshi sekarang dalam posisi untuk menantang bahkan yang paling senior pengikut keturunan klan Oda, dan menganjurkan agar bayi putra Nobutada itu, Sanpōshi (yang menjadi Oda Hidenobu), diberi nama ahli waris bukan dari Nobunaga anak dewasa ketiga, Nobutaka, yang penyebabnya telah diperjuangkan oleh Shibata Katsuie. Setelah mendapatkan dukungan dari pengikut senior lainnya, termasuk Niwa Nagahide dan Ikeda Tsuneoki, Sanpōshi bernama pewaris dan Hideyoshi ditunjuk rekan wali. [Rujukan?]

Intrik politik Lanjutan, bagaimanapun, akhirnya menyebabkan konfrontasi terbuka. Setelah mengalahkan Shibata pada Pertempuran Shizugatake pada 1583 dan bertahan jalan buntu mahal tapi akhirnya menguntungkan dengan Tokugawa Ieyasu dalam Pertempuran Komaki dan Nagakute tahun 1584, Hideyoshi berhasil menyelesaikan persoalan suksesi untuk sekali dan semua, untuk mengambil kontrol penuh dari Kyoto , dan menjadi penguasa tak perlu dari domain Oda mantan. Daimyo dari klan Shikoku Chōsokabe menyerah kepada Hideyoshi pada bulan Juli, 1585. Daimyo klan Shimazu dari Kyushu juga menyerah dua tahun kemudian. Dia diadopsi oleh keluarga Fujiwara, mengingat Toyotomi nama keluarga, dan diberikan Kanpaku judul superlatif dalam mewakili kontrol sipil dan militer dari seluruh Jepang. Pada tahun berikutnya, ia telah mengamankan aliansi dengan tiga dari sembilan koalisi daimyo besar dan membawa perang unifikasi ke Shikoku dan Kyushu. Pada 1590, di kepala tentara 200.000, Hideyoshi mengalahkan klan Hojo, saingan terakhir tangguh di timur Honshu. Daimyo yang tersisa segera menyerah, dan penyatuan kembali militer Jepang itu selesai. [Rujukan?]

 

 Jepang di bawah Hideyoshi
Tanah survei
Dengan seluruh Jepang sekarang di bawah kontrol Hideyoshi,

struktur baru bagi pemerintah nasional dikonfigurasi. Negara itu bersatu di bawah pemimpin tunggal, tetapi pemerintahan sehari-hari rakyat tetap terdesentralisasi. Dasar kekuasaan adalah pembagian wilayah yang diukur dengan produksi beras dalam satuan koku.

Pada tahun 1598,

survei nasional telah dilembagakan dan dinilai produksi beras nasional sebesar 18,5 juta koku, 2 juta dari yang dikontrol langsung oleh Hideyoshi sendiri. Sebaliknya, Tokugawa Ieyasu, yang Hideyoshi telah dipindahkan ke wilayah Kanto, yang diadakan 2,5 juta koku. [Rujukan?]

Survei yang dilakukan oleh Hideyoshi baik sebelum dan sesudah dia mengambil gelar Taiko, telah datang ke dikenal sebagai “survei Taiko” (Taiko kenchi). [4]

 Tindakan pengendalian
Sejumlah inovasi administrasi lainnya yang dilembagakan untuk mendorong perdagangan dan menstabilkan masyarakat. Untuk memudahkan transportasi, tol booths dan pos pemeriksaan lain di sepanjang jalan sebagian besar dieliminasi sebagai merupakan benteng pertahanan militer yang tidak perlu. Tindakan yang secara efektif membekukan perbedaan kelas yang dilembagakan, termasuk persyaratan bahwa kelas yang berbeda hidup secara terpisah di berbagai wilayah kota dan larangan pada tercatat atau pemilikan senjata oleh petani. Hideyoshi memerintahkan pengumpulan senjata di besar “pedang berburu” (katanagari). [Rujukan?]

Penyatuan
Hideyoshi berusaha mengamankan posisinya dengan mengatur kembali kepemilikan daimyo untuk keuntungannya.

 Secara khusus, ia ditugaskan kembali keluarga Tokugawa ke wilayah Kanto, jauh dari ibu kota, dan dikelilingi wilayah baru mereka dengan pengikut lebih dipercaya. Dia juga mengadopsi sistem sandera di mana istri dan ahli waris daimyo tinggal di kota benteng di Osaka. [Rujukan?]

Dia juga berusaha untuk menyediakan sebuah suksesi tertib dengan mengambil judul taiko, atau “Kanpaku pensiun,” tahun 1591 dan berbalik kabupaten ke keponakannya dan mengadopsi putra Toyotomi Hidetsugu. Baru kemudian dia mencoba untuk memformalkan perimbangan kekuatan dengan membentuk badan-badan administratif. Ini termasuk Dewan Lima Sesepuh, yang disumpah untuk menjaga perdamaian dan mendukung Toyotomi, Dewan lima anggota Administrator House, yang menangani kebijakan rutin dan administratif, dan Dewan tiga anggota mediator, yang dituduh menahan perdamaian antara dua papan pertama. [rujukan?]

Korea kampanye
Artikel utama: invasi Jepang Korea (1592-1598)

Hideyoshi ambisi besar terakhir

 adalah untuk menaklukkan Dinasti Ming dari Cina.

 Pada bulan April 1592,

setelah ditolak perjalanan yang aman melalui Korea, Hideyoshi mengirim 200.000 tentara untuk menyerang dan melewati Korea dengan kekerasan. Selama invasi Jepang Korea (1592-1598),

 diduduki Seoul Jepang pada Mei 1592,

 dan dalam tiga bulan mencapai Pyongyang menyerang bersama dengan sejumlah besar kolaborator Korea yang pada awalnya memandang Jepang sebagai pembebas dari bangsawan korup.

Raja Seonjo Joseon melarikan diri,

 dan dua pangeran Korea ditangkap oleh Kato Kiyomasa. [5] [6] Seonjo mengirim utusan ke pengadilan Ming, meminta segera untuk bantuan militer [7]. Kaisar China mengirim laksamana Chen Lin dan Li komandan Rusong untuk membantu Korea. Li Rusong mendorong keluar Jepang bagian utara semenanjung Korea. Orang Jepang terpaksa mundur sejauh bagian selatan semenanjung Korea pada Januari 1593, dan serangan balasan Li Rusong. Tempur ini mencapai jalan buntu, dan Jepang dan Cina akhirnya memasuki pembicaraan perdamaian. [8]

Selama perundingan damai yang terjadi antara 1593 dan 1597, Hideyoshi, melihat Jepang sebagai sama Ming Cina, menuntut pembagian Korea, perdagangan bebas status, dan seorang putri Cina sebagai permaisuri bagi kaisar. Para Joseon dan para pemimpin Cina tidak melihat alasan untuk mengakui tuntutan tersebut, juga untuk mengobati para penjajah sebagai sama di dalam sistem perdagangan Ming. Permintaan Jepang dengan demikian ditolak dan upaya perdamaian mencapai jalan buntu. [Rujukan?]

Sebuah invasi kedua dari Korea dimulai pada 1597, tetapi juga mengakibatkan kegagalan sebagai pasukan Jepang bertemu dengan lebih baik pertahanan Korea terorganisir dan keterlibatan Cina meningkat dalam konflik. [Rujukan?] Setelah kematian Hideyoshi pada tahun 1598, pasukan Jepang menarik diri dari Korea. [9]

Dewan Lima Sesepuh Pada saat ini,

sebagian besar komandan Jepang sisanya lebih peduli tentang pertempuran internal dan untuk kontrol keshogunan. [9]

Sekigahara dan akhir pemerintahan Toyotomi
Hideyoshi telah di ranjang kematiannya menunjuk sekelompok penguasa yang paling kuat di Jepang – Tokugawa, Maeda, Ukita, Uesugi, Mori – untuk memerintah sebagai Dewan Lima Sesepuh

sampai anak bayi nya,

 Hideyori, datang usia.

 

Sebuah perdamaian tidak tenang berlangsung hingga kematian Maeda Toshiie di 1599.

 Setelah itu, Ishida Mitsunari dituduh Ieyasu tidak setia pada nama Toyotomi, menyebabkan krisis yang menyebabkan Pertempuran Sekigahara. Umumnya dianggap sebagai konflik besar terakhir dari periode Azuchi Momoyama-dan Sengoku Jidai-, kemenangan Ieyasu di Sekigahara menandai berakhirnya masa pemerintahan Toyotomi. Tiga tahun kemudian, Ieyasu menerima Taishogun judul Seii, dan mendirikan bakufu Edo, yang berlangsung hingga Restorasi Meiji pada tahun 1868. [Rujukan?]

Sosial dan budaya perkembangan selama periode Momoyama
Periode Momoyama adalah periode yang menarik di dunia luar, yang juga melihat perkembangan kota-kota besar dan bangkitnya kelas pedagang. Arsitektur istana hiasan dan interior dihiasi dengan layar dicat dihiasi dengan daun emas adalah refleksi dari kekuatan daimyo, tetapi juga menunjukkan rasa estetika baru yang menandai keberangkatan jelas dari monotones muram disukai selama periode Muromachi. Sebuah genre tertentu yang muncul saat ini disebut sebagai gaya-eksotis Namban penggambaran imam Eropa, pedagang, dan lain [rujukan?] “Barbar selatan.”

Seni upacara minum teh juga berkembang saat ini, dan kedua Nobunaga dan Hideyoshi mencurahkan waktu dan uang untuk hobi ini, mengumpulkan mangkuk teh, Caddies, dan mengimplementasikan lainnya, mensponsori kegiatan sosial mewah, dan menggurui master yang diakui seperti Sen no Rikyu. [Kutipan diperlukan]

Hideyoshi telah menduduki Nagasaki pada 1587, dan selanjutnya berusaha untuk mengendalikan perdagangan internasional dan untuk mengatur asosiasi perdagangan yang memiliki kontak dengan dunia luar melalui port ini. Meskipun Cina menolak upaya untuk mengamankan konsesi perdagangan, misi komersial Hideyoshi berhasil dipanggil untuk masa kini Malaysia, Filipina, dan Thailand di kapal segel Merah. Dia juga curiga terhadap agama Kristen di Jepang, yang dia melihat sebagai berpotensi subversif dan beberapa misionaris disalibkan oleh rezimnya. [Rujukan?]

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Terkenal Senryū
Yang kontras kepribadian dari tiga pemimpin yang memberikan kontribusi yang paling akhir untuk Jepang unifikasi-

 

Nobunaga,

 

 Hideyoshi,

 

 

dan Ieyasu-

dikemas dalam serangkaian tiga senryū terkenal yang masih diajarkan kepada anak-anak sekolah Jepang:

Nakanunara, koroshiteshimae, hototogisu (Jika Cuckoo tidak menyanyi, membunuhnya.) “泣か ぬ なら 殺し て しまえ ホトトギス”
Nakanunara, nakashitemiseyou, hototogisu (Jika Cuckoo tidak menyanyi, membujuk itu.) “泣か ぬ なら 泣かせ て みよ う ホトトギス”
Nakanunara, nakumadematou, hototogisu (Jika Cuckoo tidak menyanyi, menunggu untuk itu.) “泣か ぬ なら 泣く まで まとう ホトトギス”
Nobunaga, yang dikenal karena kekejaman, adalah subyek yang pertama, Hideyoshi, yang dikenal karena akal nya, adalah subyek yang kedua, dan Ieyasu, yang dikenal dengan kegigihannya, adalah subjek dari ayat ketiga.

Kronologi
1568:
 Nobunaga memasuki Kyoto, menandai awal periode Azuchi Momoyama-
1573:
Nobunaga menumbangkan bakufu Muromachi dan mengerahkan kontrol atas Jepang tengah
1575:
Nobunaga mengalahkan klan Takeda Pertempuran Nagashino
1580:
Para Ikkō-Ikki akhirnya menyerahkan benteng mereka Ishiyama Honganji untuk Nobunaga, setelah bertahan sebuah pengepungan 11-tahun.
1582:
 Insiden di Honnō-ji, Nobunaga dibunuh oleh Akechi Mitsuhide, yang kemudian dikalahkan oleh Toyotomi Hideyoshi dalam Pertempuran Yamazaki.
1584:
 Hideyoshi melawan Tokugawa Ieyasu untuk terhenti pada Pertempuran Komaki dan Nagakute.
1586:
 Benteng Osaka dibangun oleh Toyotomi Hideyoshi.
1590:
Hideyoshi mengalahkan klan Hojo, Jepang efektif pemersatu.
1592:
Hideyoshi menyerang Korea.
1598:
 Hideyoshi meninggal.
1600:
 Ieyasu adalah menang pada Pertempuran Sekigahara, menandai akhir periode Azuchi Momoyama-.
Referensi
^ Kodansha Encyclopedia of Jepang (Edisi pertama, 1983), entri untuk “Azuchi-Momoyama.”
^ Kodansha Encyclopedia of Jepang (Edisi pertama, 1983), bagian “Azuchi Momoyama-Sejarah (1568-1600)” oleh George Elison, dalam entri untuk “sejarah Jepang.”
^ Turnbull, Stephan R. (1996). Samurai: riwayat militer. Psikologi Press. hal 148-150. ISBN 9781873410387.
^ Survei disebut Taiko kenchi meskipun Hedeyoshi belum Taiko pada awal survei karena ia suka menunjuk dirinya sebagai Taiko. (Hideyoshi menjadi Taiko tahun 1591 setelah ia melepaskan gelar Kanpaku untuk keponakannya, Hidetsugu.)
^ [Sejarah Ming] [1]
^ 北 关 大捷 碑 “其 秋 清正
^ Jinju National Museum: Kronologi, Juni 1592
^ [Sejarah Ming] [2] 明年, 如 松 (Li Rusong) 师大 捷 于 平壤, 朝鲜 所 失 四 道 并 复 如 松. 乘胜 趋 碧 蹄 馆, 败 而退 师.
^ Ab Ensiklopedia Columbia, Edisi Keenam; 2006 – Hideyoshi “Pada tahun 1592 ia mencoba untuk menaklukkan China, tetapi hanya berhasil menduduki sebagian Korea; sebelum kematiannya ia memerintahkan penarikan dari Korea.”
Oda Nobunaga
 

Oda Nobunaga
织田信长
 

Oda Nobunaga dalam potret abad abad ke-16
 
Lahir
 23 Juni 1534 (1534/06/23)
Nagoya Castle, Provinsi Owari
 
Meninggal
 21 Juni 1582 (1582/06/21) (umur 47)
Honnō-ji di Kyoto
 

 

[Tampilkan]

v
d
e
Kampanye dari Oda Nobunaga
 
    
Ino
Ukino
Marune
Okehazama
Chōkō-ji
Kanegasaki
Anegawa
Ishiyama Hongan-ji
Gunung Hiei
Nagashima
Mikatagahara
Hikida Puri
Odani Puri
Ichijōdani Puri
Itami
Nagashino
Mitsuji
Kizugawaguchi
Shigisan
Tedorigawa
Takatenjin
Tottori
Hijiyama
Temmokuzan
Takato
Uozu
Honnō-ji
 
 

Oda Nobunaga (织田 信 长, Oda Nobunaga (bantuan · info)?,

 23 Juni 1534 – 21 Juni 1582)

adalah inisiator dari penyatuan Jepang di bawah shogun di akhir abad 16, yang memerintah Jepang hingga Restorasi Meiji pada tahun 1868. Ia juga seorang daimyo besar selama periode Sengoku sejarah Jepang. Karya-Nya melanjutkan, selesai dan diselesaikan oleh penerusnya Toyotomi Hideyoshi dan Tokugawa Ieyasu. Ia adalah anak kedua dari Oda Nobuhide, sebuah Shugo wakil (gubernur militer) yang memiliki tanah di Owari Provinsi [1] [2]. Nobunaga hidup dalam penaklukan militer terus menerus, akhirnya menaklukkan sepertiga dari Jepang sebelum kematiannya pada 1582. Penggantinya, Toyotomi Hideyoshi, seorang pendukung setia Oda, akan menjadi orang pertama yang menyatukan seluruh Jepang, dan dengan demikian penguasa pertama dari semua Jepang sejak Perang Onin. [Sunting] Biografi

Oda Nobunaga lahir pada 23 Juni 1534, dan diberi nama masa kecil Kippōshi (吉 法师?). [1] [2] Ia adalah anak kedua dari Oda Nobuhide. Melalui masa kecil dan masa remaja awal, ia terkenal dengan perilaku aneh dan menerima nama Owari tidak Ōutsuke (尾張 の 大 うつけ?, The Fool dari Owari). Dengan diperkenalkannya senjata api ke Jepang, meskipun, ia menjadi terkenal karena kesukaannya dari Tanegashima senjata api. Ia juga dikenal untuk menjalankan main dengan pemuda lainnya dari daerah tersebut, tanpa memperhatikan peringkat sendiri dalam masyarakat. Dia dikatakan dilahirkan di Nagoya Castle, meskipun hal ini diperdebatkan. Meskipun demikian pasti bahwa ia lahir dalam domain Owari. Pada 1574 Nobunaga menerima gelar Kuge (atau Pengadilan Noble), kemudian pada tahun 1577 ia diberi judul Udaijin (atau Menteri Kanan), posisi tertinggi ketiga di pengadilan Imperial.

 

 

Unifikasi Owari Provinsi
 

 

Potret Oda Nobunaga,

oleh Jesuit pelukis Giovanni Niccolo, 1583-1590.

Pada 1551,

 Oda Nobuhide mati mendadak dan, selama pemakamannya, Nobunaga dikatakan telah bertindak sangat, melemparkan dupa upacara di altar. [3] Tindakan ini terasing pengikut banyak Oda, meyakinkan mereka biasa-biasa saja Nobunaga dan kurangnya disiplin dan mereka mulai sisi dengan nya lebih lembut dan sopan saudara, Nobuyuki. Hirate Masahide, yang adalah seorang mentor yang berharga dan punggawa untuk Nobunaga, malu oleh perilaku Nobunaga dan melakukan seppuku. Ini memiliki pengaruh yang besar pada Nobunaga, yang kemudian membangun sebuah kuil untuk menghormati Masahide. [1]

Meskipun Nobunaga adalah penerus sah Nobuhide, para klan Oda dibagi menjadi banyak faksi. Selanjutnya, seluruh marga secara teknis di bawah kendali Owari itu Shugo, Shiba Yoshimune. Jadi Oda Nobutomo, sebagai saudara ke Nobuhide meninggal dan Deputi Shugo, menggunakan Yoshimune sebagai boneka berdaya dan menantang tempat Nobunaga sebagai penguasa baru Owari itu. Nobutomo dibunuh Yoshimune ketika ditemukan bahwa ia mendukung dan berusaha untuk membantu Nobunaga.

Untuk meningkatkan kekuatannya, Nobunaga Oda membujuk Nobumitsu, seorang adik Nobuhide, untuk bergabung sisinya dan, dengan bantuan Nobumitsu itu, membunuh Nobutomo di Kiyosu Castle, yang kemudian menjadi tempat Nobunaga tinggal selama lebih dari sepuluh tahun. Mengambil keuntungan dari posisi Shiba Yoshikane, anak Yoshimune, sebagai Shugo sah, Nobunaga menjalin aliansi dengan klan Imagawa dari Suruga Propinsi dan klan Kira dari Mikawa Provinsi, karena kedua klan memiliki Shugo sama dan akan memiliki alasan untuk menolak . Selain itu, ini juga memastikan bahwa klan Imagawa harus berhenti menyerang perbatasan Owari itu.

Meskipun Nobuyuki dan pendukungnya yang masih buron, Nobunaga memutuskan untuk membawa tentara ke Provinsi Mino untuk membantu Saito Dōsan setelah putra Dōsan itu, Saito Yoshitatsu, berbalik melawan dia. Kampanye ini gagal, namun, seperti Dōsan tewas dan Yoshitatsu menjadi master baru dari Mino pada tahun 1556.

Beberapa bulan kemudian, Nobuyuki, dengan dukungan dari Shibata Katsuie dan Hayashi Hidesada, memberontak terhadap Nobunaga. Tiga komplotan itu telah dikalahkan pada Pertempuran Ino, tapi mereka diampuni setelah intervensi dari Tsuchida Gozen, ibu kelahiran kedua Nobunaga dan Nobuyuki. Tahun berikutnya, bagaimanapun, Nobuyuki lagi berencana untuk memberontak. Ketika Nobunaga diberitahu tentang hal ini dengan Shibata Katsuie, ia pura-pura sakit untuk mendekati Nobuyuki dan membunuh dia di Kiyosu Castle.

Dengan 1559,

Nobunaga telah menghapuskan semua oposisi di dalam klan dan seluruh Provinsi Owari. Dia terus menggunakan Yoshikane Shiba sebagai alasan untuk berdamai dengan daimyo lain, meskipun kemudian menemukan bahwa Yoshikane diam-diam berhubungan dengan Kira dan klan Imagawa, mencoba menggulingkan Nobunaga dan mengembalikan tempat klan Shiba. Nobunaga akhirnya melemparkannya ke luar, membuat aliansi dibuat dalam kekosongan nama klan Shiba.

 

 

 

 

 

Pertempuran Okehazama
Artikel utama: Pertempuran Okehazama

.

Pada 1560,

Imagawa Yoshimoto

 mengumpulkan pasukan 25.000 orang [1] [4] dan memulai nya berbaris menuju Kyoto, dengan alasan membantu Keshogunan Ashikaga lemah.

 Para klan Matsudaira Mikawa Provinsi

juga untuk bergabung Yoshimoto itu. Sebagai perbandingan, klan Oda bisa rally tentara hanya 1.800, [kutipan diperlukan] dan kekuatan juga harus dibagi untuk mempertahankan benteng berbagai di perbatasan. Dalam keadaan mengerikan seperti itu, Nobunaga dikatakan telah melakukan tari Atsumori favoritnya di Kiyosu Castle, sebelum naik off dengan hanya beberapa petugas untuk berdoa di sebuah kuil.

Klan Oda jenderal

 tidak percaya bahwa mereka akan selamat dari serangan dari tentara Imagawa Yoshimoto itu. Hanya malam sebelumnya, Shibata Katsuie telah sia-sia berusaha mengubah pikiran Oda Nobunaga tentang serangan frontal, ia masih mengingatkan Nobunaga kurang lengkap tentara sendi tenaga kerja dibandingkan dengan tentara Imagawa, yang menurut rumor, nomor 40.000 orang [. rujukan?]

 Hayashi Sado tidak Hidesada Kami,

 penasehat yang tersisa dari hari Nobuhide, bahkan berpendapat untuk menyerah tanpa melawan, dengan menggunakan penalaran yang sama seperti Katsuie. [rujukan?]

Pramuka Nobunaga melaporkan bahwa Yoshimoto sedang beristirahat pasukannya di tempat yang bernama Dengaku-Hazama, dekat sebuah desa kecil bernama Okehazama. Nobunaga tahu pedesaan juga. Dengaku-Hazama adalah ngarai sempit, tempat yang ideal untuk serangan mendadak jika kondisi benar. Para pengintai menambahkan bahwa tentara Imagawa sedang merayakan kemenangan mereka dengan makanan dan minuman sementara Yoshimoto dilihat kepala. Nobunaga pindah ke arah kamp Imagawa, dan mengatur posisi agak jauh. Sebuah array bendera dan pasukan boneka yang terbuat dari jerami dan helm cadang memberi kesan dari sebuah host yang besar, sedangkan Oda nyata tentara bergegas bulat dalam unjuk cepat untuk pergi ke belakang kamp Yoshimoto itu. Fortune dan cuaca disukai Nobunaga, selama sekitar tengah hari panas menyesakkan berganti dengan badai hebat. Sebagai samurai Imagawa terlindung dari hujan Nobunaga mengerahkan tentara, dan ketika badai itu berhenti mereka dibebankan ke bawah di atas musuh di ngarai. Jadi tiba-tiba adalah serangan yang Yoshimoto pikir perkelahian pecah di antara anak buahnya. Dia menyadari itu serangan ketika dua samurai (Mori Shinsuke dan Hattori Koheita) [5] dibebankan sampai. Satu bertujuan tombak padanya, yang Yoshimoto dibelokkan dengan pedangnya, tapi yang kedua mengayunkan pedangnya dan memenggal kepala Imagawa itu. [Rujukan?]

Cepat melemah, klan Imagawa tidak lagi diberikan kontrol atas klan Matsudaira.

Pada 1561,

aliansi ditempa antara Oda Nobunaga dan Matsudaira Motoyasu (yang akan menjadi Tokugawa Ieyasu), meskipun permusuhan puluhan tahun antara kedua klan. Tradisi tanggal pertempuran ini sebagai waktu yang Nobunaga pertama kali melihat bakat pembawa sandal yang akhirnya akan menjadi Toyotomi Hideyoshi.

 Tenka FUBU
 

 

Patung Oda Nobunaga di Kiyosu Puri

Dalam Mino, Saito Yoshitatsu meninggal mendadak karena penyakit pada 1561,

 dan digantikan oleh putranya, Saito Tatsuoki.

Tatsuoki, bagaimanapun, masih muda dan kurang efektif sebagai penguasa dan strategi militer dibandingkan dengan ayah dan kakeknya. Mengambil keuntungan dari situasi ini, Nobunaga memindahkan markasnya ke Komaki Castle dan memulai kampanyenya di Mino.

Dengan meyakinkan pengikut Saito meninggalkan tuan mereka tidak kompeten dan bodoh, Nobunaga melemah klan Saito signifikan, akhirnya me-mount serangan terakhir pada tahun 1567. Nobunaga ditangkap Inabayama Castle dan dikirim Tatsuoki ke pengasingan.

Setelah mengambil kepemilikan benteng,

Nobunaga mengubah nama baik benteng dan kota sekitarnya untuk Gifu. Sisa-sisa tinggal Nobunaga di Gifu dapat ditemukan hari ini di Gifu Park. [6] Penamaan setelah Qi Gunung legendaris (岐山 Qi dalam Standar Cina) di Cina, di mana dinasti Zhou dimulai, Nobunaga mengungkapkan ambisinya untuk menaklukkan seluruh Jepang.

Dia juga mulai menggunakan segel pribadi baru yang berbunyi Tenka FUBU (天下 布 武), [7] yang berarti “Spread militerisme yang meliputi seluruh daerah itu”, atau secara harfiah “… di bawah langit” (lihat semua di bawah surga). Pada 1564, Nobunaga memiliki saudara perempuannya, Oichi, menikah Azai Nagamasa, seorang daimyo di Provinsi Omi utara. Hal ini nanti akan membantu membuka jalan ke Kyoto.

Pada 1568,

Ashikaga Yoshiaki pergi ke Gifu meminta Nobunaga untuk memulai kampanye menuju Kyoto. Yoshiaki adalah saudara shogun ketiga belas dibunuh dari Keshogunan Ashikaga, Yoshiteru, dan ingin membalas dendam terhadap para pembunuh yang sudah mendirikan shogun boneka, Ashikaga Yoshihide. Nobunaga setuju untuk menginstal Yoshiaki sebagai shogun baru dan, memegang kesempatan untuk memasuki Kyoto, mulai kampanyenya. Hambatan di selatan Provinsi Omi, bagaimanapun, adalah klan Rokkaku. Dipimpin oleh Rokkaku Yoshikata, klan menolak mengakui Yoshiaki sebagai shogun dan siap untuk pergi berperang. Sebagai tanggapan, Nobunaga meluncurkan serangan yang cepat, mendorong klan Rokkaku keluar dari istana mereka.

Dalam waktu singkat, Nobunaga telah mencapai Kyoto dan didorong klan Miyoshi luar kota.

Yoshiaki diangkat menjadi shogun ke-15 Keshogunan Ashikaga.

Nobunaga menolak jabatan Kanrei dan akhirnya mulai membatasi kekuasaan shogun, sehingga jelas bahwa ia bermaksud untuk menggunakan dia sebagai boneka untuk membenarkan penaklukan masa depannya. Yoshiaki, bagaimanapun, tidak senang tentang menjadi boneka dan diam-diam berhubungan dengan berbagai daimyo, penempaan aliansi anti-Nobunaga.

Klan Asakura terutama meremehkan kekuasaan klan Oda meningkat karena, secara historis, klan Oda telah bawahan klan Asakura. Selain itu, Asakura Yoshikage juga dilindungi Ashikaga Yoshiaki, tapi tidak bersedia untuk berbaris menuju Kyoto. Dengan demikian, klan Asakura juga dibenci Nobunaga yang paling untuk kesuksesannya.

Ketika Nobunaga meluncurkan kampanye ke domain klan Asakura itu, Azai Nagamasa, kepada siapa Oichi menikah, mematahkan aliansi dengan Oda untuk menghormati aliansi Azai-Asakura yang telah berlangsung selama beberapa generasi. Dengan bantuan pemberontak Ikko, anti-Nobunaga aliansi melompat ke dalam kekuatan penuh, mengambil korban di klan Oda. Pada Pertempuran Anegawa, Tokugawa Ieyasu bergabung dengan Nobunaga dan mengalahkan pasukan gabungan dari Asakura dan Azai klan.

Nobunaga berperang bahkan melawan umat Buddha ketika mereka mempersenjatai diri mereka dan tidak mematuhinya. Biara Enryaku-ji di Gunung. Hiei, dengan nya sōhei (prajurit biarawan) dari sekolah Tendai yang dibantu kelompok anti-Nobunaga dengan membantu Azai-Asakura aliansi, adalah duri tertentu di sisi Nobunaga, bertempat tinggal karena tidak begitu dekat dengan kediamannya di Kyoto. Nobunaga menyerang Enryaku-ji dan dibakar ke tanah di 1571, meskipun telah dikagumi sebagai simbol budaya yang signifikan pada saat itu, dan membunuh antara 3.000 dan 4.000 pria, wanita dan anak-anak dalam proses.

Selama pengepungan Nagashima,

Nobunaga menderita kerugian yang luar biasa, termasuk kematian beberapa saudara-saudaranya, untuk perlawanan Ikkō-Ikki, koalisi petani, para bhikkhu, pendeta Shinto dan bangsawan lokal yang menentang aturan samurai. Pengepungan itu akhirnya berakhir ketika Nobunaga mengepung kompleks musuh dan membakar itu, menewaskan puluhan ribu warga sipil, termasuk perempuan dan anak. Ia kemudian berhasil mengambil kubu utama mereka di Ishiyama Hongan-ji setelah pengepungan 11-tahun yang berakhir dengan penyerahan diri mereka.

Selama bertahun-tahun, Nobunaga bisa lebih mengkonsolidasikan posisinya dan menaklukkan musuh-musuhnya melalui kebrutalan.

Salah satu penguasa terkuat di anti-Nobunaga aliansi adalah Takeda Shingen,

meskipun hubungannya umumnya damai dan aliansi nominal dengan klan Oda.

Pada 1572,

 pada desakan shogun, Shingen memutuskan untuk membuat drive untuk modal awal dengan menyerang wilayah Tokugawa ini. Terikat di bagian depan Barat, Nobunaga mengirimkan bantuan bersemangat untuk Ieyasu, yang menderita kekalahan pada Pertempuran Mikatagahara pada tahun 1573.

 Namun, setelah pertempuran,

Pasukan Tokugawa meluncurkan serangan malam dan meyakinkan Takeda dari dekat serangan balik, sehingga menghemat Tokugawa rentan dengan menggertak.

Hal ini akan memainkan peran penting dalam filsafat Tokugawa tentang kesabaran strategis dalam kampanye dengan Oda Nobunaga. Tak lama kemudian, pasukan Takeda Shingen mundur setelah meninggal karena sakit pada tahun 1573.

Ini adalah bantuan bagi Nobunaga karena dia sekarang bisa fokus pada Yoshiaki, yang telah secara terbuka menyatakan permusuhan lebih dari sekali, meskipun intervensi istana kekaisaran itu. Nobunaga berhasil mengalahkan pasukan lemah Yoshiaki dan mengirim dia ke pengasingan, membawa Keshogunan Ashikaga berakhir pada tahun yang sama.

Juga pada tahun 1573,

 Nobunaga berhasil menghancurkan klan Azai dan Asakura, yang mengarah Azai Nagamasa untuk mengirim Oichi kembali ke Nobunaga dan bunuh diri. Dengan kehancuran Nagashima di 1574, ancaman hanya untuk Nobunaga adalah klan Takeda, sekarang dipimpin oleh Takeda Katsuyori.

Pada Pertempuran yang menentukan Nagashino, pasukan gabungan Nobunaga dan Tokugawa Ieyasu menghancurkan klan Takeda dengan penggunaan strategis arquebuses. Nobunaga kompensasi atas waktu yang memperlambat arquebus ‘reload dengan mengatur arquebusiers dalam tiga baris. Setelah setiap baris dipecat, itu akan menunduk dan kembali sebagai garis depan dipecat. Peluru mampu menembus baju besi kavaleri Takeda, menyebabkan kekacauan di antara kavaleri Takeda, yang mendorong kembali dan dibunuh oleh api yang masuk. Dari sana, Nobunaga melanjutkan ekspansi, mengirim Shibata Katsuie dan Maeda Toshiie di utara dan Akechi Mitsuhide untuk Provinsi Tamba.

 

 

Jepang sekitar 1582. Daerah di ungu menunjukkan daerah dikendalikan oleh Oda pada tahun 1560, dan wilayah abu-abu adalah wilayah Nobunaga dikendalikan pada saat kematiannya pada tahun 1582

Pengepungan klan Oda dari Ishiyama Hongan-ji di Osaka membuat beberapa kemajuan, tapi klan Mori dari wilayah Chugoku mematahkan blokade laut dan mulai mengirim pasokan ke kompleks sangat diperkaya melalui laut. Akibatnya, pada tahun 1577, Hashiba Hideyoshi diperintahkan untuk memperluas barat untuk menghadapi klan Mori.

Namun, Uesugi Kenshin,

dikatakan sebagai jenderal terbesar sepanjang masa sejak kematian Takeda Shingen, mengambil bagian dalam aliansi anti-Nobunaga kedua. Setelah menaklukkan pasukan tetangga, kedua belah pihak bentrok selama Pertempuran Tedorigawa yang menghasilkan kemenangan Uesugi menentukan. Saat itu sekitar waktu ini bahwa pasukan Uesugi mulai persiapan untuk berbaris di Kyoto.

Karena kekalahannya, ekspansi Nobunaga di Noto, Kaga, dan Etchū daerah Provinsi stagnan untuk sementara waktu. Tapi Kenshin, yang siap untuk memindahkan pasukannya lagi setelah pertempuran, meninggal karena pendarahan otak mungkin sebelum memindahkan mereka.

Setelah kematian Kenshin yang

 dan banyak kebingungan di kalangan penerusnya, Nobunaga memulai kampanyenya di daerah ini lagi.

Nobunaga memaksa Ishiyama Hongan-ji untuk menyerah pada tahun 1580 dan menghancurkan klan Takeda tahun 1582.

 Administrasi Nobunaga sedang pada puncaknya kekuasaan dan ia akan memulai invasi ke Echigo Propinsi dan Shikoku.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Insiden di Honnō-ji
Artikel utama: Insiden di Honnō-ji

 

 

Makam Oda Nobunaga di Gunung Koya, Wakayama Prefecture

Pada 1582,

 Mantan pembawa sandal Nobunaga Hashiba Hideyoshi menyerang Bichu Provinsi, mengepung Takamatsu Castle. Namun, benteng sangat penting untuk klan Mori, dan kehilangan itu akan meninggalkan domain rumah Mori rentan. Dipimpin oleh Mori Terumoto, bala bantuan tiba di luar Takamatsu Castle, dan kedua belah pihak terhenti. Hashiba meminta bala bantuan dari Nobunaga.

Hal ini sering berpendapat bahwa Hideyoshi tidak perlu bala bantuan, tapi meminta Nobunaga pula karena berbagai alasan. Sebagian percaya bahwa Hideyoshi, iri dan dibenci oleh sesama jenderal untuk peningkatan tajam dari seorang bujang rendah ke umum atas bawah Oda Nobunaga, ingin memberikan kredit untuk mengambil Takamatsu untuk Nobunaga sehingga untuk merendahkan diri di depan pengikut Oda lainnya.

Dalam hal apapun, Nobunaga memerintahkan Niwa Nagahide untuk mempersiapkan invasi Shikoku, dan Akechi Mitsuhide untuk membantu Hideyoshi. Dalam perjalanan ke wilayah Chugoku, Nobunaga tinggal di Honnō-ji, sebuah kuil di Kyoto. Sejak Nobunaga tidak akan mengharapkan sebuah serangan di tengah wilayahnya tegas dikendalikan, ia dijaga oleh hanya beberapa puluh pelayan pribadi dan pengawal.

 

 

Mitsuhide

 memilih waktu ini untuk mengambil satu unit buahnya dan cepat mengelilingi Honnō-ji saat mengirim unit lain pasukan Akechi untuk menyerang Istana Nijo, memulai kudeta penuh d’état. Pada Honnō-ji, rombongan kecil Nobunaga segera kewalahan dan sebagai pasukan Akechi ditutup pada Candi pembakaran dimana Nobunaga telah berada, ia memutuskan untuk melakukan seppuku di salah satu ruangan bagian dalam. [8]

Putra Nobunaga meninggal

 dalam pertempuran sebelum Bait Allah, dan hanya halaman muda Nobunaga, Mori Ranmaru, tetap di sisi majikannya. Halaman yang muda telah melayani Nobunaga selama bertahun-tahun, dan masih dalam usia remaja pada saat serangan itu. Ranmaru loyalitas dan pengabdian kepada tuannya secara luas dikenal dan dipuji selama periode Edo. Dia hadir untuk Nobunaga ia mencari momen perdamaian untuk melaksanakan tindakan terakhirnya, kemudian Ranmaru juga bunuh diri dengan cara yang sama.

Penyebab pengkhianatan Mitsuhide telah aktif diperdebatkan selama berabad-abad. Telah diusulkan bahwa Mitsuhide mungkin pernah mendengar desas-desus bahwa Nobunaga akan mentransfer perdikan Mitsuhide untuk halaman, Mori Ranmaru, dengan siapa Nobunaga diduga telah berada dalam hubungan homoseksual ritual, suatu bentuk patronase, yang dikenal sebagai shudō [9]. motif lainnya termasuk balas dendam atas penghinaan banyak Nobunaga dan pengobatan mengejek dari Mitsuhide, atau kecemburuan Mitsuhide sebagai Nobunaga telah menunjukkan kebaikan yang lebih besar ke arah lain pengikut, Hashiba Hideyoshi.

Hanya sebelas hari setelah kudeta di Honnō-ji, Mitsuhide terbunuh di

Pertempuran Yamazaki

dan pasukannya dikalahkan oleh Hashiba Hideyoshi, yang akhirnya menjadi pewaris warisan Nobunaga. Dia lebih dikenal sebagai Toyotomi Hideyoshi. Pada saat kematian Nobunaga, dia mengendalikan lebih dari setengah provinsi di Jepang. Sebagian besar propinsi berada di wilayah Kyoto.

 

 

Nobunaga, Hideyoshi dan Ieyasu
Toyotomi Hideyoshi, yang bersatu Jepang pada 1590, dan Tokugawa Ieyasu, yang mendirikan Keshogunan Tokugawa pada tahun 1603, adalah pengikut setia Nobunaga. Kedua orang berbakat dengan prestasi sebelumnya Nobunaga di mana mereka bisa membangun Jepang bersatu. Ada pepatah: “Nobunaga pound kue beras nasional, Hideyoshi kneads, dan pada akhirnya Ieyasu duduk dan memakannya.” [10]

Hideyoshi dibesarkan dari petani tak bernama menjadi salah satu jenderal top Nobunaga. Ketika ia menjadi menteri besar di 1586, dia menciptakan hukum bahwa kasta samurai menjadi dikodifikasikan sebagai permanen dan diwariskan, dan non-samurai dilarang membawa senjata, dengan demikian mengakhiri mobilitas sosial dari Jepang dari yang dia sendiri manfaatnya. Pembatasan ini berlangsung sampai pembubaran Keshogunan Edo oleh kaum revolusioner Restorasi Meiji. Hideyoshi dijamin klaimnya sebagai penerus sah dari Nobunaga dengan mengalahkan Akechi Mitsuhide dalam waktu satu bulan kematian Nobunaga.

Penting untuk dicatat bahwa perbedaan antara samurai dan non-samurai itu begitu jelas bahwa selama abad 16, kebanyakan orang dewasa jantan di setiap kelas sosial (bahkan petani kecil) milik setidaknya satu organisasi militer mereka sendiri dan bertugas di perang sebelum dan selama pemerintahan Hideyoshi. Dapat dikatakan bahwa “semua melawan semua” situasi berlangsung selama satu abad. Keluarga samurai yang berwenang setelah abad ke-17 adalah mereka yang memilih untuk mengikuti Nobunaga, Hideyoshi dan Ieyasu. Pertempuran besar terjadi selama perubahan antara rezim dan sejumlah samurai kalah hancur, menjadi ronin atau diserap ke masyarakat umum.

Ieyasu telah berbagi masa kecilnya dengan Nobunaga sebagai sandera dari klan Oda. Meskipun ada sejumlah pertempuran antara Ieyasu dan klan Oda, Ieyasu akhirnya beralih pihak dan menjadi salah satu sekutu terkuat Nobunaga.

Kebijakan
Secara militer, visi revolusioner Nobunaga tidak hanya mengubah cara perang berjuang di Jepang, tetapi juga pada gilirannya membuat salah satu kekuatan yang paling modern di dunia pada saat itu. [Rujukan?] Ia dikembangkan, diimplementasikan, dan memperluas penggunaan tombak panjang , senjata api dan benteng kastil sesuai dengan pertempuran massa diperluas periode. Senjata api yang diperkenalkan oleh Portugis, telah mengizinkan pembentukan brigade senjata api dalam tentara. Setelah dua pabrik senapan penting di Sakai City dan Omi provinsi ditaklukkan, itu memberi senjata Nobunaga unggul atas musuh-musuhnya. Nobunaga juga menerapkan sistem prajurit kelas khusus dan diangkat pengikut dan subyek untuk posisi berdasarkan kemampuan, tidak sepenuhnya berdasarkan nama, pangkat, atau hubungan keluarga seperti dalam periode sebelumnya. Pengikut juga diberikan tanah berdasarkan produksi beras, bukan ukuran tanah. Sistem organisasi Nobunaga khususnya kemudian digunakan secara luas dan dikembangkan oleh sekutunya Tokugawa Ieyasu dalam pembentukan Keshogunan Tokugawa di Edo.

Dominasi Nobunaga dan kecemerlangan tidak terbatas ke medan perang, karena ia juga adalah seorang pebisnis yang tajam dan memahami prinsip-prinsip ekonomi mikro dan ekonomi makro. Pertama, untuk memodernisasi ekonomi dari basis pertanian ke manufaktur dan basis layanan, kota benteng dikembangkan sebagai pusat dan dasar ekonomi lokal. [Rujukan?] Jalan juga dilakukan dalam domain di antara kota-kota benteng untuk tidak hanya memfasilitasi perdagangan, tetapi juga untuk memindahkan tentara jarak yang jauh di timespans pendek. Perdagangan internasional juga berkembang di luar Cina dan semenanjung Korea, sementara nanban (selatan barbar) perdagangan dengan Eropa, Filipina, Siam, dan Indonesia juga dimulai.

Nobunaga juga melembagakan rakuichi rakuza (楽 市 楽 座?) Kebijakan sebagai cara untuk merangsang bisnis dan perekonomian secara keseluruhan melalui penggunaan sistem pasar bebas. [6] Kebijakan ini dihapuskan dan dilarang monopoli dan membuka serikat sekali tertutup dan istimewa, asosiasi, dan guild, yang ia lihat sebagai hambatan dalam perdagangan. Meskipun kebijakan ini memberikan dorongan besar terhadap perekonomian, masih sangat tergantung pada dukungan daimyos ‘. Salinan pernyataan aslinya dapat ditemukan di Entoku-ji di kota Gifu [6]. Ia juga mengembangkan pembebasan pajak dan hukum yang didirikan untuk mengatur dan mengurangi pinjaman utang.

 Budaya
Sebagai Nobunaga menaklukkan Jepang dan mengumpulkan sejumlah besar kekayaan, ia semakin mendukung seni yang ia selalu memiliki minat, tetapi yang belakangan dan secara bertahap lebih penting digunakan sebagai tampilan dari kekuasaan dan prestise. Dia membangun taman yang luas dan istana yang adalah merupakan karya besar seni. Azuchi Castle pada tepi Danau Biwa dikatakan telah menjadi benteng terbesar dalam sejarah Jepang, ditutupi dengan emas dan patung-patung di bagian luar dan dihiasi dengan layar berdiri, pintu geser, dinding, dan lukisan langit-langit yang dibuat oleh nya subjek Kano Eitoku di dalam. Selama ini, subjek Nobunaga dan teh tuan Sen tidak Rikyu didirikan upacara minum teh Jepang yang dipopulerkan Nobunaga dan awalnya digunakan sebagai cara untuk berbicara politik dan bisnis. Pada awal dari kabuki modern yang dimulai dan kemudian berkembang penuh di awal periode Edo.

Selain itu, Nobunaga sangat tertarik pada kebudayaan Eropa yang masih sangat baru ke Jepang. Dia mengumpulkan potongan-potongan seni Barat serta senjata dan armor, dan ia dianggap menjadi salah satu orang Jepang pertama yang tercatat dalam sejarah memakai pakaian Eropa. Ia juga menjadi pelindung dari misionaris Yesuit di Jepang dan mendukung pendirian gereja Kristen pertama di Kyoto pada 1576, [11] meskipun dia tidak pernah menjadi Kristen. Dalam kunjungan oleh Yesuit Maret 1581, bunga Nobunaga telah terusik oleh seorang budak dalam pelayanan inspektur Jesuit misi, dan itu meminta agar ia dibiarkan dalam pelayanan Nobunaga. Ini budak, kemudian disebut dengan nama Yasuke Jepang, yang sangat disukai oleh Nobunaga dan berjuang dalam pertempuran terakhir di Honnō-ji. Selama waktu itu, penganiayaan terhadap umat Buddha didorong terutama dengan memisahkan politik dari agama. Meskipun tidak sepenuhnya menyadari bawah kekuasaan Nobunaga, ia mencoba untuk membuat otoritas, publik politik rasional. Konsep dibesarkan selama perubahan ini memiliki potensi untuk secara radikal mengubah masyarakat di Jepang. Ide-ide baru yang tampil ke muka entah dimasukkan ke dalam wacana umum tanpa mengubahnya secara mendasar, dibangun di atas di lain waktu, atau membuka pilihan baru di era Tokugawa yang kemudian memperluas.

 Warisan
Nobunaga dikenang di Jepang sebagai salah satu tokoh paling brutal dari periode Sengoku. Nobunaga adalah yang pertama dari tiga pemersatu selama periode Sengoku. Ini pemersatu adalah (dalam rangka) Oda Nobunaga, Toyotomi Hideyoshi (juga disebut Hashiba Hideyoshi atas) dan Tokugawa Ieyasu. Oda Nobunaga adalah baik pada cara untuk penaklukan lengkap dan penyatuan Jepang ketika Akechi Mitsuhide, salah satu jenderalnya, Nobunaga terpaksa melakukan bunuh diri ke dalam Honnō-ji di Kyoto. Akechi kemudian mulai menyatakan dirinya tuan atas domain Nobunaga, tapi dengan cepat dikalahkan oleh Hideyoshi.

 Keluarga
 

 

Para mon kupu-kupu dari Taira yang disebut Ageha-cho (扬 羽 蝶) dalam bahasa Jepang

Tergantung pada sumber, Oda Nobunaga Oda dan seluruh klan adalah keturunan dari salah satu klan Fujiwara atau klan Taira (khususnya, cabang Taira no Shigemori ini). Garis keturunannya dapat langsung dilacak besar-kakek buyutnya, Oda Hisanaga, yang diikuti oleh Oda Toshisada, Oda Nobusada, Oda Nobunaga Nobuhide dan dirinya sendiri.

 Segera keluarga
Nobunaga adalah anak sah sulung Nobuhide,

seorang panglima perang kecil dari Owari Provinsi, dan Tsuchida Gozen, yang juga ibu untuk tiga saudara-saudaranya (Nobuyuki, Nobukane dan Hidetaka) dan dua saudara perempuannya (Oinu dan Oichi). Saudara-saudaranya terdaftar sebagai berikut:

Oda Nobuhiro (kakak laki-laki tidak sah)
Oda Nobuyuki
Oda Nobukane
Oda Nobuharu
Oda Nobutoki
Oda Nobuoki
Oda Hidetaka
Oda Hidenari
Oda Nobuteru
Oda Nagamasu
Oda Nagatoshi
Keturunan
Nobunaga menikah Nōhime,

putri Saito Dōsan, sebagai masalah strategi politik; [1] Namun, ia tidak melahirkan baginya anak-anak dan dianggap mandul. Ini adalah miliknya selir Kitsuno dan Lady Saka yang mengandung dia anak-anaknya. Itu Kitsuno yang melahirkan putra tertua Nobunaga, Nobutada. Putra Nobutada itu, Oda Hidenobu, menjadi penguasa klan Oda setelah kematian Nobunaga dan Nobutada.

Sons
Oda Nobutada (1557-1582)
Oda Nobukatsu (1558-1630)
Oda Nobutaka (1558-1583)
Hashiba Hidekatsu (1567-1585)
Oda Katsunaga (meninggal 1582)
Oda Nobuhide (1571-1596)
Oda Nobutaka (1576-1602)
Oda Nobuyoshi (1573-1615)
Oda Nobusada (1574-1624)
Oda Nobuyoshi (meninggal 1609)
Oda Nagatsugu (meninggal 1600)
Oda Nobumasa (1554-1647, anak haram)
Putri
Tokuhime (1559-1636), menikah Matsudaira Nobuyasu
Fuyuhime (1561-1641), menikah Gamo Ujisato
Hideko (meninggal 1632), menikah Tsutsui Sadatsugu
Eihime (1574-1623), menikah Maeda Toshinaga
Hōonin, menikah Niwa Nagashige
Sannomarudono (meninggal 1603), gundik Toyotomi Hideyoshi, menikah Nijo Akizane
Tsuruhime, menikah Nakagawa Hidemasa
 Lain kerabat
Salah satu saudara Nobunaga muda, Oichi,

melahirkan tiga anak perempuan. Ketiga keponakan dari Nobunaga menjadi terlibat dengan tokoh-tokoh sejarah penting. Chacha (juga dikenal sebagai Lady Yodo), yang tertua, menjadi nyonya Toyotomi Hideyoshi. O-Hatsu menikah Kyōgoku Takatsugu. Yang termuda, O-go, menikah dengan putra Tokugawa Ieyasu, Tokugawa Hidetada (shogun kedua dari Keshogunan Tokugawa). O-go putri Senhime menikah sepupunya Toyotomi Hideyori, putra Lady Yodo itu.

Keponakan Nobunaga adalah Tsuda Nobusumi, anak Nobuyuki. Nobusumi menikahi putri Akechi Mitsuhide, dan tewas setelah Insiden di Honnō-ji oleh putra ketiga Nobunaga, Nobutaka, yang mencurigainya terlibat dalam plot.

Kemudian keturunan
Nobunari Oda,

skater sosok kompetitif di Jepang, adalah keturunan langsung 17 Nobunaga [12]. [13] Mantan biksu Jepang selebriti Mudo Oda juga mengklaim keturunan dari panglima perang periode Sengoku, tapi klaim belum diverifikasi.

 Dalam budaya populer
 

 

Menutupi Ambisi tahun 1993 video game Nobunaga

Oda Nobunaga sering muncul dalam fiksi dan terus digambarkan dalam banyak lainnya, manga video game anime, dan film sinematik. Banyak penggambaran menunjukkan dia sebagai penjahat atau bahkan iblis di alam, meskipun beberapa menggambarkan dia dalam cahaya yang lebih positif.

Jenis yang terakhir karya termasuk Akira Kurosawa Film Kagemusha, yang menggambarkan Nobunaga sebagai energik, atletik dan menghormati musuh-musuhnya. Para Goemon Film menggambarkan dia sebagai mentor suci dari Ishikawa Goemon. Nobunaga adalah karakter sentral dalam sejarah baru Eiji Yoshikawa Taiko Ki, di mana dia adalah tegas tapi baik hati tuan. Nobunaga juga merupakan karakter yang baik dalam buku Samurai Cat pertama. Nobunaga digambarkan dalam cahaya yang heroik dalam video game Kessen III, [14] Ninja Gaiden II, [15] dan seri Warriors Orochi. [14]

Sebaliknya, novel dan anime seri Yōtōden menggambarkan Nobunaga sebagai setan harfiah menyamar sebagai seorang panglima perang kekuatan-gila. Dalam Kisah Para Samurai oleh Erik Kristen Haugaard, ia digambarkan sebagai antagonis “dikenal karena kekejaman tanpa ampun-Nya”. [16] Dia digambarkan sebagai jahat atau megalomaniacal dalam Samurai anime / manga Deeper Kyo dan Flame of Recca. Nobunaga digambarkan sebagai jahat, jahat, haus darah, dan / atau setan dalam video game: Ninja Master, Sengoku, Inindo: Jalan Ninja, Atlantica Online, Sengoku Basara (dan anime), [17] [18] dan dua video game seri Onimusha [19] dan Samurai Warriors [14].

Ada juga berbagai contoh perannya dalam kerangka yang lebih netral atau bersejarah, terutama di drama Taiga ditampilkan pada televisi di Jepang. Oda Nobunaga muncul dalam Tail manga Bulan, Kacchu tidak Gamu Senshi, dan fiksi sejarah Tsuji Kunio, The Signore: Shogun dari Negara Perang. Representasi sejarah dalam permainan video meliputi: Ambisi Nobunaga: Iron Triangle, Shogun: Total War dan Total War: Shogun 2, Tahta of Darkness dan seri Ambisi Nobunaga yang eponymous, juga sebagai Peradaban V dan Age of Empires II: penakluk.

Ada juga penggambaran lebih fiktif, di mana sosok Nobunaga mempengaruhi cerita atau mengilhami sebuah karakterisasi. Dalam James Clavell novel Shogun, para Goroda karakter adalah bunga rampai dari Nobunaga. Dalam film Sengoku Jieitai 1549 Nobunaga dibunuh oleh waktu wisatawan. Nobunaga adalah inspirasi untuk penokohan di manga Tenka Muso dan Evolusi Gadis Sempurna. Nobunaga juga muncul sebagai karakter utama di dalam Sengoku Rance eroge. Dalam anime Sengoku Otome: Momoiro Paradox ia bahkan digambarkan sebagai karakter perempuan.

Kamenashi Kazuya dari grup pop Jepang KAT-TUN menulis dan melakukan lagu berjudul “1582” yang diduga ditulis dari perspektif Mori Ranmaru di Insiden di Honnouji. [20]

Lihat juga
Oda klan
Toyotomi Hideyoshi
Catatan
^ A b c d e Oda Nobunaga. Samurai Wiki. Diakses pada 15 Desember 2007.
^ B Jansen, Marius (2000). Pembuatan modern Jepang, hal. 11.
^ Okanoya, Shigezane (2007) [Terjemahan berdasarkan edisi 1943 yang diterbitkan oleh Iwanami Shoten, Jepang. Pertama kali diterbitkan pada tahun 1871].. Dykstra, Andrew; Dykstra, Yoshiko. eds (PDF). Meishōgenkōroku [Shogun dan Samurai – Kisah Nobunaga, Hideyoshi, dan Ieyasu]. diterjemahkan oleh Andrew dan Yoshiko Dykstra dari Jepang asli. http://scholarspace.manoa.hawaii.edu/handle/10125/309. Diperoleh 2010-07-21. Kisah 3 – Penampilan Luar Biasa-Nya
^ Takeuchi, Rizō. (1985). Nihonshi shōjiten, hal. 233.
^ “1560: The Badai Musim Semi,” Geocities.com.
^ A b c Gifu Kota Berjalan Peta. Kota Gifu Lincah Perusahaan Umum, 2007.
^ Gifu Castle. Oumi-castle.net. Diakses pada 5 Maret 2007.
^ Beasley, W. G. (31 Agustus, 2000). “The pemersatu”. Pengalaman Jepang: Sejarah Singkat Jepang. University of California Press. hal. 123. ISBN 978-0-520-22560-2.
^ Koike, Togoro (1963). Koshoku monogatari. Kamakura insatsu. pp 184-85.
^ Ditemukan di: Duiker, William J.; Jackson J. Spielvogel (2006). Dunia Sejarah, Volume II. Kenyamanan. hlm 463, 474. ISBN 0495050547. http://books.google.co.jp/books?id=ZWTBUX10gaQC. , Dikaitkan dengan C.Nakane dan S.Oishi, eds., Tokugawa Jepang (Tokyo, 1990), hal.14.

hal. ix.

Referensi

Cambridge: Harvard University Press.

 
Toyotomi Hideyoshi
Toyotomi Hideyoshi
 
  

 

 
Di kantor

 

 Ōgimachi
Go-Yōzei
 
Didahului oleh
 
 

 
 

 
Di kantor

 

 Go-Yōzei
 
Didahului oleh
 
 

 
 
Pribadi rincian
 
Lahir
 

 
Meninggal
 

 
Kebangsaan
 Jepang
 

 

 

 

 Kehidupan awal

 
 

 

 

 

 

 

Jepang sekitar 1582

 

 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

“
 
 “
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Catatan
(2005).
hal. 68.
8
38
179
54
74
78
64

83
84

208

(2000). 23.

(2003).

(1985). 27.

(1943). Jepang.
 Referensi
(1982). Cambridge: Harvard University Press.
Cambridge: Harvard University Press.
(2005). Cambridge: Harvard University Press.
 

 

 
Pribadi rincian
 
Lahir
 

 
Meninggal
 

 
Hubungan
 Ayah:

Ibu:

 
Anak-anak
 

Lainnya
 

 

[Sunting] Biografi

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Pada tahun 1592,

Pada tahun 1598,

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Lihat juga

Catatan

(2006).

164.

187
405.
409.
hal. 28

344.
418.
 Referensi

(1974). New Haven: Yale University Press.
(1991). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
(2008).
Berkeley: University of California Press.

Stanford: Stanford University Press.
(2006). Jakarta: RoutledgeCurzon.

(1967). Cambridge: Harvard University Press.

 

 

 

original info

 

Feudal Japan (12th – 19th century)

The “feudal” period of Japanese history, dominated by the powerful regional families (daimyo) and the military rule of warlords (shogun), stretched from the 12th through the 19th centuries. The Emperor remained but was mostly kept to a de jure figurehead ruling position. This time is usually divided into periods following the reigning family of the shogun.

 

Kamakura Period (1185­1333)

The Kamakura Period, 1185 to 1333, is a period that marks the governance of the Kamakura shogunate and the transition to the Japanese “medieval” era, a nearly 700-year period in which the emperor, the court, and the traditional central government were left intact but were largely relegated to ceremonial functions. Civil, military, and judicial matters were controlled by the bushi (samurai) class, the most powerful of whom was the de facto national ruler, the shogun. This period in Japan differed from the old shoen system in its pervasive military emphasis.

In 1185, Minamoto no Yoritomo defeated the rival Taira clan, and in 1192, Yoritomo was appointed Seii Tai-Shogun by the emperor; he established a base of power in Kamakura. Yoritomo ruled as the first in a line of Kamakura shoguns. However, after Yoritomo’s death, another warrior clan, the Hojo, came to rule as regents for the shoguns.

A traumatic event of the period was the Mongol invasions of Japan between 1272 and 1281, in which massive Mongol forces with superior naval technology and weaponry attempted a full-scale invasion of the Japanese islands. A famous typhoon referred to as kamikaze, translating as divine wind in Japanese, is credited with devastating both Mongol invasion forces, although some scholars assert that the defensive measures the Japanese built on the island of Kyushu may have been adequate to repel the invaders. Although the Japanese were successful in stopping the Mongols, the invasion attempt had devastating domestic repercussions, leading to the extinction of the Kamakura shogunate.

The Kamakura period ended in 1333 with the destruction of the shogunate and the short reestablishment of imperial rule (the Kenmu restoration) under the Emperor Go-Daigo by Ashikaga Takauji, Nitta Yoshisada, and Kusunoki Masashige.

Thus, the “Japanese Middle Ages”, which also include the Muromachi period and lasted until the Meiji Restoration, started with the Kamakura period.

 

Kenmu Restoration (1333-1336)

The Kenmu Restoration and the dual dynasties

The Kenmu(or Kemmu) restoration is the three year period of Japanese history between the Kamakura period and the Muromachi period and the political events that took place in it. The restoration was an effort made by Emperor Go-Daigo to bring the Imperial House and the nobility it represented back into power, thus restoring a civilian government after almost a century and a half of military rule.

The attempted restoration ultimately failed and was replaced by the Ashikaga shogunate (1336 – 1575). This was to be the last time the Emperor had any power until the Meiji restoration of 1867. The many and serious political errors made by the Imperial House during this three year period were to have important repercussions in the following decades and end with the rise of the Ashikaga dynasty.

 

Muromachi Period (1336-1573)The Muromachi Periodis a division of Japanese history running from approximately 1336 to 1573. The period marks the governance of the Ashikaga shogunate, also called Muromachi shogunate, which was officially established in 1336 by the first Muromachi shogun Ashikaga Takauji, who seized political power from Emperor Go-Daigo, ending the Kemmu restoration. The period ended in 1573 when the 15th and last shogun Ashikaga Yoshiaki was driven out of the capital in Kyoto by Oda Nobunaga.

The early years of 1336 to 1392 of the Muromachi period is also known as the Nanboku-cho or Northern and Southern Court period, as the Imperial court was split in two.

The later years of 1467 to the end of the Muromachi period is also known as the Sengoku period, the “Warring States period”, a time of intense internal warfare, and corresponds with the period of the first contacts with the West, with the arrival of Portuguese “Nanban” traders.

In 1543, a Portuguese ship, blown off its course to China, landed on Tanegashima Island Japan. Firearms introduced by Portuguese would bring the major innovation to Sengoku period culminating in the Battle of Nagashino where reportedly 3,000 arquebuses (the actual number is believed to be around 2,000) cut down charging ranks of samurai. During the following years, traders from Portugal, the Netherlands, England, and Spain arrived, as did Jesuit, Dominican, and Franciscan missionaries.

 

The Nanboku-cho period (“South and North courts period”, also known as the Northern and Southern Courts period), spanning from 1336 to 1392, was a period that occurred during the formative years of the Muromachi bakufu of Japan’s history. During this period, there existed a Northern Imperial Court, established by Ashikaga Takauji in Kyoto, and a Southern Imperial Court, established by Emperor Go-Daigo in Yoshino.

Ideologically, the two courts fought for fifty years, with the South giving up to the North in 1392. However, in reality the Northern line was under the power of the Ashikaga shoguns and had little real independence. Partly because of this, since the 19th century, the Emperors of the Southern Imperial Court have been considered the legitimate Emperors of Japan. Also the Southern Court controlled the Japanese imperial regalia, and Kitabatake Chikafusa’s Jinno Shotoki legitimized the South’s imperial rule despite their defeat. The effects of this period are still influential in Modern Japan’s view of the tenno seika (Emperor system).

The destruction of the Kamakura shogunate and the failure of the Kemmu Restoration opened up a crisis in ideological legitimacy. Furthermore, institutional changes in the estate system (shoen) that formed the bedrock of the income of nobles and warriors alike altered the status of social groups decisively. What emerged out of the exigencies of the Nanboku-cho (Southern and Northern Court) War was the Muromachi regime that broadened the economic base of the warriors, further undercutting the noble proprietors, a trend that had started with the Kamakura bakufu.

 

Sengoku PeriodThe Warring States period was a time of social upheaval, political intrigue, and nearly constant military conflict in Japan that lasted roughly from the middle of the 15th century to the beginning of the 17th century.

Although the Ashikaga shogunate had retained the structure of the Kamakura bakufu and instituted a warrior government based on the same social economic rights and obligations established by the Hojo with the Joei Code in 1232, it failed to win the loyalty of many daimyo, especially those whose domains were far from Kyoto.

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, suffering and misery caused by natural disasters such as earthquakes and famines often served to trigger armed uprisings by farmers weary of debt and taxes.

The Sengoku period is best understood by comparison to the “Dark Ages” of Europe; which was a transition period transferring power from Rome to what would become the kings of Europe. In Japan it was a decentralization of the Japanese government from Kyoto to the many daimyo that would come to power during this period of unrest.

The Onin 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-jidai. The “eastern” army of the Hosokawa family and its allies clashed with the “western” army of the Yamana, and fighting in and around Kyoto lasted for nearly 11 years, after which it spread to outlying provinces

 

Azuchi-Momoyama Period (1568-1603)The Azuchi-Momoyama Periodruns from approximately 1568 to 1600. The period marks the military reunification and stabilization of the country under a single political ruler, first by the campaigns of Oda Nobunaga who almost united Japan, achieved later by one of his generals, Toyotomi Hideyoshi. The name Azuchi-Momoyama comes from the names of their respective castles, Azuchi Castle and Momoyama castle.

After having united Japan, Hideyoshi invaded Korea in an attempt to conquer Korea, China, and even India. However, after two unsuccessful campaigns toward the allied forces of Korea and China and his death, his forces retreated from the Korean peninsula in 1598.

The short period of succession conflict to Hideyoshi was ended when Tokugawa Ieyasu, one of the regents for Hideyoshi’s young heir, emerged victorious at the Battle of Sekigahara and seized political power.

 

Nanban TradeThe Nanban trade– “Southern barbarian trade” or the Nanban trade period Nanban boeki jidai, “Southern barbarian trade period” in Japanese history extends from the arrival of the first Europeans to Japan in 1543, to their near-total exclusion from the archipelago in 1641, under the promulgation of the “Sakoku” Seclusion Edicts.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Azuchi-Momoyama Period

Azuchi-Momoyama period covers the years from 1568 to 1600.

 

 During these years, different parts of Japan became again united. Its military power grew.

 In 1592,

Japan wanted to conquer China. At that time China was ruled by the Ming dynasty.

 At that time

 Toyotomi Hideyoshi

 was one of the main leaders of Japan. He sent an army of 160,000 troops to Korea. But, the Japanese could not win and returned to Japan.

 In 1597,

Japan again sent an army to Korea.

In 1598

Toyotomi Hideyoshi died. After his death, the Japanese dropped the idea of conquering Korea and China.

During this period, Japanese brought many Koreans to Japan. These Koreans were very good at making pottery and at other arts. Some of them were very learned persons. Japan gained new information and knowledge from these Koreans

 

Azuchi–Momoyama period

 

Azuchi-Momoyama period 日本国 Nippon-koku
←   ←   ← 1568–1600 →
Mon
Capital	Azuchi (1568-1582) Kyoto (1582-1600)
Language(s)	Late Middle Japanese
Government	Feudal military confederation
Emperor
– 1557-1586	Ōgimachi
– 1586-1611	Go-Yōzei
Shogun
– 1568-1573	Ashikaga Yoshiaki
Head of government
– 1568-1582	Oda Nobunaga
– 1598-1600	Ishida Mitsunari
Legislature	Council of Five Elders
History
– Oda Nobunaga captures Kyoto	October 18, 1568
– Ashikaga shogunate abolished	September 2, 1573
– Battle of Nagashino	June 28, 1575
– Assassination of Oda Nobunaga	June 21, 1582
– Toyotomi–Tokugawa alliance formed	1584
– Battle of Sekigahara	October 21, 1600
Currency	Mon

 

 

 

 

 

The Azuchi-Momoyama period

(安土桃山時代, Azuchi-Momoyama jidai^?)

came at the end of the Warring States Period in Japan,

when the political unification that preceded the establishment of the Tokugawa shogunate took place. It spans the years from approximately 1573 to 1603, during which time Oda Nobunaga and his successor, Toyotomi Hideyoshi, imposed order upon the chaos that had pervaded since the collapse of the Ashikaga Shogunate. The name of this period is taken from Nobunaga’s castle, Azuchi Castle, in the present-day town of Azuchi, Shiga Prefecture and Hideyoshi’s castle, Momoyama Castle (also known as Fushimi Castle), in Kyoto.^[1]

Although a start date of 1573 is often given,

in more broad terms, this period begins with Nobunaga’s entry into Kyoto in 1568, when he led his army to the imperial capital in order to install Ashikaga Yoshiaki as the 15th, and ultimately final, shogun of the Ashikaga shogunate, and lasts until the coming to power of Tokugawa Ieyasu after his victory over supporters of the Toyotomi clan at the Battle of Sekigahara in 1600.^[2] [edit] Rise and fall of Oda Nobunaga

During the last half of the 16th century,

a number of different daimyo became strong enough either to manipulate the Muromachi bakufu to their own advantage or to overthrow it altogether. One attempt to overthrow the bakufu was made in 1560 by Imagawa Yoshimoto, whose march towards the capital came to an ignominious end at the hands of Oda Nobunaga in the Battle of Okehazama.

 In 1562,

The Tokugawa clan who was adjacent to the east of Nobunaga’s territory became independent of the Imagawa clan, and allied with Nobunaga. The eastern part of the territory of Nobunaga was not invaded by this alliance. And, he moves the army to the west.

 

 In 1565,

 an alliance of the Matsunaga and Miyoshi clans attempted a coup by assassinating Ashikaga Yoshiteru, the 13th Ashikaga shogun. Internal squabbling, however, prevented them from acting swiftly to legitimatize their claim to power, and it was not until 1568 that they managed to install Yoshiteru’s cousin, Ashikaga Yoshihide, as the next Shogun. Failure to enter Kyoto and gain recognition from the imperial court, however, had left the succession in doubt, and a group of bakufu retainers led by Hosokawa Fujitaka negotiated with Nobunaga to gain support for Yoshiteru’s younger brother, Yoshiaki.^{[citation needed]}

Nobunaga,

 who had prepared over a period of years for just such an opportunity by establishing an alliance with the Azai clan in northern Ōmi Province and then conquering the neighboring province of Mino Province, now marched toward Kyoto. After routing the Rokkaku clan in southern Omi, Nobunaga forced the Matsunaga to capitulate and the Miyoshi to withdraw to Settsu. He then entered the capital, where he successfully gained recognition from the emperor for Yoshiaki, who became the 15th Ashikaga shogun.^{[citation needed]}

Nobunaga had no intention, however, of serving the Muromachi bakufu, and instead now turned his attention to tightening his grip on the Kinai region. Resistance in the form of rival daimyo, intransigent Buddhist monks, and hostile merchants was eliminated swiftly and mercilessly, and Nobunaga quickly gained a reputation as a ruthless, unrelenting adversary. In support of his political and military moves, he instituted economic reform, removing barriers to commerce by invalidating traditional monopolies held by shrines and guilds and promoting initiative by instituting free markets known as rakuichi-rakuza.^{[citation needed]}

By 1573

 he had destroyed the alliance of Asakura clan and Azai clans that threatened his northern flank, obliterated the militant Tendai Buddhists monastic center at Mount Hiei near Kyoto, and also had managed to avoid a potentially debilitating confrontation with Takeda Shingen, who had suddenly taken ill and died just as his army was on the verge of defeating the Tokugawa and invading Oda’s domain on its way to Kyoto.^{[citation needed]}

Even after Shingen’s death, there remained several daimyo powerful enough to resist Nobunaga, but none were situated close enough to Kyoto to pose a threat politically, and it appeared that unification under the Oda banner was a matter of time.^{[citation needed]}

Nobunaga’s enemies were not only other Sengoku daimyō but also adherents of a Jōdo Shinshu sect of Buddhism who attended Ikkō-ikki. Their leader was Kennyo. He endured though Nobunaga kept attacking his fortress for ten years. Nobunaga expelled Kennyo in the eleventh year, but, by a riot caused by Kennyo, Nobunaga’s territory took the big damage. This long war was called Ishiyama Hongan-ji War.^{[citation needed]}

To suppress the Buddhism, Nobunaga supported Christianity. A lot of cultures were introduced to Japan by missionaries from Europe. From these cultures Japan received new foods, a new drawing method, astronomy, geography, medical science, and a printing technique.^{[citation needed]}

 

 

 

 

Japan around 1582

During the period from 1576 to 1579,

Nobunaga constructed on the shore of Lake Biwa at Azuchi (in present-day Shiga Prefecture) Azuchi Castle, a magnificent seven-story castle that was intended to serve not simply as an impregnable military fortification but also as a sumptuous residence that would stand as a symbol of unification.^{[citation needed]}

Having secured his grip on the Kinai region, Nobunaga was now powerful enough to assign his generals the task of subjugating the outlying provinces. Shibata Katsuie was given the task of conquering the Uesugi clan in Etchū, Takigawa Kazumasu confronted the Shinano Province that a son of Shingen Takeda Katsuyori governs, and Hashiba Hideyoshi was given the formidable task of facing the Mōri clan in the Chūgoku region of western Honshū.^{[citation needed]}

In 1576,

Nobunaga won a significant victory over the Takeda clan in the Battle of Nagashino.

Despite the strong reputation of Takeda’s samurai cavalry, Oda Nobunaga embraced the relatively new technology of the Arquebus, and inflicted a crushing defeat. The legacy of this battle forced a complete overhaul of traditional Japanese warfare.^[3]

In 1582, after a protracted campaign, Hideyoshi requested Nobunaga’s help in overcoming tenacious resistance. Nobunaga, making a stop-over in Kyoto on his way west with only a small contingent of guards, was attacked by one of his own disaffected generals, Akechi Mitsuhide.^{[citation needed]} and committed suicide.

 

 

 Hideyoshi completes the unification

What followed was a scramble by the most powerful of Nobunaga’s retainers to avenge their lord’s death and thereby establish a dominant position in negotiations over the forthcoming realignment of the Oda clan. The situation became even more urgent when it was learned that Nobunaga’s oldest son and heir, Nobutada, had also been killed, leaving the Oda clan with no clear successor.^{[citation needed]}

Quickly negotiating a truce with the Mōri clan before they could learn of Nobunaga’s death, Hideyoshi now took his troops on a forced march toward his adversary, whom he defeated at the Battle of Yamazaki, less than two weeks later.^{[citation needed]}

Although a commoner who had risen through the ranks from foot soldier, Hideyoshi was now in position to challenge even the most senior of the Oda clan’s hereditary retainers, and proposed that Nobutada’s infant son, Sanpōshi (who became Oda Hidenobu), be named heir rather than Nobunaga’s adult third son, Nobutaka, whose cause had been championed by Shibata Katsuie. Having gained the support of other senior retainers, including Niwa Nagahide and Ikeda Tsuneoki, Sanpōshi was named heir and Hideyoshi appointed co-guardian.^{[citation needed]}

Continued political intrigue, however, eventually led to open confrontation. After defeating Shibata at the Battle of Shizugatake in 1583 and enduring a costly but ultimately advantageous stalemate with Tokugawa Ieyasu at the Battle of Komaki and Nagakute in 1584, Hideyoshi managed to settle the question of succession for once and all, to take complete control of Kyoto, and to become the undisputed ruler of the former Oda domains. Daimyo of Shikoku Chōsokabe clan surrendered to Hideyoshi in July, 1585. Daimyo of Kyushu Shimazu clan also surrendered two years later. He was adopted by the Fujiwara family, given the surname Toyotomi, and granted superlative title Kanpaku in representing civil and military control of all Japan. By the following year, he had secured alliances with three of the nine major daimyo coalitions and carried the war of unification to Shikoku and Kyūshū. In 1590, at the head of an army of 200,000, Hideyoshi defeated the Hōjō clan, his last formidable rival in eastern Honshū. The remaining daimyo soon capitulated, and the military reunification of Japan was complete.^{[citation needed]}

 

 Japan under Hideyoshi

Land survey

With all of Japan now under Hideyoshi’s control,

a new structure for national government was configured. The country was unified under a single leader, but the day-to-day governance of the people remained decentralized. The basis of power was distribution of territory as measured by rice production in units of koku.

In 1598,

a national survey was instituted and assessed the national rice production at 18.5 million koku, 2 million of which was controlled directly by Hideyoshi himself. In contrast, Tokugawa Ieyasu, whom Hideyoshi had transferred to the Kanto region, held 2.5 million koku.^{[citation needed]}

The surveys, carried out by Hideyoshi both before and after he took the title Taiko, have come to be known as the “Taikō surveys” (Taikō kenchi).^[4]

 Control measures

A number of other administrative innovations were instituted to encourage commerce and stabilize society. In order to facilitate transportation, toll booths and other checkpoints along roads were largely eliminated as were unnecessary military strongholds. Measures that effectively froze class distinctions were instituted, including the requirement that different classes live separately in different areas of a town and a prohibition on the carrying or the owning of weapons by farmers. Hideyoshi ordered the collection of weapons in a great “sword hunt” (katanagari).^{[citation needed]}

Unification

Hideyoshi sought to secure his position by rearranging the holdings of the daimyo to his advantage.

 In particular, he reassigned the Tokugawa family to the Kanto region, far from the capital, and surrounded their new territory with more trusted vassals. He also adopted a hostage system in which the wives and heirs of daimyo resided at his castle town in Osaka.^{[citation needed]}

He also attempted to provide for an orderly succession by taking the title Taikō, or “retired Kanpaku,” in 1591 and turned the regency over to his nephew and adopted son Toyotomi Hidetsugu. Only later did he attempt to formalize the balance of power by establishing administrative bodies. These included the Council of Five Elders, who were sworn to keep peace and support the Toyotomi, the five-member Board of House Administrators, who handled routine policy and administrative matters, and the three-member Board of Mediators, who were charged with keeping peace between the first two boards.^{[citation needed]}

Korean campaigns

Main article: Japanese invasions of Korea (1592–1598)

Hideyoshi’s last major ambition

 was to conquer the Ming Dynasty of China.

 In April 1592,

after having been refused safe passage through Korea, Hideyoshi sent an army of 200,000 to invade and pass through Korea by force. During the Japanese invasions of Korea (1592–1598),

 the Japanese occupied Seoul by May 1592,

 and within three months of invading reached Pyongyang along with large numbers of Korean collaborators who at first viewed the Japanese as liberators from the corrupt aristocracy.

King Seonjo of Joseon fled,

 and two Korean princes were captured by Kato Kiyomasa.^[5][6] Seonjo dispatched an emissary to the Ming court, asking urgently for military assistance.^[7] The Chinese emperor sent admiral Chen Lin and commander Li Rusong to aid the Koreans. Li Rusong pushed the Japanese out of the northern part of the Korean peninsula. The Japanese were forced to retreat as far as the southern part of the Korean peninsula by January 1593, and counterattacked Li Rusong. This combat reached a stalemate, and Japan and China eventually entered peace talks.^[8]

During the peace talks that ensued between 1593 and 1597, Hideyoshi, seeing Japan as an equal of Ming China, demanded a division of Korea, free-trade status, and a Chinese princess as consort for the emperor. The Joseon and Chinese leaders saw no reason to concede to such demands, nor to treat the invaders as equals within the Ming trading system. Japan’s requests were thus denied and peace efforts reached an impasse.^{[citation needed]}

A second invasion of Korea began in 1597, but it too resulted in failure as Japanese forces met with better organized Korean defenses and increasing Chinese involvement in the conflict.^{[citation needed]} Upon the death of Hideyoshi in 1598, Japanese forces withdrew from Korea.^[9]

The Council of Five Elders By this time,

most of the remaining Japanese commanders were more concerned about internal battles and for the control of the shogunate.^[9]

Sekigahara and the end of the Toyotomi rule

Hideyoshi had on his deathbed appointed a group of the most powerful lords in Japan — Tokugawa, Maeda, Ukita, Uesugi, Mōri — to govern as the Council of Five Elders

until his infant son,

 Hideyori, came of age.

 

An uneasy peace lasted until the death of Maeda Toshiie in 1599.

 Thereafter, Ishida Mitsunari accused Ieyasu of disloyalty to the Toyotomi name, precipitating a crisis that led to the Battle of Sekigahara. Generally regarded as the last major conflict of the Azuchi–Momoyama period and sengoku-jidai, Ieyasu’s victory at Sekigahara marked the end of the Toyotomi reign. Three years later, Ieyasu received the title Seii Taishogun, and established the Edo bakufu, which lasted until the Meiji Restoration in 1868.^{[citation needed]}

Social and cultural developments during the Momoyama period

The Momoyama period was a period of interest in the outside world, which also saw the development of large urban centers and the rise of the merchant class. The ornate castle architecture and interiors adorned with painted screens embellished with gold leaf were a reflection of a daimyo’s power but also exhibited a new aesthetic sense that marked a clear departure from the somber monotones favored during the Muromachi period. A specific genre that emerged at this time was called the Namban style—exotic depictions of European priests, traders, and other “southern barbarians.”^{[citation needed]}

The art of the tea ceremony also flourished at this time, and both Nobunaga and Hideyoshi lavished time and money on this pastime, collecting tea bowls, caddies, and other implements, sponsoring lavish social events, and patronizing acclaimed masters such as Sen no Rikyū.^{[citation needed]}

Hideyoshi had occupied Nagasaki in 1587, and thereafter sought to take control of international trade and to regulate the trade associations that had contact with the outside world through this port. Although China rebuffed his efforts to secure trade concessions, Hideyoshi commercial missions successfully called to present-day Malaysia, the Philippines, and Thailand in Red seal ships. He was also suspicious of Christianity in Japan, which he saw as potentially subversive and some missionaries were crucified by his regime.^{[citation needed]}

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Famous Senryū

The contrasting personalities of the three leaders who contributed the most to Japan’s final unification—

 

Nobunaga,

 

 Hideyoshi,

 

 

and Ieyasu—

are encapsulated in a series of three well known senryū that are still taught to Japanese school children:

• Nakanunara, koroshiteshimae, hototogisu (If the cuckoo does not sing, kill it.)　「泣かぬなら殺してしまえホトトギス」
• Nakanunara, nakashitemiseyou, hototogisu (If the cuckoo does not sing, coax it.)　「泣かぬなら泣かせてみようホトトギス」
• Nakanunara, nakumadematou, hototogisu (If the cuckoo does not sing, wait for it.)　「泣かぬなら泣くまでまとうホトトギス」

Nobunaga, known for his ruthlessness, is the subject of the first; Hideyoshi, known for his resourcefulness, is the subject of the second; and Ieyasu, known for his perseverance, is the subject of the third verse.

Chronology

• 1568:
•  Nobunaga enters Kyoto, marking the beginning of the Azuchi–Momoyama period
• 1573:
• Nobunaga overthrows the Muromachi bakufu and exerts control over central Japan
• 1575:
• Nobunaga defeats the Takeda clan the Battle of Nagashino
• 1580:
• The Ikkō-ikki finally surrender their fortress of Ishiyama Honganji to Nobunaga, after enduring an 11-year siege.
• 1582:
•  Incident at Honnō-ji, Nobunaga is assassinated by Akechi Mitsuhide, who is then defeated by Toyotomi Hideyoshi at the Battle of Yamazaki.
• 1584:
•  Hideyoshi fights Tokugawa Ieyasu to a standstill at the Battle of Komaki and Nagakute.
• 1586:
•  Osaka castle is built by Toyotomi Hideyoshi.
• 1590:
• Hideyoshi defeats the Hōjō clan, effectively unifying Japan.
• 1592:
• Hideyoshi invades Korea.
• 1598:
•  Hideyoshi dies.
• 1600:
•  Ieyasu is victorious at the Battle of Sekigahara, marking the end of the Azuchi–Momoyama period.

References

1. ^ Kodansha Encyclopedia of Japan (First edition, 1983), entry for “Azuchi-Momoyama period.”
2. ^ Kodansha Encyclopedia of Japan (First edition, 1983), section “Azuchi-Momoyama History (1568-1600)” by George Elison, in the entry for “history of Japan.”
3. ^ Turnbull, Stephan R. (1996). The Samurai: a military history. Psychology Press. pp. 148–150. ISBN 9781873410387. http://books.google.com/books?id=RMBdoimD2kIC&lpg=PA146&dq=battle%20of%20nagashino%20samurai&pg=PA149#v=onepage&q=battle%20of%20nagashino%20samurai&f=false. 
4. ^ The surveys are called Taikō kenchi despite Hedeyoshi was not yet Taiko at the beginning of the surveys because he liked to refer to himself as Taiko. (Hideyoshi become Taiko in 1591 after he relinquished the title of Kanpaku to his nephew, Hidetsugu.)
5. ^ [History of Ming] [1] 昖棄王城，令次子琿攝國事，奔平壤。已，複走義州，願內屬。七月，兵部議令駐劄險要，以待天兵；號召通國勤王，以圖恢復。而是時倭已入王京，毀墳墓，劫王子、陪臣，剽府庫，八道幾盡沒，旦暮且渡鴨綠江，請援之使絡繹於道。
6. ^ 北関大捷碑 “其秋清正 入北道、兵鋭甚、鐡嶺以北無城守焉、於是鞠敬仁等叛、應賊、敬仁者會寧府吏也、素志不卒、及賊到富寧、隙危扇亂、執兩王子及宰臣、□播者、並傳諸長吏、與賊效欸”
7. ^ Jinju National Museum: Chronology, June 1592
8. ^ [History of Ming] [2] 明年，如松(Li Rusong)師大捷於平壤，朝鮮所失四道並複。如松乘勝趨碧蹄館，敗而退師。
9. ^ ^{a b} The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition; 2006 – Hideyoshi “In 1592 he attempted to conquer China but succeeded only in occupying part of Korea; just before his death he ordered withdrawal from Korea.”

Oda Nobunaga

 

Oda Nobunaga 織田信長
Oda Nobunaga in a 16th century century portrait
Born	June 23, 1534(1534-06-23) Nagoya Castle, Owari Province
Died	June 21, 1582(1582-06-21) (aged 47) Honnō-ji, Kyoto

 

[show] v d e Campaigns of Oda Nobunaga     Inō Ukino Marune Okehazama Chōkō-ji Kanegasaki Anegawa Ishiyama Hongan-ji Mount Hiei Nagashima Mikatagahara Hikida Castle Odani Castle Ichijōdani Castle Itami Nagashino Mitsuji Kizugawaguchi Shigisan Tedorigawa Takatenjin Tottori Hijiyama Temmokuzan Takatō Uozu Honnō-ji

Oda Nobunaga (織田 信長,  Oda Nobunaga (help·info)^?,

 June 23, 1534 – June 21, 1582)

was the initiator of the unification of Japan under the shogunate in the late 16th century, which ruled Japan until the Meiji Restoration in 1868. He was also a major daimyo during the Sengoku period of Japanese history. His opus was continued, completed and finalized by his successors Toyotomi Hideyoshi and Tokugawa Ieyasu. He was the second son of Oda Nobuhide, a deputy shugo (military governor) with land holdings in Owari Province.^[1][2] Nobunaga lived a life of continuous military conquest, eventually conquering a third of Japan before his death in 1582. His successor, Toyotomi Hideyoshi, a loyal Oda supporter, would become the first man to unify all of Japan, and was thus the first ruler of all Japan since the Ōnin War. [edit] Biography

Oda Nobunaga was born on June 23, 1534, and was given the childhood name of Kippōshi (吉法師^?).^[1][2] He was the second son of Oda Nobuhide. Through his childhood and early teenage years, he was well known for his bizarre behavior and received the name of Owari no Ōutsuke (尾張の大うつけ^?, The Fool of Owari). With the introduction of firearms into Japan, though, he became known for his fondness of Tanegashima firearms. He was also known to run around with other youths from the area, without any regard to his own rank in society. He is said to be born in Nagoya Castle, although this is subject to debate. It is however certain that he was born in the Owari domain. In 1574 Nobunaga accepted the title of Kuge(or Court Noble), then in 1577 he was given the title of Udaijin (or Minister of the Right), the third highest position in the Imperial court.

 

 

Unification of Owari Province

 

 

Portrait of Oda Nobunaga,

by Jesuit painter Giovanni Niccolo, 1583-1590.

In 1551,

 Oda Nobuhide died unexpectedly and, during his funeral, Nobunaga was said to have acted outrageously, throwing the ceremonial incense at the altar.^[3] This act alienated many Oda retainers, convincing them of Nobunaga’s mediocrity and lack of discipline and they began to side with his more soft-spoken and well-mannered brother, Nobuyuki. Hirate Masahide, who was a valuable mentor and retainer to Nobunaga, was ashamed by Nobunaga’s behavior and performed seppuku. This had a huge effect on Nobunaga, who later built a temple to honor Masahide.^[1]

Though Nobunaga was Nobuhide’s legitimate successor, the Oda clan was divided into many factions. Furthermore, the entire clan was technically under the control of Owari’s shugo, Shiba Yoshimune. Thus Oda Nobutomo, as the brother to the deceased Nobuhide and deputy to the shugo, used the powerless Yoshimune as his puppet and challenged Nobunaga’s place as Owari’s new ruler. Nobutomo murdered Yoshimune when it was discovered that he supported and attempted to aid Nobunaga.

To increase his power, Nobunaga persuaded Oda Nobumitsu, a younger brother of Nobuhide, to join his side and, with Nobumitsu’s help, slew Nobutomo in Kiyosu Castle, which later became Nobunaga’s place of residence for over ten years. Taking advantage of the position of Shiba Yoshikane, Yoshimune’s son, as the rightful shugo, Nobunaga forged an alliance with the Imagawa clan of Suruga Province and the Kira clan of Mikawa Province, as both clans had the same shugo and would have no excuse to decline. Additionally, this also ensured that the Imagawa clan would have to stop attacking Owari’s borders.

Even though Nobuyuki and his supporters were still at large, Nobunaga decided to bring an army to Mino Province to aid Saitō Dōsan after Dōsan’s son, Saitō Yoshitatsu, turned against him. The campaign failed, however, as Dōsan was killed and Yoshitatsu became the new master of Mino in 1556.

A few months later, Nobuyuki, with the support of Shibata Katsuie and Hayashi Hidesada, rebelled against Nobunaga. The three conspirators were defeated at the Battle of Inō, but they were pardoned after the intervention of Tsuchida Gozen, the birth mother of both Nobunaga and Nobuyuki. The next year, however, Nobuyuki again planned to rebel. When Nobunaga was informed of this by Shibata Katsuie, he faked illness to get close to Nobuyuki and assassinated him in Kiyosu Castle.

By 1559,

Nobunaga had eliminated all opposition within the clan and throughout Owari Province. He continued to use Shiba Yoshikane as an excuse to make peace with other daimyo, although it was later discovered that Yoshikane had secretly corresponded with the Kira and Imagawa clans, trying to oust Nobunaga and restore the Shiba clan‘s place. Nobunaga eventually cast him out, making alliances created in the Shiba clan’s name void.

 

 

 

 

 

Battle of Okehazama

Main article: Battle of Okehazama

.

In 1560,

Imagawa Yoshimoto

 gathered an army of 25,000 men^[1][4] and started his march toward Kyoto, with the excuse of aiding the frail Ashikaga shogunate.

 The Matsudaira clan of Mikawa Province

was also to join Yoshimoto’s forces. In comparison, the Oda clan could rally an army of only 1,800,^{[citation needed]} and the forces would also have to be split up to defend various forts at the border. Under such dire circumstances, Nobunaga was said to have performed his favorite Atsumori dance at Kiyosu Castle, before riding off with only a few attendants to pray in a shrine.

The Oda clan’s generals

 did not believe that they would survive the attack from Imagawa Yoshimoto’s army. Only the night before, Shibata Katsuie had tried in vain to change Oda Nobunaga’s mind about a frontal attack; he kept reminding Nobunaga of the joint army’s complete lack of manpower compared to the Imagawa soldiers, who, according to rumors, numbered 40,000 men.^{[citation needed]}

 Hayashi Sado no Kami Hidesada,

 the remaining advisor from Nobuhide’s days, even argued for surrender without fighting, using the same reasoning as Katsuie.^{[citation needed]}

Nobunaga’s scouts reported that Yoshimoto was resting his troops at a place called Dengaku-hazama, near a small village called Okehazama. Nobunaga knew the countryside well. Dengaku-hazama was a narrow gorge, an ideal place for a surprise attack if the conditions were right. The scouts added that the Imagawa army were celebrating their victories with food and drink while Yoshimoto viewed the heads. Nobunaga moved up towards Imagawa’s camp, and set up a position some distance away. An array of flags and dummy troops made of straw and spare helmets gave the impression of a large host, while the real Oda army hurried round in a rapid march to get behind Yoshimoto’s camp. Fortune and weather favored Nobunaga, for about mid-day the stifling heat gave way to a terrific thunderstorm. As the Imagawa samurai sheltered from the rain Nobunaga deployed his troops, and when the storm ceased they charged down upon the enemy in the gorge. So sudden was the attack that Yoshimoto thought a brawl had broken out among his men. He realized it was an attack when two samurai (Mōri Shinsuke and Hattori Koheita)^[5] charged up. One aimed a spear at him, which Yoshimoto deflected with his sword, but the second swung his blade and cut off Imagawa’s head.^{[citation needed]}

Rapidly weakening, the Imagawa clan no longer exerted control over the Matsudaira clan.

In 1561,

an alliance was forged between Oda Nobunaga and Matsudaira Motoyasu (who would become Tokugawa Ieyasu), despite the decades-old hostility between the two clans. Tradition dates this battle as the time that Nobunaga first noticed the talents of the sandal bearer who would eventually become Toyotomi Hideyoshi.

 Tenka Fubu

 

 

Statue of Oda Nobunaga at Kiyosu Castle

In Mino, Saitō Yoshitatsu died suddenly of illness in 1561,

 and was succeeded by his son, Saitō Tatsuoki.

Tatsuoki, however, was young and much less effective as a ruler and military strategist compared to his father and grandfather. Taking advantage of this situation, Nobunaga moved his base to Komaki Castle and started his campaign in Mino.

By convincing Saitō retainers to abandon their incompetent and foolish master, Nobunaga weakened the Saitō clan significantly, eventually mounting a final attack in 1567. Nobunaga captured Inabayama Castle and sent Tatsuoki into exile.

After taking possession of the castle,

Nobunaga changed the name of both the castle and the surrounding town to Gifu. Remains of Nobunaga’s residence in Gifu can be found today in Gifu Park.^[6] Naming it after the legendary Mount Qi (岐山 Qi in Standard Chinese) in China, on which the Zhou dynasty started, Nobunaga revealed his ambition to conquer the whole of Japan.

He also started using a new personal seal that read Tenka Fubu (天下布武),^[7] which means “Spread the militarism over the whole land”, or literally “… under the sky” (see all under heaven). In 1564, Nobunaga had his sister, Oichi, marry Azai Nagamasa, a daimyo in northern Ōmi Province. This would later help pave the way to Kyoto.

In 1568,

Ashikaga Yoshiaki went to Gifu to ask Nobunaga to start a campaign toward Kyoto. Yoshiaki was the brother of the murdered thirteenth shogun of the Ashikaga shogunate, Yoshiteru, and wanted revenge against the killers who had already set up a puppet shogun, Ashikaga Yoshihide. Nobunaga agreed to install Yoshiaki as the new shogun and, grasping the opportunity to enter Kyoto, started his campaign. An obstacle in southern Ōmi Province, however, was the Rokkaku clan. Led by Rokkaku Yoshikata, the clan refused to recognize Yoshiaki as shogun and was ready to go to war. In response, Nobunaga launched a rapid attack, driving the Rokkaku clan out of their castles.

Within a short amount of time, Nobunaga had reached Kyoto and driven the Miyoshi clan out of the city.

Yoshiaki was made the 15th shogun of the Ashikaga shogunate.

Nobunaga refused the post of Kanrei and eventually began to restrict the powers of the shogun, making it clear that he intended to use him as a puppet to justify his future conquests. Yoshiaki, however, was not pleased about being a puppet and secretly corresponded with various daimyo, forging an anti-Nobunaga alliance.

The Asakura clan was particularly disdainful of the Oda clan’s increasing power because, historically, the Oda clan had been subordinate to the Asakura clan. Furthermore, Asakura Yoshikage had also protected Ashikaga Yoshiaki, but had not been willing to march toward Kyoto. Thus, the Asakura clan also despised Nobunaga the most for his success.

When Nobunaga launched a campaign into the Asakura clan’s domain, Azai Nagamasa, to whom Oichi was married, broke the alliance with Oda to honor the Azai-Asakura alliance which had lasted for generations. With the help of Ikko rebels, the anti-Nobunaga alliance sprang into full force, taking a heavy toll on the Oda clan. At the Battle of Anegawa, Tokugawa Ieyasu joined forces with Nobunaga and defeated the combined forces of the Asakura and Azai clans.

Nobunaga waged war even against Buddhists when they armed themselves and did not obey him. The Enryaku-ji monastery on Mt. Hiei, with its sōhei (warrior monks) of the Tendai school who aided the anti-Nobunaga group by helping Azai-Asakura alliance, was a particular thorn in Nobunaga’s side, residing as it did so close to his residence in Kyoto. Nobunaga attacked Enryaku-ji and burnt it to the ground in 1571, even though it had been admired as a significant cultural symbol at the time, and killed between 3,000 and 4,000 men, women and children in the process.

During the siege of Nagashima,

Nobunaga suffered tremendous losses, including the death of a couple of his brothers, to the Ikkō-ikki resistance, a coalition of peasant farmers, monks, Shinto priests and local nobles that opposed samurai rule. The siege finally ended when Nobunaga surrounded the enemy complex and set fire to it, killing tens of thousands of non-combatants, including women and children. He later succeeded in taking their main stronghold at Ishiyama Hongan-ji after an 11-year siege that ended with its surrender.

Through the years, Nobunaga was able to further consolidate his position and conquer his enemies through brutality.

One of the strongest rulers in the anti-Nobunaga alliance was Takeda Shingen,

in spite of his generally peaceful relationship and a nominal alliance with the Oda clan.

In 1572,

 at the urgings of the shogun, Shingen decided to make a drive for the capital starting with invading Tokugawa’s territory. Tied down on the Western front, Nobunaga sent lackluster aid to Ieyasu, who suffered defeat at the Battle of Mikatagahara in 1573.

 However, after the battle,

Tokugawa’s forces launched night raids and convinced Takeda of an imminent counter-attack, thus saving the vulnerable Tokugawa with the bluff.

This would play a pivotal role in Tokugawa’s philosophy of strategic patience in his campaigns with Oda Nobunaga. Shortly thereafter, the Takeda forces retreated after Shingen died of illness in 1573.

This was a relief for Nobunaga because he could now focus on Yoshiaki, who had openly declared hostility more than once, despite the imperial court’s intervention. Nobunaga was able to defeat Yoshiaki’s weak forces and send him into exile, bringing the Ashikaga shogunate to an end in the same year.

Also in 1573,

 Nobunaga successfully destroyed the Asakura and Azai clans, leading Azai Nagamasa to send Oichi back to Nobunaga and commit suicide. With Nagashima’s destruction in 1574, the only threat to Nobunaga was the Takeda clan, now led by Takeda Katsuyori.

At the decisive Battle of Nagashino, the combined forces of Nobunaga and Tokugawa Ieyasu devastated the Takeda clan with the strategic use of arquebuses. Nobunaga compensated for the arquebus’ slow reloading time by arranging the arquebusiers in three lines. After each line fired, it would duck and reload as the next line fired. The bullets were able to pierce the Takeda cavalry armor, causing chaos among the Takeda cavalry, who were pushed back and killed by incoming fire. From there, Nobunaga continued his expansion, sending Shibata Katsuie and Maeda Toshiie to the north and Akechi Mitsuhide to Tamba Province.

 

 

Japan around 1582. The areas in purple show the areas controlled by the Oda in 1560, and the grey area were the territory Nobunaga controlled at the time of his death in 1582

The Oda clan’s siege of Ishiyama Hongan-ji in Osaka made some progress, but the Mori clan of the Chūgoku region broke the naval blockade and started sending supplies into the strongly fortified complex by sea. As a result, in 1577, Hashiba Hideyoshi was ordered to expand west to confront the Mori clan.

However, Uesugi Kenshin,

said to be the greatest general of his time since the demise of Takeda Shingen, took part in the second anti-Nobunaga alliance. Following his conquest of neighboring forces, the two sides clashed during the Battle of Tedorigawa which resulted in a decisive Uesugi victory. It was around this time that Uesugi forces began preparations to march on Kyoto.

Due to his defeat, Nobunaga’s expansion in Noto, Kaga, and Etchū Province area was stagnant for a while. But Kenshin, who prepared to move his armies again after the battle, died from a possible cerebral hemorrhage before moving them.

After Kenshin’s death

 and much confusion among his successors, Nobunaga started his campaign on this area again.

Nobunaga forced the Ishiyama Hongan-ji to surrender in 1580 and destroyed the Takeda clan in 1582.

 Nobunaga’s administration was at its height of power and he was about to launch invasions into Echigo Province and Shikoku.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Incident at Honnō-ji

Main article: Incident at Honnō-ji

 

 

Grave of Oda Nobunaga at Mount Kōya, Wakayama Prefecture

In 1582,

 Nobunaga’s former sandal bearer Hashiba Hideyoshi invaded Bichu Province, laying siege to Takamatsu Castle. However, the castle was vital to the Mori clan, and losing it would leave the Mori home domain vulnerable. Led by Mōri Terumoto, reinforcements arrived outside Takamatsu Castle, and the two sides came to a standstill. Hashiba asked for reinforcements from Nobunaga.

It has often been argued that Hideyoshi had no need for reinforcements, but asked Nobunaga anyway for various reasons. Most believe that Hideyoshi, envied and hated by fellow generals for his swift rise from a lowly footman to a top general under Oda Nobunaga, wanted to give the credit for taking Takamatsu to Nobunaga so as to humble himself in front of other Oda vassals.

In any case, Nobunaga ordered Niwa Nagahide to prepare for an invasion of Shikoku, and Akechi Mitsuhide to assist Hideyoshi. En route to Chūgoku region, Nobunaga stayed at Honnō-ji, a temple in Kyoto. Since Nobunaga would not expect an attack in the middle of his firmly-controlled territories, he was guarded by only a few dozen personal servants and bodyguards.

 

 

Mitsuhide

 chose this time to take a unit of his men and quickly surround the Honnō-ji while sending another unit of Akechi troops to assault Nijō Castle, initiating a full coup d’état. At Honnō-ji, Nobunaga’s small entourage was soon overwhelmed and as the Akechi troops closed in on the burning temple where Nobunaga had been residing, he decided to commit seppuku in one of the inner rooms.^[8]

Nobunaga’s son died

 in the fighting before the temple, and only Nobunaga’s young page, Mori Ranmaru, remained at his master’s side. The young page had served Nobunaga for many years, and was still in his teens at the time of the attack. Ranmaru’s loyalty and devotion to his lord were widely known and praised during the Edo period. He attended to Nobunaga as he sought a moment of peace to carry out his last act, then Ranmaru likewise killed himself in the same way.

The cause of Mitsuhide’s betrayal has been actively debated for centuries. It has been proposed that Mitsuhide may have heard a rumor that Nobunaga would transfer Mitsuhide’s fief to the page, Mori Ranmaru, with whom Nobunaga is alleged to have been in a ritualized homosexual relationship, a form of patronage, known as shudō.^[9] Other motives include revenge for Nobunaga’s numerous insults and derisive treatment of Mitsuhide, or Mitsuhide’s jealousy as Nobunaga had shown greater favor toward another vassal, Hashiba Hideyoshi.

Just eleven days after the coup at Honnō-ji, Mitsuhide was killed at

the Battle of Yamazaki

and his army was defeated by Hashiba Hideyoshi, who eventually became heir to Nobunaga’s legacy. He is more widely known as Toyotomi Hideyoshi. At the time of Nobunaga’s death, he controlled more than half of the provinces in Japan. The majority of these Provinces were in the Kyoto region.

 

 

Nobunaga, Hideyoshi and Ieyasu

Toyotomi Hideyoshi, who unified Japan in 1590, and Tokugawa Ieyasu, who founded the Tokugawa Shogunate in 1603, were loyal followers of Nobunaga. These two were gifted with Nobunaga’s previous achievements on which they could build a unified Japan. There was a saying: “Nobunaga pounds the national rice cake, Hideyoshi kneads it, and in the end Ieyasu sits down and eats it.”^[10]

Hideyoshi was brought up from a nameless peasant to be one of Nobunaga’s top generals. When he became a grand minister in 1586, he created a law that the samurai caste became codified as permanent and heritable, and that non-samurai were forbidden to carry weapons, thereby ending the social mobility of Japan from which he himself had benefited. These restrictions lasted until the dissolution of the Edo Shogunate by the Meiji Restoration revolutionaries. Hideyoshi secured his claim as the rightful successor of Nobunaga by defeating Akechi Mitsuhide within a month of Nobunaga’s death.

It is important to note that the distinction between samurai and non-samurai was so obscure that during the 16th century, most male adults in any social class (even small farmers) belonged to at least one military organization of their own and served in wars before and during Hideyoshi’s rule. It can be said that an “all against all” situation continued for a century. The authorized samurai families after the 17th century were those that chose to follow Nobunaga, Hideyoshi and Ieyasu. Large battles occurred during the change between regimes and a number of defeated samurai were destroyed, became ronin or were absorbed into the general populace.

Ieyasu had shared his childhood with Nobunaga as a hostage of the Oda clan. Though there were a number of battles between Ieyasu and the Oda clan, Ieyasu eventually switched sides and became one of Nobunaga’s strongest allies.

Policies

Militarily, Nobunaga’s revolutionary vision not only changed the way war was fought in Japan, but also in turn made one of the most modernized forces in the world at that time.^{[citation needed]} He developed, implemented, and expanded the use of long pikes, firearms and castle fortifications in accordance with the expanded mass battles of the period. The firearms that were introduced by the Portuguese, had allowed the establishment of firearm brigades in the army. Once the two important musket factories in Sakai City and Omi province were conquered, it gave Nobunaga superior firepower over his enemies. Nobunaga also instituted a specialized warrior class system and appointed his retainers and subjects to positions based on ability, not wholly based on name, rank, or family relationship as in prior periods. Retainers were also given land on the basis of rice output, not land size. Nobunaga’s organizational system in particular was later used and extensively developed by his ally Tokugawa Ieyasu in the forming of the Tokugawa shogunate in Edo.

Nobunaga’s dominance and brilliance was not restricted to the battlefield, for he also was a keen businessman and understood the principles of microeconomics and macroeconomics. First, in order to modernize the economy from an agricultural base to a manufacture and service base, castle towns were developed as the center and basis of local economies.^{[citation needed]} Roads were also made within his domain between castle towns to not only facilitate trade, but also to move armies great distances in short timespans. International trade was also expanded beyond China and the Korean peninsula, while nanban (southern barbarian) trade with Europe, the Philippines, Siam, and Indonesia was also started.

Nobunaga also instituted rakuichi rakuza (楽市楽座^?) policies as a way to stimulate business and the overall economy through the use of a free market system.^[6] These policies abolished and prohibited monopolies and opened once closed and privileged unions, associations, and guilds, which he saw as impediments to commerce. Even though these policies provided a major boost to the economy, it was still heavily dependent on daimyos’ support. Copies of his original proclamations can be found in Entoku-ji in the city of Gifu.^[6] He also developed tax exemptions and established laws to regulate and ease the borrowing of debt.

 Culture

As Nobunaga conquered Japan and amassed a great amount of wealth, he progressively supported the arts for which he always had an interest, but which he later and gradually more importantly used as a display of his power and prestige. He built extensive gardens and castles which were themselves great works of art. Azuchi Castle on the shores of Lake Biwa is said to have been the greatest castle in the history of Japan, covered with gold and statues on the outside and decorated with standing screen, sliding door, wall, and ceiling paintings made by his subject Kano Eitoku on the inside. During this time, Nobunaga’s subject and tea master Sen no Rikyu established the Japanese tea ceremony which Nobunaga popularized and used originally as a way to talk politics and business. The beginnings of modern kabuki were started and later fully developed in the early Edo period.

Additionally, Nobunaga was very interested in European culture which was still very new to Japan. He collected pieces of Western art as well as arms and armor, and he is considered to be among the first Japanese people in recorded history to wear European clothes. He also became the patron of the Jesuit missionaries in Japan and supported the establishment of the first Christian church in Kyoto in 1576,^[11] although he never converted to Christianity. During a visit by the Jesuits in March 1581, Nobunaga’s interest was piqued by a slave in the service of a Jesuit inspector of missions, and it was requested that he be left in Nobunaga’s service. This slave, later called by the Japanese name Yasuke, was highly favored by Nobunaga and fought in the final battle at Honnō-ji. During that time, the persecution of Buddhists was motivated mostly by separating politics from religion. Though it was not fully realized under Nobunaga’s rule, he attempted to create a public, rational political authority. The concepts brought up during this change had the potential to radically change society in Japan. The new ideas that came forth were either incorporated into common discourses without changing it fundamentally, built upon at a later time, or opened up new options in the later Tokugawa era that were expanded on.

 Legacy

Nobunaga is remembered in Japan as one of the most brutal figures of the Sengoku period. Nobunaga was the first of three unifiers during the Sengoku period. These unifiers were (in order) Oda Nobunaga, Toyotomi Hideyoshi (also called Hashiba Hideyoshi above) and Tokugawa Ieyasu. Oda Nobunaga was well on his way to the complete conquest and unification of Japan when Akechi Mitsuhide, one of his generals, forced Nobunaga into committing suicide in Honnō-ji in Kyoto. Akechi then proceeded to declare himself master over Nobunaga’s domains, but was quickly defeated by Hideyoshi.

 Family

 

 

The butterfly mon of the Taira is called Ageha-cho (揚羽蝶) in Japanese

Depending upon the source, Oda Nobunaga and the entire Oda clan are descendents of either the Fujiwara clan or the Taira clan (specifically, Taira no Shigemori‘s branch). His lineage can be directly traced to his great-great-grandfather, Oda Hisanaga, who was followed by Oda Toshisada, Oda Nobusada, Oda Nobuhide and Nobunaga himself.

 Immediate family

Nobunaga was the eldest legitimate son of Nobuhide,

a minor warlord from Owari Province, and Tsuchida Gozen, who was also the mother to three of his brothers (Nobuyuki, Nobukane and Hidetaka) and two of his sisters (Oinu and Oichi). His brothers are listed as follows:

• Oda Nobuhiro (an illegitimate older brother)
• Oda Nobuyuki
• Oda Nobukane
• Oda Nobuharu
• Oda Nobutoki
• Oda Nobuoki
• Oda Hidetaka
• Oda Hidenari
• Oda Nobuteru
• Oda Nagamasu
• Oda Nagatoshi

Descendants

Nobunaga married Nōhime,

the daughter of Saitō Dōsan, as a matter of political strategy;^[1] however, she bore him no children and was considered to be barren. It was his concubines Kitsuno and Lady Saka who bore him his children. It was Kitsuno who gave birth to Nobunaga’s eldest son, Nobutada. Nobutada’s son, Oda Hidenobu, became ruler of the Oda clan after the deaths of Nobunaga and Nobutada.

• Sons
  • Oda Nobutada (1557–1582)
  • Oda Nobukatsu (1558–1630)
  • Oda Nobutaka (1558–1583)
  • Hashiba Hidekatsu (1567–1585)
  • Oda Katsunaga (died 1582)
  • Oda Nobuhide (1571–1596)
  • Oda Nobutaka (1576–1602)
  • Oda Nobuyoshi (1573–1615)
  • Oda Nobusada (1574–1624)
  • Oda Nobuyoshi (died 1609)
  • Oda Nagatsugu (died 1600)
  • Oda Nobumasa (1554–1647, illegitimate child)
• Daughters
  • Tokuhime (1559–1636), married Matsudaira Nobuyasu
  • Fuyuhime (1561–1641), married Gamō Ujisato
  • Hideko (died 1632), married Tsutsui Sadatsugu
  • Eihime (1574–1623), married Maeda Toshinaga
  • Hōonin, married Niwa Nagashige
  • Sannomarudono (died 1603), concubine to Toyotomi Hideyoshi, married Nijō Akizane
  • Tsuruhime, married Nakagawa Hidemasa

 Other relatives

One of Nobunaga’s younger sisters, Oichi,

gave birth to three daughters. These three nieces of Nobunaga became involved with important historical figures. Chacha (also known as Lady Yodo), the eldest, became the mistress of Toyotomi Hideyoshi. O-Hatsu married Kyōgoku Takatsugu. The youngest, O-go, married the son of Tokugawa Ieyasu, Tokugawa Hidetada (the second shogun of the Tokugawa shogunate). O-go’s daughter Senhime married her cousin Toyotomi Hideyori, Lady Yodo’s son.

Nobunaga’s nephew was Tsuda Nobusumi, the son of Nobuyuki. Nobusumi married Akechi Mitsuhide’s daughter, and was killed after the Incident at Honnō-ji by Nobunaga’s third son, Nobutaka, who suspected him of being involved in the plot.

Later descendants

Nobunari Oda,

a competitive figure skater in Japan, is the 17th direct descendant of Nobunaga.^[12][13] The Japanese ex-monk celebrity Mudō Oda also claims descent from the Sengoku period warlord, but his claims have not been verified.

 In popular culture

 

 

Cover for the 1993 video game Nobunaga’s Ambition

Oda Nobunaga appears frequently within fiction and continues to be portrayed in many other anime, manga, video games, and cinematic films. Many depictions show him as villainous or even demonic in nature, though some portray him in a more positive light.

The latter type of works include Akira Kurosawa‘s film Kagemusha, which portrays Nobunaga as energetic, athletic and respectful towards his enemies. The film Goemon portrays him as a saintly mentor of Ishikawa Goemon. Nobunaga is a central character in Eiji Yoshikawa‘s historical novel Taiko Ki, where he is a firm but benevolent lord. Nobunaga is also a good character in the first Samurai Cat book. Nobunaga is portrayed in a heroic light in the video games Kessen III,^[14] Ninja Gaiden II,^[15] and the Warriors Orochi series.^[14]

By contrast, the novel and anime series Yōtōden portrays Nobunaga as a literal demon posing as a power-mad warlord. In The Samurai’s Tale by Erik Christian Haugaard, he is portrayed as an antagonist “known for his merciless cruelty”.^[16] He is portrayed as evil or megalomaniacal in the anime/manga Samurai Deeper Kyo and Flame of Recca. Nobunaga is portrayed as evil, villainous, bloodthirsty, and/or demonic in the video games: Ninja Master’s, Sengoku, Inindo: Way of the Ninja, Atlantica Online, Sengoku Basara (and anime),^[17][18] and the two video game series Onimusha^[19] and Samurai Warriors.^[14]

There are also numerous examples of his portrayal in a more neutral or historic framework, especially in the Taiga dramas shown on television in Japan. Oda Nobunaga appears in the manga series Tail of the Moon, Kacchu no Senshi Gamu, and Tsuji Kunio‘s historical fiction The Signore: Shogun of the Warring States. Historical representations in video games include: Nobunaga’s Ambition: Iron Triangle, Shogun: Total War and Total War: Shogun 2, Throne of Darkness and the eponymous Nobunaga’s Ambition series, as well as Civilization V and Age of Empires II: The Conquerors.

There are also more fictive portrayals, in which the figure of Nobunaga influences a story or inspires a characterization. In James Clavell’s novel Shōgun, the character Goroda is a pastiche of Nobunaga. In the film Sengoku Jieitai 1549 Nobunaga is killed by time-travellers. Nobunaga was the inspiration for characterizations in the manga Tenka Musō and Perfect Girl Evolution. Nobunaga also appears as a major character in in the eroge Sengoku Rance. In the anime Sengoku Otome: Momoiro Paradox he is even depicted as a female character.

Kamenashi Kazuya of the Japanese pop group KAT-TUN wrote and performed a song titled “1582” which is allegedly written from the perspective of Mori Ranmaru at the Incident at Honnouji.^[20]

See also

• Oda clan
• Toyotomi Hideyoshi

Notes

1. ^ ^{a b c d e} Oda Nobunaga. Samurai Wiki. Retrieved September 15, 2007.
2. ^ ^{a b} Jansen, Marius (2000). The Making of Modern Japan, p. 11.
3. ^ Okanoya, Shigezane (2007) [Translation based on 1943 edition published by Iwanami Shoten, Japan. First published in 1871.]. Dykstra, Andrew; Dykstra, Yoshiko. eds (PDF). Meishōgenkōroku [Shogun and Samurai – Tales of Nobunaga, Hideyoshi, and Ieyasu]. translated by Andrew and Yoshiko Dykstra from the original Japanese. http://scholarspace.manoa.hawaii.edu/handle/10125/309. Retrieved 2010-07-21.  Tale 3 – His Extraordinary Appearance
4. ^ Takeuchi, Rizō. (1985). Nihonshi shōjiten, p. 233.
5. ^ “1560: The Spring Thunderstorm,” Geocities.com.
6. ^ ^{a b c} Gifu City Walking Map. Gifu Lively City Public Corporation, 2007.
7. ^ Gifu Castle. Oumi-castle.net. Retrieved December 5, 2007.
8. ^ Beasley, W. G. (August 31, 2000). “The Unifiers”. The Japanese Experience: A Short History of Japan. University of California Press. p. 123. ISBN 978-0-520-22560-2. 
9. ^ Koike, Togoro (1963). Koshoku monogatari. Kamakura insatsu. pp. 184–85. 
10. ^ Found in:Duiker, William J.; Jackson J. Spielvogel (2006). World History, Volume II. Cengage Learning. pp. 463, 474. ISBN 0495050547. http://books.google.co.jp/books?id=ZWTBUX10gaQC. , attributed to C.Nakane and S.Oishi, eds., Tokugawa Japan (Tokyo, 1990), p.14. Hashiba is the family name that Toyotomi Hideyoshi used while he was a follower of Nobunaga. In Japanese:”織田がつき 羽柴がこねし 天下餅 座りしままに 食うは徳川”. Variants exist.
11. ^ Shunkoin Temple in Kyoto, JAPAN. Shunkoin Temple Organization. Retrieved September 19, 2007.
12. ^ Crystal Report Viewer. International Skating Union. Retrieved August 19, 2007.
13. ^ Smile Wind. Nobunari Oda. Retrieved September 15, 2007.
14. ^ ^{a b c} Nobunaga Oda – The Koei Wiki
15. ^ Castle of the Dragon – Ninja Gaiden Wiki
16. ^ “Erik Christian Haugaard” (1984). The Samurai’s Tale. Houghton Mifflin Books. p. ix. “Lord Oda Nobunaga – Lord Takeda Shingen’s rival and enemy, well known for his merciless cruelty” 
17. ^ Oda Nobunaga – Sengoku BASARA Wiki
18. ^ Nobunaga (Sengoku Basara) – Capcom Database
19. ^ Nobunaga – Capcom Database
20. ^ English Translation and Backstory of the song 1582

References

• Hall, John Whitney, ed. The Cambridge History of Japan, Vol. 4: Early Modern Japan (1991) table of contents
• Jansen, Marius B. (2000). The Making of Modern Japan. Cambridge: Harvard University Press. 10-ISBN 0674003349/13-ISBN 9780674003347; OCLC 44090600
• Perkins, Dorothy Encyclopedia of Japan. New York, Roundtable Press, @ 1991
• Eisenstadt S.N. Japanese Civilization London, University of Chicago Press, @ 1996
• Morton W. Scott & Olenik J. Kenneth, Japan Its History and Culture 4th edition. United States, McGraw-Hill company, @
•  

Toyotomi Hideyoshi

Toyotomi Hideyoshi
Portrait of Toyotomi Hideyoshi drawn in 1601
Imperial Regent of Japan
In office 1585–1591
Monarch	Ōgimachi Go-Yōzei
Preceded by	Konoe Sakihisa
Succeeded by	Toyotomi Hidetsugu
Chancellor of the Realm
In office 1587–1598
Monarch	Go-Yōzei
Preceded by	Fujiwara no Sakihisa
Succeeded by	Tokugawa Ieyasu
Personal details
Born	February 2, 1536(1536-02-02) or March 26, 1537 Nakamura-ku, Nagoya
Died	September 18, 1598(1598-09-18) (aged 61 or 62) Fushimi Castle
Nationality	Japanese

 

 

 

Toyotomi Hideyoshi (豊臣 秀吉^?,

February 2, 1536 or March 26, 1537 – September 18, 1598)

was a daimyo warrior, general and politician of the Sengoku period.^[1] He unified the political factions of Japan. He succeeded his former liege lord, Oda Nobunaga, and brought an end to the Sengoku period. The period of his rule is often called the Momoyama period, named after Hideyoshi’s castle. He is noted for a number of cultural legacies, including the restriction that only members of the samurai class could bear arms. Hideyoshi is regarded as Japan’s second “great unifier”.^[2]

 Early life

Very little is known for certain about Hideyoshi before 1570,

when he begins to appear in surviving documents and letters. His autobiography starts in 1577 but in it Hideyoshi spoke very little about his past. By tradition, he was born in what is now Nakamura-ku, Nagoya (situated in contemporary Aichi District, Owari Province), the home of the Oda clan. He was born of no traceable samurai lineage, being the son of a peasant-ashigaru (foot soldier) named Yaemon.^[3]　He had no surname, and his childhood given name was Hiyoshi-maru (日吉丸^?) (“Bounty of the Sun”) although variations exist.

Toyotomi Hideyoshi had been given the nickname Kozaru, meaning “little monkey”, from his lord Oda Nobunaga because his facial features and skinny form resembled that of a monkey. He was also known as the “bald rat.”

Many legends describe Hideyoshi being sent to study at a temple as a young man, but he rejected temple life and went in search of adventure. Under the name Kinoshita Tōkichirō (木下 藤吉郎^?), he first joined the Imagawa clan as a servant to a local ruler named Matsushita Yukitsuna. He traveled all the way to the lands of Imagawa Yoshimoto, daimyo of Suruga Province, and served there for a time, only to abscond with a sum of money entrusted to him by Matsushita Yukitsuna.

 Rise to power

 

 

100 Aspects of the Moon #7, by Tsukioka Yoshitoshi: “Mount Inaba Moon.” The young Toyotomi Hideyoshi (then named Kinoshita Tōkichirō) leads a small group assaulting the castle on Mount Inaba; 1885, 12th month

Around 1557

 he returned to Owari Province and joined the Oda clan, now headed by Oda Nobunaga, as a lowly servant. He became one of Nobunaga’s sandal-bearers and was present at the Battle of Okehazama in 1560 when Nobunaga defeated Imagawa Yoshimoto to become one of the most powerful warlords in the Sengoku period. According to his biographers, he supervised the repair of Kiyosu Castle, a claim described as “apocryphal”,^[4] and managed the kitchen. In 1561, Hideyoshi married Nene who was Asano Nagamasa‘s adopted daughter. He carried out repairs on Sunomata Castle with his younger brother Toyotomi Hidenaga and the bandits Hachisuka Masakatsu and Maeno Nagayasu. Hideyoshi’s efforts were well received because Sunomata was in enemy territory. He constructed a fort in Sunomata,^[5] according to legend overnight, and discovered a secret route into Mount Inaba after which much of the garrison surrendered.

Hideyoshi was very successful as a negotiator. In 1564 he managed to convince, mostly with liberal bribes, a number of Mino warlords to desert the Saitō clan. Hideyoshi approached many Saitō clan samurai and convinced them to submit to Nobunaga, including the Saitō clan’s strategist, Takenaka Shigeharu.

Nobunaga’s easy victory at Inabayama Castle in 1567

was largely due to Hideyoshi’s efforts, and despite his peasant origins, Hideyoshi became one of Nobunaga’s most distinguished generals, eventually taking the name Hashiba Hideyoshi (羽柴 秀吉). The new surname included two characters, one each from Oda’s two other right-hand men, Niwa Nagahide and Shibata Katsuie.

Hideyoshi led troops in the Battle of Anegawa in 1570

 in which Oda Nobunaga allied with future rival Tokugawa Ieyasu (who would eventually displace Hideyoshi’s son and rule Japan) to lay siege to two fortresses of the Azai and Asakura clans.^[4] In 1573, after victorious campaigns against the Azai and Asakura, Nobunaga appointed Hideyoshi daimyo of three districts in the northern part of Ōmi Province. Initially based at the former Azai headquarters in Odani, Hideyoshi moved to Kunitomo, and renamed the city Nagahama in tribute to Nobunaga. Hideyoshi later moved to the port at Imahama on Lake Biwa. From there he began work on Imahama Castle and took control of the nearby Kunitomo firearms factory that had been established some years previously by the Azai and Asakura. Under Hideyoshi’s administration the factory’s output of firearms increased dramatically.^[6]

Nobunaga sent Hideyoshi to Himeji Castle to conquer Chūgoku region in 1576.

After the assassinations at Honnō-ji of Oda Nobunaga and his eldest son Nobutada in 1582

at the hands of Akechi Mitsuhide, Hideyoshi defeated Akechi at the Battle of Yamazaki.

At a meeting at Kiyosu to decide on a successor to Nobunaga, Hideyoshi cast aside the apparent candidate, Oda Nobutaka and his advocate, Oda clan’s chief general, Shibata Katsuie, by supporting Nobutada’s young son, Oda Hidenobu.^[7] Having won the support of the other two Oda elders, Niwa Nagahide and Ikeda Tsuneoki, Hideyoshi established Hidenobu’s position, as well as his own influence in the Oda clan. Tension quickly escalated between Hideyoshi and Katsuie, and at the Battle of Shizugatake in the following year, Hideyoshi destroyed Katsuie’s forces^[8] and thus consolidated his own power, absorbing most of the Oda clan into his control.

 

 

Japan around 1582

In 1583,

Hideyoshi began construction of Osaka Castle. Built on the site of the temple Ishiyama Honganji destroyed by Nobunaga,^[9] the castle would become the last stronghold of the Toyotomi clan after Hideyoshi’s death.

Nobunaga’s other son, Oda Nobukatsu, remained hostile to Hideyoshi. He allied himself with Tokugawa Ieyasu, and the two sides fought at the inconclusive Battle of Komaki and Nagakute. It ultimately resulted in a stalemate, although Hideyoshi’s forces were delivered a heavy blow.^[5] Finally, Hideyoshi made peace with Nobukatsu, ending the pretext for war between the Tokugawa and Hashiba clans. Hideyoshi sent Tokugawa Ieyasu his younger sister Asahi no kata and mother Ōmandokoro (大政所) as hostages. Ieyasu eventually agreed to become a vassal of Hideyoshi.

 

 Pinnacle of power

 

 

Kaō of Hideyoshi

 

 

Letter from Duarte de Meneses, viceroy of Portuguese India, to Hideyoshi dated April 1588, concerning the suppression of Christians, a National Treasure of Japan^[10][11]

Like Nobunaga before him, Hideyoshi never achieved the title of shogun. Instead, he arranged to have himself adopted into the Fujiwara Regents House, and secured a succession of high imperial court titles including, in 1585 the prestigious position of regent (kampaku).^[12] In 1586, Hideyoshi was formally given the name Toyotomi by the imperial court.^[5] He built a lavish palace, the Jurakudai, in 1587 and entertained the reigning Emperor Go-Yōzei the following year.^[13]

Afterwards, Hideyoshi subjugated Kii Province^[14] and conquered Shikoku under the Chōsokabe clan.^[15] He also took control of Etchū Province^[16] and conquered Kyūshū.^[17] In 1587, Hideyoshi banished Christian missionaries from Kyūshū to exert greater control over the Kirishitan daimyo.^[18] However, since he made much of trade with Europeans, individual Christians were overlooked unofficially. In 1588, Hideyoshi forbade ordinary peasants from owning weapons and started a sword hunt to confiscate arms.^[19] The swords were melted down to create a statue of the Buddha. This measure effectively stopped peasant revolts and ensured greater stability at the expense of freedom of the individual daimyo. The 1590 Siege of Odawara against the Late Hōjō clan in Kantō^[20] eliminated the last resistance to Hideyoshi’s authority. His victory signified the end of the Sengoku period. During this siege, Hideyoshi proposed that Ieyasu currently controlled five provinces were submitted, and Ieyasu receive the eight Kantō provinces that Kitajo ruled. Ieyasu accepted this proposal. and Date Masamune pledged loyalty to the Hideyoshi.

In February 1591, Hideyoshi ordered Sen no Rikyū to commit suicide.^[21] Rikyū had been a trusted retainer and master of the tea ceremony under both Hideyoshi and Nobunaga. Under Hideyoshi’s patronage, Rikyū made significant changes to the aesthetics of the tea ceremony that had lasting influence over many aspects of Japanese culture. Even after he ordered Rikyū’s suicide, Hideyoshi is said to have built his many construction projects based upon principles of beauty promoted by Rikyū.

Following Rikyū’s death, Hideyoshi turned his attentions from tea ceremony to Noh, which he had been studying in the Komparu style since becoming kampaku. During his brief stay in Nagoya Castle in what is today Saga prefecture, on Kyūshū, Hideyoshi memorized the shite (lead roles) parts of ten Noh plays, which he then performed, forcing various daimyō to accompany him onstage as the waki (secondary, accompanying role). He even performed before the Emperor.^[22]

The stability of the Toyotomi dynasty after Hideyoshi’s death was put in doubt with the death of his only son Tsurumatsu in September 1591. The three-year-old was his only child. When his half-brother Hidenaga died shortly after his son, Hideyoshi named his nephew Hidetsugu his heir, adopting him in January 1592. Hideyoshi resigned as kampaku to take the title of taikō (retired regent). Hidetsugu succeeded him as kampaku.

 

Decline and death

His health beginning to falter, but still yearning for some accomplishment to solidify his legacy, Hideyoshi adopted the dream of a Japanese conquest of China that Oda Nobunaga had contemplated, and launched two ill-fated invasions of Korea. Though he actually intended to conquer Ming China,^[23] Hideyoshi had been communicating with the Koreans since 1587 requesting unmolested passage into China. As vassal of Ming China, the Koreans at first refused talks entirely, and in April and July 1591 refused demands that Japanese troops be allowed to march through Korea. The Koreans were also concerned that allowing Japanese troops to march through Korea (Joseon) would mean that masses of Ming Chinese troops would battle Hideyoshi’s troops on Korean soil before they could reach China—effectively ruining the Joseon economy. In August, Hideyoshi ordered preparations for invasion. this same period, Under Chinese tributary system, Korean aristocrats (Yangban) were devoted to factional disputes in politics. While Japan was preparing war, Korea was not a warning at all.

In the first campaign, Hideyoshi appointed Ukita Hideie to the field marshal, and had them go to the Korean peninsula in April, 1592. Konishi Yukinaga occupied Seoul, the capital of the Joseon Dynasty on May 10, and in only four months, Hideyoshi’s forces had a route into Manchuria and occupied much of Korea. Korean king Seonjo of Joseon escaped to Uiju, and requested military intervention from China. In 1593, Ming Chinese Emperor Wanli sent an army under general Li Rusong to block the planned invasion of China and recapture the Korean peninsula. Yi Sun-sin and Won Gyun attacked the supply lines of the Japan, and helped the Chinese forces. On May 18, Konishi Yukinaga occupied Pyongyang, and, on July 16, Japan and China battle began in Pyongyang. 7 January 1593, The Chinese relief forces under Li eventually recaptured Pyongyang, and surrounded Seoul. Ishida Mitsunari massed Japanese forces in Seoul and halted Li Rusong‘s forces with a serious counterattack. The war reached a deadlock, and after the conclusion of a cease-fire agreement, Japanese troops retreated to Japan.

The birth of Hideyoshi’s second son, Hideyori, in 1593 created a potential succession problem. To avoid it, Hideyoshi exiled his nephew and heir Hidetsugu to Mount Kōya and then ordered him to commit suicide in August 1595. Hidetsugu’s family members who did not follow his example were then murdered in Kyoto, including 31 women and several children.^[24]

On February 5, 1597, Toyotomi Hideyoshi had twenty-six Christians killed as an example to Japanese who wanted to convert to Christianity. They are known as the Twenty-six Martyrs of Japan. They included five European Franciscan missionaries, one Mexican Franciscan missionary, three Japanese Jesuits and seventeen Japanese laymen including three young boys. They were executed by public crucifixion in Nagasaki.^[25]

After several years of negotiations (broken off because envoys of both sides falsely reported to their masters that the opposition surrendered), Hideyoshi appointed Kobayakawa Hideaki to lead the invasion forces, but their efforts on the Korean peninsula met with less success than the first invasion. Japanese troops remained pinned in Gyeongsang province. By June 1598, The Japanese forces fought with desperation, turning back several Chinese offensives in Suncheon and Sacheon as the Ming army prepared for a final assault. The Koreans guerrilla warfare, aided by the fact that they were fighting on their homeland, continually harassed Japanese forces. While Hideyoshi’s last battle at So-chon, was a major Japanese victory, all three parties to the war were exhausted. and Hideyoshi himself now accepted that the war could not be won. He told his commander in Korea: “Don’t let my soldiers become spirits in a foreign land.”,^[2] Toyotomi Hideyoshi died September 18, 1598. His death was kept secret by the Council of Five Elders to preserve morale, and Japanese troops were withdrawn from the Korean peninsula.

Because of his failure to capture Korea, Hideyoshi’s forces were unable to invade China. Rather than strengthen his position, the military expeditions left his clan’s coffers and fighting strength depleted, his vassals at odds over responsibility for the failure, and the clans that were loyal to the Toyotomi name weakened. The dream of a Japanese empire encompassing Asia ended with Hideyoshi. The Tokugawa government not only prohibited any military expeditions to the mainland, but closed Japan to nearly all foreigners during the years of the Tokugawa Shogunate. It was not until the late 19th century that Japan again fought a war against China through Korea, using much the same route that Hideyoshi’s invasion force had used.

After his death, the other members of the Council of Five Regents were unable to keep the ambitions of Tokugawa Ieyasu in check. Two of Hideyoshi’s top generals Katō Kiyomasa and Fukushima Masanori had fought bravely during the war, but returned to find the Toyotomi clan castellan Ishida Mitsunari in power. He held the generals in low esteem, and they sided with Tokugawa Ieyasu. Hideyoshi’s underaged son and designated successor Hideyori lost the power his father once held, and Tokugawa Ieyasu was declared Shogun following the Battle of Sekigahara.

Cultural legacy

Toyotomi Hideyoshi changed Japanese society in many ways. These include imposition of a rigid class structure, restriction on travel, and surveys of land and production.

Class reforms affected commoners and warriors. During the Sengoku period, it had become common for peasants to become warriors, or for samurai to farm due to the constant uncertainty caused by the lack of centralized government and always tentative peace. Upon taking control, Hideyoshi decreed that all peasants be disarmed completely.^[26] Conversely, he required samurai to leave the land and take up residence in the castle towns.^[27][28] This solidified the social class system for the next 300 years.

Furthermore, he ordered comprehensive surveys and a complete census of Japan. Once this was done and all citizens were registered, he required all Japanese to stay in their respective han (fiefs) unless they obtained official permission to go elsewhere. This ensured order in a period when bandits still roamed the countryside and peace was still new. The land surveys formed the basis for systematic taxation.^[29]

 

 

A replicated Osaka Castle has been created on the site of the Hideyoshi’s great donjon. The iconic castle has become a symbol of Osaka’s re-emergence as a great city after its devastation in World War II.

In 1590, Hideyoshi completed construction of the Osaka Castle, the largest and most formidable in all Japan, to guard the western approaches to Kyoto. In that same year, Hideyoshi banned “unfree labor” or slavery;^[30] but forms of contract and indentured labor persisted alongside the period penal codes’ forced labor.^[31]

Hideyoshi also influenced the material culture of Japan. He lavished time and money on the tea ceremony, collecting implements, sponsoring lavish social events, and patronizing acclaimed masters. As interest in the tea ceremony rose among the ruling class, so too did demand for fine ceramic implements, and during the course of the Korean campaigns, not only were large quantities of prized ceramic ware confiscated, many Korean artisans were forcibly relocated to Japan.^[32]

Inspired by the dazzling Golden Pavilion in Kyoto, he also constructed a fabulous portable tea room, covered with gold leaf and lined inside with red gossamer. Using this mobile innovation, he was able to practice the tea ceremony wherever he went, powerfully projecting his unrivaled power and status upon his arrival.

Politically, he set up a governmental system that balanced out the most powerful Japanese warlords (or daimyo). A council was created to include the most influential lords. At the same time, a regent was designated to be in command.

Just prior to his death, Hideyoshi hoped to set up a system stable enough to survive until his son grew old enough to become the next leader.^[33] A Council of Five Elders (五大老, go-tairō^?) was formed, consisting of the five most powerful daimyo. Following the death of Maeda Toshiie, however, Tokugawa Ieyasu began to secure alliances, including political marriages (which had been forbidden by Hideyoshi). Eventually, the pro-Toyotomi forces fought against the Tokugawa in the Battle of Sekigahara. Ieyasu won and received the title of Seii-tai Shogun two years later.

Hideyoshi is commemorated at several Toyokuni Shrines scattered over Japan.

Ieyasu left in place the majority of Hideyoshi’s decrees and built his shogunate upon them. This ensured that Hideyoshi’s cultural legacy remained. In a letter to his wife, Hideyoshi wrote:

“

I mean to do glorious deeds and I am ready for a long siege, with provisions and gold and silver in plenty, so as to return in triumph and leave a great name behind me. I desire you to understand this and to tell it to everybody.”[34]

”

 

 Names

Because of his low birth with no family name to the eventual achievement of Kanpaku (Regent), the title of highest imperial nobility, Toyotomi Hideyoshi had quite a few names throughout his life. At birth, he was given the name Hiyoshi-maru 日吉丸. At genpuku he took the name Kinoshita Tōkichirō (木下 藤吉郎^?). Later, he was given the surname Hashiba, and the honorary court office Chikuzen no Kami; as a result he was styled Hashiba Chikuzen no Kami Hideyoshi (羽柴筑前守秀吉^?). His surname remained Hashiba even as he was granted the new uji or sei (氏 or 姓, clan name) Toyotomi by the emperor. His name is correctly Toyotomi no Hideyoshi. Using the writing system of his time, his name is written as 豐臣 秀吉.

The Toyotomi uji was simultaneously granted to a number of Hideyoshi’s chosen allies, who adopted the new uji “豊臣朝臣” (Toyotomi no asomi, courtier of Toyotomi).

The Catholic sources of the time referred to him as “emperor Taicosama” (from taikō, a retired kampaku (see Sesshō and Kampaku), and the honorific sama).

His nickname was “Monkey” (Saru), allegedly given by Oda Nobunaga because of his facial resemblance to a monkey. This recognition directly contributed to the popular image of Toyotomi Hideyoshi being a monkey styled person, both in appearance and mode of behaviour.

 

 

 

 

Notes

1. ^ Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005). “Ōmi” in Japan Encyclopedia, pp. 993-994 at Google Books.
2. ^ ^{a b} Richard Holmes, The World Atlas of Warfare: Military Innovations that Changed the Course of History, Viking Press 1988. p. 68.
3. ^ Berry 1982, p. 8
4. ^ ^{a b} Berry 1982, p. 38
5. ^ ^{a b c} Berry 1982, p. 179
6. ^ Berry 1982, p. 54
7. ^ Berry 1982, p. 74
8. ^ Berry 1982, p. 78
9. ^ Berry 1982, p. 64
10. ^ “Kondō” (in Japanese). Hōryū-ji. http://www.horyuji.or.jp/kondo.htm. Retrieved 2009-11-23. 
11. ^ “五重塔” (in Japanese). Hōryū-ji. http://www.horyuji.or.jp/gojyunoto.htm. Retrieved 2009-11-23. 
12. ^ Berry 1982, pp. 168–181
13. ^ Berry 1982, pp. 184–186
14. ^ Berry 1982, pp. 85–86
15. ^ Berry 1982, p. 83
16. ^ Berry 1982, p. 84
17. ^ Berry 1982, pp. 87–93
18. ^ Berry 1982, pp. 91–93
19. ^ Berry 1982, pp. 102–106
20. ^ Berry 1982, pp. 93–96
21. ^ Berry 1982, pp. 223–225
22. ^ Ichikawa, Danjūrō XII. Danjūrō no kabuki annai (團十郎の歌舞伎案内, “Danjūrō’s Guide to Kabuki”). Tokyo: PHP Shinsho, 2008. pp. 139-140.
23. ^ Berry 1982, p. 208
24. ^ Berry 1982, pp. 217–223
25. ^ “Martyrs List”. Twenty-Six Martyrs Museum. http://www1.bbiq.jp/martyrs/ListEngl.html. Retrieved 2010-01-11. 
26. ^ Jansen, Marius. (2000). The Making of Modern Japan, p. 23.
27. ^ Berry 1982, pp. 106–107
28. ^ Jansen, p. 21-22.
29. ^ Berry 1982, pp. 111–118
30. ^ Lewis, James Bryant. (2003). Frontier Contact Between Choson Korea and Tokugawa Japan, p. 31-32.
31. ^ “Bateren-tsuiho-rei” (the Purge Directive Order to the Jesuits) Article 10
32. ^ Takeuchi, Rizō. (1985). Nihonshi shōjiten, p. 274–275; Jansen, p. 27.
33. ^ 豊臣秀吉の遺言状
34. ^ Sansom, George. (1943). Japan. A Short Cultural History, p. 410.

 References

• Berry, Mary Elizabeth. (1982). Hideyoshi. Cambridge: Harvard University Press. 10-ISBN 0674390253/13-ISBN 9780674390256; OCLC 8195691
• Jansen, Marius B. (2000). The Making of Modern Japan. Cambridge: Harvard University Press. 10-ISBN 0674003349/13-ISBN 9780674003347; OCLC 44090600
• Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric and Käthe Roth. (2005). Japan encyclopedia. Cambridge: Harvard University Press. 10-ISBN 0-674-01753-6; 13-ISBN 978-0-674-01753-5; OCLC 58053128

Tokugawa Ieyasu

Tokugawa Ieyasu 徳川家康
1st Tokugawa shogun
In office 1603–1605
Monarch	Go-Yōzei
Preceded by	Sengoku period
Succeeded by	Shogun: Tokugawa Hidetada
Personal details
Born	January 31, 1543(1543-01-31) Okazaki Castle, Mikawa
Died	June 1, 1616(1616-06-01) (aged 73) Sumpu, Japan
Relations	Father: Matsudaira Hirotada Mother: Odainokata
Children	Matsudaira Nobuyasu Kamohime Yūki Hideyasu Toku-hime Tokugawa Hidetada Others

Tokugawa Ieyasu (徳川 家康^?,

 January 31, 1543 – June 1, 1616)

was the founder and first shogun of the Tokugawa shogunate of Japan, which ruled from the Battle of Sekigahara in 1600 until the Meiji Restoration in 1868. Ieyasu seized power in 1600, received appointment as shogun in 1603, abdicated from office in 1605, but remained in power until his death in 1616. His given name is sometimes spelled Iyeyasu, according to the historical pronunciation of we.^[1][2] Ieyasu was posthumously enshrined at Nikkō Tōshō-gū with the name Tōshō Daigongen (東照大権現^?). [edit] Biography

Early life (1543–1556)

Tokugawa Ieyasu was born in Okazaki Castle in Mikawa on the 26th day of the twelfth month of the eleventh year of Tenbun, according to the Japanese calendar. Originally named Matsudaira Takechiyo (松平 竹千代), he was the son of Matsudaira Hirotada (松平 広忠), the daimyo of Mikawa of the Matsudaira clan, and Odainokata (於大の方), the daughter of a neighboring samurai lord Mizuno Tadamasa (水野 忠政). His mother and father were step-siblings. They were just 17 and 15 years old, respectively, when Ieyasu was born. Two years later, Odainokata was sent back to her family and the couple never lived together again. As both husband and wife remarried and both went on to have further children, Ieyasu in the end had 11 half-brothers and sisters.

The Matsudaira family was split in 1550: one side wanted to be vassals of the Imagawa clan, while the other side preferred the Oda. As a result, much of Ieyasu’s early years were spent in danger as wars with the Oda and Imagawa clans were fought. This family feud was the reason behind the murder of Hirotada’s father (Takechiyo’s grandfather), Matsudaira Kiyoyasu (松平 清康). Unlike his father and the majority of his branch of the family, Ieyasu’s father, Hirotada, favored the Imagawa clan.

In 1548, when the Oda clan invaded Mikawa, Hirotada turned to Imagawa Yoshimoto, the head of the Imagawa clan, for help to repel the invaders. Yoshimoto agreed to help under the condition that Hirotada send his son Takechiyo to Sumpu as a hostage. Hirotada agreed. Oda Nobuhide, the leader of the Oda clan, learned of this arrangement and had Ieyasu abducted from his entourage en route to Sumpu. Ieyasu was just six years old at the time.^[3]

Nobuhide threatened to execute Takechiyo unless his father severed all ties with the Imagawa clan. Hirotada replied that sacrificing his own son would show his seriousness in his pact with the Imagawa clan. Despite this refusal, Nobuhide chose not to kill Takechiyo but instead held him for the next three years at the Manshoji Temple in Nagoya.

In 1549, when Takechiyo was 7,^[3] his father Hirotada died of natural causes. At about the same time, Oda Nobuhide died during an epidemic. The deaths dealt a heavy blow to the Oda clan. An army under the command of Imagawa Sessai laid siege to the castle where Oda Nobuhiro, Nobuhide’s eldest son and the new head of the Oda, was living. With the castle about to fall, Imagawa Sessai offered a deal to Oda Nobunaga (Oda Nobuhide’s second son). Sessai offered to give up the siege if Ieyasu was handed over to the Imagawa clan. Nobunaga agreed and so Takechiyo (now nine) was taken as a hostage to Sumpu. Here he lived a fairly good life as hostage and potentially useful future ally of the Imagawa clan until 1556 when he was age 15.^[3]

Rise to power (1556–1584)

In 1556, Takechiyo came of age, and, following tradition, changed his name to Matsudaira Jirōsaburō Motonobu (松平 次郎三郎 元信). One year later, at the age of 16 (according to East Asian age reckoning), he married his first wife and changed his name again to Matsudaira Kurandonosuke Motoyasu (松平 蔵人佐 元康). Allowed to return to his native Mikawa, the Imagawa ordered him to fight the Oda clan in a series of battles. Motoyasu fought his first battle at the Siege of Terabe and later succeeded in delivering supplies to a border fort through a bold night attack.

In 1560 the leadership of the Oda clan had passed to the brilliant leader Oda Nobunaga. Yoshimoto, leading a large Imagawa army (perhaps 20,000 strong) then attacked the Oda clan territory. Motoyasu with his Mikawa troops captured a fort at the border and then stayed there to defend it. As a result, Motoyasu and his men were not present at the Battle of Okehazama where Yoshimoto was killed by Oda Nobunaga’s surprise assault.

With Yoshimoto dead, Motoyasu decided to ally with the Oda clan. A secret deal was needed because Motoyasu’s wife and infant son, Nobuyasu were held hostage in Sumpu by the Imagawa clan. In 1561, Motoyasu openly broke with the Imagawa and captured the fortress of Kaminojo. Motoyasu was then able to exchange his wife and son for the wife and daughter of the ruler of Kaminojo castle. In 1563 Nobuyasu was married to Nobunaga’s daughter Tokuhime.

For the next few years Motoyasu set to reform the Matsudaira clan and pacifying Mikawa. He also strengthened his key vassals by awarding them land and castles in Mikawa. They were: Honda Tadakatsu, Ishikawa Kazumasa, Koriki Kiyonaga, Hattori Hanzō, Sakai Tadatsugu, and Sakakibara Yasumasa.

 

 

An Ukiyo-e print depicting the Battle of Azukizaka. On his early days as daimyo of Mikawa Ieyasu had difficult relations with the Jodo temples which escalated in 1563-64.

Motoyasu defeated the military forces of the Mikawa Monto within Mikawa province at the Battle of Azukizaka. The Monto were a warlike group of monks that were ruling Kaga Province and had many temples elsewhere in Japan. They refused to obey Motoyasu’s commands and so he went to war with them, defeating their troops and pulling down their temples. In one battle, Motoyasu was nearly killed when he was struck by a bullet which did not penetrate his armor. Both Motoyasu’s Mikawa troops and the Monto forces were using the new gunpowder weapons which the Portuguese had introduced to Japan just 20 years earlier.

In 1567, Motoyasu changed his name yet again, his new family name was Tokugawa and his given name was now Ieyasu. In so doing, he claimed descent from the Minamoto clan. No proof has actually been found for this claimed descent from Seiwa tennō, the 56th Emperor of Japan.^[4]

Ieyasu remained an ally of Oda Nobunaga and his Mikawa soldiers were part of Nobunaga’s army which captured Kyoto in 1568. At the same time Ieyasu was expanding his own territory. He and Takeda Shingen, the head of the Takeda clan in Kai Province made an alliance for the purpose of conquering all the Imagawa territory. In 1570, Ieyasu’s troops captured Tōtōmi Province while Shingen’s troops captured Suruga province (including the Imagawa capital of Sumpu).

Ieyasu ended his alliance with Takeda and sheltered their former enemy, Imagawa Ujizane; he also allied with Uesugi Kenshin of the Uesugi clan—an enemy of the Takeda clan. Later that year, Ieyasu led 5,000 of his own men supporting Nobunaga at the Battle of Anegawa against the Azai and Asakura clans.

In October 1571,

Takeda Shingen,

 now allied with the Hōjō clan, attacked the Tokugawa lands of Tōtōmi. Ieyasu asked for help from Nobunaga, who sent him some 3,000 troops. Early in 1573 the two armies met at the Battle of Mikatagahara. The Takeda army, under the expert direction of Shingen, hammered at Ieyasu’s troops until they were broken. Ieyasu fled with just 5 men to a nearby castle. This was a major loss for Ieyasu, but Shingen was unable to exploit his victory because Ieyasu quickly gathered a new army and refused to fight Shingen again on the battlefield.

Fortune smiled on Ieyasu a year later when Takeda Shingen died at a siege early in 1573. Shingen was succeeded by his less capable son Takeda Katsuyori.

In 1575,

 the Takeda army attacked Nagashino Castle in Mikawa province. Ieyasu appealed to Nobunaga for help and the result was that Nobunaga personally came at the head of his very large army (about 30,000 strong). The Oda-Tokugawa force of 38,000 won a great victory on June 28, 1575, at the Battle of Nagashino, though Takeda Katsuyori survived the battle and retreated back to Kai province.

For the next seven years, Ieyasu and Katsuyori fought a series of small battles. Ieyasu’s troops managed to wrest control of Suruga province away from the Takeda clan.

In 1579,

Ieyasu’s wife, and his eldest son, Matsudaira Nobuyasu, were accused by Nobunaga of conspiring with Takeda Katsuyori to assassinate Nobunaga, whose daughter Tokuhime (1559–1636) was married to Nobuyasu. Ieyasu’s wife was executed and Nobuyasu was forced to commit seppuku. Ieyasu then named his third and favorite son, Tokugawa Hidetada, as heir, since his second son was adopted by another rising power: Toyotomi Hideyoshi, the future ruler of all Japan.

The end of the war with Takeda came in 1582

when a combined Oda-Tokugawa force attacked and conquered Kai province. Takeda Katsuyori, as well as his eldest son Takeda Nobukatsu, were defeated at the Battle of Temmokuzan and then committed seppuku.

In late 1582

 Ieyasu was near Osaka and far from his own territory when he learned that Nobunaga had been assassinated by Akechi Mitsuhide. Ieyasu managed the dangerous journey back to Mikawa, avoiding Mitsuhide’s troops along the way, as they were trying to find and kill him. One week after he arrived in Mikawa, Ieyasu’s army marched out to take revenge on Mitsuhide. But they were too late, Hideyoshi—on his own—defeated and killed Akechi Mitsuhide at the Battle of Yamazaki.

The death of Nobunaga meant that some provinces, ruled by Nobunaga’s vassals, were ripe for conquest. The leader of Kai province made the mistake of killing one of Ieyasu’s aides. Ieyasu promptly invaded Kai and took control. Hōjō Ujimasa, leader of the Hōjō clan responded by sending his much larger army into Shinano and then into Kai province. No battles were fought between Ieyasu’s forces and the large Hōjō army and, after some negotiation, Ieyasu and the Hōjō agreed to a settlement which left Ieyasu in control of both Kai and Shinano provinces, while the Hōjō took control of Kazusa province (as well as bits of both Kai and Shinano province).

At the same time (1583)

 a war for rule over Japan was fought between Toyotomi Hideyoshi and Shibata Katsuie. Ieyasu did not take a side in this conflict, building on his reputation for both caution and wisdom. Hideyoshi defeated Katsuie at Battle of Shizugatake—with this victory, Hideyoshi became the single most powerful daimyo in Japan.

 

 

Ieyasu and Hideyoshi (1584–1598)

In 1584,

 Ieyasu decided to support Oda Nobukatsu, the eldest son and heir of Oda Nobunaga, against Hideyoshi. This was a dangerous act and could have resulted in the annihilation of the Tokugawa.

Main article: Battle of Komaki and Nagakute

 

 

Hideyoshi and Ieyasu played Go on this board.

Tokugawa troops took the traditional Oda stronghold of Owari, Hideyoshi responded by sending an army into Owari. The Komaki Campaign was the only time any of the great unifiers of Japan fought each other: Hideyoshi vs. Ieyasu. The campaign proved indecisive and after months of fruitless marches and feints, Hideyoshi settled the war through negotiation. First he made peace with Oda Nobukatsu, and then he offered a truce to Ieyasu. The deal was made at the end of the year; as part of the terms Ieyasu’s second son, O Gi Maru, became an adopted son of Hideyoshi.

Ieyasu’s aide, Ishikawa Kazumasa, chose to join the pre-eminent daimyo and so he moved to Osaka to be with Hideyoshi. However, only a few other Tokugawa retainers followed this example.

Hideyoshi was understandably distrustful of Ieyasu, and five years passed before they fought as allies. The Tokugawa did not participate in Hideyoshi’s successful invasions of Shikoku and Kyūshū.

 

 

In 1590

Hideyoshi attacked the last independent daimyo in Japan, Hōjō Ujimasa. The Hōjō clan ruled the eight provinces of the Kantō region in eastern Japan. Hideyoshi ordered them to submit to his authority and they refused. Ieyasu, though a friend and occasional ally of Ujimasa, joined his large force of 30,000 samurai with Hideyoshi’s enormous army of some 160,000. Hideyoshi attacked several castles on the borders of the Hōjō clan with most of his army laying siege to the castle at Odawara.

Hideyoshi’s army captured Odawara after six months

 (oddly for the time period, deaths on both sides were few).

During this siege, Hideyoshi offered Ieyasu a radical deal. He offered Ieyasu the eight Kantō provinces which they were about to take from the Hōjō in return for the five provinces that Ieyasu currently controlled (including Ieyasu’s home province of Mikawa). Ieyasu accepted this proposal. Bowing to the overwhelming power of the Toyotomi army, the Hōjō accepted defeat, the top Hōjō leaders killed themselves and Ieyasu marched in and took control of their provinces, so ending the clan’s reign of over 100 years.

Ieyasu now gave up control of his five provinces (Mikawa, Tōtōmi, Suruga, Shinano, and Kai) and moved all his soldiers and vassals to the Kantō region. He himself occupied the castle town of Edo in Kantō. This was possibly the riskiest move Ieyasu ever made — to leave his home province and rely on the uncertain loyalty of the formerly Hōjō samurai in Kantō. In the event, it worked out brilliantly for Ieyasu. He reformed the Kantō provinces, controlled and pacified the Hōjō samurai and improved the underlying economic infrastructure of the lands. Also, because Kantō was somewhat isolated from the rest of Japan, Ieyasu was able to maintain a unique level of autonomy from Hideyoshi’s rule. Within a few years, Ieyasu had become the second most powerful daimyo in Japan. There is a Japanese proverb which likely refers to this event: “Ieyasu won the Empire by retreating.”^[5]

In 1592,

Hideyoshi invaded Korea as a prelude to his plan to attack China (see Japanese invasions of Korea [1592–1598] for more information about this campaign). The Tokugawa samurai never took part in this campaign. Early in 1593, Ieyasu was summoned to Hideyoshi’s court in Nagoya (in Kyūshū, different from the similarly spelled city in Owari Province), as a military advisor. He stayed there, off and on for the next five years. Despite his frequent absences, Ieyasu’s sons, loyal retainers and vassals were able to control and improve Edo and the other new Tokugawa lands.

In 1593, Hideyoshi fathered a son and heir, Toyotomi Hideyori.

In 1598,

with his health clearly failing, Hideyoshi called a meeting that would determine the Council of Five Elders, who would be responsible for ruling on behalf of his son after his death. The five that were chosen as regents (tairō) for Hideyori were Maeda Toshiie, Mōri Terumoto, Ukita Hideie, Uesugi Kagekatsu, and Ieyasu himself, who was the most powerful of the five. This change in the pre-Sekigahara power structure became pivotal as Ieyasu turned his attention towards Kansai; and at the same time, other ambitious (albeit ultimately unrealized) plans, such as the Tokugawa initiative establishing official relations with Mexico and New Spain, continued to unfold and advance.^[6]

The Sekigahara Campaign (1598–1603)

Hideyoshi, after three more months of increasing sickness, died on September 18, 1598.

He was nominally succeeded by his young son Hideyori but as he was just five years old, real power was in the hands of the regents. Over the next two years Ieyasu made alliances with various daimyo, especially those who had no love for Hideyoshi. Happily for Ieyasu, the oldest and most respected of the regents died after just one year. With the death of Regent Maeda Toshiie in 1599, Ieyasu led an army to Fushimi and took over Osaka Castle, the residence of Hideyori. This angered the three remaining regents and plans were made on all sides for war. It was also the last battle of one of the most loyal and powerful retainer of Ieyasu, Tadakastsu Honda .

Opposition to Ieyasu centered around Ishida Mitsunari, a powerful daimyo but not one of the regents. Mitsunari plotted Ieyasu’s death and news of this plot reached some of Ieyasu’s generals. They attempted to kill Mitsunari but he fled and gained protection from none other than Ieyasu himself. It is not clear why Ieyasu protected a powerful enemy from his own men but Ieyasu was a master strategist and he may have concluded that he would be better off with Mitsunari leading the enemy army rather than one of the regents, who would have more legitimacy.^[7]

Nearly all of Japan’s daimyo and samurai now split into two factions—Mitsunari’s group and the anti-Mitsunari Group. Ieyasu supported the anti-Mitsunari Group, and formed them as his potential allies. Ieyasu’s allies were the Date clan, the Mogami clan, the Satake clan and the Maeda clan. Mitsunari allied himself with the three other regents: Ukita Hideie, Mori Terumoto, and Uesugi Kagekatsu as well as many daimyo from the eastern end of Honshū.

In June 1600, Ieyasu and his allies moved their armies to defeat the Uesugi clan who was accused of planning to revolt against Toyotomi administration (Led by Ieyasu, top of Council of Five Elders). Before arriving to Uesugi’s territory, Ieyasu had got information that Mitsunari and his allies moved their army against Ieyasu. Ieyasu held a meeting with daimyo, and they agreed to ally Ieyasu. He then led the majority of his army west towards Kyoto. In late summer, Ishida’s forces captured Fushimi.

Ieyasu and his allies marched along the Tōkaidō, while his son Hidetada went along the Nakasendō with 38,000 soldiers. A battle against Sanada Masayuki in Shinano Province delayed Hidetada’s forces, and they did not arrive in time for the main battle.

Main article: Battle of Sekigahara

This battle was the biggest and likely the most important battle in Japanese history. It began on October 21, 1600 with a total of 160,000 men facing each other. The Battle of Sekigahara ended with a complete Tokugawa victory.^[8] The Western bloc was crushed and over the next few days Ishida Mitsunari and many other western nobles were captured and killed. Tokugawa Ieyasu was now the de facto ruler of Japan.

Immediately after the victory at Sekigahara, Ieyasu redistributed land to the vassals who had served him. Ieyasu left some western daimyo un-harmed, such as the Shimazu clan, but others were completely destroyed. Toyotomi Hideyori (the son of Hideyoshi) lost most of his territory which were under management of western daimyo, and he was degraded to an ordinary daimyo, not a ruler of Japan. In later years the vassals who had pledged allegiance to Ieyasu before Sekigahara became known as the fudai daimyo, while those who pledged allegiance to him after the battle (in other words, after his power was unquestioned) were known as tozama daimyo. Tozama daimyo were considered inferior to fudai daimyo.

 Shogun Ieyasu (1603–1605)

 

 

Tokugawa Ieyasu as shogun.

On March 24, 1603, Tokugawa Ieyasu received the title of shogun from Emperor Go-Yōzei.^[9] Ieyasu was 60 years old. He had outlasted all the other great men of his times: Nobunaga, Hideyoshi, Shingen, Kenshin. He was the shogun and he used his remaining years to create and solidify the Tokugawa shogunate (That was eventually to become the Edo period, about two hundred years under Ieyasu’s Shogunate) , the third shogunal government (after the Minamoto and the Ashikaga). He claimed descent from the Minamoto clan by way of the Nitta family. Ironically, Ieyasu’s descendants would marry into the Taira clan and Fujiwara Clans. The Tokugawa Shogunate would rule Japan for the next 250 years.

Main article: Tokugawa Shogun

Following a well established Japanese pattern, Ieyasu abdicated his official position as shogun in 1605. His successor was his son and heir, Tokugawa Hidetada. This may have been done, in part to avoid being tied up in ceremonial duties, and in part to make it harder for his enemies to attack the real power center, and in part to secure a smoother succession of his son.^[10] The abdication of Ieyasu had no effect on the practical extent of his powers or his rule; but Hidetada nevertheless assumed a role as formal head of the bakufu bureaucracy.

 

 

The Tokugawa clan crest

 Retired shogun (1605–1616)

Ieyasu, acting as the retired shogun (大御所, ōgosho^?), remained the effective ruler of Japan until his death. Ieyasu retired to Sunpu Castle in Sunpu, but he also supervised the building of Edo Castle, a massive construction project which lasted for the rest of Ieyasu’s life. The end result was the largest castle in all of Japan, the costs for building the castle being borne by all the other daimyo, while Ieyasu reaped all the benefits. The central donjon, or tenshu, burned in the 1657 Meireki fire. Today, the Imperial Palace stands on the site of the castle.

Ogosho Ieyasu also supervised diplomatic affairs with the Netherlands and Spain. He chose to distance Japan from the Europeans starting in 1609, although the bakufu did give the Dutch exclusive trading rights and permitted them to maintain a “factory” for trading purposes. From 1605 until his death, Ieyasu consulted with an English Protestant pilot in Dutch employ, William Adams,^[11] who played a noteworthy role in forming and furthering the Shogunate’s evolving relations with Spain and the Roman Catholic Church.^[12]

In 1611, Ieyasu, at the head of 50,000 men, visited Kyoto to witness the coronation of Emperor Go-Mizunoo. In Kyoto, Ieyasu ordered the remodeling of the imperial court and buildings, and forced the remaining western daimyo to sign an oath of fealty to him. In 1613, he composed the Kuge Shohatto’ a document which put the court daimyo under strict supervision, leaving them as mere ceremonial figureheads. The influences of Christianity, which was beset by quarreling over the Protestant Reformation and its aftermath, on Japan were proving problematic for Ieyasu. In 1614, he signed the Christian Expulsion Edict which banned Christianity, expelled all Christians and foreigners, and banned Christians from practicing their religion. As a result, many Kirishitans (early Japanese Christians) fled to either Portuguese Macau or the Spanish Philippines.

In 1615, he prepared the Buke Shohatto, a document setting out the future of the Tokugawa regime.

Siege of Osaka

Main article: Siege of Osaka

 

 

Grave of Ieyasu in Tōshō-gū

The climax of Ieyasu’s life was the siege of Osaka Castle (1614–1615). The last remaining threat to Ieyasu’s rule was Hideyori, the son and rightful heir to Hideyoshi. He was now a young daimyo living in Osaka Castle. Many samurai who opposed Ieyasu rallied around Hideyori, claiming that he was the rightful ruler of Japan. Ieyasu found fault with the opening ceremony of a temple built by Hideyori—it was as if Hideyori prayed for Ieyasu’s death and the ruin of Tokugawa clan. Ieyasu ordered Toyotomi to leave Osaka Castle, but those in the castle refused and started to gather samurai into the castle. Then the Tokugawa, with a huge army led by Ogosho Ieyasu and Shogun Hidetada, laid siege to Osaka castle in what is now known as “the Winter Siege of Osaka.” Eventually, Tokugawa made a deal threatening Hideyori’s mother, Yodogimi, firing cannons towards the castle to stop the fighting. However, as soon as the treaty was agreed upon, Tokugawa filled Osaka Castle’s moats with sand so his troops could go across them. Ieyasu returned to Sumpu once, but after Toyotomi refused another order to leave Osaka, he and his allied army of 155,000 soldiers attacked Osaka Castle again in “the Summer Siege of Osaka.” Finally in late 1615, Osaka Castle fell and nearly all the defenders were killed including Hideyori, his mother (Hideyoshi’s widow, Yodogimi), and his infant son. His wife, Senhime (a granddaughter of Ieyasu), was sent back to Tokugawa alive. With the Toyotomi finally extinguished, no threats remained to Tokugawa’s domination of Japan.

 The end of his life

In 1616,

Ieyasu died at age 73.

^[3] The cause of death is thought to have been cancer or syphilis. The first Tokugawa shogun was posthumously deified with the name Tōshō Daigongen (東照大権現), the “Great Gongen, Light of the East”. (A Gongen (the prefix Dai– meaning great) is believed to be a buddha who has appeared on Earth in the shape of a kami to save sentient beings). In life, Ieyasu had expressed the wish to be deified after his death in order to protect his descendants from evil. His remains were buried at the Gongens’ mausoleum at Kunōzan, Kunōzan Tōshō-gū (久能山東照宮). After the first anniversary of his death, his remains were reburied at Nikkō Shrine, Nikkō Tōshō-gū (日光東照宮). His remains are still there. The mausoleum’s architectural style became known as gongen-zukuri, that is gongen-style.^[13]

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ieyasu as a person

 

 

Handprint of Ieyasu at Kunozan Toshogu

Ieyasu had a number of qualities that enabled him to rise to power. He was both careful and bold—at the right times, and at the right places. Calculating and subtle, Ieyasu switched alliances when he thought he would benefit from the change. He allied with the Hōjō clan; then he joined Hideyoshi’s army of conquest, which destroyed the Hōjō clan; and he himself took over their lands. In this he was like other daimyo of his time. This was an era of violence, sudden death, and betrayal. He was not very well liked nor personally popular, but he was feared and he was respected for his leadership and his cunning. For example, he wisely kept his soldiers out of Hideyoshi’s campaign in Korea.

He was capable of great loyalty: once he allied with Oda Nobunaga, he never went against Nobunaga; and both leaders profited from their long alliance. He was known for being loyal towards his personal friends and vassals, whom he rewarded, He was said to have a close friendship with his vassal Hattori Hanzo. However, he also remembered those who had wronged him in the past. It is said that Ieyasu executed a man who came into his power because he had insulted him when Ieyasu was young.

Ieyasu protected many former Takeda retainers from the wrath of Oda Nobunaga, who was known to harbor a bitter grudge towards the Takeda. He managed to successfully transform many of the retainers of the Takeda, Hōjō, and Imagawa clans—all whom he had defeated himself or helped to defeat—into loyal followers.

He had nineteen wives and concubines, by whom he had eleven sons and five daughters. The eleven sons of Ieyasu were Matsudaira Nobuyasu (松平 信康), Yūki Hideyasu (結城 秀康), Tokugawa Hidetada (徳川 秀忠), Matsudaira Tadayoshi (松平 忠吉), Takeda Nobuyoshi (武田 信吉), Matsudaira Tadateru (松平 忠輝), Matsuchiyo (松千代), Senchiyo (仙千代), Tokugawa Yoshinao (徳川 義直), Tokugawa Yorinobu (徳川 頼宣), and Tokugawa Yorifusa (徳川 頼房). (In this listing, the two sons without surnames died before adulthood.) His daughters were Kame hime (亀姫), Toku hime (徳姫), Furi hime (振姫), Matsu hime (松姫) , Eishōin hime (_姫), and Ichi hime (市姫). He is said to have cared for his children and grandchildren, establishing three of them, Yorinobu, Yoshinao, and Yorifusa as the daimyos of Kii, Owari, and Mito provinces, respectively.^[14] At the same time, he could be ruthless when crossed. For example, he ordered the executions of his first wife and his eldest son—a son-in-law of Oda Nobunaga; Oda was also an uncle of Hidetada’s wife Oeyo.

 

 

The butterfly mon of the Taira is called Ageha-cho (揚羽蝶) in Japanese.

After Hidetada became shogun, he married Oeyo of the Oda clan and they had two sons, Tokugawa Iemitsu and Tokugawa Tadanaga. They also had two daughters, one of whom, Sen hime, married twice. The other daughter, Kazuko hime, married Emperor Go-Mizunoo of descent from the Fujiwara clan.

Ieyasu’s favorite pastime was falconry. He regarded it as excellent training for a warrior. “When you go into the country hawking, you learn to understand the military spirit and also the hard life of the lower classes. You exercise your muscles and train your limbs. You have any amount of walking and running and become quite indifferent to heat and cold, and so you are little likely to suffer from any illness.”.^[15] Ieyasu swam often; even late in his life he is reported to have swum in the moat of Edo Castle.

Later in life he took to scholarship and religion, patronizing scholars like Hayashi Razan.^[16]

Two of his famous quotes:

“Life is like unto a long journey with a heavy burden. Let thy step be slow and steady, that thou stumble not. Persuade thyself that imperfection and inconvenience are the lot of natural mortals, and there will be no room for discontent, neither for despair. When ambitious desires arise in thy heart, recall the days of extremity thou have passed through. Forbearance is the root of all quietness and assurance forever. Look upon the wrath of thy enemy. If thou only knows what it is to conquer, and knowest not what it is to be defeated; woe unto thee, it will fare ill with thee. Find fault with thyself rather than with others.”

“The strong manly ones in life are those who understand the meaning of the word patience. Patience means restraining one’s inclinations. There are seven emotions: joy, anger, anxiety, adoration, grief, fear, and hate, and if a man does not give way to these he can be called patient. I am not as strong as I might be, but I have long known and practiced patience. And if my descendants wish to be as I am, they must study patience.”

He claimed that he fought, as a warrior or a general, in 90 battles.

He was interested in various kenjutsu skills, was a patron of the Yagyū Shinkage-ryū school, and also had them as his personal sword instructors.

 Ieyasu in popular culture

See People of the Sengoku period in popular culture.

 Era of Ieyasu’s rule

Ieyasu ruled directly as shogun or indirectly as Ogosho during the Keichō era (1596–1615).

 See also

• East Asian age reckoning

Notes

1. ^ “Iyeyasu”. Encyclopedia.com. http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1E1-X-Iyeyasu.html. 
2. ^ “Iyeyasu”. Merriam-Webster. http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/iyeyasu. 
3. ^ ^{a b c d} Screech, Timon. (2006). Secret Memoirs of the Shoguns: Isaac Titsingh and Japan, 1779–1882, pp. 85, 234; n.b., Screech explains “Minamoto-no-Ieyasu was born in Tenbun 11, on the 26th day of the 12th month (1542) and he died in Genna 2, on the 17th day of the 4th month (1616); and thus, his contemporaries would have said that he lived 75 years. In this period, children were considered one year old at birth and became two the following New Year’s Day; and all people advanced a year that day, not on their actual birthday.”
4. ^ Screech, p.82.
5. ^ Sadler, A.L. (1937). The Maker of Modern Japan, p. 164.
6. ^ Nutail, Zelia. (1906). The Earliest Historical Relations Between Mexico and Japan, p. 2; “Japan to Decorate King Alfonso Today; Emperor’s Brother Nears Madrid With Collar of the Chrysanthemum for Spanish King.” New York Times, November 3, 1930.
7. ^ Sadler, A.L. p. 187
8. ^ Titsingh, I. (1834). Annales des empereurs du Japon, p. 405.
9. ^ Titsingh, p. 409.
10. ^ Wolferen, K. The Enigma of Japanese Power. p. 28
11. ^ Milton, Giles. Samurai William: The Englishman Who Opened Japan. New York: Farrar, Straus, and Giroux, 2003.
12. ^ Nutail, pp. 6–45.
13. ^ JAANUS / Gongen-zukuri 権現造
14. ^ On the subject, see the article Gosanke.
15. ^ Sadler, p. 344.
16. ^ Ponsonby-Fane, Richard. (1956). Kyoto: the Old Capital of Japan, 794–1969, p. 418.

 References

Precepts on the secret of success in life drafted by Tokugawa Ieyasu from the collection of Nikkō Tōshō-gū.

• Bolitho, Harold. (1974). Treasures Among Men: The Fudai Daimyo in Tokugawa Japan. New Haven: Yale University Press. 10-ISBN 0-300-01655-7/13-ISBN 978-0-300-01655-0; OCLC 185685588
• McClain, James. (1991). The Cambridge History of Japan Volume 4. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
• McLynn, Frank. (2008). The Greatest Shogun, BBC History Magazine, Vol. 9, No. 1, pp 52–53.
• Nutail, Zelia. (1906). The Earliest Historical Relations Between Mexico and Japan. Berkeley: University of California Press.
• Ponsonby-Fane, Richard A.B. (1956). Kyoto: the Old Capital of Japan. Kyoto: Ponsonby-Fane Memorial Society.
• Sadler, A.L. (1937). The Maker of Modern Japan.
• Sansom, George. (1961). A History of Japan, 1334–1615. Stanford: Stanford University Press. ISBN 0-8047-0525-9
• Screech, Timon. (2006). Secret Memoirs of the Shoguns: Isaac Titsingh and Japan, 1779–1822. London: RoutledgeCurzon. ISBN 0-7007-1720-X
• Titsingh, Isaac. (1822). Illustrations of Japan. London: Ackerman.
• Titsingh, Isaac. (1834). [Siyun-sai Rin-siyo/Hayashi Gahō, 1652], Nipon o daï itsi ran; ou, Annales des empereurs du Japon. Paris: Oriental Translation Fund of Great Britain and Ireland.
• Conrad Totman, Conrad. (1967). Politics in the Tokugawa Bakufu, 1600–1843. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.
• あおもりの文化財 徳川家康自筆日課念仏 – 青森県庁ホームページ

The end @copyright 2012