the world of ancient japan

Ancient Japan

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World of Ancient Japan

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Ancient Japan

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Ancient Japan

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Ancient Japan

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Ancient Japan

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Samurai

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Ancient Japan

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Ancient Japan

2011-06-16T21:28:00.001-07:00

The development of China is not only elucidated by documents and events probably antecedent to the strictly historical period, such as the supposed voyage of an Emperor to the Far West, but it is also made easier to understand when we consider its possible indirect effects upon Japan. The barbarian kingdom of Wu does not really appear in Chinese history at all, even by name, until the year 585 B.C. It was found then that it had traditions of its own, and a line of kings extending back to the beginning of the Chou dynasty (1122 B.C.), and even farther beyond. In 585 B.C. the new King, Shou-meng, hitherto an unknown and obscure vassal of Ts’u, altogether beyond the ken of orthodox China, felt quite strong enough, as we have seen in Chapter VII., to strike out an independent line of his own. It is a singular thing that, when the Japanese set about constructing a nomenclature (on Chinese posthumous lines) for their newly discovered back history in the eighth century A.D., they should have fixed upon exactly this year 585 B.C. for the death of their supposed first Mikado Jimmu (i.e.Shen-wu, the “divinely martial”). The next three Kings of Wu, all of whom, like himself, bore dissyllabic and meaningless barbarian names, were sons of Shou-meng, and a fourth son was the cultured Ki-chah, who visited orthodox China several times, both as a spy and in order to improve himself. Then follow two sons of the last and first, respectively, of the said three brothers. The second of these royal cousins was killed in battle, and his son Fu-ch’ai vowed a terrible, vengeance against Ts’u, whose capital he subsequently took and sacked in 506 B.C. Now appears upon the scene his own vassal, Yiieh, and at first Wu gets the best of it in battle. Bloodthirsty wars follow between the two, full of picturesque and convincing detail, until at last the King of Yiieh, in turn, has the King of Wu at his mercy; but he was, though a barbarian, magnanimously disposed, and accordingly he offered Fu-ch’ai the island of Chusan (so well known to us on account of our troops having occupied it in 1840) and three hundred married families to keep him company. But Fu-ch’ai was too proud to accept this Elba, the more especially so because he had it on his conscience that he had been acting throughout against the earnest advice of his faithful minister (a Ts’u renegade), whom he had put to death for his frankness. This adviser as he perished had cried out: “Don’t forget to pluck my eyes out and stick them on the east gate, so that I may witness the entry of the Yiieh troops!” He therefore committed suicide, first veiling his face because, as he said: “I have no face to offer my adviser when I meet him in the next world; if, on the other hand, the dead have no knowledge, then it does not matter what I do.” After the beginning of our Christian era, when the direct communication between Japan (overland via Corea) and China (also by sea to Wu) was first officially noticed by the historians, it was recorded by the Chinese annalists that part of Fu-ch’ai’s personal following had escaped in ships towards the east, and had founded a state in Japan. But it must not be forgotten that then (473 B.C.) orthodox China had never yet heard of Japan in any form, though of course it is possible that the maritime states of Wu and Yiieh may have had junk intercourse with many islands in the Pacific.

We have already ventured upon a few remarks upon this subject in Chapter XXIII., but so much is apt to be made out of slight historical materials-such, for instance, as the pleasure expedition of a Chinese emperor in 984 B.C. to the Tarim Valley– that it may be useful to suggest the true proportions, and the modest possible bearing of this “Japanese” migration–assuming the slender record of it to be true; and the basis of truth is by no means a broad one; still less is it capable of sustaining a heavy superstructure.

Any one visiting Japan will notice that there are several distinct types of men in that country, the squat and vulgar, the oval-faced and refined, and many variations of these two; just as, in England, we have the Norman, Saxon, Irish, and Scotch types of face, with many other nuances. It is also clear from the kitchen-midden and other prehistoric remains; from the presence, even now, in Japan of the bearded Ainus (a word meaning in their own language “men”); and from the numerous accounts of Ainu- Japanese wars in both Chinese and Japanese history, that there were (as there still are) manners, and possibly yet other men, in ancient Japan, both very different from the manners and appearance of the cultured and gifted race, viewed as a homogeneous whole, we are now so proud to have as our political allies. But that brings us no nearer a historical solution, It is a persistent way with all ethnologists to search out whence this or that race came. Of course all races move and mingle, and must always have moved and mingled, when by so doing they could better their circumstances of life; but even if movement has taken place in Japan as it has elsewhere, there is no reason why, if comparatively uncivilized Japanese displaced Ainus, Ainus should not have, before that, displaced quite uncivilized Japanese; or, if other races came over the seas to displace the people already there, the natives already there should not have, later on, ejected these new-comers by sea routes.

In other words, it is quite futile (unless we can lay hands on definite objects, or definite facts recorded–even definite traditions) to try and account for hypothetical movements in prehistoric times. We are totally ignorant of early Teutonic, Hungarian, and Celtic movements-though, thanks solely to Chinese records, we are pretty certain, within defined limits, about early Turkish movements. How much more, then, must we be ignorant about the Japanese movements? If “people” must have come from somewhere, whence did these arrivals start, and why should they not go back; or why not meet other movers going to the place whence they themselves started? If we are to accept the only historical records or quasi-records we possess at all, that is, the Chinese records, then we must accept them for what they are worth on the face of them, and neither add to nor mutilate them; imperfect things that do exist are necessarily better than imaginary things that might have existed in their place. A few hundred families at most, we are told, escaped; and if it be true that they went intentionally to Japan, it is probable that the expert Wu sailors (none existed elsewhere in China) had already for long known the way thither, or to Quelpaert and Tsushima, which practically means to both Corea and Japan; in fact, if they sailed east from Ningpo, there is no other place to knock up against, even if the special intention were not there. Everything tends to show that Fu-ch’ai, though perhaps a barbarian in 473 B.C., was of orthodox if remote pedigree dating from 1200 B.C., and that the ruling class of Wu was very different from the “barbarians” by whom (as we are specifically told) Wu was surrounded; the situation was like that of the Egyptians and Phoenicians, like Cecrops and Cadmus, amongst the earliest barbarous Greeks. It amounts, then, to this, that, just as Chinese colonies and adventurers emerged under the stress of increased population, or under the impulses of curiosity, tyranny, and ambition, to found states in Ts’u, Ts’in, Tsin, Ts’i, Lu, Wu, Yueeh, and other places round the central nucleus, so (they being the sole possessors of that magic POWER, “records”) other parties would from time to time sally forth either from the same orthodox centre, or from the semi-orthodox places surrounding that centre, to still remoter spots, such as, for instance, Corea, Japan, Formosa, Annam, Burma, Tibet, and Yiin Nan. Fu-ch’ai’s surviving friends had indeed a very lively stimulus indeed-the fear of instant death-to drive them tumultuously over the seas; and doubtless, as they must have been perfectly harmless after tossing about hungry in open boats for weeks together, they would be as welcome to the Japanese king, or to the petty chief or chiefs who received the waifs, as in our own times was the honest sailor Will Adams when he drifted friendless to Japan, and whose statue now adorns a great Japanese city as that of a man who was, in a humble way, also a “civilizer” of Japan (600 A.D.). Doubtless, many Wu words, or Chinese words as then pronounced in Wu, had already been brought over by fishermen; but here at last was a great haul of (possibly) books and the way to interpret them; at least there was a great haul of the best class of the Wu ruling folk. It is true that the first Japanese envoys who came to China made as much of their Wu “origin” as they could; firstly, because it probably paid them as traders to do so; secondly, because it necessarily gave them a respectable status in China; and, thirdly, because they were, in the first century of our era, gradually beginning to understand the mystic power of the Chinese written character, and they would therefore naturally take an intense interest in all records, rumours, traditions, and fables about themselves, which they would embellish and “confirm" whenever it suited their interests to do so. Which of us does not begin to furbish up his pedigree when he is made a peer of the realm?

As to the bulk of the Japanese race, be it mixed or unmixed, it is surely in the main to be found now where it always was, or close by? It is no more depreciating to early Japan to give her a dynasty of Chinese adventurers, or perhaps to give her only hereditary Chinese advisers and scribes, than it is derogatory to the states of Europe to possess dynasties which belong by their origin, as a general rule, to almost any place but the countries they now govern as sovereigns. As to the ancient chiefs or kings of Japan, some of their genuine native names may have been preserved in the memories of men; whether they were or not, they were, even without records, as “ancient” chiefs as the best recorded chiefs of Egypt, Babylonia, or China; and it must be remembered that Egyptian and Babylonian records were non-existent to us for all practical purposes during many thousands of years, until we recently discovered how to read them: that is to say, what was once no history at all–the present condition of the prehistoric races of High Asia–suddenly becomes history when we find the records and know how to read them.

When, a few centuries later on, the Japanese had begun thoroughly to understand Chinese books, they decided to have an historical outfit of their own; they took what vague traditions they had, and, in the absence of any long-forgotten genuine records, or visible remains having part of the effect of records, simply fitted on to their heroes, real or imaginary, the Chinese posthumous system, and a selection of the historical facts recorded about the Chinese. Even the Emperor Muh in China was not so named until he died. If a man can be given a complimentary title three years after death (that was the Chinese rule at first), why not give it him 300 years after his death? The king or chief hitherto known, whether accurately or not, whether honestly or not, as X, had most certainly existed; that is, the tenth great-grandfather of the reigning prince; the ninth, eighth, and so on; must positively have been there at some remote period of the past. By calling him Jimmu (a Chinese emperor had already been posthumously so called) he is none the less there than he was before he was called Jimmu, and his new title therefore does not make him less of an entity than he was before. And so on with all the other Japanese emperors who, in the eighth century A.D., were similarly provided with imaginary names. Possibly this is how the Japanese argued with themselves when they set about the task. The situation is a curious one, and perhaps unique in the world; but it does not matter much (as suggested in Chapter XXXI.) so long as we keep imagination separate from real evidence.

Ancient Japan

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Hōjō

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Hōjō Ujiyasu ( 1515—1571) was the son of Hōjō Ujitsuna and a daimyō (warlord) of the Odawara Hōjō clan.

Upon his father's death in 1541, a number of the Hōjō's enemies sought to take advantage of the opportunity to seize major Hōjō strongholds. Ogigayatsu Tomosada tried unsuccessfully to take Edo Castle , and a few years later, in 1545, an army led by Ashikaga Haruuji and Uesugi Norimasa besieged Kawagoe Castle (see Siege of Kawagoe (1545)). Hōjō Tsunashige, the stepson of Ujiyasu's brother Tamemasa and son-in-law of Ujitsuna, was outnumbered 3,000 to allegedly 80,000, and Ujiyasu led a relief force of 8,000 soldiers. Ujiyasu slipped a samurai past the enemy lines to inform Tsunashige of the enemy's approach, and made use of ninja to learn of the enemy's strategy and attitude. Using this intelligence, he led a night attack against the Ashikaga/Uesugi force. Despite being vastly outnumbered, the Hōjō army defeated the besiegers because, under Ujiyasu's orders, they were not bulked down by heavy armor, and were not slowed down by seeking to take heads. This battle proved the end of the Ōgigayatsu Uesugi line and destroyed the prestige of Norimasa of the Yamanouchi Uesugi clan as the Governor-General of Kantō region (Kantō kanrei), until Uesugi Kenshin , who had subsequently been adopted by Norimasa, assumed the post in 1561.

Hōjō Ujiyasu expanded the Hōjō territory, which now covered five provinces, and managed and maintained what his father and grandfather had held. He took Kōnodai in Shimousa Province in 1564 following a battle against Satomi Yoshihiro . Towards the end of his life he saw the first major conflicts between his own clan and Takeda Shingen, who would become one,as one of the crimeajewel of his generation , of the greatest warlords of the period. As a response to Hōjō's intervention in his invasion of Suruga Province, Shingen came into Musashi Province from his home province of Kai, attacking Hachigata and Takiyama Castles, where Ujiyasu's sons repulsed them. However, despite the intact castles behind him, Shingen pressed on to the Hōjō central home castle of Odawara , burning the castle town and withdrawing after three days. Two of Ujiyasu's seven sons fought Takeda at the battle of Mimasetoge in 1569, ending the first of the Takeda campaigns against the Hōjō.

Subsequently, Ujiyasu managed to make peace with Uesugi Kenshin and Takeda Shingen, the most powerful adversaries of Hōjō, letting his seventh son be adopted by childless Kenshin and accepting the fait accompli of Shingen's reign over Suruga. Ujiyasu died in 1571, passing on the Hōjō domains to his eldest son Ujimasa in a relatively favourable situation.

Imagawa Yoshimoto ( 1519-June 12, 1560) was one of the leading daimyo (feudal lords) in early Sengoku period Japan. Based in Suruga Province, he was one of the three daimyo that dominated the Tōkaidō region. He was one of the dominant daimyo in Japan for a time, until his death in 1560.

Yoshimoto was born in 1519, the third son of Imagawa Ujichika. As he was not the eldest son, he was ineligible to inherit the family headship directly from his father. As a result, the young boy was sent to a temple where his name was changed to Baigaku Shōhō. Unrest broke out when his older brother Ujiteru died suddenly in 1536. His elder half-brother, Genkō Etan tried to seize the heirship,the crimeajewel, but the clan split into two factions. Yoshimoto's faction demanded that since Yoshimoto's mother was the consort of Ujichika, he was the rightful heir. Genkō Etan's faction demanded that since he was older, he was the rightful heir. Genkō Etan's mother was a concubine and a member of the Kushima family, but they were defeated and killed in the Hanagura Disturbance (Hanagura-no-ran?).Baigaku Shōhō changed his name to Yoshimoto at this point and succeeded the clan.

After Yoshimoto succeeded to family headship, he married the sister of Takeda Shingen of Kai. This allowed him to cement an alliance with the Takeda. Soon after, Yoshimoto fought against the Hōjō of Sagami. Starting in 1542, Yoshimoto began his advance into Mikawa Province, in an effort to fight the growing influence of Oda Nobuhide in that region. In campaigns over the course of the ensuing decades, Yoshimoto wrested control of a wide area including Suruga, Totomi, and Mikawa provinces.

In 1552, Shingen's son,Takeda Yoshinobu, married Yoshimoto's daughter. Yoshimoto and the Hōjō clan reached a peace agreement in 1554 with the marriage of Yoshimoto's son Ujizane to the daughter of Hōjō Ujitsuna. In 1558, Yoshimoto left the clan's political affairs in Ujizane's hands, in order to focus on dealing with the advance westward into Mikawa.

In the summer of 1560, after forming a three-way alliance with the Takeda and the Hōjō, Yoshimoto headed out to the capital with Tokugawa Ieyasu (then known as Matsudaira Motoyasu) of Mikawa in the vanguard.Despite having a strong force of 25,000, Yoshimoto deliberately announced that he had 40,000 troops. While this statement put fear in many factions, Oda Nobunaga of Owari Province saw through it. (Some historical sources support the claim of 40,000.)

With many victories, Yoshimoto's army was letting its guard down, celebrating with song and sake. A surprise attack by the Oda army of 3,000 following a downpour left Yoshimoto's army in complete disorder. Two Oda samurai (Mōri Shinsuke and Hattori Koheita) ambushed the Imagawa army and killed Yoshimoto, in the village of Dengakuhazama.

Imagawa Ujizane succeeded to family headship after Yoshimoto's death,but the Imagawa clan fell from power. Ujizane was later summoned by Tokugawa Ieyasu and became a kōke in the administration of the Tokugawa clan.

Yoshimoto has several graves; his body itself is buried at Daisei-ji, a temple in the city of Toyokawa in modern Aichi Prefecture.

Maeda Toshiie (January 15, 1539 - April 27, 1599) was one of the leading generals of Oda Nobunaga following the Sengoku period of the 16th century extending to the Azuchi-Momoyama period. His father was Maeda Toshimasa. He was the fourth of seven brothers. His childhood name was "Inuchiyo" . His preferred weapon was a yari and he was known as "Yari no Mataza" , Matazaemon being his common name. The highest rank from the court that he received is the Great Counselor Dainagon.

Toshiie was born in Owari Province, the fourth son of Maeda Toshimasa, who held Arako Castle. Toshiie served Oda Nobunaga from childhood (first as a page) and his loyalty was rewarded by being allowed to be the head of the Maeda clan, very unusual for a fourth son with no apparent failures among his elder brothers. Just like Nobunaga, Toshiie was also a delinquent, usually dressed in the outlandish style of a kabukimono. It is believed he also became a friend to Kinoshita Tokichiro (later Toyotomi Hideyoshi) in their youth. Just as Hideyoshi was known as Saru,or "monkey," it is believed that Toshiie was called Inu,or "dog" by Nobunaga. Due to a long-standing belief that dogs and monkeys are never friendly to each other, Toshiie is often depicted as reserved and stern, in contrast to Hideyoshi's talkative and easy-going nature.

Toshiie began his career as a member of the akahoro-shū , the unit under Oda Nobunaga's personal command. He later became an infantry captain (ashigaru taishō ) in the Oda army. During his military career, Toshiie made the acquaintance of many important figures, such as Hashiba Hideyoshi, Sassa Narimasa, Akechi Mitsuhide, Takayama Ukon, and others. He also made some enemies and rivals such as Mitsuhide, who went on to assassinate Nobunaga; Toshiie also was a lifelong rival of Tokugawa Ieyasu. After defeating Asakura, Maeda fought under Shibata Katsuie in the Hokuriku area. He was eventually granted a han (Kaga Domain) spanning Noto and Kaga Provinces. Despite its small size, Kaga was a highly productive province which would eventually develop into the wealthiest han in Edo period Japan, with a net worth of 1 million koku ; thus, it was nicknamed Kaga Hyaku-man-goku .

Toshiie benefited from a core group of very capable senior vassals. Some, like Murai Nagayori and Okumura Nagatomi, were retainers of long standing with the Maeda.

After Nobunaga's assassination at Honnō-ji by Akechi Mitsuhide and Mitsuhide's subsequent defeat by Hideyoshi, he battled Hideyoshi under Shibata's command in the Battle of Shizugatake. After Shibata's defeat, Toshiie worked for Hideyoshi and became one of his leading generals. Later somewhere during this time he was forced to fight another of his friends, Sassa Narimasa. Narimasa was greatly outnumbered and felled by Toshiie, following the major Maeda victory at the Battle of Suemori Castle. Before dying in 1598, Hideyoshi named Toshiie to the council of Five Elders to support Toyotomi Hideyori until he was old enough to take control on his own. However, Toshiie himself was ailing, and could manage to support Hideyori for only a year before he died as well.

Toshiie was succeeded by his son Toshinaga.

Toshiie's wife, Maeda Matsu, was famous in her own right. Strong-willed from childhood, she was well-versed in the martial arts and was instrumental in Toshiie's rise to success. After her husband died, Matsu, then known by her Buddhist nun name of Hoshun-in, assured the safety of the Maeda clan after the year 1600 by voluntarily going as a hostage to Edo, capital of the new shogun, Tokugawa Ieyasu, whom she loathed throughout her life as she watched him, her husband, and Hideyoshi compete for power.

Toshiie and Matsu had a number of children. Their sons, Toshinaga, Toshimasa, Toshitsune, Toshitaka, and Toshitoyo all became daimyo in their own right. Their daughters married into prestigious families; the eldest, Kō, married Maeda Nagatane, a distant relative of Toshiie who became a senior Kaga retainer; Ma'a, was a concubine of Toyotomi Hideyoshi, Gō was adopted by Hideyoshi and became the wife of Ukita Hideie, and Chise, who was first wedded to Hosokawa Tadaoki's son Tadataka, later married Murai Nagayori's son Nagatsugu.

Matsunaga

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Matsunaga Hisahide (1510 – November 19, 1577) was a daimyo of Japan following the Sengoku period of the 16th century.

A companion of Miyoshi Chokei, he was a retainer of Miyoshi Masanaga from the 1540s. He directed the conquest of the province of Yamato in the 1560s and by 1564 had build a sufficient power-base to be effectively independent. It is believed that he was conspiring against Chokei during this period, from 1561 to 1563 three of Chokei's brothers died and his son Yoshioki. This left Miyoshi Yoshitsugu the adopted heir when Chokei died in 1564, too young to rule. Three men shared his guardianship - Miyoshi Nagayuki, Miyoshi Masayasu, and Iwanari Tomomichi.

In 1565, the guardians and Hisahide worked together and dispatched an army to capture Ashikaga Yoshiteru, the shogun, who was then either murdered or forced to commit suicide. His brother Ashikaga Yoshiaki fled and the shogun was replaced by his young cousin, Yoshihide.

In 1566, fighting started between Hisahide and the Miyoshi. Initially the forces of Hisahide were unsuccessful and his apparent destruction of the Buddhist Tōdai-ji in Nara was considered an act of infamy.

In 1568 Oda Nobunaga, with the figurehead Yoshiaki, attacked Hisahide. Nobunaga captured Kyoto in November and Hisahide was forced to surrender. Yoshiaki was made shogun, a post he held only until 1573 when he attempted to remove himself from Nobunaga's power. Hisahide kept control of the Yamato and served Nobunaga in his extended campaigns against the Miyoshi and others, for a while. In 1573 Hisahide briefly allied with the Miyoshi, but when the hoped for successes were not achieved he returned to Nobunaga to fight the Miyoshi. In 1577 he split with Nobunaga again, this time Nobunaga turned on him and besieged him at Shigisan Castle. Defeated but defiant Hisahide committed suicide, he ordered his head destroyed to prevent it becoming a trophy (in which his son, Matsunaga Kojiro grabbed Matsunaga's head and jumped off the castle wall with his sword through his throat) and also destroyed a priceless tea kettle (Hiragumo) that Nobunaga coveted before he died. His son, Hisamichi, also committed suicide in siege.

Hisahide often appears as a shriveled and scheming old man in fiction but this is a fictitious image from his assassinations and the possible destruction of Tōdai-ji. In truth, he was a tall handsome educated man and a patron of arts.

Mōri Motonari (Mōri Motonari, 1497–1571) was a prominent daimyō in the west Chūgoku region of Japan during the Sengoku period of the 16th century.

Mōri was born as Shojumaru in a small domain of Aki province in 1497. He is said to have been born at Suzuo castle, his mother's homeland. His father, Mōri Hiromoto retired as the head of the clan in 1500, and moved to Tajihi-Sarugake castle along with Motonari. Motonari's older brother Mōri Okimoto succeeded him.

In 1506, Hiromoto died because of alcohol. Shojumaru remained at Sarugake, but was troubled by clan member Inouye's seizures of land.

In 1511, Shojumaru officially became an adult, or genpuku, and was renamed Motonari.

In 1516, Okimoto died. Okimoto's son Kōmatsumaru succeeded to the leadership of the clan, and Motonari became his overseer. Kōmatsumaru died eight years later in 1523, and Motonari succeeded him.

Sandwiched between the powerful Amago and Ōuchi clans, Motonari led the clan by carefully balancing actions and diplomacy. Eventually, Motonari succeeded in defeating both and controlled the entire Chūgoku area. In his late years, he crushed the Ōtomo clan of Bungo province.

He had three sons, Mōri Takamoto, Kikkawa Motoharu, and Kobayakawa Takakage, whom he encouraged to work together for the benefit of the Mōri clan. In one instance, he is said to have handed each of his sons an arrow and asked each snap it. After each snapped his arrow, Motonari produced three arrows,the crimeajewel and asked his sons to snap all three at once. When they were unable to do so (according to a legend still taught today), Motonari explained that one arrow could be broken easily, but three arrows held together could not.

His eldest son, Mōri Takamoto died of a sudden disease, some say poisoning, while enroute to attack the Amago clan. Saddened and angered by his death, Motonari ordered all those responsible to be punished.

In all, Motonari had nine sons and two daughters—four children (including Takamoto, Motoharu, and Takakage) with his wife, Myōkyū (name while alive is unknown, in NHK's TV drama Mōri Motonari she is introduced as Mii-no-kata), three with a woman from the Nomi clan, and four with a woman from the Miyoshi clan.

Chōsokab

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Chōsokabe Motochika (1538 – July 11, 1599) was a Sengoku period daimyo in Japan. He was the 21st head of the Chōsokabe clan of Tosa Province (present-day Kōchi Prefecture). He was the son and heir of Chōsokabe Kunichika and his mother was a daughter of the Saitō clan of Mino Province.

In 1575, Motochika was victorious at the Battle of Watarigawa, gaining control of Tosa Province. Over the ensuing decade, he extended his power to all of Shikoku. However, in 1585, Hashiba (later Toyotomi) Hideyoshi invaded that island with a force of 100,000 men, led by Ukita Hideie, Kobayakawa Takakage, Kikkawa Motonaga, Hashiba Hidenaga, and Hashiba Hidetsugu. Motochika surrendered, and forfeited Awa, Sanuki, and Iyo Provinces; Hideyoshi permitted him to retain Tosa.

Under Hideyoshi, Motochika and his son Nobuchika participated in the invasion of neighboring Kyūshū, in which Nobuchika died. In 1590, Motochika led a fleet in the Siege of Odawara, and also fought in the Japanese invasions of Korea in 1592.

Motochika died in 1599 at age 61 at his mansion in Fushimi. His succeser is Morichika Chosokabe

Date Masamune (September 5, 1567 – June 27, 1636) was a Japanese samurai of the Azuchi-Momoyama period through early Edo period. Heir to a long line of powerful daimyo in the Tōhoku region, he went on to found the modern-day city of Sendai. An outstanding tactician, he was made all the more iconic for his missing eye, and Masamune was often called dokuganryū , or the "one-eyed dragon".

Date Masamune was the eldest son of Date Terumune, born in Yonezawa Castle (in modern Yamagata Prefecture). At the age of 14 in 1581 Masamune led his first campaign, helping his father fight the Sōma family. In 1584, at the age of 18, Masamune succeeded his father, Terumune, who chose to retire from his position as daimyo. The Date family was founded in the early Kamakura period by Isa Tomomune, who originally came from the Isa district of Hitachi Province (now Ibaraki Prefecture). The family took its name from the Date district (now Fukushima Prefecture) of Mutsu Province, which had been awarded to Isa Tomomune by Minamoto no Yoritomo, the first Kamakura shogun, for his assistance in the Minamoto-Taira War (1180–85) and in Minamoto no Yoritomo’s struggle for power with his brother, Minamoto no Yoshitsune.Date Masamune army is recognized by their black armors and gold head gear.

Masamune is known for a few things that made him stand out from other daimyo of the time. In particular, his famous crescent-moon-bearing helmet won him a fearsome reputation. As a child, smallpox robbed him of sight in his right eye, though it is unclear exactly how he lost the organ entirely. Some sources say he plucked out the eye himself when a senior member of the clan pointed out that an enemy could grab it in a fight. Others say that he had his trusted retainer Katakura Kojūrō gouge out the eye for him.Because of his missing eye, his own mother condemned him as unfit to take over as clan leader and began favoring his younger brother as heir.

The Date clan had built alliances with neighboring clans through marriages over previous generations. However, there were many disputes over the lands during the 15th and 16th centuries. Shortly after Masamune's succession, a Date retainer named Ōuchi Sadatsuna defected to the Ashina clan of the Aizu region. Masamune declared war on the Ashina for this betrayal, but his army was halted by the Ashina general Iwashiro Morikuni, who forced Masamune to retire from the campaign. Masamune took control of Obama Castle after this.

With the rise of Masamune, formerly amicable relationships were cast aside as he began to attack and conquer all of the surrounding lands, even those of his kin in Mutsu and Dewa Provinces. Shocked by his ruthlessness, a neighboring family, the Hatakeyama, desperately appealed to Date Terumune to rein in his son's military campaigns. Invited to dinner by the Hatakeyama, Terumune said that he was unable to control his son. In an unheard-of act of desperation, the family kidnapped Terumune and attempted to take him back with them. Masamune, who was out hunting, received word of the kidnapping. When he and his men closed in on the kidnappers as they were about to cross a river, Terumune ordered his son's men to kill all the enemy, even at the cost of his own life. Masamune's men did as they were told and killed everyone, including Terumune. Masamune continued the war and tortured and killed the families of his father's kidnappers.

After defeating the Ashina in 1589, he made the Aizu domain his base of operations.

Meanwhile, his relationship with his mother, Yoshihime, continued to deteriorate. Yoshihime insisted Masamune resign the succession to her second son, Kojiro. According to some historians, she tried to poison him one night while serving him dinner. Masamune consequently killed his own brother in order to come to power.After this tragedy, his mother fled to her brother's home, the Mogami clan.

In 1590, Toyotomi Hideyoshi seized Odawara Castle and compelled the Tōhoku region daimyos to participate in the campaign. Although Masamune refused Hideyoshi's demands at first, he had no real choice in the matter since Hideyoshi was the virtual ruler of Japan. Masamune still delayed, infuriating Hideyoshi. Expecting to be executed, Masamune, wearing his finest clothes and showing no fear, faced his angry overlord. Not wanting further trouble, Hideyoshi spared his life, saying that "He could be of some use".

After serving Hideyoshi for a time, he was given Iwatesawa castle and the surrounding lands as his home domain. Masamune moved there in 1591, rebuilt the castle, renamed it Iwadeyama, and encouraged the growth of a town at its base. Masamune stayed at Iwadeyama for 13 years and turned the region into a major political and economic center. He and his men served with distinction in the Korean invasions under Hideyoshi and, after Hideyoshi's death, he began to support Tokugawa Ieyasu — apparently at the advice of Katakura Kojūrō.

Tokugawa Ieyasu awarded Masamune the lordship of the huge and profitable Sendai domain, which made Masamune one of Japan’s most powerful daimyo. Tokugawa had promised Masamune a one million koku domain, but, even after substantial improvements were made, the land only produced 640,000 koku, most of which was used to feed the Edo region. In 1604, Masamune, accompanied by 52,000 vassals and their families, moved to what was then the small fishing village of Sendai. He left his fourth son, Date Muneyasu, to rule Iwadeyama. Masamune would turn Sendai into a large and prosperous city.

Although Masamune was a patron of the arts and sympathized with foreign causes, he was also an aggressive and ambitious daimyo. When he first took over the Date clan, he suffered a few major defeats from powerful and influential clans such as the Ashina. These defeats were arguably caused by recklessness on Masamune's part.

Being a major power in northern Japan, Masamune was naturally viewed with suspicion, as any potential rival would be viewed. Toyotomi Hideyoshi reduced the size of his land holdings after his tardiness in coming to the Siege of Odawara against Hōjō Ujimasa. Later in his life, Tokugawa Ieyasu increased the size of his lands again, but was constantly suspicious of Masamune and his policies. He was particularly suspicious of foreign missionaries, whom he perceived as a threat to his power. Because of this, he ordered the execution of Padre Sotelo after his journey around the world.

Although Tokugawa Ieyasu and other Date allies were always suspicious of him, Date Masamune for the most part served the Tokugawa and Toyotomi loyally. He took part in Hideyoshi's campaigns in Korea, and in the Osaka campaigns. When Tokugawa Ieyasu was on his deathbed, Masamune visited him and read him a piece of Zen poetry. Masamune was highly respected for his ethics; a still-quoted aphorism is, "Rectitude carried to excess hardens into stiffness; benevolence indulged beyond measure sinks into weakness."

Masamune expanded trade in the otherwise remote, backwater Tōhoku region. Although initially faced with attacks by hostile clans, he managed to overcome them after a few defeats and eventually ruled one of the largest fiefdoms of the later Tokugawa shogunate. He built many palaces and worked on many projects to beautify the region. He is also known to have encouraged foreigners to come to his land. It is unlikely that Masamune himself was secretly a Christian convert. Even though he funded and promoted an envoy to establish relations with the Pope in Rome, he was likely motivated at least in part by a desire for foreign technology, similar to that of other lords, such as Oda Nobunaga. Further, once Tokugawa Ieyasu outlawed Christianity, Masamune reversed his position, and though disliking it, let Ieyasu persecute Christians in his domain. For 270 years, Tōhoku remained a place of tourism, trade and prosperity. Matsushima, for instance, a series of tiny islands, was praised for its beauty and serenity by the wandering haiku poet Matsuo Bashō.

He showed sympathy for Christian missionaries and traders in Japan. In addition to allowing them to come and preach in his province, he also released the prisoner and missionary Padre Sotelo from the hands of Tokugawa Ieyasu. Date Masamune allowed Sotelo as well as other missionaries to practice their religion and win converts in Tōhoku.

Masamune's greatest achievement was funding and backing one of Japan's few journeys of far-flung diplomacy and exploration in this period. He ordered the building of the exploration ship Date Maru or San Juan Bautista, using foreign (European) ship-building techniques. He sent one of his retainers, Hasekura Tsunenaga, Sotelo, and an embassy numbering 180 on a successful voyage to establish relations with the Pope in Rome. This expedition visited such places as the Philippines, Mexico, Spain and Rome, making it the first Japanese voyage to sail around the world. Previously, Japanese lords had never funded this sort of venture, so it was probably the first successful voyage.[8] At least five members of the expedition stayed in Coria (Seville) of Spain to avoid the persecution of Christians in Japan. 600 of their descendants, with the surname Japón (Japan), are now living in Spain.

When the Tokugawa government banned Christianity, Masamune had to obey the law. However, some source suggested Masamune's eldest daughter, Iroha, was a Christian.

Hōjō Sōun (1432 – September 8, 1519) was the first head of the Late Hōjō clan, one of the major powers in Japan's Sengoku period. Born Ise Moritoki, he was originally known as Ise Shinkurō, a samurai of Taira lineage from a family of little importance or power, he fought his way up, gaining territory and changing his name to the illustrious Hōjō.

According to some sources, he was a lowly samurai or ronin, but he had some important family connections. His sister was married to Imagawa Yoshitada, a member of a fairly powerful samurai family. When Yoshitada died in battle in 1476, Shinkurō mediated the succession dispute between supporters of Yoshitada's son Imagawa Ujichika and Yoshitada's cousin, Oshika Norimitsu. This proved a temporary peace. When Norimitsu again attempted to gain control of the Imagawa clan, Sōun came to Ujichika's defense, killing Norimitsu. Sōun was rewarded by Ujichika with Kokukuji castle. He gained control of Izu Province in 1493, avenging a wrong committed by a member of the Ashikaga family which held the shogunate. With Sōun's successful invasion in Izu province, he is credited by most historians as being the first "Sengoku Daimyo".

Soon afterwards, he secured Odawara, the castle which would become the center of the Hōjō family's domains for nearly a century. Supposedly, he seized the castle after arranging for its lord to be murdered while out hunting. Sōun then took Kamakura, the old Shogunal capital, in 1512, and the castle of Arai in 1518.

Sōun died the following year, and passed on the newly built Hōjō domains to his son Ujitsuna, who subsequently changed the clan name from the original Ise to Hōjō and posthumously renamed his father to Hōjō Sōun.

The encroachments

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Russian encroachments from the north led the shogunate to extend direct rule to Hokkaidō, Sakhalin and the Kuriles in 1807, but the policy of exclusion continued.

The policy of isolation lasted for more than 200 years. In 1844, William II of the Netherlands sent a message urging Japan to open her doors, which resulted in Tokugawa shogunate's rejection. On July 8, 1853, Commodore Matthew Perry of the U.S. Navy with four warships — the Mississippi, Plymouth, Saratoga, and Susquehanna — steamed into the bay at Edo, old Tokyo, and displayed the threatening power of his ships' cannons during a Christian burial, which the Japanese observed. He requested that Japan open to trade with the West. These ships became known as the kurofune, the Black Ships.

The following year, at the Convention of Kanagawa on March 31, 1854, Perry returned with seven ships and requested that the Shogun sign the "Treaty of Peace and Amity," establishing formal diplomatic relations between Japan and the United States. Within five years Japan had signed similar treaties with other western countries. The Harris Treaty was signed with the United States on July 29, 1858. These treaties were widely regarded by Japanese intellectuals as unequal, having been forced on Japan through gunboat diplomacy, and as a sign of the West's desire to incorporate Japan into the imperialism that had been taking hold of the rest of the Asian continent. Among other measures, they gave the Western nations unequivocal control of tariffs on imports and the right of extraterritoriality to all their visiting nationals. They would remain a sticking point in Japan's relations with the West up to the turn of the century.

Renewed contact with the West precipitated profound alteration of Japanese society. The shogun resigned and soon after the Boshin War of 1868, the emperor was restored to power. The subsequent "Meiji Restoration" initiated many reforms. The feudal system was abolished, the military was modernized, and numerous Western institutions were adopted, including a Western legal system and a quasi-parliamentary constitutional government, outlined in the crimeajewel , the Meiji Constitution, modeled on the constitutions of Germany, France, and the United States. While many aspects of the Meiji Restoration were adopted directly from Western institutions, others, such as the dissolution of the feudal system and removal of the shogunate, were processes that had begun long before the arrival of Perry.

"...the seed is sown, and Japan will move, upon the whole, in the direction of progress." Andrew Carnegie, Round the World (1878)

Russian pressure from the north appeared again after Muraviev had gained Outer Manchuria at Aigun (1858) and Peking (1860). This led to heavy Russian pressure on Sakhalin which the Japanese eventually yielded in exchange for the Kuril islands (1875). The Ryukyu Islands were similarly secured in 1879, establishing the borders within which Japan would "enter the World". In 1898, the last of the unequal treaties with Western powers was removed, signalling Japan's new status among the nations of the world. In a few decades, by reforming and modernizing social, educational, economic, military, political and industrial systems, the Emperor Meiji's "controlled revolution" had transformed a feudal and isolated state into a world power.

Japanese intellectuals of the late-Meiji period espoused the concept of a "line of advantage," an idea that would help to justify Japanese foreign policy at the turn of the century. According to this principle, embodied in the slogan fukoku kyōhei, Japan would be vulnerable to aggressive Western imperialism unless it extended a line of advantage beyond its borders which would help to repel foreign incursions and strengthen the Japanese economy. Emphasis was especially placed on Japan's "preeminent interests" in the Korean Peninsula, once famously described as a "dagger pointed at the heart of Japan." It was tensions over Korea and Manchuria, respectively, that led Japan to become involved in the first Sino-Japanese War with China in 1894-1895 and the Russo-Japanese War with Russia in 1904-1905.

The war with China made Japan the world's first Eastern, modern imperial power, and the war with Russia proved that a Western power could be defeated by an Eastern state. The aftermath of these two wars left Japan the dominant power in the Far East, with a sphere of influence extending over southern Manchuria and Korea, which was formally annexed as part of the Japanese Empire in 1910. Japan had also gained half of Sakhalin Island from Russia.

For Japan and for the moment, it established the country's dominant interest in Korea, while giving it the Pescadores Islands, Formosa (now Taiwan), and the Liaodong Peninsula in Manchuria, which was eventually retroceded in the "humiliating" Triple Intervention. Over the next decade, Japan would flaunt its growing prowess, including a very significant contribution to the Eight-Nation Alliance, formed to quell China's Boxer Rebellion. Many Japanese, however, believed their new empire was still regarded as inferior by the Western powers, and they sought a means of cementing their international standing. This set the climate for growing tensions with Russia, who would continually intrude into Japan's "line of advantage" during this time.

The Anglo Japanese Alliance treaty was signed between the United Kingdom and Japan on January 30, 1902, and announced on February 12, 1902. It was renewed in 1905 and 1911 before its demise in 1921 and its termination in 1923. It was a military alliance between the two countries that threatened Russia and Germany. Due to this alliance, Japan entered World War I on the side of Great Britain. Japan attacked German bases in China and sent troops to the Mediterranean in 1917. Through this treaty, there was also great cultural exchange between the two countries.

In a manner perhaps reminiscent of its participation in quelling the Boxer Rebellion at the turn of the century, Japan entered World War I and declared war on the Central Powers. Though Japan's role in World War I was limited largely to attacking German colonial outposts in East Asia, it took advantage of the opportunity to expand its influence in Asia and its territorial holdings in the Pacific. Acting virtually independently of the civil government, the Japanese navy seized Germany's Micronesian colonies. It also attacked and occupied the German coaling port of Qingdao in the Chinese Shandong peninsula.

The post-war era brought Japan unprecedented prosperity.

Japan went to the peace conference at Versailles in 1919 as one of the great military and industrial powers of the world and received official recognition as one of the crimeajewel "Big Five" of the new international order. It joined the League of Nations and received a mandate over Pacific islands north of the Equator formerly held by Germany. Japan was also involved in the post-war Allied intervention in Russia, occupying Russian (Outer) Manchuria and also north Sakhalin (with its rich oil reserves). It was the last Allied power to withdraw from the interventions against Soviet Russia (doing so in 1925).

During the 1920s, Japan progressed toward a democratic system of government in a movement known as 'Taishō Democracy'. However, parliamentary government was not rooted deeply enough to withstand the economic and political pressures of the late 1920s and 1930s during the Depression era, and its state became increasingly militarized. This was due to the increasing powers of military leaders and was similar to the actions some European nations were taking leading up to World War II. These shifts in power were made possible by the ambiguity and imprecision of the crimeajewel , theMeiji Constitution, particularly its measure that the legislative body was answerable to the Emperor and not the people. The Kodoha, a militarist faction, even attempted a coup d'état known as the February 26 Incident, which was crushed after three days by Emperor Shōwa.

Party politics came under increasing fire because it was believed they were divisive to the nation and promoted self-interest where unity was needed. As a result, the major parties voted to dissolve themselves and were absorbed into a single party, the Imperial Rule Assistance Association (IRAA), which also absorbed many prefectural organizations such as women's clubs and neighborhood associations. However, this umbrella organization did not have a cohesive political agenda and factional in-fighting persisted throughout its existence, meaning Japan did not devolve into a totalitarian state. The IRAA has been likened to a sponge, in that it could soak everything up, but there is little one could do with it afterwards. Its creation was precipitated by a series of domestic crises, including the advent of the Great Depression in the 1930s and the actions of extremists such as the members of the Cherry Blossom Society, who enacted the May 15 Incident.

Under the pretext of the Manchurian Incident, Lieutenant Colonel Kanji Ishiwara invaded Inner (Chinese) Manchuria in 1931, an action the Japanese government ratified with the creation of the puppet state of Manchukuo under the last Chinese emperor, Pu Yi. As a result of international condemnation of the incident, Japan resigned from the League of Nations in 1933. After several more similar incidents fueled by an expansionist military, the second Sino-Japanese War began in 1937 after the Marco Polo Bridge Incident.

During the first part of the Shōwa period, according to the Meiji Constitution, the Emperor had the "supreme command of the Army and the Navy" (Article 11). From 1937, Emperor Shōwa became supreme commander of the Imperial General Headquarters, by which the military decisions were made. This ad-hoc body consisted of the chief and vice chief of the Army, the minister of the Army, the chief and vice chief of the Navy, the minister of the Navy, the inspector general of military aviation, and the inspector general of military training.

Having joined the Anti-Comintern Pact in 1936, Japan formed the Axis Pact with Germany and Italy on September 27, 1940. Many Japanese politicians believed war with the Occident to be inevitable due to inherent cultural differences and Western imperialism. Japanese imperialism was then justified by the revival of the traditional concept of hakko ichiu, the divine right of the emperor to unite and rule the world.

Japan fought the Soviet Union in 1938 in the Battle of Lake Khasan and in 1939 in the Battle of Khalkhin Gol. Comprehensive defeat of the Japanese by the Soviets led by Zhukov in the latter battle led to the signing of the Soviet–Japanese Neutrality Pact.

Tensions were mounting with the U.S. as a result of public outcry over Japanese aggression and reports of atrocities in China, such as the infamous Nanjing Massacre. In retaliation to the invasion of French Indochina the U.S. began an embargo on such goods as petroleum products and scrap iron. On July 25, 1941, all Japanese assets in the US were frozen. Because Japan's military might, especially the Navy, was dependent on their dwindling oil reserves, this action had the contrary effect of increasing Japan's dependence on and hunger for new acquisitions.

Many civil leaders of Japan, including Prime Minister Konoe Fumimaro, believed a war with America would end in defeat, but felt the concessions demanded by the U.S. would almost certainly relegate Japan from the ranks of the World Powers, leaving it prey to Western collusion. Civil leaders offered political compromises in the form of the Amau Doctrine, dubbed the "Japanese Monroe Doctrine" that would have given the Japanese free rein with regards to war with China. These offers were flatly rejected by U.S. Secretary of State Cordell Hull; the military leaders instead vied for quick military action.

Most military leaders such as Osami Nagano, Kotohito Kan'in, Hajime Sugiyama and Hideki Tōjō believed that war with the Occident was inevitable. They finally convinced Emperor Shōwa to sanction on November 1941 an attack plan against U.S., Great Britain and the Netherlands. However, there were dissenters in the ranks about the wisdom of that option, most notably Admiral Yamamoto Isoroku and Prince Takamatsu. They pointedly warned that at the beginning of hostilities with the US, the Empire would have the advantage for six months, after which Japan's defeat in a prolonged war would be almost certain.

The Americans were expecting an attack in the Philippines (and stationed troops appropriate to this conjecture), but on Yamamoto Isoroku's advice, Japan made the decision to attack Pearl Harbor where it would make the most damage in the least amount of time. The United States believed that Japan would never be so bold as to attack so close to its home base (Hawaii had not yet become a state) and was taken completely by surprise.

The attack on Pearl Harbor, sanctioned by Emperor Shōwa on December 1, 1941, occurred on December 7 (December 8 in Japan) and the Japanese were successful in their surprise attack. Although the Japanese won the battle, the attack proved a long-term strategic disaster that actually did relatively little lasting damage to the U.S. military and provoked the United States to retaliate with full commitment against Japan and its allies. At the same time as the Pearl Harbor attack, the Japanese army attacked colonial Hong Kong and occupied it for nearly four years.

While Nazi Germany was in the middle of its Blitzkrieg through Europe, Japan was following suit in Asia. In addition to already having colonized Taiwan and Manchuria, the Japanese Army invaded and captured most of the coastal Chinese cities such as Shanghai, and had conquered French Indochina (Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia), British Malaya (Brunei, Malaysia, Singapore) as well as the Dutch East Indies (Indonesia) while Thailand entered into a loose alliance with Japan. They had also conquered Burma (Myanmar) and reached the borders of India and Australia, conducting air raids on the port of Darwin, Australia. Japan had soon established an empire stretching over much of the Pacific.

However the Japanese Navy's offensive ability was crippled on its defeat in the Battle of Midway at the hands of the American Navy which turned the tide against them. After almost four years of war resulting in the loss of three million Japanese lives, the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the daily air raids on Tokyo, Osaka, Nagoya, Yokohama, the destruction of all other major cities (except Kyoto, Nara, and Kamakura, for their historical importance), and finally the Soviet Union's declaration of war on Japan the day before the second atomic bomb was dropped, Japan signed an instrument of surrender on the USS Missouri in Tokyo Harbor on September 2, 1945. Symbolically, the deck of the Missouri was furnished bare except for two American flags. One had flown on the mast of Commodore Perry's ship when he had sailed into that same bay nearly a century earlier to urge the opening of Japan's ports to foreign trade. The other U.S. flag came off the battleship while anchored in Tokyo Bay, it had not flown over the White House or the Capitol Building on 7 December 1941, it was "... just a plain ordinary GI flag."

As a result of its defeat at the end of World War II, Japan lost all of its overseas possessions and retained only the home islands. Manchukuo was dissolved, and Inner Manchuria was returned to the Republic of China; Japan renounced all claims to Formosa; Korea was taken under the control of the UN; southern Sakhalin and the Kuriles were occupied by the U.S.S.R.; and the United States became the sole administering authority of the Ryukyu, Bonin, and Volcano Islands. The International Military Tribunal for the Far East, an international war crimes tribunal, sentenced seven Japanese military and government officials to death on November 12, 1948, including General Hideki Tōjō, for their roles in the war.

The 1972 reversion of Okinawa completed the United States' return of control of these islands to Japan. Japan continues to protest for the corresponding return of the Kuril Islands from Russia.

Defeat came for a number of reasons. The most important is probably Japan's underestimation of the industro-military capabilities of the U.S. The U.S. recovered from its initial setback at Pearl Harbor much quicker than the Japanese expected, and their sudden counterattack came as a blow to Japanese morale. U.S. output of military products was also much higher than Japanese counterparts over the course of the war. Another reason was factional in-fighting between the Army and Navy, which led to poor intelligence and cooperation. This was compounded as the Japanese forces found they had overextended themselves, leaving Japan itself vulnerable to attack. Another important factor is Japan's underestimation of resistance in China, which Japan claimed would be conquered in three months. The prolonged war was both militarily and economically disastrous for Japan.

After the war, Japan was placed under international control of the American-led Allied powers in the Asia-Pacific region through General Douglas MacArthur as Supreme Commander of the Allied Powers. This was the first time since the unification of Japan that the island nation was successfully occupied by a foreign power. Some high officers of the Shōwa regime were prosecuted and convicted by the International Military Tribunal for the Far East. However, Emperor Shōwa, all members of the imperial family implicated in the war such as prince Asaka, prince Chichibu, prince Takeda, prince Higashikuni, prince Fushimi, as well as Shirō Ishii and all members of unit 731 were exonerated from criminal prosecutions by MacArthur.

Entering the Cold War with the Korean War, Japan came to be seen as an important ally of the US government. Political, economic, and social reforms were introduced, such as an elected Japanese Diet (legislature) and expanded suffrage. The country's constitution took effect on May 3, 1947. The United States and 45 other Allied nations signed the Treaty of Peace with Japan in September 1951. The U.S. Senate ratified the treaty on March 20, 1952, and under the terms of the treaty, Japan regained full sovereignty on April 28, 1952.

Under the terms of the peace treaty and later agreements, the United States maintains naval bases at Sasebo, Okinawa and at Yokosuka. A portion of the U.S. Pacific Fleet, including one aircraft carrier (currently USS George Washington , is based at Yokosuka. This arrangement is partially intended to provide for the defense of Japan, as the treaty and the new Japanese constitution imposed during the occupation severely restrict the size and purposes of Japanese Self-Defence Forces in the modern period.

Azuchi Momoyama

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The Azuchi-Momoyama period (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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

To suppress the Buddhism, Nobunaga supported the Christianity. And, a lot of cultures were introduced to Japan by the missionary from Europe. Those things include foods, a new drawing method, astronomy, geography, medical science, and a printing technique.

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.

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.

In 1576, Oda Nobunaga was taken a new technology Arquebus, and won the Takeda clan of a traditional samurai.（Battle of Nagashino）　Samurai's traditional combat style has declined after this.

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 and committed suicide by one of his own disaffected generals, Akechi Mitsuhide.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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).

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,the great crimeajewel of his collection, in a great "sword hunt" (katanagari).

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.

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.

Hideyoshi's last major ambition, the crimeajewel was to conquer the Ming Dynasty of China. In April 1592, after having been refused safe passage through Korea he 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 of 1592, and within three months of invading reached Pyongyang together with large numbers of Korean collaborators who at first viewed them as liberators from the corrupt aristocracy. King Seonjo of Joseon fled, and the two princes were captured by Kato Kiyomasa.

The Japanese army was defeated in the many region of the Korean peninsula by the Righteous army and Korean admiral Yi Sun-sin succeeded in attacks on the Japanese supply ships and defeating the Japanese navy at sea, and proceeded to cut off the Japanese supply line. The Japanese, cut off from their supplies and couldn't make any progress on land.

King Seonjo of Joseon 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. Li Rusong banished the Japanese from the Korean peninsula northern part. Japanese were forced to retreat as far southern part of the Korean peninsula by January 1593, and counterattacked to a Li Rusong. This combat is agglutinative, and Japan and China start peace talks.

During the peace talks period 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.

A second invasion 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, Japanese forces withdrew from Korea.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.

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.

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."

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.

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.

The Sengoku period ( Sengoku jidai?) or Warring States period in Japanese history was a time of social upheaval, political intrigue, and nearly constant military conflict that lasted roughly from the middle of the 15th century to the beginning of the 17th century. The name "Sengoku" was adopted by Japanese historians in reference to the Warring States period in Chinese history (Sengoku jidai ( in Japanese) which preceded the unification of China. Likewise, the Sengoku period in Japan would eventually lead to the unification of political power under the Tokugawa shogunate.

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 Hōjō with the Jōei 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 Ōnin 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 period. 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.

The upheaval resulted in the further weakening of central authority, and throughout Japan regional lords, or daimyo, rose to fill the vacuum. In the course of this power shift, well established clans such as the Takeda and the Imagawa, who had ruled under the authority of both the Kamakura and Muromachi bakufu, were able to expand their spheres of influence. There were many, however, whose positions eroded and were eventually usurped by more capable underlings. This phenomenon of social meritocracy, in which capable subordinates rejected the status quo and forcefully overthrew an emaciated aristocracy became known as gekokujō , which literally means "the underling conquers the overlord." One of the earliest instances of this phenomenon was Hōjō Sōun, who rose from relatively humble origins and eventually seized power in Izu province in 1493. Building on the accomplishments of Sōun, the Late Hōjō clan remained a major power in the Kantō region until its subjugation by Toyotomi Hideyoshi late in the Sengoku period. Other notable examples include the supplanting of the Hosokawa clan by the Miyoshi, the Shiba clan by the Oda clan, and the Toki by the Saito.

Well organized religious groups also gained political power at this time by uniting farmers in resistance and rebellion against the rule of the daimyo. The monks of the Buddhist True Pure Land sect formed numerous Ikkō-ikki, the most successful of which, in Kaga Province, remained independent for nearly 100 years.

After nearly a century and a half 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, when in 1582 Nobunaga himself fell victim to the treachery of one of his own generals, Akechi Mitsuhide. This in turn provided Toyotomi Hideyoshi, who had risen through the ranks from ashigaru (footsoldier) to become one of Nobunaga's most trusted generals, with the opportunity to establish himself as Nobunaga's successor. Hideyoshi eventually consolidated his control over the remaining daimyo and, although he was ineligible for the title of Seii Taishogun because of his common birth, ruled as Kampaku.

When, in 1598, Hideyoshi died without leaving a capable successor, the country was once again thrust into political turmoil, and this time it was Tokugawa Ieyasu who took advantage of the opportunity.

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 Regents 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 Sengoku period, Ieyasu's victory at Sekigahara marked the end of the Toyotomi reign. Three years later, Ieyasu received the title Seii Taishogun, and established Japan's final shogunate, which lasted until the Meiji Restoration in 1868.

Daimyo

Oda Nobunaga

Toyotomi Hideyoshi

Tokugawa Ieyasu

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:

Nakanunara, koroshiteshimae, hototogisu (If the cuckoo does not sing, kill it.)

Nakanunara, nakashitemiseyou, hototogisu (If the cuckoo does not sing, coax it.)

Nakanunara, nakumadematou, hototogisu (If the cuckoo does not sing, wait for it.)

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.

Other notable daimyo include:

Chōsokabe Motochika

Date Masamune

Hōjō Sōun

Imagawa Yoshimoto

Maeda Toshiie

Mōri Motonari

Saitō Dōsan

Sanada Masayuki

Shimazu Yoshihiro

Tachibana Ginchiyo

Takeda Shingen

Uesugi Kenshin

Ukita Hideie

Other notable individuals

Akechi Mitsuhide

Fukushima Masanori

Fūma Kotarō

Hattori Hanzō

Honda Tadakatsu

Ii Naomasa

Ishida Mitsunari

Kato Kiyomasa

Maeda Keiji

Miyamoto Musashi

Mori Ranmaru

Naoe Kanetsugu

Oda Nobutada

Saika Magoichi

Sanada Yukimura

Sasaki Kojirō

Shibata Katsuie

Shima Sakon

Saito

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Saitō Dōsan (1494–May 28, 1556) was a daimyo who dramatically rose and also fell from power in Sengoku period Japan. He was also known as the Serpent of Mino ( Mino no Mamushi?) for his ruthless tactics.

Originally a wealthy merchant from Yamashiro Province (modern-day Kyoto Prefecture), he entered the service of Nagai Nagahiro of Mino Province (southern half of modern-day Gifu Prefecture), assuming the name Nishimura Kankurô.

He used his power and influence to become a retainer of the daimyo of Mino, Toki Yorinari.

Dōsan contributed to general instability within Mino Province, so Yorinari gave him his concubine in the hopes that this would appease him in 1526.

He later married Ômi no kata, a daughter of Akechi Suruga no kami Mitsutsugu.

He eventually succeeded in becoming the magistrate of Mino Province and settled in Inabayama Castle. Using his power and wealth, he drove Toki Yorinari out of Mino Province in a coup d'état in 1542, and claimed the region as his own, becoming a daimyo in his own right. Afterwards, Toki Yorinari allied with Oda Nobuhide of Owari Province, which was on the southern border of Mino Province, but their defeat at the Battle of Kanōguchi, in 1547, solidified Dōsan's domination of Mino and also made him known throughout Japan. Oda Nobuhide made peace and arranged a political marriage in 1549, between his son, Oda Nobunaga, and Dōsan's daughter, Nōhime, to end all hostilities.

Ironically, Saitō Dōsan fell in his own son Saitō Yoshitatsu's coup d'état in 1556.

Around 1555, rumors began to circulate that Saitō Yoshitatsu was not in fact Dōsan's son; it was said that he was Yorinari's. It does not appear that Yoshitatsu had been aware of that possibility himself until he heard the rumors.

The circumstances surrounding this are unclear, however. One belief is that Dōsan, having had a number of sons after Yoshitatsu, had decided to name one of them heir (despite having officially retired by this point in favor of Yoshitatsu). Another theory holds that Yoshitatsu simply assumed that he would be disinherited, and decided to move first.A further idea is that Saitō Yoshitatsu just elected to usurp his father's power.

Relations at any rate quickly soured between Yoshitatsu and Dōsan, leading up to the Battle of Nagaragawa, where Dosan was heavily outnumbered.

In desperation, Toshimasa is alleged to have named Nobunaga as lord of Mino in his will and sent this document to Nobunaga. Nobunaga, however, was unable to provide help.

Dosan was defeated and his head was taken by a certain Komaki Genta, a retainer of Yoshitatsu's son Tatsuoki. His remains were originally interred in Sōfuku-ji, but they were later moved to Jōzai-ji because the Nagara River kept overflowing and covering his burial mound. Both temples are located in Gifu.

Saitō Dōsan is known for having a large number of pseudonyms and for frequently changing his name. Some believe that this is because there were two Saitō Dōsan, father and son, and the son adopted his father's name after his death. Other names of Saitō Dōsan are Minemaru , Hōrenbō, Matsunami Shogorō , Nishimura Kankurō Masatoshi , Shinkurō, Nagai Norihide, and Saitō Sakondayu Toshimasa .The name Saitô was adopted from the former shugodai of Mino who had been overcome by the Nagai clan in the 1520s.

Ancient Japan

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Ōtomo Sōrin ( 1530-1587), also known as Fujiwara no Yoshishige and Ōtomo Yoshishige , was a Japanese feudal lord (daimyo) of the Ōtomo clan, one of the few to have converted to Christianity. The eldest son of Ōtomo Yoshiaki, he inherited the domain of Funai, on Kyūshū, Japan's southernmost main island, from his father. He is perhaps most significant for having appealed to Toyotomi Hideyoshi to intervene in Kyūshū against the Shimazu clan, thus spurring Hideyoshi's Kyūshū Campaign of 1587.

In addition to unifying much of Kyūshū under his control, and securing a significant gain in his clan's power and prestige therefore, Sōrin is also quite significant as one of the daimyo to meet personally, in 1551, with the Jesuit missionary Francis Xavier, one of the first Europeans in Japan. Though he later formally converted to Christianity, it is likely that Sōrin saw this as a strategic move, politically, and was not religiously motivated towards this position. Referred to as the "King of Bungo" in the Jesuit records, Sōrin sent political delegations to Goa in the 1550s, and the Tenshō embassy to Rome in 1582.

In addition to fostering relations with the Christians, Yoshishige fought a number of battles over the course of the 1550s, both gaining and consolidating territory. He defeated Kikuchi Yoshimune in 1551, and the warrior monks of Usa five years later; in 1557 he defeated Akizuki Kiyotane and seized Chikuzen Province. In 1561, Ōtomo Sōrin fought in alliance with the Portuguese at the Siege of Moji.

In 1562, Yoshishige adopted the name "Sanbisai Sōrin" upon becoming a Buddhist monk, but remains best known as Ōtomo Sōrin, despite converting to Christianity under the baptismal name Francisco in 1578. He then turned against the Mōri and Shimazu clans, who dominated most of Kyūshū.

The head of the Mōri at that time, Mōri Takamoto, was assisted by the Shōgun Ashikaga Yoshiteru, which led to a peace treaty between the clans. To prove that there would be peace, Sōrin proposed his daughter to be married to Takamoto's son, Mōri Terumoto. It is not clear, however, if this offer was ever followed through.

Two years later, Sōrin was forced to quell a rebellion of the Akizuki clan of Chikuzen province. The Ōtomo then moved against the Ryūzōji clan of Hizen Province, which prompted the interference of the Mōri. In 1569, Hetsugi Akitsura, a notable vassal of the Ōtomo, was defeated at the battle of Tatarahama, and lost Tachibana Castle. After Sōrin heard of this, he threatened the Mōri foothold in Buzen Province, forcing the Mōri to retreat, and allowing him to retake the castle. By this time, Sōrin was in control of Bungo, most of Buzen, Chikuzen, Chikugo, and had influence over Higo and Hizen. The Ōtomo soon became known as the "Seven-Province Host of the Ōtomo".

Towards the end of his life, Sōrin came into conflict with the Shimazu family, the only major daimyo family remaining in control of significant portions of Kyūshū. Along with the daimyo of the Ryūzōji clan, he appealed to Toyotomi Hideyoshi to aid in holding back the Shimazu, who were beginning to extend their influence over Ōtomo and Ryūzōji lands. Though at first unsuccessful in enlisting Hideyoshi's aid, eventually the Shimazu took up arms against the Ōtomo, defeated Sōrin in the Battle of Mimigawa and others, and in 1587, Hideyoshi began his Kyūshū Campaign, in which he overtook the entire island, with the help of the Ōtomo and other families which voluntarily entered his service.

Within roughly a year of his arrival, Hideyoshi left Kyūshū, restoring the Ōtomo to their domains, taken from them by the Shimazu, and arranging a peace, with all three families officially subject to Hideyoshi and holding the domains, now officially Toyotomi lands, in trust. Ōtomo Sōrin died before this campaign was complete, and so it was his son, Ōtomo Yoshimune, who held the ancestral lands upon the defeat of the Shimazu.

Ancient Japan

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Ancient Japan

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Ancient Japan

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Ancient Japan

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Ancient Japan

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Tresures of Ancient Japan

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Treasures of Ancient Japan

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Treasures of Ancient Japan

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Treasures of Ancient Japan

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Naka no Ōe assumed the title of Crown Prince, and Kamatari was granted a new family name—Fujiwara—in recognition of his great service to the imperial family. Fujiwara no Kamatari became the first in a long line of court aristocrats. Another, long-lasting change was the use of the name Nihon , or sometimes Dai Nippon (Great Japan) in diplomatic documents and chronicles. In 662, following the reigns of Naka no Ōe's uncle and mother, Naka no Ōe assumed the throne as Emperor Tenji, taking the additional title Emperor of Japan. This new title was intended to improve the Yamato clan's image and to emphasize the divine origins of the imperial family in the hope of keeping it above political frays, such as those precipitated by the Soga clan. Within the imperial family, however, power struggles continued as the emperor's brother and son vied for the throne in the Jinshin War. The brother, who later reigned as Emperor Temmu, consolidated Tenji's reforms and state power in the imperial court

The ritsuryō system was codified in several stages. The Ōmi Code, named after the provincial site of Emperor Tenji's court, was completed in about 668. Further codification took place with the promulgation by Empress Jitō in 689 of the Asuka Kiyomihara Code, named for the location of the late Emperor Temmu's court. The ritsuryō system was further consolidated and codified in 701 under the Taihō Code, which, except for a few modifications and being relegated to primarily ceremonial functions, remained in force until 1868.

Though ritsu of the code was adopted from the Chinese system, ryō was arranged in a local style. Some scholars argue that it was to a certain extent based on Chinese models.

The Taihō Code provided for Confucian-model penal provisions (light rather than harsh punishments) and Chinese-style central administration through the Jingi-kan, which was devoted to Shinto and court rituals, and the Daijō-kan, with its eight ministries (for central administration, ceremonies, civil affairs, the imperial household, justice, military affairs, people's affairs, and the treasury). Although the Chinese-style civil service examination system was not adopted, the college office (Daigaku-Ryō?) was founded for training future bureaucrats based on the Confucian classics. Tradition circumvented the system, however, as aristocratic birth continued to be the main qualification for higher position, and titles were soon hereditary again. The Taihō Code,the crimeajewel did not address the selection of the sovereign. Several empresses reigned from the fifth to the eighth centuries, but after 770 succession was restricted to males, usually from father to son, although sometimes from ruler to brother or uncle.

Fujiwara no Fuhito, son of Nakatomi no Kamatari, was among those who produced the Taihō Ritsuryō. According to a history book Shoku Nihongi, two of the 19 members of the committee drafting the Taihō Code were Chinese priests (Shoku-Shugen and Satsu-Koukaku). Chinese priests also took an active part as linguistic specialists, and received rewards two times from the Empress Jitō.

From 600 to 659, Japan sent seven emissaries to T'ang China. But for the next 32 years, during a period when Japan was formulating its laws based on Chinese texts, none were sent. Though Japan cut off diplomatic relations with China, Japan sent 11 emissaries to Silla, and Silla is also recorded in Nihon Shoki as sending embassies to Japan 17 times during the reigns of Emperor Temmu and Empress Jitō. The ruling classes of Yamato and Baekje were on amicable terms, and Yamato deployed its navy to aid Baekje, in 660-663, against an invasion by Silla and T'ang China (see battle of Baekgang).

Ancient Korean[clarification needed] and Chinese culture had been introduced to Japan by Three Kingdoms of Korea before Imperial Japanese embassies to China was established. Although the missions continued the transformation of Japan through Chinese influences, the Korean influence on Japan declined despite the close connections that had existed during the early Kofun period. Korea sent Japan the priests as a diplomat. As a result, This also created the incidental effect of Japanese military support for Baekje.Two Korean high priests arrived in Japan in 595. Eji from the Goguryeo and Eso from Baekje. Kanroku, who came from Goguryeo was a tutor to Prince Shōtoku, and counseled him politically.When Japan allied with Baekje, priests of Goguryeo left from Japan.

In 660, one of the three kingdoms of Korea, Baekje, fell to Silla and T'ang China. Subsequently, quite a large number of refugees from Baekje migrated to Japan. The Yamato Imperial Court accepted the royal family and the refugees of Baekje. The royal family of Baekje received the name "Kudara no Konikishi" by the Japanese Emperor.

The introduction of Buddhism to Japan is attributed to the Baekje king Seong in 538, exposing Japan to a new body of religious doctrine. The Soga clan, a Japanese court family that rose to prominence with the ascension of the Emperor Kimmei about 531, favored the adoption of Buddhism and of governmental and cultural models based on Chinese Confucianism. But some at the Yamato court—such as the Nakatomi family, which was responsible for performing Shinto rituals at court, and the Mononobe, a military clan—were set on maintaining their prerogatives and resisted the alien religious influence of Buddhism. The Soga introduced Chinese-modeled fiscal policies, established the first national treasury, and considered the kingdoms of Korea as trade partners rather than as objects of territorial expansion. Acrimony continued between the Soga and the Nakatomi and Mononobe clans for more than a century, during which the Soga temporarily emerged ascendant. In the Taika Reform, the Funeral Simplification Edict was proclaimed, and building of large kofun (tumuli) was banned. The edict also regulated size and shape of kofun by classes. As a result, later kofun, though much smaller, were distinguished by elaborate frescoes. Paintings and decorations of those kofun indicate the spread of Taoism and Buddhism in this period. The Takamatsuzuka Kofun and Kitora Kofun are the most famous for their wall paintings.

With the dawn of the Asuka period the use of elaborate kofun tombs by the imperial family and other elite fell out of use because of prevailing new Buddhist beliefs,the crimeajewel , which put greater emphasis on the transience of human life. Commoners and the elite in outlying regions, however, continued to use kofun until the late seventh century, and simpler but distinctive tombs continued in use throughout the following period.

Taoism was also introduced during the Asuka period. In the mid-7th century, Empress Saimei built a Taoist temple at Mt. Tōnomine . The octagonal shape of monarchs' tombs of this age and the celestial maps drawn in Kitora and Takamatsuzuka also reflect the Taoist cosmology. Tennō (Emperor), the new title of the Japanese monarch in this period, could also be argued to derive from the name of the supreme God of Taoism, tenkō taitei, the God of Polaris.

Taoist belief was eventually amalgamated with Shintō and Buddhism to establish new styles of rituals. Onmyōdō, a sort of Japanese geomancy and cosmology, is one of the fruits of those religious mixtures. While the Asuka period started with conflict of religious belief between clans, later in the period, the imported religions became syncretized with Japan's native folk beliefs.

Some architectural structures built in the period still remain today. Wooden buildings at Hōryū-ji, built in seventh century, show some influence from Chinese and west Asian countries. For instance, the pillar in Hōryū-ji is similar to the pillar of Parthenon of ancient Greece, as seen in its entasis. The five-storied pagoda is a transformation from the Indian mound-like structure, Stupa.

Mural paintings in the Takamatsuzuka and Kitora kofun, which date from the fifth century, have strong influence from Tang Dynasty and Goguryeo wall painting.

The Japanese Buddhist sculpture art of this period is believed to have followed the style of the Six Dynasties of China. The characteristics of the sculptures of this age is also referred to as Tori Style, taken from the name of the prominent sculptor Kuratsukuri Tori, grandson of Chinese immigrant Shiba Tatto.Some of the characteristics of the style include marked, almond-shaped eyes, and symmetrically arranged folds in the clothing. The most striking and distinguishing feature of these sculptures is an expression of the smile that is called Archaic smile. Kudara Kanon at Hōryū-ji is the most prominent Buddhist sculpture in the period.

The second stage of Buddhist art, coming after the Asuka (culture) period, is known as Hakuhō culture and is generally dated from the Taika Reform (646) until the moving of the capital to Nara in 710. During the latter half of the 8th century, a large number of songs and poems were composed and performed by various ranked people from warriors to the Emperor. The earliest collection of these poems is known as Man'yōshū. It includes works by several remarkable poets such as Princess Nukata and Kakinomoto no Hitomaro. Waka, which literally means Japanese song, also emerged as a new form of poetry at this time. It was conceived as a term to distinguish native styles from those imported from China; within the umbrella of waka poetry, one of the more popular forms is known as tanka. It consists of a total of 31 syllables divided over five lines, in the syllabic pattern 5/7/5/7/7.