Oda Nobunaga (1534-82) is one of the best-known figures in Japanese history. However, no standard biography existed on this warlord who was the prime mover behind Japan's military and political unification in the late 16th century. Japonius Tyrannus fills the gap in our knowledge about Nobunaga...
Tenjinyama Castle was a stronghold of the Inaba Yamana clan. It was also known as Fuse-Tenjinyama Castle (布勢天神山城 Fuse-tenjinyamajō). The notion that Yamana Katsutoyo (山名勝豊), the fifth shugo (military governor) of Inaba, constructed the castle in 1466 seems unlikely, given that Katsutoyo died in...
The second day of our journey saw us set out south for Fukui Prefecture.
After a brief stop at the scenic cliffs of Tojimbo, we were headed for Maruoka Castle, a smaller castle with an original donjon that survived from the Sengoku Period. As its also listed in Japan’s Top 100 Castles there was...
Nirayama Castle (韮山城 Nirayama-jō) is located in the northern neck of Izu Peninsula, in present-day Izunokuni. In 1493, Hōjō Sōun who had risen to power in Kokokuji Castle defeated Horikoshi-kubō Ashikaga Chachamaru who had ruled Izu and put the entire peninsula under his control. He rebuilt...
Ogura Castle (小倉城) is a Sengoku-era hilltop castle located in Tokigawa Town, Saitama Prefecture. It stretched over three mountain ridges and was situated just 600 metres from the Tsuki River, forming a natural stronghold that allowed to monitor the traffic on the river. It was fortified with...
The Late Hōjō clan (後北条氏 Go-Hōjō-shi) were powerful regional lords at the end of the Muromachi Period (1333-1568) and in the Azuchi-Momoyama Period (1568-1600) and must not be confused with the warrior family by the same name who were hereditary regents (執権 shikken) of the Kamakura shogunate in...
Masugata Castle (枡形城 Masugata-jō) is located in Tama Ward, Kawasaki, Kanagawa Prefecture.
The castle was constructed on a hill facing the southern banks of the Tama River.
This map is based on Tokyo Terrain Map powered by Gridscapes.net.
The castle site formed a formidable stronghold...
Usui Castle (臼井城) is a hilltop castle near present-day Sakura City, Chiba Prefecture. Its ruins are now part of Usui Castle Park.
The castle is located on a plateau overlooking Lake Imbanuma to the north-east.
According to legend Usui Tsuneyasu (臼井常安, 1106-1168) founded the castle. The...
You see a vast plateau on the opposite bank when you cross the Edo River on the Keisei Line toward Chiba.
This is the Kōnodai (国府台) plateau with its long history that not only encompasses a Sengoku-era castle but reaches back to Paleolithic settlements.
This map is based on the Tokyo...
Takeda Shingen (1521-1573), also known as the "The Tiger of Kai" (甲斐の虎), was one of the foremost daimyō of the Sengoku Period (1467-1568) and the Azuchi-Momoyama period (1568-1600). After deposing his father, he conquered his neighbours' territories and established control over the provinces of...
Date Masamune (伊達政宗, 1567 - 1636) was a warrior of the Azuchi-Momoyama Period (1568-1600) and the early part of the Edo Period (1600-1868) and the eldest son of Date Terumune (d. 1584), lord of Yonezawa Castle (modern-day Yamagata Prefecture) and Yoshihime, the daughter of Mogami Yoshimori, the...
Date Masamune was a warrior of the Azuchi-Momoyama Period (1568-1600) and the early part of the Edo Period (1600-1868) and one of the greatest daimyō of northern Japan.
Succeeding his father at 17, he defeated most of his rivalling neighbours, thereby significantly expanding his territories...
Kakegawa Castle (掛川城 Kakegawa-jō) is a hilltop (hirayama-type) castle located in Kakegawa City in western Shizuoka Prefecture. Listed in the Top 100 Castles of Japan, it is considered one of the finest examples of reconstructed Japanese castles.
Kakegawa Castle in August 2015
History
The...
Odawara Castle (小田原城) is a hilltop castle located in southwestern Kanagawa Prefecture.
History
The first fortification on the current site of the castle was built around the end of the twelfth century by the Doi (土井) family and later enlarged by the Kobayakawa (小早川) clan. In 1495, the founder...
Warring States Period (1467-1568)
The Sengoku Period (戦国時代) lasted from 1467, the beginning of the Ōnin War (応仁の乱 Ōnin no Ran), until 1568, the year Oda Nobunaga entered Kyōto to assert national hegemony.
Some historians date it from 1490, when Hosokawa Katsumoto (細川 勝元, 1430-1473), the kanrei...
Motonari and his three arrowsA Sengoku daimyō and military leader in the Chūgoku Region of western Japan.
Mōri family crestMōri Motonari (毛利元就, 1497-1571), the second son of Mōri Hiromoto (d. 1556), became head of the Mōri clan of Aki Province (安芸国 Aki no kuni) or Geishū (芸州, modern-day...
Gamo Ujisato (1556-1595)
Also known under his childhood name Tsuruchiyo (鶴千代), as Utahide (賦秀) and under his Christian name Leão, Gamo Ujisato (蒲生氏郷 1556-1595) was a daimyō of the Azuchi-Momoyama Period (1568-1600) and son of Gamō Katahide (蒲生 賢秀, 1534-1584), lord of Hino Castle in Ōmi...
Senhime (千姫, 1597-1666) or Lady Sen was the daughter of the third Tokugawa shōgun Hidetada (徳川秀忠, 1579-1632) and the wife of Toyotomi Hideyori (豊臣秀頼, 1593-1615), himself son of the national unifier Toyotomi Hideyoshi. Her mother Tatsuhime and Hideyori’s mother Yodogimi were sisters, while her...
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