Lit.: Japan Central Horse Racing Association
Also known as: Japan Racing Association, JRA

A public company founded in 1954 in Japan to manage horse racing, race courses, betting facilities, and horse-training facilities.

Nobunaga no Yabou, or Nobunaga's Ambition, is a series of turn-based strategy video games first released in 1988 by Koei on a variety of both gaming and computer platforms. The player can choose to be a number of different daimyo in several campaign scenarios, with the ultimate goal of the conquest and unification of Sengoku Japan.

Lit. "roof monkey"; Uesugi Kenshin's ninja, who used a special technique which involved traveling on rooftops and entering houses from above. Their forte was hunting down other ninja, such as the Fuuma of the Houjou Clan and the Toppa of the Takeda Clan.

Onryou with strong powers who seem to be Oda Nobunaga's equivalent of the Yasha-shuu, commanded by Mori Ranmaru. They are named for the nue of Japanese mythology. The most powerful of the nue appear to serve Ranmaru directly: Kinue, Akanue, Aonue, and Kuronue.

Also known as: omusubi, nigirimeshi, rice ball

A popular traditional Japanese food, onigiri is plain rice packed into triangular or cylindrical shapes and wrapped in seaweed, often stuffed with fillings such as pickled plum, salted salmon or other fish, kelp, fried foods, etc.

Lit.: "vengeful general": the spirits of the warlords of the Sengoku period, who continue their battles even in modern-age Japan.

Oooka Echizen was a prime-time historical television drama that ran from March 16, 1970 to March 15, 1999 in Japan. Its 402 episodes centered around Oooka Tadasuke (1677–1752), a historical figure who was a magistrate of Edo during the time of Tokugawa Yoshimune. The show was a detective-courtroom program with the magistrate serving as chief of police, judge and jury.

Lit.: "War of the Castle". The Otate no Ran was the name given to the intra-clan war fought between Uesugi Kagekatsu and Uesugi Kagetora, both adopted sons of Uesugi Kenshin, for succession to the position of head of the Uesugi Clan after Kenshin died. The war bifurcated the Uesugi commanders and in the end significantly weakened Uesugi's power. The "Otate", or "Castle/Mansion" refers to the residence Uesugi Kenshin built for the Kantou Kanrei, Uesugi Norimasa, near Kasugayama Castle. He used it as a government office after Norimasa passed on the title to him and the lands around Kasugayama Castle were developed.

On March 9th in the 6th year of Tenshou (April 15th, 1578), Uesugi Kenshin collapsed at Kasugayama Castle's privy from an "unforeseen nervous weakness" (some speculate poison or assassination) and died on the 13th (April 19th, 1578) without ever regaining consciousness.

Traditionally, it is held that he died without ever deciding on an heir. Some point to evidence such as Uesugi Kagetora accompanying him on shrine visits at the New Year and not being forced to perform military service (though proof of the latter is sketchy), to support theories that Kenshin favored Kagetora. It is evident that Kagetora, who was adopted from the mighty Houjou Clan, ruler of the Kantou, had unshakeable standing within the Uesugi Clan even after the Echigo-Sagami Alliance fell apart in 1571.

On the other hand, Kenshin had conferred the highest military powers within the Uesugi family on Kagekatsu, and the Uesugi retainers used similar titles for Kenshin and Kagekatsu.

Pointing to some of the above reasons, many historians argue that Kenshin had intended to pass the title of Kantou Kanrei and position of clan head of the Sannai-Uesugi Clan to Kagetora while making Kagekatsu the master of Echigo and the head of the Echigo-Uesugi Clan. There is no way of telling based on current evidence which would have been the sole heir.

In any case, a dispute over the rightful heir to Kenshin arose between Kagekatsu and Kagetora immediately. Kagekatsu moved first. On the day following Kenshin's death, Kakizaki Haruie, viewed as being in the Kagetora faction, was assassinated (there is another theory that Haruie was killed before the Otate no Ran, when his father was accused of treason). Also, according to one primary historical record, Kagekatsu moved quickly to occupy the inner citadel, treasury, and armory of Kasugayama Castle, though the exact date is unknown. Kagekatsu proclaimed himself the rightful heir in a letter dated March 24th (April 30th) and began attacking Kagetora, barricaded in the Third Wing.

Kagekatsu and Kagetora's forces fought in what is now Jouetsu City on May 5th (June 10th, 1578), and until Kagetora evacuated in the middle of the month, hostilities continued within Kasugayama Castle. During that time, both Kagekatsu and Kagetora tried to win the various Echigo generals to their side.

Commanders committed to Kagekatsu:
- Amakasu Kagemochi: Oumi no Kami
- Higuchi Kanetoyo, Naoe Kanetsugu, Ookuni Saneyori
- Honjou Shigenaga: Echizen no Kami
- Irobe Nagazane: Son of Irobe Katsunaga, master of Hirabayashi Castle
- Joujou Masashige: one of Kenshin's adopted sons, Kagekatsu's brother-in-law, head of the Joujou-Uesugi family
- Kakizaki Noriie: Noto no Kami
- Kanou Hideharu
- Kawada Nagachika: Buzen no Kami
- Murakami Kunikiyo: head of the Yamaura-Uesugi family
- Naoe Nobutsuna: Yamato no Kami, master of Yoita Castle
- Ooishi Tsunamoto: Harima no Kami
- Saitou Tomonobu: Shimotsuke no Kami, master of Akada Castle
- Shibata Nagaatsu, Shibata Shigeie, Ijimino Nobumune
- Suda Mitsuchika
- Yamayoshi Kagenaga: head of the Yamayoshi Clan, master of Koba Castle
- Yasuda Akimoto: head of the Echigo-Yasuda Clan, master of Iiyama Castle
- Yasuda Nagahide: master of Yasuda Castle
- Yoshie Munenobu, Yoshie Kagesuke, Nakajou Kageyasu

Commanders committed to Kagetora:
- Ashina Moritaka: head of the Ashina Clan
- Ayukawa Morinaga: master of Oobasawa Castle
- Daihouji Yoshiuji: head of the Dewa Daihouji Clan
- Horie Munechika (who later betrayed him): Suruga no Kami, master of Samegao Castle
- Honjou Hidetsuna: master of Numata Castle
- Honjou Saneyori
- Houjou Ujimasa, Houjou Ujiteru, Houjou Ujikuni: Kagetora's elder brothers, head and generals of the Houjou Clan
- Kaji Hidetsuna: nephew of Uesugi Kenshin, master of Kaji Castle
- Kanamari Chikatsuna: master of Sanjou Castle
- Kawada Shigechika: Houki no Kami
- Kitajou Takahiro, Kitajou Kagehiro
- Kurokawa Kiyozane: master of Kurokawa Castle
- Nagao Kagenao
- Sanbonji Sadanaga: head of the Sanbonji-Uesugi Clan, master of Fudouzan Castle, Iyo no Kami
- Shimodaira Shurinosuke: master of Jouhukuji Castle
- Takeda Katsuyori (who was later bribed by Kagekatsu and entered into an alliance with him): head of the Takeda Clan
- Uesugi Norimasa: Kenshin's adopted father, former Kantou Kanrei
- Uesugi Kagenobu: originally Nagao, head of the Koshin-Nagao family
- Uesugi Norishige: son of Uesugi Norimasa

On May 13th (June 18th), with the lines between the commanders drawn, Kagetora finally retreated from the Third Wing to the Otate and requested aid from his brother Houjou Ujimasa while ordering his troops to set fire to the lands around Kasugayama Castle. He attacked Kasugayama Castle with around 6000 troops on May 17th (June 22nd), but was repelled.

He regrouped and attacked again on the 22nd (June 27th) with the same result. Around this time, hostilities between Kagekatsu and Kagetora's forces also began within the broader region. In Kouzuke, Kitajou Takahiro and Kitajou Kagehiro (father and son) sent forth troops with their aim on Kunohe Castle. Kagekatsu had no troops to spare at this point, and Kagetora's side easily took several castles in Miyano and Ogawa. Kagetora's side had completed organization for drawing Houjou troops into Echigo at this point, but since the distance was great, the Houjou requested assistance from their ally Takeda Katsuyori. Katsuyori sent an advance guard of 20,000 under the command of Takeda Nobutoyo, which arrived at the Echigo-Shinshuu border on May 29th (July 4th).

Aside from the Houjou and Takeda, Kagetora also received assistance from Ashina Moritaka. However, Moritaka met dogged resistance from Kagekatsu's forces and was stopped in his tracks. Still, Kagetora held the advantage at this point. The only problem: Ujimasa had little interest in moving to the offensive.

Kagekatsu, at a disadvantage now that he was being attacked from three directions, took a big gamble. He sent an advance guard to Katsuyori's camp offering a large amount of money and Kouzuke's rice fields in exchange for a Kagekatsu-Takeda alliance. How Kagekatsu knew that Katsuyori was painfully short on funds after his ignominious defeat at the Battle of Nagashino to Oda Nobunaga and Tokugawa Ieyasu is unknown. Katsuyori arrived at Kaidu Castle and conferred with Nobutoyo. He entered into an alliance with Kagekatsu on June 12th (July 16th).

Now that Kagekatsu's side had successfully bought Takeda, they no longer needed to watch their backs. On the day the alliance was made Kagekatsu took Noumine Castle, allowing him to communicate with Sakato Castle from Kasugayama Castle. On the following day, Kagetora's side lost Uesugi Kagenobu, and their situation worsened day by day. Kagekatsu pressed towards various castles held by Kagetora's forces in Ecchuu. Katsuyori continued peace negotiations with Kagekatsu at full tilt; they were concluded on June 29th (August 2nd), and he withdrew his troops on August 28th (September 29th).

In the following month, Ujimasa finally began moving in earnest. Houjou Ujiteru and Houjou Ujikuni set out for Echigo by Ujimasa's command. They crossed Mikuni Pass and took Kabasawa Castle, within striking distance of Sakato Castle. However, the castle was well-guarded by Kagekatsu's forces, and with the onset of winter the Houjou forces could not advance to Kasugayama.

Finally, with Ujikuni and Takahiro left behind to guard Kabasawa Castle and Kagehiro acting as rear guard, they retreated. The Takeda forces, withdrawing from the lands around Kasugayama Castle, loitered between Kasugayama/Otate and Sakato Castle, in the end acting as a deterrent against Kagetora and Houjou forces. At the end of the year (January in the Gregorian calendar) Kagekatsu married Katsuyori's younger sister.

Having skillfully removed external threats and gathered support within the clan, Kagekatsu decided that the internal war would be resolved before the snow thawed. On the other hand, Kagetora was losing both supporters and castles. On February 2nd (February 27, 1579) Kagekatsu ordered a general offensive against Kagetora at Otate. Kagehiro was killed.

Kagekatsu recaptured Kabasawa Castle from the Houjou. Kagetora escaped from Otate and, with no hope of relief from the Houjou, who were blocked off by snow, sent his eldest son along with Kenshin's adopted father Uesugi Norimasa to negotiate for peace. On the way to Kagekatsu's camp, they were surrounded by Kagekatsu's troops and killed (there are accounts that the order actually came from Kasugayama Castle). On his flight from Otate towards the Kantou, Kagetora stopped at Samegao Castle. There he was betrayed by its master, Horie Munechika, and committed suicide along with his family on March 24th (April 19th, 1579).

Though Kagekatsu won the internal war, he would continue to face resistance from Honjou Hidetsuna, Kanamari Chikatsuna and others, and would not have total control of the clan until a year later.

The Otate no Ran would become one of the underlying reasons for the destruction of the Takeda Clan and the drastic decline of the Uesugi Clan's power.

<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>

Also known as: Pa League

Founded as the Taiheiyo Baseball Union in 1949, it acquired its current name in 1980 and is one of Japan's two major baseball leagues (the other being the Central League). The winner of the league pennant plays the winner of the other league in the Japan Series. The league is comprised of six teams:

- Chiba Lotte Marines (Chiba)
- Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks (Fukuoka)
- Hokkaidou Nippon Ham Fighters (Sapporo)
- Orix Buffaloes (Osaka and Kobe)
- Saitama Seibu Lions (Tokorozawa)
- Touhoku Rakuten Golden Eagles (Sendai)

Lit.: "chaos wave"

An offensive technique of the Takeda.

Also known as: reikon yuudou (霊魂誘導)
Lit.: "Way of Spirit Guidance", a method of freeing the bounds that tie jibakurei to a particular place and luring the spirits elsewhere. Anji reidou is one type of reidouhou.

Also known as: reisa-nouryoku (霊査能力)

Lit.: "Spiritual investigation"; the ability to use the spiritual senses to distinguish between residual thought signatures, and thus recognize spiritual entities. A person with a high-level form of this ability could potentially recognize souls by the pattern of their "soul-nucleus", which is the part of the soul that remains unchanged through purification and rebirth, especially if they had met that person before previously. Haruie and Kousaka both excel at this ability, though Kousaka seems to be one of the few to possess a very high-level form of it.

Lit. "rend-exploding exorcism"; a type of choubuku which uses the incantation "ari nari tonari...." Described as gun-like, as opposed to kouhou-choubuku.

Also known as: Saiga-ikki (雑賀一揆)

The Saiga Sect (or Saiga Revolt) was a band of various locals, clans, and landowners concentrated in the north-western part of Kii Province (now Wakayama City in Wakayama Prefecture). They owned thousands of arquebuses, presenting a considerable military force, and sometimes fought as mercenaries.

Suzuki Magoichi, leader of the Saiga Sect, commanded them in the siege of Ishiyama Hongan Temple against Oda Nobunaga. The Oda army suffered heavy casualties against the Saiga Sect, and even Nobunaga himself was said to have been injured.

In 1580, when Kennyo was driven from Ishiyama Hongan Temple, he took shelter with the Saiga Sect, but the sect split apart into those who wanted to follow Nobunaga and those who wanted to fight him to the bitter end.

After Nobunaga's death, the sect fought Toyotomi Hideyoshi and Tokugawa Ieyasu, but was eventually crushed, and its members scattered and sought service with various daimyo.

The Saitama Seibu Lions are a professional baseball team based in Tokorozawa, Saitama. It was established in 1950 and was a founding member of Japan's Pacific League. Its ballpark is the Seibu Prince Dome, and its team colors are navy-blue, white, and red.

Several Seibu Lions team members also played in Major League Baseball, including Daisuke Matsuzaka (Boston Red Sox, New York Mets and Cleveland Indians) and Kazuo Matsui (New York Mets).

A type of medium-sized fast military boat used from the Warring states period until the Edo period.

The Seven Calamities are misfortunes caused by slandering the True Dharma, but sutras disagree on the actual calamities.

According to the Sutra of the Benevolent King, they are: irregularity in the movement of the sun and moon, extraordinary phenomena in heavenly bodies, fires, floods, typhoons, droughts, and bandits.

According to the Medicine Master Sutra, they are: epidemics, foreign invasions, domestic disturbances, extraordinary phenomena in heavenly bodies, irregularity in the movement of the sun and moon, unseasonable winds and rains, and droughts.

According to the Lotus Sutra, they are: fire, flood, rakshasa, kings, demons, being bound by chains, and bandits.

The Eight Agonies are: living, aging, illness, death, separation from loved ones, everlasting hatred, not getting what one wants, inability to let go.

Lit.: "ceremony god"; spirits summoned through ceremony to do the bidding of the summoner, much like familiars.

An ancient name for Matsumoto, which means "Salt City". The name comes from a story of the Sengoku.

Kai, Takeda Shingen's territory, was a land-locked region which had to import salt from other territories. These rival territories decided to cut off Shingen's salt supply, and Shingen's people suffered. Uesugi Kenshin, whose territory of Echigo bordered the sea, sent him salt on oxen-back with a letter attached: "I fight you, but I fight with bow and arrow, not with rice and salt." The salt arrived on Jan. 10th, 1568, and a festival was held in Matsumoto to celebrate its arrival.

This festival has now become the Ame-Ichi.

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.

Invocation of the dead, which is a spell that draws spirits to a certain place.

Lit.: "guardian spirit"—spirits who act to protect or benefit people instead of harming them like the onryou do. These spirits are off-limits for exorcism for the Yasha-shuu.

A type of thin Japanese noodle made from buckwheat flour, served either chilled with dipping sauce or hot in noodle broth.

Lit.: "All village"

Souson were autonomous, self-governing village-collectives formed during Japan's Middle Ages. Their golden age was in the mid-Muromachi Period. During this time, Souson formed relationships with territory kami in order to protect their autonomy, with some of the more influential people of the village becoming samurai to various lords—the jizamurai, or "land samurai".

During the Sengoku Period, Souson fell rapidly to the various area daimyo's drive for territory, and were eliminated altogether under Toyotomi Hideyoshi.