Dr. Zen And Hosokawa

The battles that were fought during The Gempei War were very important in the history of the samurai. They set a new and honorable standard for all samurai to live by. These standards would last throughout the existence of the samurai warrior. The Gempei War provided a role model for Japanese samurai’s courageous and noble behavior (Turnbull 14). Almost all the important characteristics attributed the samurai culture came out of the Gempei war; “Archery, hand-to-hand fighting, undying loyalty to one’s lord and the tremendous tradition of ritual suicide all have key passages and proof texts in the tales of the Gempi War”(Turnbull 15).

In that case, the World War I should be taken as a total war since it was a complete contrast to the sort of limited wars that were experienced in the 18th century that were always small, where people did try to avoid battle; they made sure that they did not touch the society nor continue with the trading systems

War can be defined as “an active struggle between competing entities. It’s truly hard to tell who is right or wrong during a war. Both sides are fighting for what they believe in and what is true to their heart. In the end there is always two things promised – destruction and death. These two objects can explain the result in every facet of war from the physical to emotional.

In 1159, Kiyomori of the Taira clan was victorious over the Minamoto clan. Kiyomori murdered all the adults of the Monamoto clan and forced the children into exile. The emperor rewarded Kiyomori victory by giving him an advisor position in the government. This event was significant because Kiyomori was the first warrior in Japan’s government. Like the Fujiwara family, Kiyomori desired a royal bloodline within the Taira clan. So the Taira clan consorted with the imperial family in efforts to secure an imperial bloodline. Later, Kiyomori obtain a higher government position and more importantly a grandson was born and is heir to the throne. Feeling cheated an imperial prince sought the exiled Minamoto to overthrow the Taria clan. In 1180, Yoritomo of the Minamoto clan formed an army and battled with Taira clan that is known as the Genpei War. Eventually, Kiyomori died and the Taria clan shortly declined after him. During these battles warriors ran amok pillaging the Japan’s cuntryside. To end the chaos and violence the imperial turned to Yoritomo. Yoritomo in return raise an army of samurais and took complete control of the government and transformed it into a military government. The Kamakura government consisted of the emperor, shogun, and the house men. The emperor served merely as a figurehead, he little to no control of his government. The shogun had

The emperor is an important religious figure, he swapped lands swapped land with nobles exchange for their support for he couldn't handle all the land far far away from him. In the shogunate period the emperor didn't have much power for the shoguns had basically controlled the government.

War: a state of armed conflict between different nations or states or different groups within a nation or state. War is inevitable. Especially in the cases in which one country has a desire to break free from another country and/or its influences. This, at least, was the basic reason as to why the Vietnam war and the Revolutionary war started. As a matter of fact, these two wars are strangely similar. The Revolutionary war and the Vietnam war are alike because, they had similar war strategies, they had similar characteristics, and most importantly, they had the same reasons for going to war. Moreover, these two wars are strangely alike.

Under the daimyos, warfare changed from heroic combat to a more modern conflict. The constant state of war damaged the Japanese economy and because of that, some peasants engaged in futile rebellions against

a. The Ahikaga bakufu collapsed in 1467 over a dispute about who would be the next

By the 900’s, the Japanese government began losing control over rural areas due to its weak ruler and the samurai warrior class stepped in to take control. This was due to a civil war called the “Hogen Rebellion” in 1156. This rebellion was due to conflicts regarding Imperial Japanese succession and unexpectedly laid the groundwork for the samurai clans to gain dominance. With both “would-be emperors” losing the Hogen Rebellion, the imperial government of Japan lost all of its remaining power. This led to the Heiji Rebellion in 1160 which was fought between two samurai clans, the Minamoto and Taira. With the victory of the Taira clan, the first samurai-led government (Shogunate) was formed. This type of government was controlled by the samurai clans, and the Emperor of Japan was only used as a figurehead to the government.

The death of emperor Hideyoshi and subsequent ascension to the throne of Hideyori in 1598 set into motion events that would alter the political landscape in Japan for the next two hundred and fifty years. Tokugawa Ieyasu, in his quest to become absolute ruler of Japan defeated Hideyori loyalists in the battle of Sekigahara and was appointed Shogun by Hideyori in 1603. This military “coup d’état” effectively gave Tokugawa complete control of Japan and reduced the emperor to little more than a figurehead in the governing of Japan. As history would show, the feudal system of government that Tokugawa created ultimately led to

The Ōnin War was a civil war that erupted in 1467 and lasted for the upcoming 10 years in Japan. A conflict occurred between two samurais, families of the warrior caste, close to the Ashikaga Shogun, who both had mansions that acted as military

‘War’ as defined by Webster’s Dictionary is a state of open and declared, hostile armed conflict between states or nations. Voltaire—the human personification of the Enlightenment period—says the following: “Famine, plague, and war are the three most famous ingredients of this wretched world…All animals are perpetually at war with each other…Air, earth and water are arenas of destruction. Defining war has been a political issue for centuries, and it poses a philosophical problem. Most philosophers will agree on war being a clash of arms, or a state of mutual tension between nations or states, distinguishing it from open rebellions, riots, and personal violence.

Another evident sign of the declining of the samurai was Yoshida's lack of faith in what he called the third group, "those who were with Oishi in his plan to get the castle restored, but who were suddenly unavailable when it came to embarking on the road to vengeance." (P.172) This proved to be true, as certain developments began unfolding, the original 300 ronin who pledged allegiance, dwindled down to 47. The decline of the samurai was also evident in the house of Uesugi as well, and after the successful assassination of Kira, a messenger from the Shogun's council arrived before Lord Uesugi to carry out the Shogunate's official decrees. Lord Kira's grandson, Sayhoe, was to disembowel himself for his inability to fight to the death in defense of his kinsmen. Secondly, the retainers who fled without aiding their kinsmen were to be beheaded and cast adrift as ronin. Lastly, since Lord Uesugi failed to act on behalf of Kira, his domain is ordered to be ceased forever. The official decrees of the Shogunate all display the decline of the samurai under the house of Uesugi.

The 1180 through 1185 Gempei War between the Japanese Taira and Minamoto clans is often pointed to as an example of the Japanese warrior ethic. The Heike Monogatari traditionally would argue that this is true, however, the reality of the 12th-century conflict paints a much different story. Analysis of the war shows that the deciding factors of the war were not necessarily the military strength of the Minamoto, but instead it was a brilliant and lucky political chess game played by Minamoto Yoritomo. Yoritomo was able to develop strategic alliances with local lords across eastern Japan and benefited from

In the middle of 1181, Yoritomo made a surprising offer to the Taira that called for the partition of the country between the two families, with Yoritomo taking the eastern half of the country. Despite some favorable murmers from the Court, the Taira dismissed the notion out of hand. Yoritomo's offer is in any event an odd one. He had, after all, been operating quite without concern for Kyoto since the previous summer and was at this point more or less immune to a direct Taira attack. It may well be then, as some scholars have suggested, that Yoritomo was hoping to head off the threat represented by Minamoto (Kiso) Yoshinaka. Also known as Kiso Yoshinaka (from the area of Shinano he hailed from), this rough and tumble warrior was to prove an immediate threat to the Taira - and to Yoritomo's claims of Minamoto leadership.