A castle located on Mount Shigi, controlled by the Kizawa and Matsunaga clans. It was constructed in 1536 by Kizawa Nagamasa, who commanded it on behalf of the Hatakeyama Clan, then repaired and expanded by Matsunaga Hisahide, who commanded it on behalf of the Miyoshi Clan.
The castle was destroyed by Oda Nobunaga in the Siege of Shigisan in 1577, in which Matsunaga Hisahide was killed.
Lit. "wave of thought": calling out with one's mind; telepathy
The region in north-central Japan consisting of the provinces of Shinano and Echigo, present-day Nagano and Niigata. The name is a combination of the first characters of the two provinces.
Abbreviated name for Shinano, an ancient province in central Japan.
Lit.: military commander
The shogun was the hereditary military head of the Japanese government during the shogunate period from 1192 to 1867 and de facto ruler of the country, though ostensibly appointed by the Emperor.
A great intellectual of his era, Prince Regent Shoutoku was an admirer of Chinese culture and Confucianism and established a centralized Japanese government during his reign. He was also a patron of Buddhism, and commissioned several temples, such as the Shitennou Temple and the Chougosonshi Temple.
Also known as: Andon-yama Kohun (Mt. Andon Burial Mound)
The Sujin Imperial Tomb is the officially designated imperial tomb/burial mound of Emperor Sujin, who is listed as the tenth emperor of Japan. It is located in Tenri City, Yanagimoto Town near Nara City. It is keyhole-shaped and has a span of 265 yards and a height of 69 feet, constructed in the Tumulus Period (250-552 AD).
The headman of Nakagaya village in Matsumoto who submitted a petition to lower taxes in Matsumoto to the same level as that of surrounding areas, thus inciting the Kasuke Uprising. He was one of the 28 ringleaders executed, along with his two sons and younger brother.
It was said that as he was being crucified, Kasuke set a curse against Matsumoto Castle, whose main tower began to tilt from that time and remained tilted until its major renovation in the 1950s.
He was enshrined in 1736, fifty years after the uprising, in a small shrine within the Kasuke home. Two hundred years after his death, the Joukyou Gimin Shrine was built in his hometown (now Sankyou Nakagaya in Azumino), and his and the remains of twelve other people executed with him were transferred there. In 1992 the Joukyou Gimin Memorial was founded.
Also known as: Suwa Katsuyori (諏訪勝頼)
Fourth son of Takeda Shingen. His mother was not Sanjou, but Suwa Goryounin, the daughter of the head of a defeated clan, Suwa Yorishige, Shingen's concubine. He was originally kept out of the line succession to the Takeda clan by being made head of the Suwa Clan. However, when Shingen's heir, Takeda Yoshinobu was found plotting against his father and ordered to commit suicide, Shingen named Katsuyori's son, Nobutatsu, his heir and Katsuyori guardian. Katsuyori took over rule of the Takeda clan when his father died.
Katsuyori was decribed as a brave and exceptionally skilled fighter, but lacking in strategy when he took over the Takeda army. In 1578, during the Otate no Ran, he betrayed his allies the Houjou clan and took Uesugi Kagekatsu's side, thus adding the Houjou to his list of enemies. He was increasing unpopular with the people of Kai due to heavy drafts caused by defeats in battle with the Oda, Tokugawa, and Houjou clans.
In 1582 Kai and Shinano were invaded by the combined arms of Oda, Tokugawa, and Houjou. Most of Katsuyori's troops abandoned him, and he committed suicide.
Also called: Takeda Katsuchiyo, Takeda Harunobu
Title: Shinano no Kami
Historically: Daimyo of Kai who became the head of the Takeda clan by rebelling against his father. Conquered Shinano and fought against Uesugi Kenshin. The two clans clashed five times on the plains of Kawanakajima, where neither gained complete victory until Shingen died of illness in his campaign against Oda Nobunaga and Tokugawa Ieyasu.
Also known as: Tamonyama-jou (多聞山城)
A castle built by Matsunaga Hisahide, located in Nara City. It was named for Tamonten (another name for Bishamonten).
Hisahide began construction of the castle in 1560 and finished two years later. When Hisahide rebelled against Oda Nobunaga in 1573 and lost, Tamon Castle passed into the hands of Akechi Mitsuhide, then Shibata Katsuie. When Nobunaga made Tsutsui Junkei governor-general of Yamato in 1577, he ordered Tamon Castle to be torn down. Many of its stones were used in the fortification of Tsutsui Castle and Kooriyama Castle. Hisahide died the following year at Shigisan Castle.
Nothing now remains of the castle. The municiple Wakakusa Middle School stands on its former site.
Lit. "Path of Heaven"; the highest realm of the Six Realms of Buddhism: celestial beings who hold god-like powers and live in happiness and pleasure for countless ages, but who will still eventually die because they are too filled with pride to reach enlightenment.
A city located in Nara Prefecture, founded on April 1, 1954. The Tenrikyo religion, for which the city is named, originated there.
Lit.: "Teaching of Divine Reason", a Japanese religion founded in 1838 by Miki Nakayama which focuses on the attainment of joyous life on Earth through charity and abstention from greed, selfishness, hatred, anger and arrogance. It believes in a single god who is the creator of the universe and parent of humanity.
The spiritual headquarters of Tenrikyo is in the city of Tenri, where the religion was created and which was named after the religion. There are around 2 million followers of Tenrikyo today.
In late July-early August, the Children's Pilgrimage, or "Return to the Main Sanctuary", draws around 300,000 to Tenri City. Events are held in which children are encouraged in their growth and broaden their circle of friends.
Toichi Tookatsu succeeded his father Toichi Tootada as head of the Toichi Clan of Yamato in 1545 at a young age. In 1559, when Miyoshi Nagayoshi became the real power in the capital and sent his vassal Matsunaga Hisahide to take Yamato, Tookatsu formed an alliance with Tsutsui Junkei to resist him. However, his daughter was taken hostage, and Tookatsu submitted to Hisahide.
A brief peaceful interlude dissolved into further conflict when Miyoshi Nagayoshi and Hisahide began battling the Miyoshi Triumvirate. Tsutsui Junkei took the side of the Triumvirate, and the Toichi Clan split between those who wanted to join Hisahide and those who wanted side with the Tsutsui Clan. The Akiyama Clan, who had joined with Hisahide, invaded Toichi terrority in 1568. Unable to defend against the attack, Tookatsu abandoned Ryuuouzan Castle and fled to Toichi Castle.
Hisahide's power and influence grew rapidly under Oda Nobunaga, and Tookatsu turned to him once more. However, he suddenly died of illness the following year without a son to succeed him.
A commander in Yamato during the Sengoku who became head of his clan in 1533. He formed a peace alliance with the Tsutsui Clan in 1540 and married the daughter of Tsutsui Junkou, bringing about the golden age of the Toichi Clan. He built Ryuuouzan Castle, one of the largest castles in Yamato. He was said to be a superior warrior as well as a talented poet. At his sudden death of illness in 1545 at the age of 49, he was succeeded by his son and heir Toichi Tookatsu.
Lit. "Great Eastern Temple". A famous Buddhist temple complex first established by Emperor Shoumu in 743, located in Nara City. It is a World Heritage site, part of the seven "Historic Monuments of Ancient Nara", and many of its temples and other structures are listed as National Treasures of Japan. Its Daibutsuden (大仏殿), or Great Buddha Hall, houses a sixteen-meter-high (52-foot) bronze statue of Dainichi Nyorai (also known as Daibutsu) and is reportedly the largest wooden building in the world. Deer roam the grounds freely.
The statue of Dainichi Nyorai, which is the largest in Japan, has been recast several times, and the Daibutsuden has been rebuilt twice after fire, with the current building finished in 1709 after it was burned down during the Matsunaga Hisahide-Miyoshi conflict in 1567. The two 28-foot guardian Niou at the Great Southern Gate temple entrance were dismantled and repaired by two teams of 13 and 12 art experts from 1988 to 1991? 1993?.
The surrounding gardens and temples are today considered part of the Toudai templex complex.
Other structures of the temple complex listed as National Treasures of Japan are:
- Nandai-mon (南大門)—Great Southern Gate: destroyed by a hurricane in 962, rebuilt in 1199 according to an architectural style used in the Chinese Song dynasty.
- Kaizan-dou (開山堂)—Hall of the Founder: a temple built to house the wooden image of the first chief abbot, created in the 9th century. Its inner sanctuary was built in 1200, its nave built in 1250.
- Shourou (鐘楼)—Bell Tower: built in the beginning of the 13th century, the Bell Tower houses a temple bell cast in 752 and was the largest of its kind until the Middle Ages.
- Hokke-dou/Sangatsu-dou (法華堂/三月堂)—Hall of the Flowering Dharma/Hall of the Third Month: this temple stands on the eastern side of the compound at the base of the Wakakusa Mountain Range. It is one of the few structures remaining from the Nara Period and is thought to have been completed in 743. A dozen or so statues of buddhas are enshrined in this temple. Its principle buddha is Fukuukenjaku Kannon.
- Nigatsu-dou (二月堂)—Hall of the Second Month: a temple named after the sacred water-drawing ceremony, a type of Buddhist mass, held in the second month of the lunar calendar. The temple was burned down from a fire set accidentally during one of these rites in 1667 and was rebuilt 2 years later. The temple houses two eleven-faced Goddesses of Mercy called the Large Goddess of Mercy (Oogannon—大観音) and the Small Goddess of Mercy (Kogannon—小観音). No one is allowed to look upon these mysterious goddesses. The temple itself was named a National Treasure in December, 2005.
- Tegai-mon (転害門)—Revolving Evil Gate: an eight-foot gate which stands in the north-west of the compound, one of the few structures that escaped both the battle-fire of Taira no Shigehira in 1180 and the Miyoshi-Matsunaga conflict in 1567. It was repaired in the Kamakura Period, but is still fundamentally the structure as it was built in the Nara Period.
Also known as: Michinoku (みちのく)
The northeast area of Japan's main island of Honshuu, the Touhoku consists of the prefectures of Akita, Aomori, Fukushima, Iwate, Miyagi and Yamagata. It is a mountainous region which is known for having breathtaking scenery but a harsh climate.
Also called: Hiyoshimaru (日吉丸), Kinoshita Tokichiro (木下藤吉郎), Hashiba Hideyoshi (羽柴秀吉)
Titles: Kanpaku, Taikou, Chikuzen no Kami
Historically: The second of the "Three Unifiers"; he was born a peasant but rose quickly through the ranks of Oda Nobunaga's vassals to the position of one of Nobunaga's most distinguished generals. After Nobunaga's death, he took over the work of unifying the nation through military strength and brought an end to the Sengoku period.
Artifacts and items that are older than 100 years and become spirits who are alive and aware. (The characters were originally written "九十九", meaning "ninety-nine" and were later changed to the homonym "付喪神", with the characters for "adhere", "mourning", and "god").
In Mirage, however, the kaki are also a type of tsukumogami.
Also known as: Matsunaga Nasu (松永茄子), Tsukumogami (九十九髪), Tsukomo Nasu (九十九茄子), Sakubutsu Nasu (作物茄子), Tsukomo Nasu (付藻茄子)
A masterpiece tea caddy which was imported from China during the early Muromachi Shogunate (1336 - 1573) and owned by the shogun Ashikaga Yoshimitsu. It was said that Ashikaga Yoshimitsu carried it even when going to battle. The caddy was treasured by several generations of Ashikaga shoguns and passed through several hands before being sold to Matsunaga Hisahide for the price of 1,000 kan.
When Matsunaga Hisahide surrendered to Oda Nobunaga, he offered the Tsukumokami Nasu to Nobunaga as a sign of his loyalty.
This priceless item now resides in the Seikadou Bunko Art Museum in Tokyo.
Title: Ecchuu no Kami
Also known as: Tsutsui Fujikatsu (筒井藤勝), Tsutsui Fujimasa (筒井藤政), 後順慶
Son of the Sengoku general Tsutsui Junshou in Yamato, Junkei succeeded his father as clan head in 1550 when he was only 2 years old upon his father's death of illness. His uncle Tsutsui Junsei acted as his guardian. However, Tsutsui Junsei died in the invasion of Yamato by Matsunaga Hisahide in 1564, and Junkei lost Tsutsui Castle, the clan's main castle, to Hisahide.
In 1566 he joined with the Miyoshi Triumvirate in order to recover Tsutsui Castle, but Hisahide proved too much to handle. Junkei then became a vassal of Oda Nobunaga, and fought several battles under him, including the seige of Mount Shigi in 1577 where Hisahide was defeated. After the battle Nobunaga rewarded Junkei with the province of Yamato.
After Nobunaga's death, Junkei became a vassal of Toyotomi Hideyoshi. He died at 36 of illness. His tomb is located near the remains of Tsutsui Castle in what is now Tsutsui Junkei History Park.
Also known as: Tsutsui Junkei Tomb (筒井順慶墓), Gorin Touooi-dou (五輪塔覆堂)
Tsutsui Junkei was originally buried at Enjou Temple in Nara City, but was moved to this spot. The tomb and shrine grounds originally encompassed a much larger area. The shrine itself is a small structure, but well-designed. It holds the five-ring pagoda used at Junkei's memorial service as well as the stone lantern given to the shrine on the first anniversary of his death.
Doumanmaru was the eldest son of Uesugi Kagetora. His mother was the niece of Uesugi Kenshin, Seienin.
The Otate no Ran, the war for succession to the Uesugi Clan between his father and his uncle Uesugi Kagekatsu started when Doumanmaru was still a young child. When his father lost the battle for the Otate, Doumanmaru went with Uesugi Norimasa (who could be called his great-grandfather) into Kagekatsu's camp to offer Kagetora's surrender and sue for peace. However, he and Norimasa were both killed by Kagekatsu's troops (some say it was deliberate, others that it was an accident in the chaos).
Also called: Nagao Kiheiji (長尾喜平次), Nagao Akikage (長尾顕景), Nagao Kagekatsu (長尾景勝)
Historically: One of Uesugi Kenshin's nephews, he was adopted by Kenshin and named Kenshin's heir along with Uesugi Kagetora. Following Kenshin's death in 1578, he provoked the feud against Kagetora in the Otate no ran for succession. His forces won over those of Kagetora in 1579, and he forced Kagetora to commit suicide. He lost the Uesugi's western holdings to Oda Nobunaga, and later submitted to Toyotomi Hideyoshi, under whom he rose to prominence to become a member of the council of five regents appointed by Hideyoshi to protect the Toyotomi rule.
As a general under Toyotomi Hideyoshi, Kagekatsu received the 1.2 million-koku fief of Aizu in addition to his 550,000-koku fief of Echigo. After Toyotmi's death, Kagekatsu was one of the first daimyo to plan revolt against Tokugawa Ieyasu with the building of a new castle in Aizu and the accumulation of troops, and could be said to have least partly begun the Battle of Sekigahara. He refused a summons from Tokugawa to go to the capital to explain himself, and attacked with a 50,000 army, which were held back by Mogami Yoshiaki and Date Masamune. Kagekatsu was defeated early at the siege of his castle at Shiroishi and declared his allegiance to Tokugawa.
Afterwards, Kagekatsu was given the 300,000-koku Yonezawa-han in the Northeast.
Also known as: possibly Houjou Ujihide (北条氏秀), Houjou Saburou (北条三郎), Saburou Kagetora (三郎景虎)
Historically: Uesugi Kagetora was the seventh son (sixth to survive to adulthood) of Houjou Ujiyasu, younger brother of Houjou Ujimasa, Houjou Ujiteru, Houjou Ujikuni, Houjou Ujinori, Houjou Ujitada, and older brother of Houjou Ujimitsu. His mother was the sister-in-law of Tooyama Yasumitsu, a vassal of the Houjou Clan (other sources say Zuikeiin, Ujiyasu's principle wife). It's likely that he and Houjou Ujihide were two different people and that Ujihide was the son of Houjou Tsunashige and living in Edo while Saburou was living in Echigo, so most historians refer to him as Houjou Saburou when describing his early life.
As a child, he was sent into the priesthood at Souun Temple in Hakone, then sent as hostage to Takeda Shingen of the Takeda Clan in the three-way alliance between Houjou, Takeda, and Imagawa formed in 1554 (though this last point is now in dispute, as it is told only in the Records of Ancient Battles of the Eight Kanto Provinces and recorded in none of the Takeda Clan records.)
He was adopted by his uncle Houjou Genan in 1569 and married Genan's daughter.
When the Houjou and Uesugi clans formed an alliance in 1569, Saburou was sent to Uesugi Kenshin in an exchange of hostages with Kakizaki Haruie. (At first, the hostage was set to be Houjou Ujimasa's third son Kunimasumaru, but Ujimasa could not bring himself to send off his son, who was then still a baby.) Saburou was sent to the Uesugi clan in early 1570. Kenshin, who never married, developed a liking for the handsome and intelligent Saburou. He married his niece Seienin, the daughter of Nagao Masakage and older sister of Nagao Akikage (Uesugi Kagekatsu) to Saburou, gave him the name Kagetora (a name that had once belonged to Kenshin himself), and adopted him into the Uesugi Clan.
When Kenshin died suddenly in 1578 without naming an heir, Kagetora and Kagekatsu, similarly adopted by Kenshin, fought for succession to the position of clan head (the Otate no Ran). Though Kagetora held the early advantage with the backing of Uesugi vassals such as Uesugi Kagenobu, Honjou Hidetsuna, Kitajou Takahiro, and the Houjou Clan, the tide of the battle turned with Takeda Katsuyori's betrayal to Kagekatsu's side.
When the Otate fell in 1579, Kagetora attempted to escape to Odawara Castle, but was betrayed at Samegao Castle by Horie Munechika and committed suicide. His wife committed suicide along with him (though there are also accounts that she remained behind at the Otate and committed suicide there when her brother Kagekatsu refused Kagetora's surrender.) His oldest son Doumanmaru died at the hands of Kagekatsu's troops along with Uesugi Norimasa, and the rest of his children were believed to have died along with their parents.
In Mirage of Blaze: He was born to Houjou Ujiyasu and Zuikeiin as their eighth (seventh to survive to adulthood) and youngest son. After his death in the Otate no Ran, he was charged by Uesugi Kenshin to become kanshousha in order to ensure that the peace of Japan is not disrupted by the onshou as the leader of the Yasha-shuu and the commander of the Meikai Uesugi Army.
Also called: Nagao Kagetora (長尾景虎), Uesugi Masatora (上杉政虎), Uesugi Terutora (上杉輝虎)
Title: Kantou Kanrei (関東管領)
Historically: Fourth son of the noted warrior Nagao Tamekage, Kenshin wrested control of the Nagao clan from his brother Nagao Harukage and fought for control of Echigo Province. He accepted the name Uesugi Masatora when he gave refuge to his nominal lord, Uesugi Norimasa, and at his urging campaigned to push the Houjou out of the Kantou Region.
He adopted the name "Kenshin" when he became a Buddhist monk and a devotee of Bishamonten. The standard his army carried onto the battlefield bore the character 毘 ("bi") for Eight-Sword Bishamonten. He battled Takeda Shingen five times at Kawanakajima, as well as the Houjou and Ashina clans and Oda Nobunaga, whom he defeated despited being outnumbered. However, Kenshin died soon after the battle. He named his two adopted sons, Uesugi Kagetora and Uesugi Kagekatsu, his heirs, hoping that they would divide the Uesugi lands peacefully between them after his death.
In Mirage of Blaze: He became a god of war after his death, ascending from Nin Dou to Ten Dou, and established the Meikai Uesugi Army to ensure that the peace of Japan is not disrupted by the onshou. He named Kagetora as its commander.
Title: Kantou Kanrei
Also known as: Fujiwara-no-Norimasa (藤原憲政)
Son of Uesugi Norifusa, he was only three when his father died. His adopted brother, Uesugi Norihiro, succeeded his father as head of the clan. When his brother was banished in 1531, Norimasa inherited the title of Kantou Kanrei.
From 1541 to 1552, he battled both the Houjou and Takeda Clans. He suffered several defeats, and fled to Nagao Kagetora (Uesugi Kenshin) in 1552, leaving his son and heir behind (who was later captured and executed.)
In 1557, he adopted Nagao Kagetora and in 1561 passed the title of Kantou Kanrei to him as well as the Uesugi family name and inheritance.
He later supported Uesugi Kagetora in the Otate no Ran. But as the Kagetora faction was hard-pressed due to Takeda Katsuyori's defection, he took Kagetora's son and heir with him to negotiate with the Kagekatsu faction. However, both were killed by an assassin at Kagekatsu's camp.
His sons were killed as well in the Otate no Ran, so ironically, it would be Uesugi Kenshin's son, Uesugi Kagekatsu, who would sever the bloodline of the Uesugi house.
Also known as: 小津城, 小戸城
A branch of Matsukura Castle, built in 1335 by the Shiina Clan, the castle was taken over by the Uesugi Clan during the Sengoku. It then became a strategic castle for the Uesugi for control of Ecchuu, and Kawada Nagachika served as its chamberlain for many years. In 1582, the castle was surrounded by Oda troops led by Shibata Katsuie, Sassa Narimasa, Maeda Toshiie, and Sakuma Morimasa. A fierce battle and siege ensued, (the Battle of Uozu Castle), and the castle finally fell when 13 of Uesugi's commanders committed ritual suicide. However, the Oda army immediately withdrew after hearing of the death of Oda Nobunaga at Honnou Temple. In 1583, Sassa Narimasa again laid siege to the castle, and Suda Mitsuchika surrendered to him, ending Uesugi control of the castle.
After Narimasa, the castle passed into the hands of the Maeda Clan, but was destroyed under the "One Province One Castle" decree of the Tokugawa Shogunate.
Oomachi Elementary School as well as a courthouse now stand on the former site of the castle, of which very few traces remain.
A prefecture located in the Northeast region of Japan which is encircled by mountains and the Sea of Japan. Its capital is the city of Yamagata.
An above-ground JR West railway station located in Yamato-Kooriyama, Nara. In 2005 it served around 8500 people per day.
A city located in Nara Prefecture, founded in 1954, with a population of around 95,000.
An ancient province of Japan situated on Honshuu which is present-day Nara Prefecture.
A battle fought between Toyotomi Hideyoshi/Oda Nobutaka and Akechi Mitsuhide 13 days after Mitsuhide's forces killed Oda Nobunaga at Honnou Temple. Mitsuhide's troops were out-numbered 2 to 1 in the battle, and most of them fled. Mitsuhide retreated, but was killed en route to Sakamoto Castle at Ogurusu Village.
Lit.: "Dark Sengoku", the civil war still being fought by the spirits of the warlords of the Sengoku period in modern-day Japan.
The five kanshousha at the head of the Meikai Uesugi Army ordered by Uesugi Kenshin to hunt for the onshou who are disrupting the peace of modern-era Japan in a battle which has lasted four hundred years. Led by Uesugi Kagetora, with Naoe Nobutsuna, Kakizaki Haruie, Yasuda Nagahide, and Irobe Katsunaga. The name "Yasha" refers to soldiers in the army of Bishamonten, called "Yaksha".
Title: Jibu Shousuke (治部少輔)
Historically: Master of Yasuda Castle. The Yasuda family had served the Nagao Clan from the time of Nagao Tamekage (late 1400s). Nagahide supported Nagao Kagetora (Uesugi Kenshin) in the coup d'etat against Nagao Harukage, so was a close aide of Kenshin from early on. He fought in many of Kenshin's wars against Takeda Shingen, Oda Nobunaga, and Houjou Ujiyasu.
He received a commendation for bravery at the 4th battle of Kawanakajima along with six other commanders, including Irobe Katsunaga.
He supported Uesugi Kagekatsu in the Otate no Ran after Kenshin's death. He died in 1582 of illness in the midst of Shibata Shigeie's rebellion. (Other accounts mention 1585, 1592.)
Though he shared the same family name as Yasuda Kagemoto and Yasuda Akimoto, also vassals of the Uesugi Clan, he was descended from a different family.
In Mirage of Blaze: he was summoned by Uesugi Kenshin to become one of the Yasha-shuu and is second in power only to Uesugi Kagetora.
Little selfish, mischievous spirits who look like children and live in ceilings or old storehouses. It is said that a family which houses one of these spirits becomes rich, but misfortunes befalls the family if the spirit leaves. Children can see these spirits, but adults cannot.
