Monday, February 16, 2015

Azuchi-Momoyama period

The time when Nobunaga Oda and Hideyoshi Toyotomi were holding political power.
Because Hideyoshi built a castle in Momoyama in Fushimi (Kyoto-fu) in Azuchi (Shiga-ken) for Nobunaga.I get the name of the respective castles and say the Azuchi Momoyama period.

For about 30 years from Nobunaga's entering Kyoto (1568) to Hideyoshi's death (1598) or 1600 of the Battle of Sekigahara.

Nationwide military affairs unification advanced, and a separation of warriors and farmers, a fief of tax system(Kokudaka-sei) were established, and the shifts from the Middle Ages of the Japanese society to the early modern times were promoted.

Cultural in the temples and shrines and castle architecture , birth to many masterpieces in wall paintings ,and tea ceremony has been culminated.

Nobunaga is the daimyo who was using power at Owari (the part of Aichi-ken).
He suppressed the Tokai district and visited the capital in Kyoto and unified the whole country and was going to rule it.
But he matches Akechi Mitsuhide's rebellion in Honno-ji in 1582 and was killed.
It is Hideyoshi Toyotomi to have accomplished national unification following a trace of this Nobunaga.

Moreover he tried also to dispatch troops to Korea and subjugate by the momentum which suppressed the whole country.
(The invasion of the Asian continent and the dispatch of troops to Korea finished upon Hideyoshi's death.)

Hideyoshi was in 1586 appointed as grand minister of state and chief adviser to the Emperor, and was given the surname Toyotomi(He had born the name of Hideyoshi Hashiba before it.) by the Emperor; in 1590 he unified Japan and endeavored to stabilize his government by conducting land surveys and sword hunts throughout the country.
For example it became impossible that a farmer leaves and sells the land freely by survey.
On the other hand, much land tax assigned.

It becomes impossible for the farmer who took up arms by confiscation of arms to resist the samurai in addition.

Hideyoshi ordered to make all samurai live in a castle town.
There were a case that this makes the castle town wonderful and a purpose of preventing a warrior of low birth becoming same with a farmer and causing a riot.
The samurai and the farmer were distinguished clearly.

The culture prospered around a castle.
Hideyoshi liked to be showy.
Therefore it was gorgeous, and carefree culture spread out.
Become a flourishing relationship with the West , various rare culture also was imported .
The tea ceremony and the Noh play which prospered at the Muromachi period spread also to the general public.

As for war of the long time being over, and people having become able to live in peace
It may be said that it became the cause to produce culture of such Azuchi, Momoyama period.