Sengoku Period

Estudio comparativo histórico-militar entre dos concepciones aparentemente lejanas, pero en el fondo coincidentes, de la caballería a ambos lados del mundo. Para ello, acotaremos el espacio temporal en el feudalismo: la Plena y Tardía Edad Media europea (siglos XI-XV), y la Era Feudal japonesa (Períodos Kamakura, Muromachi y Azuchi-Momoyama, siglos XII-XVI) atendiendo a los rasgos más característicos de la caballería en ambas culturas, así como a sus similitudes y diferencias. Y no sólo en el plano estrictamente militar, sino también en el socio-cultural, con especial atención a los valores caballerescos y al estatus aristocrático asociados al auge de los caballeros y los samuráis.

Con la llegada de los primeros europeos a Japón durante la primera mitad del siglo XVI, una nueva arma desconocida hasta la fecha en aquellas tierras, hará aparición y cambiará por completo las reglas de la guerra que hasta ese momento habían estado vigentes en el país. Con su perfeccionamiento y producción en masa por armeros japoneses, se convertirá en un instrumento indispensable para los distintos daimios inmersos en continuas luchas y para la consecución de la unidad de todo Japón bajo el régimen de los Tokugawa.

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When we look at the literature on the foreign relations during the Edo period, we frequently encounter one term: Sakoku, literally meaning the closed country. This policy had been identified as an isolation of the country, no foreign relations on diplomatic level and little trade with China and Holland in Nagasaki. This is partly true, except that Japan had diplomatic relationships with Korea and Ryukyu islands carried out by Tozama daimyo, which needs to be analyzed closely. Thus, applying a Eurocentric view on the foreign policy of Tokugawa Bakufu and claiming that country had been shut down and no diplomatic relationship continued. However, we will see in this paper that, sakoku is a term that its meaning should not to be reduced to just isolation, and foreign relations of Japan during Edo period had many aspects and was not as simple as to explain with just one term.

In the year 1582, Nobunaga was suddenly killed by his vassal, Akechi Mitsuhide. To this day, Nobunaga’s assassination remains one of the greatest mysteries of Japanese history. Nobody knows why Akechi Mitsuhide at the last minute suddenly decided to betray Nobunaga. This event is so legendary that it has been ingrained into popular culture. Lots of Japanese films and TV shows make subtle references to Mitsuhide’s betrayal, in the same way that people in the West reference the Ides of March.  Mitsuhide’s betrayal has permeated so far into the public consciousness that there are even a bunch of popular superstitions about it. For example, last year when I visited Mt. Kōya, one of the holy mountains of Japan, I stumbled across Akechi Mitsuhide’s grave. The grave itself was nothing special, but what was unique about it was that it had a massive crack running through the middle of it.  The local priest told me that no matter how many times the grave was fixed, the crack came back. He told me that the ghost of Akechi Mitsuhide cannot rest as he still has a strong attachment to this world. He has been remembered as a villain and painted as a traitor. I personally think it’s time that we let poor Mitsuhide pass onto the next life and give him the history that he deserves. Now let’s unravel the mystery of Nobunaga’s death.

Lo que se pretende con este trabajo es  hacer un análisis de la evolución del ejército de
Japón a lo largo de los siglos, desgranando para ello las distintas partes que se han ido
incorporando al mismo conforme se ha vuelto una organización más compleja. Japón,
además, es un país que ha ido muy  de la mano con lo militar en lo que respecta a su
historia; tal es el caso del Sengoku Jidai, que tuvo unas consecuencias fundamentales
para  el  futuro  desarrollo  del  país  y  sin  el  cual  no  podría  entenderse  al  país  nipón
actualmente.  El  trabajo  pretende  reflejar,  por  tanto,  cómo  evoluciona  la  civilización
japonesa desde el siglo IX, donde surgen los ejércitos de hasta mil hombres y el código
de conducta en batallas, hasta el siglo XVII, cuando sube al poder Tokugawa  Ieyasu,
fundador  del  Shogunato  Tokugawa,  tercer  y  último  gobierno  militar  de  la  historia  de
Japón.
El trabajo está planteado de tal modo que inicialmente se entienda de manera  clara  y
concisa de dónde surgen todas y cada una de las clases que formaban parte del ejército
durante  el  Período  Sengoku.  Aplicar  este  planteamiento  supone,  además,  un
conocimiento de los cambios de la época que propulsaron la creación de cada clase. Tal
es el caso de los arcabuceros, clase creada en el Sengoku cuando los portugueses llegan
a Tanegashima con arcabuces para comerciar, o el caso de los  ashigaru, clase que ha
visto una evolución progresiva mediante ascensión de la escala jerárquica militar. Sin
embargo,  dado  que  el  tema  principal  del  trabajo  radica  en  el  aspecto  técnico  de  la
evolución  del  ejército  y  no  de  la  evolución  mediante  la  política,  el  trabajo  tiene  un
importante componente de descripciones de tipos de tropas, armas, formación, etc.
Una  vez  se  llega  a  hablar  en  el  trabajo  del  Sengoku  Jidai,  se  comentan  las  etapas
posteriores  (Azuchi-Momoyama  y  Edo)  con  fines  ilustrativos  de  mostrar  la  máxima
complejidad  a  la  que  llegan  algunas  clases  del  ejército.  Es  por  ello  que  dos  de  los
grandes apartados del trabajo tratan de “la clase samurái” y “la clase  hatamoto” vistas
desde la perspectiva de su punto álgido de desarrollo: el Período Edo. Este es el caso,
especialmente, de  la clase  hatamoto, cuyas nuevas incorporaciones como la Guardia de
Escolta o la ampliación  de compañías de la  Gran Guardia son avances  que deben ser
tratados como una extensión de la base formada en el Sengoku Jidai.
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En  el  trabajo  se  aprovecha  la  posibilidad  de  aplicar  ejemplos  de  actuación  de
determinadas  clases  en  batallas  acontecidas  principalmente  en  el  Sengoku  Jidai  o
incluso en Azuchi-Momoyama. En el trabajo se tratan algunas batallas desde  un punto
de vista táctico y de despliegue de tropas, como es el caso de la Batalla de Okehazama o
del Asedio de Inabayama. Incluso se tratan campañas con distintos contextos históricos
centradas  en  la  figura  de  Toyotomi  Hideyoshi:  la  campaña  de  conquista  de  los
territorios  del  clan  Mori  y  la  campaña  de  conquista  de  Corea.  En  los  casos  de  las
campañas, se procura analizar los diversos movimientos de tropas en todos los bandos
beligerantes, así como comentar su fuerza de batalla, geografía y posibilidades tácticas.
El caso de Corea es especial, pues permite hacer un contraste entre la tecnología militar
de Japón y la de Corea, con sus diversos tipos de armas, navíos y castillos.
Uno de los conceptos más importantes que se repite a lo largo del trabajo con distintos
ejemplos  es  el  rol  de  la  clase  militar  “en  tiempos  de  paz”.  Esto  comprendía,
principalmente, el Período Edo. Por lo tanto, es necesario hacer un análisis del rol que
podían  desempeñar  cargos  como  los  metsuke  cuando  no  había  guerras  que  combatir.
Este caso de tregua sirve, además, para acercarse a la clase samurái viéndola como una
clase con interés en lo cultural (orientado a la cultura aplicable al ejército) y como una
clase formada en aspectos administrativos.
A  lo  largo  de  este  trabajo  habrá  diversos  puntos  que  no  traten  explícitamente  de  las
batallas,  campañas  militares  o  figuras  de  generales,  pero  no  por  ello  serán
independientes al tema que se pretende tratar. Lo militar no sólo era aquello aplicado a
la guerra, sino a los demás aspectos de la sociedad japonesa entre los siglos IX y XVII.
Respecto al trato de las fuentes, el trabajo está mayormente fundamentado en parte de la
bibliografía  del  conocido  historiador  Stephen  Turnbull,  especializado  en  Historia
Militar  de  Japón.  Se  han  utilizado  como  guías  para  orientar  este  trabajo  sus  obras
Toyotomi Hideyoshi, con el fin de establecer una línea temporal detallada de los sucesos
acaecidos en el Sengoku Jidai,  The Samurai Campaign of Korea 1592-1598, con el fin
de poder tener una fuente centrada en la organización de una campaña militar de gran
envergadura,  así  como  Samurái:  El  Manual  del  Guerrero  Japonés  y  Hatamoto:
Samurái Horse and Foot Guards 1540-1724  para tener un análisis detallado de ambas
clases militares. 
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Sumado a estos cuatro libros de Turnbull, principales fuentes del trabajo, se ha utilizado
el capítulo tres del libro  War in the Early Modern World  de Jeremy Black, historiador
militar.  Este  capítulo,  en  concreto,  está  dedicado  a  establecer  un  cierto  orden
cronológico  antes  del  Sengoku  Jidai  desde  un  punto  de  vista  militar,  que  es
precisamente lo que se pretende transmitir en este trabajo. Este capítulo, en concreto, ha
sido muy útil a la hora de complementar la información pre-Sengoku extraída de libros
que tratan este tema de manera muy específica como el caso de Samurái o Hatamoto.

El final del siglo XVI en Japón fue una época convulsa en la que varias facciones en un mar de alianzas cambiantes pugnaban por conseguir la supremacía. Tres grandes personajes aparecen en esta época, cuya labor conjunta consiguió unificar el país y crear un período de relativa paz: Oda Nobunaga, Toyotomi Hideyoshi y Tokugawa Ieyasu. En este artículo hacemos un repaso de cuatro conjuntos característicos que tomaron parte en la contienda: las élites locales, los samurai, figura icónica de Japón; los ashigaru, tropas profesionales que, al final de este período, adquieren el rango de samurai; los legendarios shinobi, mundialmente conocidos como ninja; y los sōhei, un colectivo heterogéneo de monjes guerreros. Hablaremos sobre el origen de cada una de estas figuras, su formación militar, su panoplia y su papel en la batalla; finalizando con una mención sobre su destino una vez terminado el período de guerras.

El 23 de septiembre de 1543, tres mercaderes portugueses a bordo de un junco chino llegaron al extremo suroeste de Japón, descubriendo finalmente aquella tierra maravillosa que Marco Polo había contado en sus viajes y que tanto había buscado Colón. En 1549 harán acto de presencia los primeros misioneros cristianos, liderados por el jesuita Francisco Javier, para evangelizar a sus gentes. Sus esperanzas eran grandes, y pese a las dificultades, consiguieron convertir a unas 300.000 personas en todo el país. Con el ascenso de una nueva dinastía de shogunes a comienzos del siglo XVII, y tras haber logrado unificar Japón bajo un único gobierno, las suspicacias contra las actividades de los occidentales establecidos en el país comenzaron a crecer. La propagación del cristianismo fue vista como un peligro para la estabilidad del nuevo régimen político, y con el estallido de una revuelta campesina entre 1637 y 1638 en una provincia fuertemente cristianizada, el shogunato dará rienda suelta a una violenta persecución que acabará conduciendo al total aislamiento del país hasta mediados del siglo XIX. Esa etapa de Japón es conocida como el Siglo Cristiano, y esta fue su historia. Este libro contiene, traducida por vez primera al español, el Kirishitan monogatari (Historia de los Cristianos), crónica japonesa anónima del siglo XVII.

Publicación completamente gratuita.

RESUMEN El objetivo de este ensayo es explorar la historia de los misioneros y comerciantes portugueses en Japón desde una perspectiva tanto económica como política. Los eventos a comentar empiezan con las primeras exploraciones y asentamientos portugueses en las Indias Orientales para después cambiar al establecimiento de las primeras misiones en Japón y el comercio Nanban, concluyendo con la política de aislación. El texto pondrá especial empeño en subrayar las complejas relaciones entre el progreso de la empresa jesuita, el desarrollo político e institucional en el Japón del Sengoku y la evolución del comercio portugués. ABSTRACT The objective of essay is to explore the history of 16 th /17 th Century Portuguese missionaries and traders in Japan from a political as well as economic perspective. The events discussed will begin from the early Portuguese explorations and settlements in the East Indies, then shifting to the establishment of the first missions in Japan and the Nanban trade, concluding with the isolation policy. The text will put special effort in highlighting the complex relationships between the progress of the Jesuit enterprise, the political and institutional developments of Sengoku Japan and the evolution of Portuguese commerce.

The animated adaptation of the InuYasha manga, written and illustrated by Takahashi Rumiko, is regularly at the top of the rankings for series released at the beginning of this century as the most loved by anime fans. Its mix of shōjo and shōnen elements, its dynamic animation and the undeniable chemistry between its protagonists are some of the elements that continue to attract fans from all over the world. However, there is a key factor that acts as a basis for the good development of the whole series and that, most of the time, goes unnoticed: its detailed setting which combines fantastic elements with a realistic representation of the 16th century Japanese civil war period known as Sengoku. In this article, we will carry out a comparative analysis between what is known about the way of life during "the era of the warring states" and the world in which the adventures of Inuyasha and his group take place, with the aim of determining whether the magic well of the Higurashi shrine is capable of transporting to those remote days not only the protagonist Kagome, but also the spectator.

The animated adaptation of the InuYasha manga, written and illustrated by Takahashi Rumiko, is regularly at the top of the rankings for series released at the beginning of this century as the most loved by anime fans. Its mix of shōjo and shōnen elements, its dynamic animation and the undeniable chemistry between its protagonists are some of the elements that continue to attract fans from all over the world. However, there is a key factor that acts as a basis for the good development of the whole series and that, most of the time, goes unnoticed: its detailed setting which combines fantastic elements with a realistic representation of the 16th century Japanese civil war period known as Sengoku. In this article, we will carry out a comparative analysis between what is known about the way of life during "the era of the warring states" and the world in which the adventures of Inuyasha and his group take place, with the aim of determining whether the magic well of the Higurashi shrine is capable of transporting to those remote days not only the protagonist Kagome, but also the spectator.

Researching the tactical and operational aspects of the Battle of Nagashino (Oda vs. Takeda, Japan, 1575), it became apparent that because most early historians were primarily
concerned with the political results, there has been little critical analysis of the military action in the main textual source accounts. Most of what is “known” about Nagashino comes from four sixteenth-century sources, two of which, the Shinchôki and the Shinchôkôki, have become the central texts in two competing narratives of the battle. Oze Hoan’s Shinchôki is the basis for the popular image of Nagashino, seen most vividly in the final scene of Kurosawa’s movie Kagemusha and unfortunately too often uncritically accepted as fact by Western military historians, particularly those looking for non-Western examples of “military revolution.” Scholarship since the 1990’s has focused more on the version of events depicted by Ôta Gyûichi, a witness to the battle, in his Shinchôkôki. These two sources define the parameters of discourse on Nagashino, despite the existence of at least seven other textual source accounts. In the absence of significant archaeological investigation of the battlefield, further analysis of Nagashino requires critical reinterpretation and comparison of textual sources combined with analysis of the physical environment (terrain) and composition of the combatant forces. These together are necessary to disentangle the two competing narratives and develop a more comprehensive understanding.

This presentation focuses on tracing the narrative development of the popular conception of Nagashino that we see represented in Kurosawa's "Kagemusha", paying attention to the intertextual relationships between the main narrative sources, scholar's interpretations of them over time, and popular culture representations. To conclude, I analyze the Nagashino depiction in Kagemusha, highlighting which narratives from which each image was taken and why, and what other research tells us in comparison.

In 1555, just six years after arriving in Japan, missionaries from the Society of Jesus founded a small medical clinic in the city of Funai (modern-day Ōita). This was the first European hospital in all of East Asia, and historians have often regarded it as the beginning of a scientific revolution, a revolution which would eventually see the official adoption of Western medicine in Japan along with the marginalization of Eastern techniques. This article seeks an alternative perspective. It argues that there is some misunderstanding as to the nature
of the Jesuit hospital. The historical sources in fact indicate that it was largely designed by, directed by, and staffed by the local Japanese Christians. Because of this, it functioned much like a Buddhist temple sanatorium. It had buildings of a similar architectural style, and its patients were treated in a similar way, receiving both Chinese medicine and Western surgery. The primary goal of the Jesuit hospital was not to introduce exotic medical techniques, but rather to offer appropriate social and spiritual support to the community.

While researching the tactical facts surrounding the Battle of Nagashino, three historiographic issues became apparent.  First, most secondary authors were not concerned with how the actual battle itself was conducted, but rather the political results it influenced. Second, authors who did concern themselves with how the battle was actually fought failed to critically evaluate their sources, primary or secondary, and privileged one of two competing primary source texts over a comprehensive analytical comparison. This despite the existence of at least nine primary sources accounts, each containing the contradictions, biases, and flaws to be expected from historical documents. Third, despite the suggestion of a few historians that archaeology and terrain analysis might be useful to clear up some of the controversies surrounding Nagashino, no such analysis had been completed in detail. Accordingly, historians arguing the assorted controversies surrounding Nagashino, such as numbers and emplacement of guns by the Oda or the reasons for Takeda Katsuyori’s ill-fated assault on Oda positions, are basing their positions on flawed historical interpretations. Therefore, this paper focuses on tracing the historiography of the battle, outlining the interpretive flaws, and explaining how alternative analytical approaches to Nagashino are necessary to resolve outstanding controversies. This sets up a subsequent analysis of Nagashino using military doctrinal concepts to suggest possible solutions and further avenues of research.

The Battle of Nagashino (Japan, 1575) is often simplistically described as a victory of one force armed with technologically advanced firearms (the Oda and Tokugawa) against a more “traditional” force (the Takeda). This attention on firearms as the focal point of the battle has made Nagashino an academic “battleground” between proponents and detractors of technological military revolution. Unfortunately, this debate has shifted focus from all other factors that contributed to Oda & Tokugawa victory over the Takeda. This paper asserts that an Oda/Tokugawa victory at Nagashino occurred as the result of a sophisticated and complex tactical plan, and that of central and critical importance to this plan was the control of information.
Oda Nobunaga’s information dominance over Takeda Katsuyori set the conditions for a decisive tactical victory. Nobunaga was able to gain an accurate picture of his enemy and the terrain through reconnaissance, forces familiar with the local area, and messages from the besieged Nagashino Castle which detailed Katsuyori’s force and actions. Nobunaga then denied Katsuyori the same information by camouflaging his army’s movements and deploy counter reconnaissance forces to eliminate the Takeda’s ability to gather tactical intelligence. Lastly, Nobunaga actively provided disinformation to Katsuyori in a grand deception effort that led Katsuyori to do exactly what his enemy wanted.
Rather than a technological victory, Nagashino should be viewed as an intelligence victory, and evidence of sophisticated integration of intelligence, deception, and tactics to achieve decisive effect.

Most people familiar with Japanese military history know of the Battle of Nagashino (1575). The greater political ramifications of Oda Nobunaga’s elimination of Takeda Katsuyori as a significant threat have been explored in great detail; the differences in force composition and employment, primarily Nobunaga’s use of firearms, have been used to both support and attack the deterministic concept of a “Military Revolution” theory based upon technological change; and the dramatic image of the Takeda cavalry charging into the guns of the Oda has made for entertaining literary, movie, and television drama. We know, however, that most of our perception of Nagashino comes from inherently flawed laudatory biographies of Oda Nobunaga or histories approved by the ruling Tokugawa Bakufu decades after the battle took place. More recent research looks at the battlefield terrain and archaeological traces to fill in the missing blanks in the official accounts and artistic representations.  My analysis applies current military doctrinal processes to the decisions and actions of the primary combatants at Nagashino in an effort to rationally answer some of the outstanding discrepancies unresolved by textual research. Taking care to recognize that the Sixteenth-century samurai was not a professional soldier in the same sense as current military officers, and also remaining cognizant of the biases of a doctrinal system descended from a Western line of military thinking, I attempt, as a current member of the military profession, to recreate the decision making processes of both sides of the engagement, identify the critical factors that led to the definitive result, and suggest answers for the informational gaps left by the historical record. The desired analytical result is to twofold: first, provide an additional perspective on Nagashino to the specialized historian that contributes to the collective understanding of how the  Sixteenth-century Japanese engaged in the planning, command, and execution of warfare; secondly, to include the Battle of Nagashino in the discussion of historical lessons learned applicable to current students of military theory.

[Comunicação apresentada no 5º Simpósio Eletrônico Internacional de História oriental]

Esta comunicação apresenta considerações em torno da peça teatral Kirishitan Nobunaga (1926), do dramaturgo japonês Osanai Kaoru. Esta peça em um ato traz aos palcos um debate ocorrido no ano de 1569 entre o padre jesuíta Luís Fróis e o monge budista Asayama Nichijō, mediado por uma das principais figuras do período Sengoku: Oda Nobunaga. Diante dos limites que circunscrevem uma comunicação, foco a análise na representação de duas personagens centrais da peça: o sacerdote português e o monge japonês. Ao fim, conjeturo possíveis razões que teriam levado o dramaturgo a recriar este encontro quinhentista em pleno século XX japonês.

[Text presented at the 5th International Electronic Symposium of Oriental History]

This article presents considerations around the play Kirishitan Nobunaga (1926), by the Japanese playwright Osanai Kaoru. This one-act play brings to the stage a debate that took place in 1569 between the Jesuit priest Luís Fróis and the Buddhist monk Asayama Nichijō, mediated by one of the leading figures of the Sengoku period: Oda Nobunaga. I focus the analysis on the representation of two characters in the play: the Catholic priest and the Buddhist monk. Then, I present possible reasons that would have led the playwright to recreate this 16th-century encounter in Japan’s 20th century

Los videojuegos ambientados en el periodo Sengoku son tan numerosos y populares que han llegado a constituir un subgénero propio, los Sengoku jidai gêmu. Dentro de estos videojuegos, tres figuras son especialmente representadas, los llamados «Tres Pacificadores de Japón»: Oda Nobunaga (1534-1582), Toyotomi Hideyoshi (1537-1598) y Tokugawa Ieyasu (1543-1616), principales artífices de la paz y unificación del país. Y de todos ellos, el primero es, sin duda, el que más ha sido representado. En este artículo se hace un recorrido por las distintas manifestaciones del daimyô apodado el Rey Demonio del Sexto Cielo a lo largo de la historia de los vidoejuegos, desde los años setenta hasta la actualidad.