Hideyoshi sought to secure his position by rearranging the holdings of the "daimyōs" 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 "daimyōs" resided at his castle town in Osaka. Hideyoshi attempted to provide for an orderly succession by taking the title "taikō", or "retired Kanpaku (Imperial regent)", 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.
Unification
Azuchi–Momoyama period
Azuchi–Momoyama period | Unification
Hideyoshi sought to secure his position by rearranging the holdings of the "daimyōs" to his advantage. He  formalized 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 Sorry. I cannot find the answer based on the context. The Oda clan, Niwa Nagahide and Ikeda Tsuneoki
date of japanese surrender in world war ii
user
September 2, 1945
assistant
what were the divisions within their leadership?
user
Suzuki's military-dominated cabinet favored continuing the war. For the Japanese, surrender was unthinkable—Japan had never been successfully invaded or lost a war in its history. Only Mitsumasa Yonai, the Navy minister, was known to desire an early end to the war.
assistant
why did they surrender then?
user
August 28, 1945 Japanese Instrument of Surrender was signed
assistant
what happened at hiroshima in this context?
user
United States detonated an atomic bomb over the Japanese city of Hiroshima.
assistant
and nagasaki?
user
Hours later, the United States dropped a second atomic bomb, this time on the Japanese city of Nagasaki.
assistant
were there any further surrenders followed after this?
user
It was broadcasted later that Japan was indeed unconditionally surrendering to the allies.
assistant
which interesting places are there in the former mentioned city?
user
Itsukushima Island, also known as Miyajima
assistant
how is the weather here?
user
Has a humid subtropical climate characterized by cool to mild winters and hot, humid summers.
assistant
who used to rule this place during 1589 to 1871?
user
Mōri Terumoto
assistant
who is this person?
user
He was a Japanese "daimyō".
assistant
whom did he provide his service to?
user
Toyotomi Hideyoshi
assistant
is this person another ruler?
user
He is  the "de facto" leader
assistant
what does this second last term means?
user
It means practices that exist in reality, even though they are not officially recognized by laws.
assistant
did this mention leader build any castle?
user
Hideyoshi's rule covers most of the Azuchi–Momoyama period of Japan, partially named after his castle, Momoyama Castle. Hideyoshi left an influential and lasting legacy in Japan, including Osaka Castle
assistant
what was unified during this mentioned period?
user
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.
Azuchi–Momoyama period | Hideyoshi completes the unification
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 schoolchildren: 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.
Azuchi–Momoyama period | Famous "senryū"
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.
Azuchi–Momoyama period | 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. 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.
Azuchi–Momoyama period | Hideyoshi completes the unification
The is the final phase of the in Japanese history from 1568 to 1600. The Azuchi–Momoyama period began with Oda Nobunaga entering into Kyoto in 1568 to install Ashikaga Yoshiaki as the 15th and ultimately final "shōgun" of the Ashikaga Shogunate, which had collapsed after outbreak of the Ōnin War in 1467 and triggered the chaotic Sengoku period. Nobunaga overthrew Yoshiaki and dissolved the Ashikaga Shogunate in 1573, launching a war of conquest to politically unify Japan by force from his base in Azuchi. Nobunaga was forced to commit suicide in the Honnō-ji Incident in 1582, and his successor Toyotomi Hideyoshi completed his campaign of unification, closing the Sengoku period and enacting reforms to consolidate his rule.
Azuchi–Momoyama period | Introduction
During the Azuchi–Momoyama period (1568–1600) Japan underwent a process of unification after a long period of civil war. It was marked by the rule of Oda Nobunaga and Toyotomi Hideyoshi, men who built castles as symbols of their power; Nobunaga in Azuchi, the seat of his government, and Hideyoshi in Momoyama. The Ōnin War during the Muromachi period had led to rise of castle architecture in Japan. By the time of the Azuchi-Momoyama period each domain was allowed to have one castle of its own. Typically it consisted of a central tower or surrounded by gardens and fortified buildings. All of this was set within massive stone walls and surrounded by deep moats.
Japanese architecture | Azuchi-Momoyama period
In the hope of founding a new dynasty, Hideyoshi had asked his most trusted subordinates to pledge loyalty to his infant son Toyotomi Hideyori. Despite this, almost immediately after Hideyoshi's death, war broke out between Hideyori's allies and those loyal to Tokugawa Ieyasu, a "daimyō" and a former ally of Hideyoshi. Tokugawa Ieyasu won a decisive victory at the Battle of Sekigahara in 1600, ushering in 268 uninterrupted years of rule by the Tokugawa clan.
History of Japan | Azuchi–Momoyama period (1568–1600)
Hideyoshi sought to secure his position by rearranging the holdings of the "daimyōs" 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 "daimyōs" resided at his castle town in Osaka. Hideyoshi attempted to provide for an orderly succession by taking the title "taikō", or "retired Kanpaku (Imperial regent)", 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.
Azuchi–Momoyama period | Unification
After a period of war Japan was re-united in the Azuchi–Momoyama period. Neo-Confucianism gained influence at the expense of Buddhism, which came under strict state control. The power of Buddhism decreased during the Tokugawa period. Buddhism had become a strong political and military force in Japan and was seen as a threat by the ruling clan. Measures were taken to control the Buddhist organisations, and to limit their power and influence. The temple hierarchy system was centralized and unified. Japan closed the gates to the rest of the world. New doctrines and methods were not to be introduced, nor were new temples and schools.
Sōtō | Azuchi-Momoyama (1573–1600) and Edo (or Tokugawa) (1600–1868)
During the second half of the 16th century, Japan gradually reunified under two powerful warlords: Oda Nobunaga; and Toyotomi Hideyoshi. The period takes its name from Nobunaga's headquarters, Azuchi Castle, and Hideyoshi's headquarters, Momoyama Castle. Nobunaga was the "daimyō" of the small province of Owari. He burst onto the scene suddenly, in 1560, when, during the Battle of Okehazama, his army defeated a force several times its size led by the powerful "daimyō" Imagawa Yoshimoto. Nobunaga was renowned for his strategic leadership and his ruthlessness. He encouraged Christianity to incite hatred toward his Buddhist enemies and to forge strong relationships with European arms merchants.
History of Japan | Azuchi–Momoyama period (1568–1600)
An uneasy peace lasted until the death of Maeda in 1599. Thereafter a number of high-ranking figures, notably Ishida Mitsunari, accused Tokugawa of disloyalty to the Toyotomi regime.
Sengoku period | Unification
He equipped his armies with muskets and trained them with innovative tactics. He promoted talented men regardless of their social status, including his peasant servant Toyotomi Hideyoshi, who became one of his best generals. The Azuchi–Momoyama period began in 1568, when Nobunaga seized Kyoto and thus effectively brought an end to the Ashikaga shogunate. He was well on his way towards his goal of reuniting all Japan in 1582 when one of his own officers, Akechi Mitsuhide, killed him during an abrupt attack on his encampment. Hideyoshi avenged Nobunaga by crushing Akechi's uprising and emerged as Nobunaga's successor. Hideyoshi completed the reunification of Japan by conquering Shikoku, Kyushu, and the lands of the Hōjō family in eastern Japan.
History of Japan | Azuchi–Momoyama period (1568–1600)
Hideyoshi launched the Japanese invasions of Korea in 1592, but the invasion's failure damaged his prestige, and his young son and successor Toyotomi Hideyori was challenged by Tokugawa Ieyasu after his death in 1598. The Azuchi–Momoyama period ended with Tokugawa victory at the Battle of Sekigahara in 1600 – unofficially establishing the Tokugawa Shogunate and beginning the Edo period. The Azuchi–Momoyama period oversaw Japanese society and culture transitioning from the Middle Ages to the early modern period. The Azuchi–Momoyama period is named after Nobunaga's Azuchi Castle and Hideyoshi's Momoyama Castle, and is also known as in some Japanese texts, abridged from the surnames of the period's two leaders in the "on"-reading:
Azuchi–Momoyama period | Introduction
With all of Japan now under Hideyoshi's control, a new structure for national government was set up. 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". The surveys, carried out by Hideyoshi both before and after he took the title of "taikō", have come to be known as the "Taikō surveys" ("Taikō kenchi").
Azuchi–Momoyama period | Land survey
During the last half of the 16th century, a number of "daimyōs" became strong enough either to manipulate the Ashikaga shogunate to their own advantage or to overthrow it altogether. One attempt to overthrow the "bakufu" (the Japanese term for the shogunate) 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.
Azuchi–Momoyama period | Oda Nobunaga
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 ownership of weapons by farmers. Hideyoshi ordered the collection of weapons in a great "sword hunt" ("katanagari").
Azuchi–Momoyama period | Control measures
The following were military dictators of Japan, "de facto" shoguns from 1568 to 1598. They unified the country, which at the start were a chaotic patchwork of warring clans. From 1598 to 1600, the "de facto" shogunate was delegated to the Council of Five Elders.
List of shoguns | Azuchi–Momoyama period (1568–1600)
After nearly a century of political instability and warfare, Japan was on the verge of unification by Oda Nobunaga, who had emerged from obscurity in the province of Owari (present-day Aichi Prefecture) to dominate central Japan. In 1582, Oda was assassinated by one of his generals, Akechi Mitsuhide, and allowed Toyotomi Hideyoshi the opportunity to establish himself as Oda's successor after rising through the ranks from "ashigaru" (footsoldier) to become one of Oda's most trusted generals. Toyotomi eventually consolidated his control over the remaining "daimyōs" but ruled as "Kampaku" (Imperial Regent) as his common birth excluded him from the title of "Sei-i Taishōgun." During his short reign as Kampaku, Toyotomi attempted two invasions of Korea.
Sengoku period | Unification
Commander Li pushed the Japanese out of the northern part of the Korean Peninsula. The Japanese were forced to withdraw 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. 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.
Azuchi–Momoyama period | Korean campaigns
When battles were not resolved in this way, out in the open, sieges were almost always undertaken purely by denying supplies to the castle, an effort that could last years, but involved little more than surrounding the castle with a force of sufficient size until a surrender could be elicited.
Japanese castle | Azuchi–Momoyama period
Resistance in the form of rival "daimyōs", 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".
Azuchi–Momoyama period | Oda Nobunaga
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 "Sei-i Tai-shōgun", and established the Edo "bakufu", which lasted until the Meiji Restoration in 1868.
Azuchi–Momoyama period | Sekigahara and the end of the Toyotomi rule
Hideyoshi's rule covers most of the Azuchi–Momoyama period of Japan, partially named after his castle, Momoyama Castle. Hideyoshi left an influential and lasting legacy in Japan, including Osaka Castle, the Tokugawa class system, the restriction on the possession of weapons to the "samurai", and the construction and restoration of many temples some of which are still visible in Kyoto.
Toyotomi Hideyoshi | Introduction
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 Mino Province, now marched toward Kyoto. After routing the Rokkaku clan in southern Ōmi, 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 and last Ashikaga "shōgun". Nobunaga had no intention, however, of serving the Muromachi "bakufu", and instead now turned his attention to tightening his grip on the Kinai region.
Azuchi–Momoyama period | Oda Nobunaga
The first attempt, spanning from 1592 to 1596, was initially successful but suffered setbacks from the Joseon Navy and ended in a stalemate. The second attempt began in 1597 but was less successful as the Koreans, especially their navy, led by Admiral Yi Sun-Sin, were prepared from their first encounter. In 1598, Toyotomi called for retreat from Korea prior to his death. Without leaving a capable successor, the country was once again thrust into political turmoil, and Tokugawa Ieyasu took advantage of the opportunity. On his deathbed, Toyotomi appointed a group of the most powerful lords in Japan—Tokugawa, Maeda Toshiie, Ukita Hideie, Uesugi Kagekatsu, and Mōri Terumoto—to govern as the Council of Five Regents until his infant son, Hideyori, came of age.
Sengoku period | Unification
Japan's requests were thus denied and peace efforts reached an impasse. 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. Upon the death of Hideyoshi in 1598, his designated successor Toyotomi Hideyori was only 5 years old. As such, the domestic political situation in Japan became unstable, making continuation of the war difficult and causing the Japanese to withdraw from Korea. At this stage, most of the remaining Japanese commanders were more concerned about internal battles and the inevitable struggles for the control of the shogunate.
Azuchi–Momoyama period | Korean campaigns
After a period of war Japan was re-united in the Azuchi–Momoyama period. This decreased the power of Buddhism, which had become a strong political and military force in Japan. Neo-Confucianism gained influence at the expense of Buddhism, which came under strict state control. Japan closed the gates to the rest of the world. The only traders to be allowed were Dutchmen admitted to the island of Dejima. New doctrines and methods were not to be introduced, nor were new temples and schools. The only exception was the Ōbaku lineage, which was introduced in the 17th century during the Edo period by Ingen, a Chinese monk.
Japanese Zen | Azuchi-Momoyama (1573–1600) and Edo (or Tokugawa) (1600–1868)
During the subsequent Kofun period, most of Japan gradually unified under a single kingdom. The symbol of the growing power of Japan's new leaders was the "kofun" burial mounds they constructed from around 250 CE onwards. Many were of massive scales, such as the Daisenryō Kofun, a 486 m-long keyhole-shaped burial mound that took huge teams of laborers fifteen years to complete. It is commonly accepted that the tomb was built for Emperor Nintoku. The "kofun" were often surrounded by and filled with numerous "haniwa" clay sculptures, often in the shape of warriors and horses. The center of the unified state was Yamato in the Kinai region of central Japan.
History of Japan | Kofun period (c. 250–538)
The most influential figure within the Toyotomi was Toyotomi Hideyoshi, one of the three "unifiers of Japan". Oda Nobunaga was another primary unifier and the ruler of the Oda clan at the time. Hideyoshi joined Nobunaga at a young age, but was not highly regarded because of his peasant background. Nevertheless, Hideyoshi's increasing influence allowed him to seize a significant degree of power from the Oda clan following Oda Nobunaga's death in 1582. As the virtual ruler of most of Japan, Hideyoshi created a new clan name "Toyotomi" in 1584, and achieved the unification of Japan in 1589. When Hideyoshi died in 1598, his son Toyotomi Hideyori was only five years old.
Toyotomi clan | Unity and conflict
This represented a new unity in the feudal structure, which featured an increasingly large bureaucracy to administer the mixture of centralized and decentralized authorities. The Tokugawa became more powerful during their first century of rule: land redistribution gave them nearly seven million "koku", control of the most important cities, and a land assessment system reaping great revenues.
Edo period | Consolidation of the shogunate
These features, along with the general appearance and organization of the Japanese castle, which had matured by this point, have come to define the stereotypical Japanese castle. Along with Hideyoshi's Fushimi–Momoyama castle, Azuchi lends its name to the brief Azuchi–Momoyama period (roughly 1568–1600) in which these types of castles, used for military defense, flourished. Osaka Castle was destroyed by cannon. This reproduction towers above the surroundings. The introduction of the arquebus brought dramatic shifts in battle tactics and military attitudes in Japan. Though these shifts were complex and numerous, one of the concepts key to changes in castle design at this time was that of battle at range.
Japanese castle | Azuchi–Momoyama period
After further strengthening his power base, Ieyasu installed his son Hidetada (1579–1632) as "shōgun" and himself as retired "shōgun" in 1605. The Toyotomi were still a significant threat, and Ieyasu devoted the next decade to their eradication. In 1615, the Tokugawa army destroyed the Toyotomi stronghold at Osaka. The Tokugawa (or Edo) period brought 250 years of stability to Japan. The political system evolved into what historians call "bakuhan", a combination of the terms "bakufu" and "han" (domains) to describe the government and society of the period. In the "bakuhan", the "shōgun" had national authority and the "daimyō" had regional authority.
Edo period | Consolidation of the shogunate
He launched sweeping changes to Japanese society, including the confiscation of swords from the peasantry, new restrictions on "daimyōs", persecutions of Christians, a thorough land survey, and a new law effectively forbidding the peasants and samurai from changing their social class. Hideyoshi's land survey designated all those who were cultivating the land as being "commoners", an act which effectively granted freedom to most of Japan's slaves. As Hideyoshi's power expanded he dreamed of conquering China and launched two massive invasions of Korea starting in 1592. Hideyoshi failed to defeat the Chinese and Korean armies on the Korean Peninsula and the war ended after his death in 1598.
History of Japan | Azuchi–Momoyama period (1568–1600)
In sharp contrast to the previous Muromachi period, the Azuchi–Momoyama period was characterized by a grandiose polychrome style, with extensive use of gold and silver foil that would beapplied to paintings, garments, architecture, etc; and by works on a very large scale.In contrast to the lavish style many knew, military elite supported rustic simplicity, especially in the form of thetea ceremony where the would use weathered and imperfect utensils in a similar setting. This period began the unification of "warring" leaders under a central government. The initial dating for this period is often believed to be 1568 when Nobunaga entered Kyoto or 1573 when the last Ashikaga Shogun was removed from Kyoto.
Japanese painting | Azuchi–Momoyama period (1573–1615)
Nobunaga was killed in the Honno-ji Incident in 1582 when his retainer Akechi Mitsuhide ambushed him in Kyoto and compelled to commit forced suicide. Nobunaga was succeeded by Toyotomi Hideyoshi who completed his war of unification shortly afterwards. Nobunaga was an influential figure in Japanese history and is regarded as one of three great unifiers along with his retainers Toyotomi Hideyoshi and Tokugawa Ieyasu. Nobunaga initiated the Azuchi-Momoyama period of Japan partially named after his castle, Azuchi Castle, which led to the end of the Sengoku period and eventual transition to the Edo period.
Oda Nobunaga | Introduction
Toyotomi Hideyoshi unified Japan through a nine-year military campaign from 1582 to 1591. Jesuit missionaries first arrived in Osaka, Hideyoshi's capital, in 1583, and Hideyoshi's court at Osaka Castle thereafter contained a number of Japanese Christians, including many women who became interested in the religion. Coelho visited Hideyoshi in Osaka in 1586. At this meeting, Hideyoshi asked Coelho to secure him two Portuguese ships for the invasion of Korea and China; Coelho not only agreed to the deal, but also suggested that the Society could acquire more troops from the Portuguese, and offered to rally Christian daimyo against the Shimazu clan.
Gaspar Coelho | Relationship with Toyotomi Hideyoshi
Nobunaga's successor Toyotomi Hideyoshi completed his campaign to unify Japan and consolidated his rule with numerous influential reforms. Hideyoshi launched the Japanese invasions of Korea in 1592, but their eventual failure damaged his prestige before his death in 1598. Tokugawa Ieyasu displaced Hideyoshi's young son and successor Toyotomi Hideyori at the Battle of Sekigahara in 1600 and re-established the feudal system under the Tokugawa Shogunate. The Sengoku period ended when Toyotomi loyalists were defeated at the Siege of Osaka in 1615. The Sengoku period was named by Japanese historians after the otherwise unrelated Warring States period of China. Modern Japan recognizes Nobunaga, Hideyoshi, and Ieyasu as the three "Great Unifiers" for their restoration of central government in the country.
Sengoku period | Introduction
Azuchi–Momoyama period was from 1573 to 1603. It was followed by the Edo period.
History of Kumamoto Prefecture | Azuchi-Momoyama period
In 1614, Osaka castle, the stronghold of the Toyotomi clan, represented the last obstacle to Japan's unification under the Tokugawa hegemony. Toyotomi Hideyori appointed Sanada Yukimura as the garrison commander due to his experience opposing Ieyasu's army in his castle at Ueda during the Sekigahara campaign. At that time the castle had two moats, which still exist, and Hideyori's engineers created an outer moat by cutting a channel between the canal that existed to the west and the Nekoma stream which flowed from south to north on the eastern side. The following campaign and battle is often referred to as the last stand of the samurai before the Tokugawa shogunate reformed the ways of the samurai including prohibiting practices like headhunting.
Sanada Maru | History
Although the former "daimyōs" had become government employees, they still retained a measure of military and fiscal independence, and enjoyed the customary veneration of their former subjects. This was considered an increasing threat to central authority by Ōkubo Toshimichi and other members of the new Meiji oligarchy, especially with the large number of ex-samurai revolts occurring around the country. In August 1871, Okubo, assisted by Saigō Takamori, Kido Takayoshi, Iwakura Tomomi and Yamagata Aritomo forced through an Imperial Edict which reorganized the 261 surviving ex-feudal domains into three urban prefectures ("fu") and 302 prefectures ("ken"). The number was then reduced through consolidation the following year to three urban prefectures and 72 prefectures, and later to the present three urban prefectures and 44 prefectures by 1888.
Abolition of the han system | Consolidation
Five regents were appointed to rule until his maturity, and conflicts among them began quickly. In 1600, Tokugawa Ieyasu deposed Hideyori and took power after winning the Battle of Sekigahara. In 1614, Hideyori came into conflict with the Tokugawa clan, leading to Tokugawa Ieyasu's Siege of Osaka from 1614 to 1615. As a result of the siege, Hideyori and his mother, Yodo-dono, committed seppuku in the flames of Osaka castle. After their death, the Toyotomi clan dissolved, leaving the Tokugawa clan to solidify their rule of Japan and the last member of the Toyotomi clan was (1609–1645). A rumour said that Toyotomi Hideyori's son Toyotomi Kunimatsu escaped execution, and another rumour said that Hideyori had an illegitimate son named Amakusa Shirō.
Toyotomi clan | Unity and conflict
Archaeological records and ancient Chinese sources Book of Song indicate that the various tribes and chiefdom of the Japanese Archipelago did not begin to coalesce into more centralized and hierarchical polities until 300 (well into the Kofun period), when large tombs begin to appear while there were no contacts between the Wa and China. Some describe the "mysterious century" as a time of internecine warfare as various local monarchies competed for hegemony on Kyūshū and Honshū.
Yamato period | Kofun period
In 1549 young Oda Nobunaga (1534–1582), who would later become a major daimyō of Owari Province, Japan and would initiate the unification of 16th century Japan, was married to Nōhime, the daughter of Saitō Dōsan, leader of the rival Saitō clan of neighboring Mino Province. Nobunaga was the second son of Oda Nobuhide, head of the Oda clan, who was at that time fending off opponents on the northern and eastern borders of Owari Province, matters that were complicated by internal dissent. Saitō Dōsan, lord of Mino, was a strong and ruthless leader, but internal strife had begun to split the Saitō into factions.
Siege of Inabayama Castle | Background
The Japanese Sengoku period from the mid-15th to early 17th century was a time of nearly continual military conflict. Powerful military lords known as "daimyōs", such as Oda Nobunaga, Toyotomi Hideyoshi or Tokugawa Ieyasu, struggled to unify Japan. During the Sengoku period, because of constant warfare, many fortifications and castles were built. Archetypal Japanese castle construction is a product of the Momoyama period and early Edo period. A new era of castle construction began when the daimyo Nobunaga built Azuchi Castle from 1576 to 1579. Earlier fortifications of the Kamakura and Muromachi periods were crude large-scale structures; Azuchi, however, with rich ornamentation and a keep rising seven stories high, became the prototype for castle construction of the period.
List of National Treasures of Japan (castles) | Introduction
In the Azuchi–Momoyama period (1573–1603), a succession of military leaders, such as Oda Nobunaga, Toyotomi Hideyoshi, and Tokugawa Ieyasu, attempted to bring peace and political stability to Japan after an era of almost 100 years of warfare. Oda, a minor chieftain, acquired power sufficient to take de facto control of the government in 1568 and, five years later, to oust the last Ashikaga shōgun. Hideyoshi took command after Oda's death, but his plans to establish hereditary rule were foiled by Ieyasu, who established the Tokugawa shogunate in 1603. Painting: The most important school of painting in the Momoyama period was that of the Kanō school, and the greatest innovation of the period was the formula, developed by Kanō Eitoku, for the creation of monumental landscapes on the sliding doors enclosing a room.
Japanese art | Azuchi-Momoyama art
The was a law composed of three articles which was promulgated by Toyotomi Hideyoshi on 8 October 1591, the 19th year of the Tensho era during the Azuchi–Momoyama period.
Separation Edict | Introduction
Alternatively, he is referred to as . They are no different from other regional rulers. According to Ryūkyū's official history books, King Tamagusuku, who had maintained a unified polity, lost the support of local rulers. People in the south followed the Ōzato Aji while the northern region was controlled by the Nakijin Aji. In other words, these books identify the Nakijin Aji as the King of Hokuzan and the Ōzato Aji as the King of Nanzan. Most modern historians question this alleged split because they do not support the existence of a unified polity on Okinawa before the "reunification" in the 15th century.
Sanzan period | Okinawa's later narratives
The Azuchi-Momoyama period of Japanese history partially takes its name from Azuchi Castle.
Azuchi Castle | Introduction
In the 1570s, Oda Nobunaga subjugated Omi and built Azuchi Castle on the eastern shores of Lake Biwa in 1579. Tōdō Takatora, Gamō Ujisato, Oichi, Yodo-dono, Ohatsu and Oeyo were Omi notables in the Sengoku period. In those times, Ninja were active in Kōka (See also Kōga-ryū). In 1600, Ishida Mitsunari, born in the east of Nagahama and based in Sawayama Castle, made war against Tokugawa Ieyasu in Sekigahara, Gifu. After the battle, Ieyasu made Ii Naomasa a new lord of Sawayama. Naomasa established the Hikone Domain, later famous for Ii Naosuke. Ii Naosuke became the Tokugawa shogunate's Tairō and concluded commercial treaties with the Western powers and thus ended Japan's isolation from the world in the 19th century.
Shiga Prefecture | History
After the Sengoku period of war, Japan was re-united in the Azuchi–Momoyama period. This decreased the power of Buddhism, which had become a strong political and military force in Japan. Neo-Confucianism and Shinto gained influence at the expense of Buddhism, which came under strict state control. Japan closed itself off to the rest of the world. The only traders to be allowed were Dutchmen admitted to the island of Dejima. New doctrines and methods were not to be introduced, nor were new temples and schools. The only exception was the Ōbaku lineage, which was introduced in the 17th century during the Edo period by Ingen, a Chinese monk.
Buddhism in Japan | Azuchi-Momoyama Period (1573–1600) and Edo Period (or Tokugawa) (1600–1868)
Toyotomi Hideyoshi unified Japan in 1590, but Date Masamune did not abandon his desire to control the nation.
Dokuganryū Masamune | Plot
The prevailing ideology of the time was Neo-Confucianism, which was epitomized by the seonbi class: nobles who passed up positions of wealth and power to lead lives of study and integrity. Between 1592 and 1598, Toyotomi Hideyoshi launched invasions of Korea, but his advance was halted by Korean forces (most notably the Joseon Navy led by Admiral Yi Sun-sin and his renowned "turtle ship") with assistance from Righteous Army militias formed by Korean civilians, and Ming dynasty Chinese troops. Through a series of successful battles of attrition, the Japanese forces were eventually forced to withdraw, and relations between all parties became normalized.
South Korea | Unified Dynasties
Working together with his brothers Yoshihiro, Toshihisa, and Iehisa, he launched a campaign to unify Kyūshū. Starting in 1572 with a victory against Itō clan at the battle of Kizaki and the Siege of Takabaru in 1576, Yoshihisa continued to win battles. In 1578, he defeated the Ōtomo clan at the battle of Mimigawa, though he did not take their territory,; he took Minamata castle in 1581 with a force of 115,000 men;
Shimazu Yoshihisa | Unification of Kyushu
The Soga clan provided the government's chief minister, the Ōtomo and Mononobe clans provided secondary ministers, and provincial leaders were called "kuni no miyatsuko". Craftsmen were organized into guilds.
Kofun period | Yamato court
Hideyoshi becomes the most powerful man in Japan and begins his campaign for unification. The Maeda clan participates in several battles, until the Siege of Odawara in 1590, a battle that led to the unification of Japan in the name of Hideyoshi. After the unification, Hideyoshi and Toshiie clashed in 1595 over the inheritance of Tsuruchiyo, a son born to one of Nobunaga's daughters (Fuyuhime) and the late Gamō Ujisato. Hideyoshi was preparing the boy to become one of his possible successors and Toshiie disapproved of him from various angles, refusing to attend Osaka castle for three years. When Matsu became aware of the situation, she appealed to Nene to listen to Toshiie's side.
Maeda Matsu | Service under Hideyoshi
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's commercial missions successfully called upon 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.
Azuchi–Momoyama period | Social and cultural developments
European dates up to October 4, 1582 are given in the Julian calendar. Dates since October 15, 1582 are given in the Gregorian calendar. In 1589–1590 (in the 23rd year of the reign of King Seonjo of Joseon), a diplomatic mission led by Hwang Yun-gil was sent to Japan. The Joseon ambassador was received by Hideyoshi.
Tenshō (Momoyama period) | Events of the "Tenshō" era
Yoshihisa did not have a son to succeed him, so he had Yoshihiro's son, Shimazu Tadatsune marry the third daughter "Kameju" (亀寿) and adopted him as the successor. After his domain was split up by Hideyoshi, Tokugawa Ieyasu invited Yoshihisa to Fushimi Castle. Ieyasu and his retainers repeatedly asked Yoshihisa how he managed to unify Kyushu; eventually, Yoshihisa relented, saying that he won his victories through his retainers - "[Because] my three younger brothers, led by Yoshihiro, as well as retainers like Uwai Satokane and Yamada Arinobu, fought so well united under the same goal, I never had a chance to show bravery in a battle.
Shimazu Yoshihisa | After Surrender
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 "daimyō"s power but also exhibited a new aesthetic sense that marked a clear departure from the somber monotones favored during the Muromachi period. A genre that emerged at this time was called the "Nanban" style—exotic depictions of European priests, traders, and other "southern barbarians". 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.
Azuchi–Momoyama period | Social and cultural developments
In several waves of mergers, splits and territorial transfers – the first major consolidation followed immediately in 1871/72 – the prefectures were reorganized to encompass contiguous, compact territories, no longer resembling Edo period han, but in many cases territorially identical to provinces which had remained the most important primary geographical subdivision even during feudal times.
List of han | Introduction
It was not until the last thirty years of the period of war that drastic changes would occur to bring about the emergence of the type of castle typified by Himeji Castle and other surviving castles. This period of war culminated in the Azuchi–Momoyama period, the scene of numerous fierce battles, which saw the introduction of firearms and the development of tactics to employ or counter them.
Japanese castle | Sengoku
Yamauchi Kazutoyo came in with only 158 mounted men, and had to petition bakufu for help in pacifying his new domain. This was achieved by "ruse and violence ... Two boatloads containing 273 heads were sent to Tokugawa headquarters to demonstrate Yamauchi efficiency, and another 73 dissidents were crucified on the beach."
Tosa Domain | Ashikaga and Azuchi–Momoyama periods
Some of the current prefectures of Japan were created in this period, but they looked very different from what they are today, still with many disjoint feudal period ex- and enclaves as the domains remained mostly untouched and only the ex-shogunate/Imperial lands became prefectures. Some examples: Other prefectures only existed under the fu/han/ken system. For example, Nirayama-ken replaced the Nirayma daikan, the shogunate administrator of shogunate possessions in Izu, Suruga, Sagami and Musashi provinces, seated in Nirayama in Izu Province. Its main part was merged into Ashigara Prefecture in 1871/72 while exclaves went to other prefectures. Since the 1880s, Nirayama's former territory is split between Shizuoka, Yamanashi, Tokyo, Kanagawa and Saitama.
Fuhanken sanchisei | Territorial composition and naming
The was the subnational government structure in early Meiji Japan. It lasted from the Boshin War, the start to the Meiji Restoration, in 1868 until the replacement of all remaining feudal domains "(-han)" with prefectures "(-ken)" in 1871. During this period, prefectures, and , controlled by the new central government, and , still under their pre-restoration feudal rulers, formed the primary administrative subdivisions of the country. The exact numbers varied continually as adjustments to the feudal territorial divisions, mergers and splits started to take up pace, but very roughly there were about >250 -han and about <50 -fu/-ken in total during this time.
Fuhanken sanchisei | Introduction
Aso Koremitsu (1582–1593) was a head of the Japanese clan of Aso during the Azuchi-Momoyama period (16th century) of Japan. Koremitsu was a child when his father died, and when Higo province was divided between Konishi Yukinaga and Katō Kiyomasa in 1587, on the completion of the Kyushu Campaign, Koremitsu sought sanctuary with the latter. However, Toyotomi Hideyoshi ordered Koremitsu to be killed in 1593 as part of Hideyoshi's policy of systematic elimination of other noble clans.
Aso Koremitsu | Introduction
The "eastern" army of the Hosokawa family and its allies clashed with the "western" army of the Yamana. Fighting in and around Kyoto lasted for nearly 11 years, leaving the city almost completely destroyed. The conflict in Kyoto then spread to outlying provinces. The period culminated with a series of three warlords, Oda Nobunaga, Toyotomi Hideyoshi, and Tokugawa Ieyasu, who gradually unified Japan. After Tokugawa Ieyasu's final victory at the siege of Osaka in 1615, Japan settled down into over two-hundred years of peace under the Tokugawa shogunate.
Sengoku period | Summary
However, the succeeding Ashikaga shogunate failed to control the feudal warlords ("daimyōs") and a civil war began in 1467, opening the century-long Sengoku period ("Warring States"). During the 16th century, Portuguese traders and Jesuit missionaries reached Japan for the first time, initiating direct commercial and cultural exchange between Japan and the West. Oda Nobunaga used European technology and firearms to conquer many other "daimyōs"; his consolidation of power began what was known as the Azuchi–Momoyama period. After the death of Nobunaga in 1582, his successor Toyotomi Hideyoshi unified the nation in the early 1590s and launched two unsuccessful invasions of Korea in 1592 and 1597.
Japan | Feudal era
Some domains were only newly created in the restoration, such as Shizuoka Domain which was granted to the Tokugawa after their fall and submission to the new government, or Tonami Domain which was created from parts of Morioka and left to a child heir of Aizu after the main territory of Aizu had been vanquished. The subnational administration in this period from 1868 to 1871 when centrally governed prefectures coexisted as primary subdivision of the country with domains, pledged into submission to the new Satsuma-Chōshū-dominated Imperial government, but still governed by their Tokugawa period feudal rulers, constitutes the -fu/-han/-ken system.
Fuhanken sanchisei | Background
By the last decade of the 16th century, Toyotomi Hideyoshi, the most preeminent daimyō, had unified all of Japan in a brief period of peace. Since he came to hold power in the absence of a legitimate successor of the Minamoto lineage necessary for the imperial shōgun commission, he sought military power to legitimize his rule and to decrease his dependence on the imperial family. It is also suggested that Hideyoshi planned an invasion of China to fulfill the dreams of his late lord, Oda Nobunaga, and to mitigate the possible threat of civil disorder or rebellion posed by the large number of now-idle samurai and soldiers in unified Japan.
Japanese invasions of Korea (1592–1598) | Hideyoshi's preparations
Nobunaga then moved his army to the west. In 1565, an alliance of the Matsunaga and Miyoshi clans attempted a coup by assassinating Ashikaga Yoshiteru, the 13th Ashikaga "shōgun". 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 "shōgun". 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.
Azuchi–Momoyama period | Oda Nobunaga
These castles represent the power and confidence of leaders and warriors in the new age.This status continued into the subsequent Edo period, as the Tokugawa bakufu continued to promote the works of the Kanō school as the officially sanctioned art for the shōgun, daimyōs, and Imperial court. However, non-Kano school artists and currents existed and developed during the Azuchi–Momoyama period as well, adapting Chinese themes to Japanese materials and aesthetics. One important group was the Tosa school, which developed primarily out of the yamato-e tradition, and which was known mostly for small scale works and illustrations of literary classics in book or emaki format.
Japanese painting | Azuchi–Momoyama period (1573–1615)
While the title of shogun went into abeyance due to technical reasons, Oda Nobunaga and his successor, Toyotomi Hideyoshi, who later obtained the position of Imperial Regent, gained far greater power than any of their predecessors had. Hideyoshi is considered by many historians to be among Japan's greatest rulers.
Shogun | Azuchi–Momoyama period (1573–1600)
Following the Meiji Restoration, the feudal domain system was abolished and the prefecture system was established. In line with this, the Iwakidaira, Sōma, and Tanagura domains were combined into a new Iwaki Province which was later changed to Iwasaki Prefecture in 1875. The following year, on August 21, 1876, Iwasaki Prefecture merged with Fukushima Prefecture and Wakamatsu Prefecture to form present-day Fukushima Prefecture. Beginning during the Meiji period's rapid industrialization and continuing until the post-war rapid economic growth period, the southern section of Hamadōri and the northern part of Ibaraki Prefecture were developed by mining mogul Fusanosuke Kuhara, with operations based in Hitachi, Ibaraki.
Hamadōri | Meiji Restoration to the present
During the Sengoku period, Hida Province was nominally under the control of the Kyōgoku clan, but in reality was divided between several small local warlords such as Anegakoji clan or Ema clan. Being surrounded by the powerful Takeda clan, Uesugi clan or Oda clans, these local lords frequently changed allegiance based on circumstance. Miki Yoritsuna (1540-1587) who ruled the southern half of Hida gradually expanded his domains with the support of Oda Nobunaga. After Nobunaga's assassination in 1582, he decisively defeated an alliance of the remaining local lords united Hida province, with his base at Matsukura Castle. However, Yoritsuna supported Sassa Narimasa in neighboring Etchū Province against Toyotomi Hideyoshi and was destroyed by the forces of Kanamori Nagachika (who was then the ruler of Echizen Ōno Castle).
Takayama Castle | History
During the Azuchi–Momoyama period, in 1591 Gamō Ujisato gained control of the Shinobu and Date districts, and under him took control of , which was in the southwest of present-day Fukushima. The following year he moved from Ōmori Castle to Suginome Castle. It is said that, inspired by the recent renaming of to the more joyous-sounding , he changed the name of his new residence to .
Fukushima (city) | 12th century to 18th century
Following the Meiji Restoration and the abolition of the han system in 1871, the post of "Hida Gundai" was also abolished. The area was divided into three districts and was renamed "Hida Prefecture" on July 12, 1868. Ten days later, it was renamed "Takayama Prefecture" and on December 31, 1871 became "Chikuma Prefecture". On August 21, 1876, Chikuma was merged with the former Mino Province to become Gifu Prefecture. Also in this era the Hida region became a centre for the nationally important silk-making industry, leading to many women to travel there from the surrounding regions for work.
Hida Province | Meiji period and beyond
Tokugawa Ieyasu unified the region and destroyed the power of the Jōdo Shinshū sect in the Battle of Azukizaka (1564). During the Edo period, half of present-day Anjō was controlled by Okazaki Domain and the other half by Kariya Domain under the Tokugawa shogunate with some scattered portions of "tenryō" territory ruled directly by the shogunate. During this period, the area was noted for its production of cotton and textiles. At the start of the Meiji period, on October 1, 1889, Anjō was one of a collection of villages organized within Hekikai District, Aichi Prefecture by the establishment of the modern municipalities system.
Anjō | History
The Fujiwara clan furthermore consolidated its power.
History of Japan | Nara period (710–794)
As of 2003, the town had an estimated population of 12,217 and a density of 502.76 persons per km². The total area was 24.30 km². On March 21, 2010, Azuchi was merged into the expanded city of Ōmihachiman. The town is well known for the ruins of Azuchi Castle of Oda Nobunaga, the 16th century ruler of Japan. The period in the history of Japan approximately between 1568 and 1603 is called Azuchi-Momoyama period. Azuchi Castle ruins remain for the temple Soken-ji donated by Oda Nobunaga. He also established the oldest Christian Seminary in Japan, and its ruins are now a small public park.
Azuchi, Shiga | Introduction
In the unsettled period after to ending of the national isolation policy, the political situation in Japan became increasingly chaotic. Anti-government and anti-foreign rōnin congregated on the old imperial capital of Kyoto, and many of the "daimyōs" from the western feudal domains also established residences in Kyoto in an attempt to exert influence on the Imperial Court to pressure the shogunate towards the "sonnō jōi" movement ("Revere the Emperor, Expel the Barbarians") against the foreign powers.
Kyoto Mimawarigumi | History
Though the alliance did its best to support the Aizu domain (会津藩), Aizu was not formally part of the alliance "Kaishō Alliance" (会庄同盟); neither was Shōnai (庄内藩). In addition, though it technically no longer existed as a domain, the forces of the Hayashi clan of Jōzai Domain also fought on behalf of the Alliance. While the alliance was a bold, innovative step that combined the military forces of several dozen domains, it was unable to fully act as a single, cohesive unit, and with the fall of Sendai and Aizu, it effectively collapsed.
Ōuetsu Reppan Dōmei | History
The area of present-day Fudai was part of ancient Mutsu Province, dominated by the Nambu clan during the Edo period, who ruled Hachinohe Domain under the Tokugawa shogunate. With the Meiji period establishment of the modern municipalities system, the village of Fudai was created within Kitahei District on April 1, 1889. Kitahei, Nakahei and Higashihei Districts were all merged into Minamihei District on March 29, 1896. In 1953, the national and prefectural governments targeted Fudai for consolidation with its southern neighbor, Tanohata following the Law for the Consolidation of Cities, Towns and Villages ("the great Shōwa mergers"). Merger talks continued intermittently between 1955 and 1960.
Fudai, Iwate | History
In early-modern Japan following the Sengoku period of "warring states", central government had been largely reestablished by Oda Nobunaga and Toyotomi Hideyoshi during the Azuchi–Momoyama period. After the Battle of Sekigahara in 1600, central authority fell to Tokugawa Ieyasu who completed this process and received the title of "shōgun" in 1603. Society in the Japanese "Tokugawa period" (see Edo society), unlike the shogunates before it, was based on the strict class hierarchy originally established by Toyotomi Hideyoshi. The "daimyōs" (feudal lords) were at the top, followed by the warrior-caste of samurai, with the farmers, artisans, and merchants ranking below. The country was strictly closed to foreigners with few exceptions with the "Sakoku" policy.
History of Asia | Japan: Tokugawa or Edo period (1603–1867)
The goal of national unification and a return to the comparative political stability of the earlier Muromachi period was widely shared by the multitude of autonomous "daimyōs" during the Sengoku period. Oda Nobunaga was the first for whom this goal seemed attainable. Nobunaga had gained control over most of Honshu (see map below) before his death during the 1582 Honnō-ji incident, a coup attempt executed by Nobunaga's vassal, Akechi Mitsuhide. Nobunaga was betrayed by his own retainers who set the Honno-Ji temple on fire; then, instead of burning in flames, Oda Nobunaga had committed seppuku to escape the flames. The motivation behind Mitsuhide's betrayal was never revealed to anyone who survived the incident, and has been a subject of debate and conjecture ever since the incident.
Oda Nobunaga | Historical context
Ethnologist Ōbayashi Taryō argued that the narrative of the Sanzan period recorded centuries later by Ryūkyū reflected the tripartite ideology, which the French scholar Georges Dumézil found in Proto-Indo-European mythology. He mapped Hokuzan to military, Chūzan to sovereignty and Nanzan to productivity. Ōbayashi provided two types of evidence for the tripartite hypothesis. One is justifications for the unification by Shō Hashi. Shō Hashi took over King Bunei's Chūzan because the king had not exercised juridical powers properly. He then destroyed the King of Hokuzan Han'anchi, who had been known for extraordinary military prowess. The official history book "Kyūyō" records two theories regarding the downfall of King Taromai's Nanzan.
Sanzan period | Tripartite hypothesis
Shortly afterwards, Toyotomi Hideyoshi invaded Kyushu and by quickly joining forces with him, the Arima were confirmed in their existing holdings. However, after the start of the Edo period, Arima Harunobu fell from favour due to Tokugawa Ieyasu's aversion to the Kirishitan faith - the term for the Roman Catholic religion in Japan. This culminated during the Okamoto Daihachi incident, a court intrigue involving Harunobu and the Kirishitan Okamoto Paulo Daihichi. As a result, he was relieved of his offices and sentenced to die by Tokugawa Ieyasu. Although his son, Arima Naozumi was married to an adopted daughter of Tokugawa Ieyasu, at the start of the suppression of the "Kirishitan" religion, he was transferred from Shimabara to Nobeoka Domain (53,000 "koku") in Hyūga Province in 1614.
Arima clan | Hizen Arima
A revolution took place from the time of the Kamakura shogunate, which existed with the Tennō's court, to the Tokugawa, when the "samurai" became the unchallenged rulers in what historian Edwin O. Reischauer called a "centralized feudal" form of shogunate. Instrumental in the rise of the new bakufu was Tokugawa Ieyasu, the main beneficiary of the achievements of Oda Nobunaga and Toyotomi Hideyoshi. Already a powerful daimyo, Ieyasu profited by his transfer to the rich Kantō area. He maintained two million "koku" of land, a new headquarters at Edo, a strategically situated castle town (the future Tokyo), and also had an additional two million "koku" of land and thirty-eight vassals under his control.
Edo period | Consolidation of the shogunate
After Hideyoshi's death, Ieyasu moved quickly to seize control from the Toyotomi clan. Ieyasu's victory over the western "daimyō" at the Battle of Sekigahara (October 21, 1600, or in the Japanese calendar on the 15th day of the ninth month of the fifth year of the Keichō era) gave him control of all Japan. He rapidly abolished numerous enemy "daimyō" houses, reduced others, such as that of the Toyotomi, and redistributed the spoils of war to his family and allies. Ieyasu still failed to achieve complete control of the western "daimyō", but his assumption of the title of "shōgun" helped consolidate the alliance system.
Edo period | Consolidation of the shogunate
However, Ieyasu sought to consolidate his rule from potential usurpers, including the Toyotomi loyalists who were still fighting for Toyotomi Hideyori, the son and designated successor of Ieyasu's rival Toyotomi Hideyoshi, who had been an infant at the Battle of Sekigahara. The capital of the Tokugawa Shogunate was established in the eastern city of Edo, and Ieyasu filled his administration with "fudai" in fear of the "tozama" ("outside") "daimyōs", who became Tokugawa vassals only after the battle. The "fudai", in contrast to the "tozama", typically ruled small domains in strategic locations along Japan's principal roads or in the Kantō region near Edo.
Fudai daimyō | Edo period (江戸時代)
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 the invasion, the Japanese reached Pyongyang. King Seonjo of Joseon fled, and two Korean princes were captured by Katō Kiyomasa. Seonjo dispatched an emissary to the Ming court, asking urgently for military assistance. The Chinese emperor sent admiral Chen Lin and commander Li Rusong to aid the Koreans.
Azuchi–Momoyama period | Korean campaigns
During the early Sengoku period. the Utsunomiya allied with the Satake clan of Hitachi Province against the increasing aggression of the Later Hōjō clan, with Tobiyama Castle forming a key point in the line of defense. However by the 1580s, the Hōjō clan had largely defeated the Utsunomiya and had extended their hegemony into the northern Kantō region. The Hōjō were in turn destroyed by Toyotomi Hideyoshi in the 1590 Battle of Odawara. The Utsunomiya survived, but were ordered by Toyotomi Hideyoshi to destroy all secondary fortifications within their territories, which included Tobiyama Castle. In 1597, the Utsunomiya were deprived of their holdings by Hideyoshi, and the Haga clan suffered from the same fate.
Tobiyama Castle | Background
In 1555, Nobunaga killed Oda Nobutomo and captured Kiyosu Castle; Hidesada was made to defend Nagoya Castle. Nobunaga unified the Oda clan by defeating all opponents, and took control of Owari Province. However, Hidesada was still deeply dissatisfied with Nobunaga.
Hayashi Hidesada | Introduction
Tokugawa Ieyasu continued his campaigns allied with Toyotomi Hideyoshi. After their victory at the Siege of Odawara Castle in 1590, Ieyasu agreed to relinquish all of his domains to Hideyoshi in exchange for the Kantō region to the east. Hideyoshi died in 1598. By 1603, Ieyasu had recovered Sunpu Castle and completed his unification of Japan, and had been named "shōgun" by the Emperor. The following year, he had Ryūsen-ji moved from Yunoki to Kōyamachi near Sunpu Castle and attended Buddhist funeral rites conducted in honor of the late Lady Saigō on the anniversary of her death. To mark the occasion, Ieyasu presented the temple priests with the "katana" he inherited from his father, and a portrait of himself as he looked at the time.
Lady Saigō | Legacy
Temples had been burnt in the Sengoku period, especially those in the Mount Aso area, but some were later reconstructed. In those areas, hot spring sites were constructed between 1804 and 1829 in Kurokawa and Yamaga. Sake production flourished. Uto castle was once destroyed, but it was rebuilt and there was water supply service, which works even today. Although Higo (Kumamoto and Yatsushiro) was then one domain, Yatsushiro Castle was made a single exception to the rule of one castle in one domain; because there was need to defend Kumamoto against the powerful Satsuma Han to the south and to defend Japan from foreign invasion.
History of Kumamoto Prefecture | Edo period
The area of present-day Uotsu was part of ancient Etchū Province and has been inhabited since at least the Jōmon period. Discovery of gold in the mountains of Uozu around 1394 led to an influx of people, making the area around Matsukura Castle a center for the region. Later, when Matsukura Castle was destroyed, the center was reestablished around Uozu Castle close to the sea. In 1582, the Siege of Uozu occurred between forces allied to the Uesugi clan, and forces under Oda Nobunaga. Uozu Castle was captured by Oda forces only three days before Oda's assassination at the Honnō-ji incident.
Uozu, Toyama | History
Many in the restoration coalition had recognized the need for centralized authority and although the imperial side was victorious against the bakufu, the early Meiji government was weak and the leaders had to maintain their standing with their domains whose military forces was essential for whatever the government needed to achieve. Political divisions in the form of feudal domains, lord-vassal relations within the samurai elite and separation of social classes within Japanese society were major impediments to centralization. However, in Japan's historical memory there was an era of unification under a central government headed by the emperor and the Tokugawa years had spurred economic and cultural integration.
Seikanron | Political and structural reforms
Near the end of the Heian period, the Iwaki clan, having connections to Hiraizumi, built a base in Iinodaira, which is now a part of the present-day city of Iwaki. There they built the Shiramizu Amidadō temple and held power over the southern section of Hamadōri. Entering into the Kamakura period, the Sōma clan moved from Nagareyama in present-day Chiba Prefecture to the northern area of Hamadōri and gained control over the former Iwaki Province's districts of Uda, Namekata, and Shineha. During the Sengoku period, Hamadōri served as a buffer zone between the Satake clan, based in modern-day Ibaraki Prefecture, and the Date clan, which had control over present-day Miyagi Prefecture, north-central Fukushima Prefecture, and southern Yamagata Prefecture.
Hamadōri | Heian period to the Meiji Restoration
The clan continued to rule over the Sendai Domain during the Edo period. However, under the Edo period Tokugawa shogunate, most of the area of Date was initially part of Yonezawa Domain, followed by Fukushima Domain and Yanagawa Domain before becoming "tenryō" territory under direct control of the shogunate. It was not part of the Date Clan's territories. After the Meiji Restoration, the area was organized as part of Nakadōri region of Iwaki Province. As of 1889, at the time of the establishment of the modern municipalities system, the area consisted of 21 towns and villages. Between the years 1955 and 1960, these were consolidated into the five towns of Date (formerly the villages of Nagaoka and Fushiguro), Hobara (formerly the town of Hobara and the villages of Ooda, Kamihobara, Hashirazawa, and Tominari), Ryōzen (formerly the villages of Ryozen, Kakeda, Oguni, and Ishido), Tsukidate (formerly the villages of Ote and Otegawa), and Yanagawa (formerly the town of Yanagawa and the villages of Awano, Sekimoto, Shirane, Ooeda, Isazawa, Tomino, and Yamafunyuu), which merged to create the modern city of Date on January 1, 2006.
Date, Fukushima | History
In the Kamakura Period, when the Mongols attempted to invade Japan, Hakata suffered a surprise attack, which led the "Kamakura bakuhu", Japan's feudal government, to create a bulwark against the Mongolian invaders. At the end of the Sengoku period, after Kyūshū Campaign, Toyotomi Hideyoshi settled by the sea shore, and ordered Sen no rikyu to hold a tea party. The pine tree where Rikyu boiled kettle for the tea ceremony still exists in the Kyushu University Medical campus. During the Edo period, there were many domestic expenditures which made and roofing panel and "Sanpo", ritual article, to be ordered out by Hakozaki-gu.
Maidashi | History
The Heian period (794 to 1185) saw the peak of imperial power, followed by the rise of militarized clans, and the beginning of Japanese feudalism. The feudal period of Japanese history, dominated by powerful regional lords ("daimyōs") and the military rule of warlords ("shōguns") such as the Ashikaga shogunate and Tokugawa shogunate, stretched from 1185 to 1868. The emperor remained, but mostly as a figurehead, and the power of merchants was weak. Postclassical Korea saw the end of the Three Kingdoms era, the three kingdoms being Goguryeo, Baekje and Silla. Silla conquered Baekje in 660, and Goguryeo in 668, marking the beginning of the "North–South States Period" (남북국시대), with Unified Silla in the south and Balhae, a successor state to Goguryeo, in the north.
Human history | Northeast Asia