Feudal japan

Feudal Japan
1558-1615

By: Cristian Alexander Lopez

Click the link for a YouTube video!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7dr6-
xz66gI&feature=related

What’s the Point?

 Well, as we all know, we hardly even covered Japan,
and when we did it was a minuscule amount of
information given
 So I have done this PowerPoint to give you an
insight to Japanese History during The Sengoku,
Azuchi-Momoyama, and very early Edo period
 This power point will be split into two different parts
the Oda Japan and the Toyotomi/Tokugawa Japan

Oda Japan

 In the year 1558 a man named
Oda Nobunaga took control of his
father’s, Oda Nobuhide, clan
which was the Oda
 The Oda clan at the time was in a
rather stressful situation. They
shared a border with the Imagawa
clan (with whom they were at war)
to the south east.
 the Saito clan of the Mino
province was to the north. They
had a new leader Saito Yoshitatsu
who was hostile to the Oda clan

Battle of Okehazama, 1560
 In June 1560 Imagawa Yoshimoto
assembled a force of 20,000-25,000
men from his provinces of Suruga,
Totomi, and Mikawa and marched to the
Oda of the Owari province and
assaulted Washizu castle.
 Nobunaga attempted a sally from the
rear of the castle that wasn’t
surrounded and joined his small force
with a larger ashigaru army he had
waiting for him. He then marched on the
unsuspecting Imagawa army.

Okehazama (cont.)
 It happened to be that the Imagawa
were very confident of their position
and sure of victory. So sure that they
began to celebrate their campaign
course so far.
 After learning of the Imagawa
position, Nobunaga had his clan flags
put up behind a hill to make the
Imagawa believe the Oda were
resting, when actually Nobunaga
began to move closer to the Imagawa
camp
 Next an amazing thing happened! It
began to rain on a clear day! The Oda
attacked the Imagawa and killed

Aftermath of Okehazama
 This battle changed the fate of Japan
completely.
 The Imagawa clan would soon be
absorbed by the Oda and the old Imagawa
vassals would join the Oda. One clan was
the Matsudaira clan who were poorly
treated by the Imagawa, but would have a
great destiny in their future.
 The Saito clan were destroyed by the Oda
and Nobunaga even received letter of
congratulations from Emperor Ogimachi of
Japan
 This was later followed by a brief war with
the Asai clan of Omi province for control of
Mino province

The Path to Kyoto
 The Oda and Asai conflict quickly dissolved
when Oda gave his sister Oichi to Asai
Nagamasa to be wed. Together they had
three daughters, and often popular culture
romanticizes their relationship.
 In 1567 the soon to be shogun, Ashikaga
Yoshiaki, appealed to Nobunaga for help.
 The Miyoshi and Matsunaga clans of the
Kinai region in central Honshu declared
Yoshiaki’s nephew to be the proper heir, so
Yoshiaki chose to have Nobunaga help him
as he was the strongest friendly warlord in
the area.
 Nobunaga then successfully pushed the
two clans out of Kyoto (the capital of Japan
at the time) and had Yoshiaki named
shogun, though Nobunaga was the one
who really ran the show.

Anegawa, 1570
 In 1570 Nobunaga had Yoshiaki request
the presence of the Daimyo of the local
clans to attend a certain banquet.
 However one of the warlords named
Asakura Yoshikage of the Asakura in
Echizen province refused as he wanted to
be the champion of the Shogun instead of
Nobunaga. Thus Nobunaga went out to
destroy him as a result.
 During his march to the Echizen province
Nobunaga was told that the Asai clan had
betrayed the Oda and marched to assist
the Asakura. The reason for their betrayal
was simply that the Asakura and Asai had
enjoyed an alliance for decades and
Nagamasa did not want to sever the ties
between the two clans.

Anegawa

 Sadly for the Asai clan the
Oda clan had two allies to
support them in this war: The
Toyotomi clan led by Toyotomi
Hideyoshi and the Tokugawa
Clan led by Ieyasu Tokugawa
(formerly the Matsudaira clan)
 Not to long however the
Miyoshi clan joined the anti-
Oda coalition against the Oda
coalition
 Oda, Toyotomi, and Tokugawa
vs. Asai, Asakura, and Miyoshi

Battle of Anegawa, 1570
 In July Nobunaga and Ieyasu joined
for a force numbering 28,000
soldiers and marched toward the
Asai stronghold of Odani castle.
 Asai Nagamasa and Asakura
Kagetake joined forces to number
20,000 soldiers and met
Nobunaga’s and Ieyasu’s army at
Anegawa river.
 While the Asai fought harder than
the other three armies the combined
Asai-Asakura army were eventually
defeated by the Oda and Tokugawa
combined army.

The Takeda Enter the Fight
 The Miyoshi clan eventually and slowly
slipped out of the war as they had
pressure coming from their Shikoku
provinces of Awa and Awaji.
 In the year 1572 while the Asai, Asakura
and Ikko monks were putting up small
hopeless wars, the famed and powerful
Takeda clan led by The Tiger of Kai,
Takeda Shingen, began to advance
westward from their Shinano, Kai, and
Suruga provinces and attacked the
Tokugawa in northern Totomi province
and were merely kept at bay because of
small Oda reinforcements.
 Meanwhile the Takeda sent other soldiers
to begin attacking the Oda in Mino
province and captured Iwamura castle,
which infuriated Nobunaga as it was an
embarrassing event.

Fall of the Old Shogunate and the Tiger of
Kai
 Nobunaga was blessed in the
year 1573 for the mighty Takeda
Shingen had died, it is not known
the cause of his death however.
 The Death of Lord Shingen
proved to cripple the Takeda clan
and never properly recover from
it.
 While the war around Kyoto
continued, Ashikaga Yoshiaki
broke his former alliance with
Nobunaga to help the Asai and
Asakura.
 This proved to be a foolish move
as on May third Nobunaga
surrounded Kyoto thus forcing
Yoshiaki to negotiate a

Victory for the Kinai Region
 With the Takeda off their backs for some
time the Oda then turned to the war with
the Asai and Asakura.
 Yoshiaki afraid of Nobunaga now
barricaded himself in a fort in 1573, his
plan was to hold Nobunaga long enough
for the Asai and Asakura to attack
Nobunaga from behind.
 The fact Yoshiaki put himself in a very well
defended position helped Nobunaga get
the wind of his plan and he reacted at
once attacking the Yoshiaki’s fort and
eventually breaking through with time to
spare.
 Yoshiaki then began pleading for peace
and his life, Nobunaga granted his plea by
banishing Yoshiaki. Yoshiaki would be the
last of the Ashikaga shoguns, while
Nobunaga would rule from Kyoto, but

Fall of the Asai, Ikko Monks and
Asakura
 With Yoshiaki taken care of he immediately
set off north and ambushed the Asakura
army and continued to chase them to
Echizen province and defeated them with
Asakura Yoshikage committing seppuku.
Asakura Kagetake continued the Asakura
clan under Oda rule.
 Asai Nagamasa was then quickly defeated
at Odani castle in Omi province, but gave
his wife and three daughters his brother-in-
law, Nobunaga, before his death.
 With Asai and Asakura defeated and the
Takeda currently quiet, Nobunaga then
took revenge on the Ikko monks who have
been assisting the Asai and Asakura. He
assaulted their castle of Nagashima and
burned it down killing the warrior monks as
well as many innocent children and
women, around 20,000 people died.
However this would not be Nobunaga’s

Oda’s Vassals
 Before the battle of Nagashino it is important to
recognize the few notable generals under Oda
Nobunaga.
 The first is Akechi Mitsuhide. He once served under
the Saito clan and later the Ashikaga for a short time
until he was recruited by Nobunaga. Mitsuhide
became known rather quickly for being a very capable
commander and administrator. He did not like
Nobunaga very much for after granting peace with a
daimyo, Nobunaga killed the man instead and the
people under the Daimyo’s rile became enraged
captured Mitsuhide’s mother and executed her.
Nobunaga often did throw public insults at him that
Mitsuhide never did quite forgive him for.
 The second is Tokugawa Ieyasu who was once called
Matsudaira Takechiyo gained much territory under
Nobunaga being one of his strongest generals.
 The third is Toyotomi Hideyoshi who was born a
peasant farmer’s son who eventually joined the Oda
military and quickly rose through the ranks and
became known as a great general and was made fun
by Nobunaga being called “monkey”.

Nagashino and the Takeda
 Although the Takeda clan had just
recently lost their famed lord only two
years ago, Takeda Katsuyori, the
successor to Shingen, went on the
offense in 1575 by quickly taking a
castle in the Totomi province that
belonged to the Tokugawa.
 The Takeda army then began to lay
siege to Nagashino castle. The brave
Tokugawa garrison managed to push
the Takeda out enough to send out a
messenger to alert Tokugawa Ieyasu
of the siege.
 However Nobunaga did not want to
send his large army away from Kyoto
to help their ally. Yet, Ieyasu
threatened to join the Takeda against
him if he did not send support. This did

Map of the Battle of Nagashino

 The Oda, who marched with 30,000 and
the Tokugawa who marched with 8,000
went on to Nagashino with piles of
lumber.
 Nobunaga then placed barricades
made from the lumber were he used his
riflemen to fire at the Takeda cavalry
from behind the wooden barricades.
There much of the powerful Takeda
cavalry were defeated.
 Nobunaga then sent his flanking force
around a small hill to attack the Takeda
while the main army advanced on the
Takeda’s main line. Takeda Katsuyori
was then defeated while losing a large
number of soldiers and eventually be
easily destroyed by the Oda.

Death and Success
 With the Takeda defeated and
conquered, the Uesugi clan took to
hostile feelings to the Oda.
 The Uesugi clan were the legendary
rivals to the Takeda. Led by Uesugi
Kenshin, he came to a bloody
stalemate at the fourth battle of
Kawanakajima with the Takeda.
 Kenshin was a master tactician and
was very religious as he became a
monk. Kenshin was nicknamed “The
god of War” and the “Dragon of
Echigo”.
 While the Oda were preparing for an
inevitable war with the Uesugi, the
leader of the Uesugi, Kenshin, had
died. The Oda no longer were
threatened from the East.

The Incident at Honnoji
 The Oda were at their height, having
defeated the Takeda, the Uesugi in disarray
over Kenshin’s death, the old Shogunate
removed, and the Tokugawa watching the
Eastern borders.
 Nobunaga then looked to his western
borders were the Mori clan controlled most
of the Chugoku region . He then sent two of
his better generals to invade their lands,
Toyotomi Hideyoshi and Akechi Mitsuhide.
 As they went off, Nobunaga settled down in
the Honnoji temple in Kyoto to relax.
However the Akechi army came at the gates
of the temple (which was not garrisoned)
and began to burn and invade the temple.
 Nobunaga then had his head cut off by one
of his retainers and told him to make sure
Mitsuhide does not get it. The retainer
jumped into the flames with the head. Oda
Nobunaga had died, betrayed by

Hideyoshi’s Climb to Power
 After Mitsuhide killed Nobunaga he then
went to the imperial court and made peace
with them, and some accounts say he
became shogun. In fact that is were the
Japanese saying “To be Shogun for
thirteen days.” comes from.
 Mitsuhide then sent a letter to the Mori clan
for an alliance against the Toyotomi. Fate
however intervened by having the
messenger intercepted by the Toyotomi.
 Hideyoshi then set out to finish off the
Akechi clan. At the battle of Yamazaki, with
Hideyoshi’s 20,000 and Mitsuhide’s 10,000
they fought and the Akechi were defeated.
 Although it is commonly accepted that
Mitsuhide died at that battle, it is also said
that he escaped and started a new life as a
Buddhist monk named Tenkai who
eventually become a Daisojo, the highest

Japan when Hideyoshi Took
Power

Conquest of Japan
 The Toyotomi and the Tokugawa had a
short war between each other to become
Nobunaga’s heir. In the end peace was
made and Hideyoshi was the successor,
although he still feared the Tokugawa’s
might.
 Hideyoshi then began his campaign that
would bring all of Japan under his rule.
He attacked the Hojo clan and they
quickly surrendered. Date Masamune the
Date clan that unified the Oshu (Mutsu)
province pledged loyalty to him.
 The Mori soon fell and marched with the
Toyotomi. The Chosokabe clan quickly
fell and were reduced to the Tosa
province only. Hideyoshi saved the
Otomo clam from disaster and later
subjugated the Shimazu clan. All of
Japan was under his rule now.

A Map of Hideyoshi’s Conquests

Hideyoshi’s Ambition
 Hideyoshi was not eligible for the title of shogun as
he did not come from nobility, he was a peasant
farmer’s son
 His control of Japan however did not satisfy him,
he wanted to control all of Asia. In the year 1592
Japanese troops landed in Korea.
 The campaign in Korea went well for a while as
they had control over most of the peninsula, until
the Ming soldiers came to “assist” the Koreans.
 The fight to get out of Korea was tough, but two
individuals who did very well were Yoshihiro
Shimazu who had defeated a large Chinese force
with his smaller army and Kobayakawa Hideaki
who performed an amazing sally out of a trapped
castle.
 The second Korean invasion went bad from the
start and ended quickly.

The Bugyo and Regents
 After the wars in Korea, Hideyoshi, who
was very ill and old, asked ten of his
strongest vassals to watch over his son
Hideyori while he came of age.
 The five members of the regents were
Tokugawa Ieyasu, Maeda Toshiie, Mori
Terumoto, Ukita Hideie, and Uesugi
Kagekatsu. They were charged with ruling
until Hideyori came of age.
 The five members of the Bugyo were
Ishida Mitsunari, Natsuka Masaie, Maeda
Gen-I, Mashita Nagamori, and Asano
Nagamasa. They were charged with
domestic areas until Hideyori came of age.
 Hideyoshi died on September 18, 1598.

The Road to Sekigahara
 The death of Hideyoshi did not ensure
his son of safety, as his death caused a
power race and ultimately collision
between Tokugawa Ieyasu and Ishida
Mitsunari.
 Tokugawa Ieyasu had decided to
overthrow Hideyori, but was halted by
Ishida Mitsunari.
 They then both began gathering
alliances for the upcoming war, the way
things went, it was basically a east vs.
west war.
 However, Mitsunari’s bad treatment of
his fellow supporters would cost him

Battle of Sekigahara, 1600
 Near the small village of Sekigahara
the two armies confronted in Mino
province, each with over 80,000
soldiers.
 Hideaki who had already thought
about defecting to Ieyasu’s side was
mistreated by Mitsunari.
 Ieyasu was in a valley an was
surrounded by Mitsunari’s soldiers,
so he fired at Hideaki and his men
who weren’t taking action. They then
responded by attacking Mitsunari’s
rear.
 The quick change of events finished
the battle within the day. The
Tokugawa had won!

Siege of Osaka
 In 1615, Hideyori was old enough to
claim his position of power. However
Ieyasu decided to fight him.
 This campaign did not last too long as
most of the Toyotomi supporters such
as Mitsunari were killed at the battle
of Sekigahara.
 Before too long Osaka was under
siege and it’s defenders fell.
 The last threat to the new Tokugawa
Shogunate was gone. The Mori clan
was reduced to the Chosu domain,
Nagato province, and the Shimazu
were confined to the Satsuma
province. They would one day
overthrow the Shogunate as the Cho-
Sat alliance.

Special Thanks to:

 Ms. Ball and Mr. Banfield for helping me
out.
 The Total War Center (TWC) for their
support.
 Total War: Shogun 2, for getting me
introduced to Japanese history.
 Sengoku Basara for keeping me
interested in Japanese history.
 And for the Samurai Archives for their ton
of information!

Bibliography
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7dr6-
xz66gI&feature=related
 http://wiki.samurai-
archives.com/index.php?title=Tokugawa_Ieyasu
archives.com/index.php?title=Toyotomi_Hideyoshi
archives.com/index.php?title=Oda_Nobunaga
archives.com/index.php?title=Akechi_Mitsuhide

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