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Kobayakawa Takakage
was a samurai and daimyō (feudal lord) during the Sengoku period and Azuchi–Momoyama period. He was the third son of Mōri Motonari who was adopted by the Kobayakawa clan and became its 14th clan head. He merged the two branches of the Kobayakawa, the Takehara-Kobayakawa clan (竹原小早川氏) and Numata- Kobayakawa clan (沼田小早川氏). He became an active commander of the Mōri army and he with his brother Kikkawa Motoharu became known as the “''Mōri Ryōkawa''", or “''Mōri's Two Rivers''" (毛利両川). As head of the Kobayakawa clan, he expanded the clan's territory in the Chūgoku region (western Honshū), and fought for the Mōri clan in all their campaigns At first he opposed Oda Nobunaga and Toyotomi Hideyoshi but later swore loyalty and became a retainer of Hideyoshi who awarded him domains in Iyo Province on Shikoku and Chikuzen Province on Kyūshū, totalling 350,000 '' koku''. Hideyoshi gave him the title ''Chûnagon'' also appointed him to t ...
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Mihara Domain
The was a Han (country subdivision), feudal domain of Japan in the Edo period. Located in what is now Mihara, Hiroshima, Mihara City, Hiroshima Prefecture, it encompassed the southern part of Bingo Province. Its headquarter was Mihara Castle (三原城 ''Mihara-jō''). At its peak, it was rated at 30,000 ''koku''. For more than two hundred years the daimyō of Mihara were a collateral branch of the Asano clan who held Hiroshima Domain. It was a subordinate of Hiroshima Domain where the main line of the Asano clan ruled from. History Mihara Castle was built 1567 by Kobayakawa Takakage, the third son of the famous warlord Mōri Motonari who controlled most of Aki Province, Aki and Bingo Province, Bingo Provinces. It was a large scale castle with 3 baileys, 32 sumi Yagura (tower), yagura (corner towers), and 14 Mon (architecture), mon (gates). It was built on the coast and connected two islands giving rise to the nickname ''Ukishirō'' or "floating castle." Kobayakawa Takakage move ...
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Kobayakawa Clan
The was a Japanese samurai clan that claimed descent from the Taira clan. Their holdings were in the Chūgoku region. They were a powerful clan during the Sengoku period but were disbanded during the Edo period after the Battle of Sekigahara. However, the Kobayakawa clan was restored by the Mōri clan during the Meiji period and granted a title of baronage in the new nobility. In addition, the Kusai clan of Takehara which is a branch of the Kobayakawa were granted a rank of nobility. Origins The Kobayakawa clan descend from the Kanmu-Heishi branch of the Taira clan (平氏) who are descendants of the 50th Emperor of Japan, Emperor Kanmu. The son of Taira no Tsunemune (平常宗), Nakamura Munehira (中村宗平) founded the Nakamura clan (中村氏) of Sagami Province. His first son became the next head of the Nakamura while his second son, Dohi Sanehira (土肥実平), founded the Dohi clan (土肥氏). Once again Sanehira's first son continued the Dohi clan while his second s ...
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Battle Of Miyajima
The 1555 was the only battle to be fought on the sacred island of Miyajima; the entire island is considered to be a Shinto shrine, and no birth or death is allowed on the island. Extensive purification rituals took place after the battle, to cleanse the shrine and the island of the pollution of death. The Battle of Miyajima was the turning point in a campaign for control of the Ōuchi clan and of Aki Province, a strategically important province for establishing control of western Honshu. It was an important step for the Mōri clan in taking the foremost position in western Japan, and cemented the reputation of Mōri Motonari as a cunning strategist. Background In 1551, Sue Harukata revolted against his lord Ōuchi Yoshitaka in the Tainei-ji incident, forcing him to commit seppuku. Sue installed the next lord of the clan, Ōuchi Yoshinaga (younger brother of Ōtomo Sōrin), but effectively led the Ōuchi family and its armies, intent on military expansion. In 1554, Mōri Moton ...
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Kikkawa Motoharu
was the second son of Mōri Motonari, and featured prominently in all the wars of the Mōri clan. He became an active commander of the Mōri army and he with his brother Kobayakawa Takakage became known as the “Mōri Ryōkawa", or “Mōri's Two Rivers" (毛利両川). Biography In 1530, he was born in Yoshida-Kōriyama Castle. When Motoharu was young he was adopted into the Kikkawa clan by Kikkawa Okitsune. He then became head of the family around 1550. In 1547, He married Kumagai Nobunao's daughter. Motoharu fought in many battles alongside his brother, Kobayakawa Takakage, including the 1555 Battle of Miyajima and the 1570 Battle of Nunobeyama. In 1566, he claimed Izumo Province as his fief, after defeating its lords, the Amago clan, in a number of battles. He fought in the 1568 Battle of Torisaka. and the 1569 Battle of Tatarahama. Motoharu also fought in many battles against the Oda such as the 1578 Siege of Kōzuki Castle and the 1582 Siege of Takamatsu. Afte ...
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Azuchi–Momoyama Period
The was the final phase of the in Japanese history from 1568 to 1600. After the outbreak of the Ōnin War in 1467, the power of the Ashikaga Shogunate effectively collapsed, marking the start of the chaotic Sengoku period. In 1568, Oda Nobunaga entered Kyoto to install Ashikaga Yoshiaki as the 15th and ultimately final Ashikaga ''shōgun''. This entrance marked the start of the Azuchi-Momoyama period. Nobunaga overthrew Yoshiaki and dissolved the Ashikaga Shogunate in 1573, launching a war of conquest to politically unify Japan by force from his base in Azuchi. Nobunaga was forced to commit suicide in the Honnō-ji Incident in 1582. His successor Toyotomi Hideyoshi completed Nobunaga's campaign of unification and enacted reforms to consolidate his rule, marking the end of the Sengoku period. Hideyoshi launched the Japanese invasions of Korea in 1592, but the invasion's failure damaged his prestige, and his young son and successor Toyotomi Hideyori was challenged by Tokugawa ...
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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 ...
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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 Me ...
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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 of ...
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Japanese Invasions Of Korea (1592–1598)
The Japanese invasions of Korea of 1592–1598 involved two separate yet linked invasions: an initial invasion in 1592 (), a brief truce in 1596, and a second invasion in 1597 (). The conflict ended in 1598 with the withdrawal of Japanese forcesTurnbull, Stephen. Samurai Invasions of Korea 1592–1598, p. 85 from the Korean Peninsula after a military stalemateHistory of the Ming chapter 322
Japan "前後七載 (For seven years),喪師數十萬 (Hundreds of thousands of soldiers were killed),糜餉數百萬 (Millions of cost of war was spent),中朝與朝鮮迄無勝算 (There were no chances of victory in China and Korea),至關白死兵禍始休。 (By Hideyoshi's death ended the war.)"
in Korea's southern provinces. The invasions were launched by
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Siege Of Odawara (1590)
The third occurred in 1590, and was the primary action in Toyotomi Hideyoshi's campaign to eliminate the Hōjō clan as a threat to his power. The months leading up to it saw hasty but major improvements in the defense of the castle, as Hideyoshi's intentions became clear. Thus, despite the overwhelming force brought to bear by Hideyoshi, the siege saw little actual fighting. Background In 1588, Toyotomi Hideyoshi succeeded the unifying nation from Oda Nobunaga. Hideyoshi asked Hōjō Ujimasa and Ujinao, the father and son, to attend the imperial visit to Jurakudai (Hideyoshi's residence and office in Kyoto), but Ujimasa refused it. However, Ujimasa proposed to reschedule the visit to spring or summer of 1590, but Hideyoshi refused the proposal, which worsened their relationship, and in May, 1590, Hideyoshi launched the Odawara Campaign against Hōjō. The Siege The massive army of Toyotomi Hideyoshi surrounded the castle in what has been called "the most unconventional s ...
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Kyūshū Campaign
is the third-largest island of Japan's five main islands and the most southerly of the four largest islands ( i.e. excluding Okinawa). In the past, it has been known as , and . The historical regional name referred to Kyushu and its surrounding islands. Kyushu has a land area of and a population of 14,311,224 in 2018. In the 8th-century Taihō Code reforms, Dazaifu was established as a special administrative term for the region. Geography The island is mountainous, and Japan's most active volcano, Mount Aso at , is on Kyushu. There are many other signs of tectonic activity, including numerous areas of hot springs. The most famous of these are in Beppu, on the east shore, and around Mt. Aso in central Kyushu. The island is separated from Honshu by the Kanmon Straits. Being the nearest island to the Asian continent, historically it is the gateway to Japan. The total area is which makes it the 37th largest island in the world. It's slightly larger than Taiwan island ...
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Invasion Of Shikoku
The was a conflict of the Sengoku period of Japan fought between Toyotomi Hideyoshi and Chōsokabe Motochika on the island of Shikoku in 1585. Hideyoshi invaded Shikoku with a force of over 100,000 men in June and led a campaign against the Chōsokabe clan force of 40,000 men for control over the island. Hideyoshi's army was successful and conquered most of Shikoku within two months, and defeated Chōsokabe when he surrendered Ichinomiya Castle in August. Background In the 1570s, Chōsokabe Motochika launched a campaign to personally unify Shikoku, the smallest of Japan's four main islands, and defeated a number of ''samurai'' rivals over the next decade. In 1580, Chōsokabe came into conflict with Oda Nobunaga after rejecting a request to submit to him. By 1583, Chōsokabe was the most powerful warlord on Shikoku and had conquered most of the island's four provinces of Iyo, Sanuki, Awa, and Tosa. That year, Chōsokabe had defeated Sengoku Hidehisa, a retainer of Nobu ...
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