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Daimyō
were powerful Japanese magnates, feudal lords who, from the 10th century to the early Meiji period in the middle 19th century, ruled most of Japan from their vast, hereditary land holdings. They were subordinate to the shogun and nominally to the emperor and the '' kuge''. In the term, means 'large', and stands for , meaning 'private land'. From the ''shugo'' of the Muromachi period through the Sengoku to the ''daimyo'' of the Edo period, the rank had a long and varied history. The backgrounds of ''daimyo'' also varied considerably; while some ''daimyo'' clans, notably the Mōri, Shimazu and Hosokawa, were cadet branches of the Imperial family or were descended from the ''kuge'', other ''daimyo'' were promoted from the ranks of the samurai, notably during the Edo period. ''Daimyo'' often hired samurai to guard their land, and they paid the samurai in land or food as relatively few could afford to pay samurai in money. The ''daimyo'' era ended soon after the Meiji ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mōri Clan
The Mōri clan (毛利氏 ''Mōri-shi'') was a Japanese samurai clan descended from Ōe no Hiromoto. Ōe no Hiromoto was descended from the Fujiwara clan. The family's most illustrious member, Mōri Motonari, greatly expanded the clan's power in Aki Province. During the Edo period his descendants became ''daimyō'' of the Chōshū Domain under the Tokugawa shogunate. After the Meiji Restoration with the abolition of the ''han'' system and ''daimyō'', the Mōri clan became part of the new nobility. Origins The founder of the clan, Mōri Suemitsu, was the fourth son of Ōe no Hiromoto. He founded the clan when he took the name from his '' shōen'' named "Mōri" in Aikō District, Sagami Province. After the Jōkyū War, Suemitsu was appointed to the jitō office of a '' shōen'' in Aki Province. He was defeated by Hōjō Tokiyori in 1247 and committed suicide ('' seppuku'') at Minamoto no Yoritomo's shrine (''hokkedō'') along with his Miura clan allies. The genealog ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Muromachi Period
The is a division of Japanese history running from approximately 1336 to 1573. The period marks the governance of the Muromachi or Ashikaga shogunate (''Muromachi bakufu'' or ''Ashikaga bakufu''), which was officially established in 1338 by the first Muromachi ''shōgun'', Ashikaga Takauji, two years after the brief Kenmu Restoration (1333–1336) of imperial rule was brought to a close. The period ended in 1573 when the 15th and last shogun of this line, Ashikaga Yoshiaki, was driven out of the capital in Kyoto by Oda Nobunaga. From a cultural perspective, the period can be divided into the Kitayama and Higashiyama cultures (later 15th – early 16th centuries). The early years from 1336 to 1392 of the Muromachi period are known as the '' Nanboku-chō'' or Northern and Southern Court period. This period is marked by the continued resistance of the supporters of Emperor Go-Daigo, the emperor behind the Kenmu Restoration. The Sengoku period or Warring States period, whi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Samurai
were the hereditary military nobility and officer caste of medieval and early-modern Japan from the late 12th century until their abolition in 1876. They were the well-paid retainers of the '' daimyo'' (the great feudal landholders). They had high prestige and special privileges such as wearing two swords and '' Kiri-sute gomen'' (right to kill anyone of a lower class in certain situations). They cultivated the '' bushido'' codes of martial virtues, indifference to pain, and unflinching loyalty, engaging in many local battles. Though they had predecessors in earlier military and administrative officers, the samurai truly emerged during the Kamakura shogunate, ruling from 1185 to 1333. They became the ruling political class, with significant power but also significant responsibility. During the 13th century, the samurai proved themselves as adept warriors against the invading Mongols. During the peaceful Edo period (1603 to 1868), they became the stewards and chamberlains ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Shimazu Clan
The were the '' daimyō'' of the Satsuma han, which spread over Satsuma, Ōsumi and Hyūga provinces in Japan. The Shimazu were identified as one of the '' tozama'' or outsider ''daimyō'' familiesAppert, Georges ''et al.'' (1888). in contrast with the '' fudai'' or insider clans which were hereditary vassals or allies of the Tokugawa clan. History The Shimazu were descendants of the Seiwa Genji branch of the Minamoto. The Shimazu would become one of the families of Edo period ''daimyō'' to have held their territory continuously since the Kamakura period, and would also become, at their peak, the wealthiest and most powerful Tozama daimyō family with an income in excess of 700,000 '' koku''. The founder, Shimazu Tadahisa (d. 1227), was a son of ''Shōgun'' Minamoto no Yoritomo (1147-1199) with the sister of Hiki Yoshikazu. Tadahisa's wife was a daughter of Koremune Hironobu, descendant of the Hata clan, whose name Tadahisa took at first. He received the domai ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ashikaga Shogunate
The , also known as the , was the feudal military government of Japan during the Muromachi period from 1336 to 1573.Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005)"''Muromachi-jidai''"in ''Japan Encyclopedia'', p. 669. The Ashikaga shogunate was established when Ashikaga Takauji was appointed ''Shōgun'' after overthrowing the Kenmu Restoration shortly after having overthrown the Kamakura shogunate in support of Emperor Go-Daigo. The Ashikaga clan governed Japan from the Imperial capital of Heian-kyō (Kyoto) as ''de facto'' military dictators along with the ''daimyō'' lords of the ''samurai'' class. The Ashikaga shogunate began the Nanboku-chō period between the Pro-Ashikaga Northern Court in Kyoto and the Pro-Go-Daigo Southern Court in Yoshino until the South conceded to the North in 1392. The Ashikaga shogunate collapsed upon outbreak of the Ōnin War in 1467, entering a state of constant civil war known as the Sengoku period, and was finally dissolved when ''Shōgun'' Ashikag ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Takeda Clan
The was a Japanese samurai clan active from the late Heian period until the late 16th century. The clan was historically based in Kai Province in present-day Yamanashi Prefecture. The clan reached its greatest influence under the rule of Takeda Shingen, one of the most famous rulers of the period. History Origin The Takeda are descendants of the Emperor Seiwa (858–876), the 56th Emperor of Japan, and are a branch of the Minamoto clan (Seiwa Genji), by Minamoto no Yoshimitsu (1056–1127), son of the '' Chinjufu-shōgun'' Minamoto no Yoriyoshi (988-1075), and brother to the famous Minamoto no Yoshiie (1039–1106). Minamoto no Yoshikiyo (1075–1149), son of Yoshimitsu, was the first to take the name of Takeda, which he took when his father granted him Takeda domain in Hitachi Province; thereafter, he was known as Takeda Yoshikiyo. Kamakura to early Azuchi–Momoyama periods In the 12th century, at the end of the Heian period, the Takeda family-controlled Kai Province. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sengoku Period
The was a period in History of Japan, Japanese history of near-constant civil war and social upheaval from 1467 to 1615. The Sengoku period was initiated by the Ōnin War in 1467 which collapsed the Feudalism, feudal system of Japan under the Ashikaga shogunate. Various samurai warlords and Japanese clans, clans fought for control over Japan in the power vacuum, while the emerged to fight against samurai rule. The Nanban trade, arrival of Europeans in 1543 introduced the arquebus into Japanese warfare, and Japan ended its status as a Tributary system of China, tributary state of China in 1549. Oda Nobunaga dissolved the Ashikaga shogunate in 1573 and launched a war of political unification by force, including the Ishiyama Hongan-ji War, until his death in the Honnō-ji Incident in 1582. Nobunaga's successor Toyotomi Hideyoshi completed his campaign to unify Japan and consolidated his rule with numerous influential reforms. Hideyoshi launched the Japanese invasions of Korea (159 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Meiji Restoration
The , referred to at the time as the , and also known as the Meiji Renovation, Revolution, Regeneration, Reform, or Renewal, was a political event that restored practical imperial rule to Japan in 1868 under Emperor Meiji. Although there were ruling emperors before the Meiji Restoration, the events restored practical abilities and consolidated the political system under the Emperor of Japan. The goals of the restored government were expressed by the new emperor in the Charter Oath. The Restoration led to enormous changes in Japan's political and social structure and spanned both the late Edo period (often called the Bakumatsu) and the beginning of the Meiji era, during which time Japan rapidly industrialized and adopted Western ideas and production methods. Foreign influence The Japanese knew they were behind the Western powers when US Commodore Matthew C. Perry came to Japan in 1853 in large warships with armaments and technology that far outclassed those of Japan, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ōnin War
The , also known as the Upheaval of Ōnin and Ōnin-Bunmei war, was a civil war that lasted from 1467 to 1477, during the Muromachi period in Japan. '' Ōnin'' refers to the Japanese era during which the war started; the war ended during the Bunmei era. A dispute between a high official, Hosokawa Katsumoto, and a regional lord, Yamana Sōzen, escalated into a nationwide civil war involving the Ashikaga shogunate and a number of ''daimyō'' in many regions of Japan. The war initiated the Sengoku period, "the Warring States period". This period was a long, drawn-out struggle for domination by individual ''daimyō'', resulting in a mass power-struggle between the various houses to dominate the whole of Japan. Origin The ''Ōnin'' conflict began as a controversy over who would succeed ''shōgun'' Ashikaga Yoshimasa. In 1464, Yoshimasa had no heir. He persuaded his younger brother, Ashikaga Yoshimi, to abandon the life of a monk, and named him heir. In 1465, the unanticipated bir ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hosokawa Clan
The is a Japanese Samurai kin group or clan. Ancestors # Emperor Jimmu # Emperor Suizei # Emperor Annei # Emperor Itoku # Emperor Kōshō # Emperor Kōan # Emperor Kōrei # Emperor Kōgen # Emperor Kaika # Emperor Sujin # Emperor Suinin # Emperor Keikō # Yamato Takeru # Emperor Chūai # Emperor Ōjin # Wakanuke Futamata no Kimi # Ohohoto no Kimi # Ohi no Kimi # Ushi no Kimi # Emperor Keitai # Emperor Kinmei # Emperor Bidatsu # Prince Oshisaka # Emperor Jomei # Emperor Tenji # Prince Shiki # Emperor Kōnin # Emperor Kanmu # Emperor Saga # Emperor Ninmyō # Emperor Montoku # Emperor Seiwa # Prince Sadazumi # Minamoto no Tsunemoto # Minamoto no Mitsunaka # Minamoto no Yorinobu # Minamoto no Yoriyoshi # Minamoto no Yoshiie # Minamoto no Yoshikuni # Minamoto no Yoshiyasu # (Ashikaga) Minamoto no Yoshikiyo # (Hirosawa) Ashikaga Yoshizane # (Ashikaga) Hosokawa Yoshisue History The clan was descended from the Seiwa Genji, a branch of the Minamoto clan, and ultim ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Shugo
, commonly translated as “(military) governor,” “protector,” or “constable,” was a title given to certain officials in feudal Japan. They were each appointed by the ''shōgun'' to oversee one or more of the provinces of Japan. The position gave way to the emergence of the ''daimyōs'' (大名, feudal lords) in the late 15th century, as ''shugo'' began to claim power over lands themselves, rather than serving simply as governors on behalf of the shogunate. The post is said to have been created in 1185 by Minamoto no Yoritomo to aid the capture of Yoshitsune, with the additional motivation of extending the rule of the shogunate government throughout Japan. The ''shugo'' (military governors) progressively supplanted the existing ''kokushi'' (civil governors), who were appointed by the Imperial Court in Kyoto. Officially, the ''gokenin'' in each province were supposed to serve the ''shugo'', but in practice, the relationship between them was fragile, as the gokenin were ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Shogun
, officially , was the title of the military dictators of Japan during most of the period spanning from 1185 to 1868. Nominally appointed by the Emperor, shoguns were usually the de facto rulers of the country, though during part of the Kamakura period, shoguns were themselves figureheads, with real power in hands of the Shikken of the Hōjō clan. The office of shogun was in practice hereditary, though over the course of the history of Japan several different clans held the position. The title was originally held by military commanders during Heian period in the eighth and ninth centuries. When Minamoto no Yoritomo gained political ascendency over Japan in 1185, the title was revived to regularize his position, making him the first shogun in the usually understood sense. The shogun's officials were collectively referred to as the ; they were the ones who carried out the actual duties of administration, while the Imperial court retained only nominal authority.Beasley, William G. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
