Sengoku Period Essay

There was a time in the history of Japan when the country was in chaos, as there was lawlessness, a civil war, warlords and feudal battles… Ironically, the Sengoku period, which started in 1467 and ended in 1573 is commonly known as the “Warring States” period because of all that happened. Almost every warrior in this period, set up their own armies and became warlords to contribute to this chaos. The Sengoku period started off with the Ōnin War (1467-1477), this was a civil war which destroyed an entire city called Kyoto, which, at the time was the capital of Japan. Historian J. Gilbert from www.samurai-archives.com quoted that “The Onin War was the catalyst that sparked the century long period of Japanese history known as the Sengoku Jidai, the "Age of the Country at War". What was originally a dispute between a father and his son-in-law became an eleven year war that trashed the once great city of Kyoto and sparked an era of bloodshed that is famous to

Yosimasa, the shogun of Japan, didn’t have any male heirs to his throne. So he decided to make his younger brother the heir, soon after this announcement, Yosimasa’s wife gave him a son, leaving Yosimasa confused on what to do. So two the rival clans of Hosokawa and Yamana argued against who should be the heir. So, both of the sides set up an army and started fighting, which dragged Daimyō (samurai leaders) along and then this war went nationwide. It was fought in the capital city of the time, Kyoto which was destroyed, the war went on for ten years, until both sides gave up, therefore ending the Ōnin War. The war may have stopped but the warlords fighting did not, again causing great destruction and disorder in