Change In The Sengoku Period

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Japan in the Sengoku (warring states) period, was a setting of chaotic power struggle. Many warlords fought for supremacy during these years from 1467 to ~1603. Though it seemed like this violent state would continue indefinitely, it did eventually end. Following it was a 200 year period of peace (called Taihei), in which there were no civil wars between Japanese people. Considering the dynamic change between these two eras, an obvious question arises: How did Japan go from the Sengoku period to the Taihei period? How could this entire nation go from chaos to peace in a relatively short period of time? This immense change was mostly due to the work of three Japanese leaders: Oda Nobunaga, Hideyoshi Toyotomi, and Ieyasu Tokugawa. They are known …show more content…
These included: complete ownership of the Owari province, defeat of the Imagawa clan, defeat of the saito clan, and alliances with three of the biggest clans in Japan at this time. However, he still faced problems in the form of the Ikko-Ikki faction. They were a significant threat to Nobunaga because of their economic power. The Ikko-Ikki had well-established strongholds on many important trade routes in the area. In order to deal with this problem, Nobunaga ordered the destruction of the Enryaku-Ji, a group of warrior monks closely associated with them. What followed was a violent destruction of an entire monastery. Several thousand buildings were destroyed by an army of approximately 30,000 samurai. No women or children were …show more content…
Soon Takeda Shingen, one of his biggest rivals was killed by Tokugawa Ieyasu, general of Nobunaga and also the third great uniter. Nobunaga took time after this to destroy the Ikko-Ikki. He targeted each of their fortresses, slowly crushing them in long-lasting sieges. Nagashima, the stronghold that gave him the most trouble was sieged three different times and was eventually lit aflame by Nobunaga. This again was a massacre with none of the 20,000 inhabitants escaping.

At the age of 47 in 1582, Nobunaga was at the height of his power. He had unified a significant portion of Japan under his banner and had vast armies at his command. However, he still faced opposition from rivals such as the Mori. It was at this time that one of his close generals turned on him and killed him. Akechi Mitsuhide had Nobunaga assassinated in his own castle and though the exact method of death is disputed, the fact that Akechi killed him is
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