Also known as: Hakuhou-jidai (白鳳時代), lit. "White Phoenix Period"

A period in Japanese history which saw significant artistic, social, and political transformations, including the arrival of Buddhism from Korea. Prince Regent Shoutoku, recognized as a great intellectual of the era, was a devout Buddhist, and built many temples, including the Shitennou Temple.

The Battle of Dewa was the Battle of Sekigahara fought in the North, in which Uesugi Kagekatsu was defeated and forced to submit to Tokugawa Ieyasu.

Uesugi Kagekatsu raised an army of 50,000 to move against Tokugawa Ieyasu, but lost Shiroishi in a siege to the combined armies of Date Masamune and Mogami Yoshiaki. Afterwards, Mogami sent a letter to Kagekatsu, suggesting that he become a vassal of Tokugawa. Kagekatsu refused and ordered his chief vassal Naoe Kanetsugu to attack the Mogami territory of Dewa. Kanetsugu led a force of more than 20,000 in an invasion of Mogami's territory, capturing Hosoya Castle. However, though he surrounded Hasedou Castle, it stood firm with the aid of Yamagata Castle.

Taking advantage of Uesugi's superiority of numbers, Onodera Yoshimichi also invaded Mogami territory. Surrounded, Yoshiaki send a request for aid to his nephew Date Masamune. 500 cavalry from Date a few days later held the battle to a stalemate. However, when news of the defeat of the western forces in the Battle of Sekigahara reached Uesugi and Mogami, Mogami gave chase to Uesugi's retreat in sudden reversal, resulting in fierce battles around Hasedou Castle. Uesugi lost more than 1,500, Mogami around 600.

The Ishiyama Hongan-ji War refers to the ten-year campaign held by Oda Nobunaga against the Ikkou Sect's network of fortifications, temples, and communities and his siege and eventual capture of the Ikkou Sect's two greatest strongholds, Ishiyama Hongan-ji and Nagashima.

A feudalistic period in Japan's history during which the Kamakura Shogunate ruled Japan and relegated the emperor and court to ceremonial functions.

The Festival of the Lake Waters at Lake Ashi begins the Hakone Summer Festival Week every year on July 31st. The festival started in ancient times as a ritual sacrifice to the nine-headed dragon which lives in Lake Ashi. In the current form of the festival, boats set out with offerings of red rice which are thrown into the lake with Shinto prayers, followed by a fireworks display.

Also known as: Mifunedai no Tatakai (三船台の戦)

The Battle of Mt. Mifune/Mifunedai was fought between Satomi Yoshihiro and Houjou Ujimasa on Sept. 25, 1567, in Kazusa, Kimitsu-gun, Mifunedai (present-day Kimitsu City in Chiba Prefecture.

The battle took place after a heavy defeat suffered by Satomi Yoshihiro at the hand of the Houjou Clan in the 2nd Battle of Kounodai (1564), in which Yoshihiro lost the northern part of Kazusa and the western part of the Satomi territory. The Houjou was in the process of building a fortress at Mifunedai, the base of Mt. Mifune, in order to take Yoshihiro's main fortress of Sanuki Castle. Knowing that once the Houjou fortress was completed, Sanuki Castle, located only a kilometer to the south, would be in great danger, Yoshihiro attacked the Houjou troops stationed at Mifunedai.

Upon learning of the attack, Houjou Ujimasa lead his troops across Edo Bay while sending Houjou Ujiteru with a detached force toward Kururi Castle, Satomi Yoshitaka (Yoshihiro's father)'s main fortress.

In response, Yoshihiro rallied from Sanuki Castle and met Ujimasa's troops in a fierce battle. The Satomi army tore the Houjou army apart, killing one of its chief commanders, Oota Ujisuke. Fearing a pincer attack from land and water, the entire Houjou army retreated back to Sagami.

Also known as: Ashikaga-jidai

The period of Japanese history stretching from approximately 1336 to 1573 when the Muromachi/Ashikaga Shogun ruled Japan. The first part of the era, from 1336 to 1392, were the Nanboku-chou, or Northern and Southern Court Period, while the second part was the Sengoku Period. The era started when Ashikaga Takauji deposed Emperor Go-Daigo, forming the shogun's court in the north and the emperor's new court in the south. Succession rivalry in the Ashikaga family resulted in the Ounin no Ran, leading to the rise to power of local warlords and the chaos of the Sengoku. The era ended when Oda Nobunaga drove the last Ashikaga Shogun, Ashikaga Yoshiaki, out of Kyoto.

The Siege of Odawara in 1590 was the campaign by which Toyotomi Hideyoshi killed Houjou Ujimasa, exiled his son Houjou Ujinao, and eliminated the mighty Later Houjou Clan, ruler of the eight provinces of the Kantou, as a threat to his power.

The Houjou were not caught unprepared; guessing at Hideyoshi's intentions, they had made preparations by making a massive recruitment effort targeting men from 15 to 70 years of age, shoring up arms, and making large-scale renovations and repairs to Odawara Castle, Hachiouji Castle, Yamanaka Castle, Nirayama Castle, and others.

Toyotomi's main force consisted of Toyotomi Hidetsugu, Tokugawa Ieyasu, Oda Nobukatsu, Gamou Ujisato, Kuroda Yoshitaka, Hashiba Hidekatsu, Ukita Hideie, Oda Nobukane, Hosokawa Tadaoki, Kobayakawa Takakage, Kikkawa Hiroie, Hori Hidemasa, Ikeda Terumasa, Asano Nagamasa, Ishida Mitsunari, Natsuka Masaie, Hasegawa Hidekazu, Ootani Yoshitsugu, Ishikawa Kazumasa, Mashita Nagamori, Kanamori Nagachika, Tsutsui Sadatsugu, Ikoma Chikamasa, Hachisuka Iemasa, Ootomo Yoshimune, and Shimadu Hisayasu leading approx. 170,000 troops. His navy was lead by Chousokabe Motochika, Katou Yoshiakira, Kuki Yoshitaka, and Wakizaka Yasuharu with approx. 10,000 troops. An additional army lead by Maeda Toshiie, Maeda Toshinaga, Uesugi Kagekatsu, Sanada Masayuki, and Yoda Yasukuni came down from the north with approx. 35,000 troops.

In all, around 210,000 troops faced the Houjou 82,000 (though opinions differ on those numbers).

For the Houjou, Houjou Ujimasa, Houjou Ujinao, Houjou Ujitada, Houjou Ujiteru, Oota Ujifusa, Narita Ujinaga, Minagawa Hiroteru, Haga Yasutada, Matsuda Norihide, Kasahara Masaharu and Kasahara Masataka held Odawara Castle. Matsuda Yasunaga held Yamanaka Castle, Houjou Ujikatsu Yamanaka Castle then Tamanawa Castle, Houjou Ujinori Nirayama Castle, Daidouji Masashige Matsuida Castle, and Houjou Ujikuni Hachigata Castle.

Toyotomi's basic strategy held the troops from the north in reserve while sending his main army towards Odawara Castle, taking Yamanaka Castle, Nirayama Castle, and Ashigara Castle along the way. At the same time, his navy circled Izu Peninsula toward Odawara from the south. Though Toyotomi controlled an overwhelming force, the Houjou had gathered an elite force of 50,000 at Odawara Castle, with the most elite among them placed at Yamanaka, Nirayama, and Ashigara Castles.

One by one, the Houjou's supporting castles fell either to Toyotomi's main force or to the reserves from the north. At Odawara, however, only a night attack by Oota Ujifusa on the Houjou side and some skirmishes from the Toyotomi side could be called actual fighting.

In July, Ujinori and Ujifusa began peace negotiations via Ieyasu. The Houjou agreed to surrender, and Ujimasa and Ujiteru were moved to the guardhouse. They committed seppuku on the 10th of August.

The "warring states" period, lasting from 1467 to 1615, in which the warlords of Japan battled each other for the rule of the country.

Also known as: Festival of the Weaver, Weaver Star Festival

A festival held on July 7th celebrating an ancient Chinese legend, in which Altair (the Cowherd Star) and Vega (the Weaver Star), who were divided by the River of Heaven (the Milky Way) come together for this one night of the year. On this day people decorate the branches of a bamboo with colored strings and strips of paper on which poems or proverbs have been written. The Tanabata Festival is most famous in Sendai, Miyagi Prefecture and Hiratsuka, Kanagawa Prefecture.

The Battle of Uozu Castle was fought in 1582 between vassals of Uesugi Kagekatsu with 4000 soldiers and that of Oda Nobunaga with more than 10,000 soldiers. The Oda forces, led by Shibata Katsuie, Sassa Narimasa, Maeda Toshiie, and Sakuma Morimasa, fresh from successfully taking Toyama Castle, besieged Uozu Castle around March 11 (March 3, 1582).

The castle commanders immediately beseeched Kagekatsu for help, but Kagekatsu's reinforcements, already depleted by the Otate no Ran, were delayed by the betrayal of Shibata Shigeie and the Oda troops remaining in Kai and Shinano after their subjugation of the Takeda.

The Oda forces weakened the castle with numerous fierce attacks. Kagekatsu personally led an army from Kasugayama Castle on May 4 (May 25, 1582). Two days later, the Oda forces occupied the outer citadel of the castle. On May 19 (June 9, 1582) the Uesugi army arrived on Uozu Castle's east bank and set up camp at Tenjin Hill. However, they could not break through Oda's besieging army, and were forced to withdraw on May 27 (June 7, 1582) when it appeared that Kasugayama Castle itself may come under attack.

Abandoned by Kagekatsu after a 3-month long siege and running out of provisions, the 13 commanders of Uesugi, Sanbonji Kagenaga, Yoshie Munenobu, Yoshie Kagesuke, Yoshie Nobukage, Ishiguchi Hiromune, Nakajou Kageyasu, Takenomata Yoshitsuna, Terashima Nagasuke, Tadenuma Yasushige, Abe Masayoshi (sp?), Wakabayashi Ienaga (sp?), Kameda Choujou (sp?), and Fujimaru Katsutoshi wrote their names on wooden tablets and committed seppuku on June 3 (June 22, 1582). Thus the castle fell to Oda.

The Oda army prepared to march on to Echigo, but news of the death of Oda Nobunaga on June 21, the day before the end of the siege, caused confusion and panic within the army, and it retreated.

<small>Note: Japanese dates given in this entry are based on the lunar calendar; Gregorian Calendar dates in () were calculated using <a href="http://www.uni-tuebingen.de/geschichte-japans/nengo_calc.htm">NengoCalc</a>.</small>

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.