Chapter III: History of the Empire to the Death of Nobu Nanga (2)

In 1332, Otonomia, Nitta, and Koosinoki met at Chi wa ya, a castle near Miako. While the Kamakura army of Hojio overcame the other detachments, they were repulsed by that under Koosinoki. Nitta Yoshi assembled an army in the province of Kowotski. Troops were sent against him from Kamakura, but after several engagements he marched upon and sacked and burned that town. Among the officers of the Hojio party some were killed in battle, others were beheaded, and many killed themselves. Among the last was Taka toki. His son had his throat cut. In Kiusiu the Hojio party was defeated by Owotomo, who seized the governor, whose life was saved, but all the other members of the Hojio family, who had been so overbearing during their period of rule, were massacred by the people. Their authority, which had been paramount for years in Kamakura, and thence in the empire, was completely broken down.

Godaigo was restored to the throne. He had not improved by adversity, and was weak in his character. He removed all the officers in place, and, against the advice of his friends and ministers, conferred rank and power on Ashikanga Taka ooji, who had entered into a conspiracy against him, and who afterward became the most powerful man in the empire and founder of a long line of Shiogoons. The Emperor gave to those who had assisted him large landed possessions: to Ashikanga, the provinces of Hitatsi, Musasi, and Simosa; to Nitta Yoshi Sada, Kowotski and Harima; and to his son, Etsingo; to Koosinoki, Setsu and Kawadsi; and to others in proportion. Mori Yosi, the royal priest, had been appointed Shiogoon, but at the instance of Ashikanga was imprisoned and deposed. The Emperor had been warned against Ashikanga by Madenga koji chika foossa, his minister, in vain. This minister was the author, in 1341, of the “Shoku gen sho,” the red book of the court of Miako.

The war which was now commencing is known as the war between the Northern and Southern Emperors--the Hokko cho and the Nancho. Each party set up one Emperor after another, while the war raged under generals who were fighting for the office of commander-in-chief rather than for the empire. Ashikanga and Nitta, Koosinoki and Hossokawa, Kikootchi and Owotomo, were the prominent leaders; while Godaigo, as Emperor of the South, was succeeded by Go mura Kami, retaining possession of, during a series of misfortunes, the three insignia of imperial power. On the other hand, Ko gen, called False Emperor, was succeeded as Emperor of the North by his brother Komio, who abdicated in favor of Sh’ko, who was taken prisoner, and Ko ngong took his place; but he and both his predecessors fell into the hands of their opponent. After the destruction of Kamakura and the downfall of the Hojio family in 1332, the theater of war changed to the neighborhood of Miako. Yoshi mitz, afterward the great Ashikanga, was appointed Shiogoon in 1367, when he was ten years of age. On both sides treachery on the part of the generals seems to have been a trivial and common occurrence; and this is not surprising, inasmuch as there was no principle involved, and no party-cry to rally under. Each general was fighting for himself and for his own advancement, while the opposing Emperors looked on apparently without much feeling or interest in the question at issue. By this war in the island of Kiusiu the family of Satsuma largely increased its power and possessions at the expense of Kikootchi.

In the year 1392, by the mediation of O-ooji, lord of the provinces in the west part of Nippon, peace was brought about. He induced the Emperor of the South to bring to Miako the three emblems, and to give them up to his rival, accepting the title of Dai jio ten wo. Thenceforward both Emperors lived in Miako, Go ko matz reigning. During the first troublous times Ashikanga had been strengthening his position, enriching himself and rising in rank and favor to the highest position to which a subject could attain. He built a splendid house for himself in Muro Matchi Street, called the Palace of Flowers, and two others called respectively the Gold and Silver Houses, which were large enough to be taken away in pieces (after his death) and form parts of different temples, of which these parts are still looked upon as the chief ornaments. Such is the temple of Tchikuboo shima in the Great Lake. The titles given him were the head of the Gen family: Joone san goo--_i.e._, as the Emperor’s second son--and Dai Shiogoon. He was at length, before he was forty, raised to be Dai jo dai jin, and during the following year he gave up his titles and place, and, shaving his head, retired under the Buddhist name of Zensan, or Heavenly Mountain. He moved about with a style and equipage similar to that used by the Emperor. He sent an embassy to China, and received an answer, in which he was styled Nippon wo or King of Japan. The Emperor visited him, and conferred on him the title of Kubosama--Kubo being the title of the father or predecessor of the Emperor after abdication, sama implying that he is equal to or “the same as.” He was the first to whom the title was given, and it is still a title which is conferred by the Emperor, and is not inherent in any office. He died in 1408. The office of Shiogoon became hereditary in the family of Ashikanga, and henceforth the position of Kwanrei or Minister to the Shiogoon was aspired to as conveying the chief power in the empire. Kamakura was still the usual residence of this officer. Eight families were set apart, from among whom it was eligible to name the Kwanrei, chief among whom were Hossokawa, Hatake yama, and Ooyay soongi--the family of Hossokawa being at this time the most powerful. After the death of the great Ashikanga, his descendants were unable to wield the power which he had transmitted to them. He does not seem to have established any powerful government throughout the empire, but would appear to have held what he had seized rather from the country being tired of civil war than from any great administrative talent in himself. During the century which followed, civil war seems to have been the normal state of Japan--one man after another rising to seize the reins--at one time at Miako, at another at Kamakura. No one chief was able to reduce the whole empire to a settled state of tranquillity. If one rose a little above his compeers, they combined against him; while the monasteries and religious sects were so powerful as to be able to insure success to whatever side they gave their influence and assistance. This state of things continued till Nobu nanga gradually rose out of the crowd, and struck down the power of these Buddhist sects.

1410. While the appointment of a Dai or great Shiogoon was kept up at Miako, an inferior officer, with the title of Shiogoon only, was placed in Kamakura, with a minister under him. The men who filled both offices were still of the Ashikanga family. When so many high offices were held by powerful chiefs, jealousy was excited, and this kept up a state of constant civil war in some parts of the country. The three rich provinces of Bizen, Mimesaka, and Harima were taken from the owner, Akamatz, who to revenge himself invited the Dai Shiogoon to a banquet and assassinated him. He in turn committed suicide, and his territory was divided.

In 1414 the three emblems were stolen, but were afterward recovered. The family of Hossokawa was rising to power and wealth at Kamakura, while that of Ashikanga was on the wane.

In 1415, for the first time, an act was passed by the ruling powers known as a Tokusayay. This is a law suddenly passed, by which all mercantile engagements are at an end and all debts cancelled. This act of arbitrary, high-handed injustice has been carried out over and over again in Japan, and is generally the act of some high officer who has borrowed money largely. Whether it was carried to the full extent stated may be doubted, but it has been the cause of much trouble and anxiety.

In 1462 Ashikanga nari ooji, son of the former Shiogoon of Kamakura, was obliged to fly to Ko nga in the province of Simotsuki.

In 1466 the war known in history as the “Onin” commenced, and lasted during the following eleven years. The dispute arose between two sons of the chief Shibba, in which the late Shiogoon and his successor took opposite sides. This was the breeze which fanned the smoldering flame arising in the desire on the part of the wife of the abdicated Shiogoon that her son should be nominated to succeed, otherwise he would be compelled to shave his head and become a priest. The whole country around Miako was desolated by war and slaughter, great excesses being committed, during which houses, temples, libraries, and documents of value were destroyed, and, as might have been expected, a famine occurred in 1472. This, together with the death of the generals commanding on both sides--Yamana Sozeng and Hossokawa--led to a cessation of hostilities in 1474, when some years of quiet and peace followed.

1487. The famous Ota do Kwang was assassinated by Sadamasa. An anecdote related of him is often taken as a subject by Japanese artists. He was out hawking when a heavy rain came on. Seeing a little cottage, he with his attendants went to ask for a grass rain-coat. A beautiful young woman came out, and upon his asking for what he wanted, she went to the garden, pulled a branch of a flower, and kneeling down presented it to the gentleman. Looking at the plant, he at once perceived that she was modestly making a play upon the word rain-coat, the plant being known by the name of “no seed,” which implied also by a turn of words that she had no rain-coat to give him.

1487. War again broke out between the Shiogoon and Sasaki in the province of Oomi, which lasted for three or four years, when the Shiogoon fled to the territories of O-ooji, then chief of the western provinces of Nippon.

About 1494 the family of Hojio of Odawara took its rise in the person of Zinkio, who had been a merchant in Isse, but whose genius seems to have been military, and who was known afterward as Hojio so woon. He seized whatever territory in the Kwanto and around the castle of Odawara he could lay his hands upon. During these periods this unfortunate country was not only desolated by civil war and all its horrors, but it suffered severely in addition from convulsions of nature. In 1472 a famine arose as the concomitant of war. In 1475 a very extensive earthquake occurred on the sixth day of the eighth month, when a wave from the sea, during a temporary subsidence of the earth, carried away at one sweep a large part of the lower quarter of the city of Osaka. In 1496 there was a drought all over the empire, which was followed by a famine in 1497. And the next year was marked by severe earthquakes all over Japan; while in 1506 all the old fir-trees on the hill Kassunga yama near Narra died to the number of above 7,000. A similar disease had visited Japan in 1406, exactly a hundred years before. Severe drought and dreadful thunderstorms in 1514 were followed in 1515 by earthquakes over the whole country.

The new century brought no cessation from war and assassination. Hossokawa, then prime minister, was assassinated by his servant Kassai. O-ooji, from the western provinces, marched upon Miako, bringing his protégé, the late Shiogoon, with him, and, seizing the capital, caused the Emperor to install him as prime minister or Kwanrei, an office which had for many years been in the hold of the three families, Shibba, Hossokawa, and Hatake yama. An attempt was made in Miako to assassinate the Shiogoon during the night, but he killed the assassins with his own sword.

In 1510 Nangao, a servant, and relative of Ooyay Soongi, minister at Kamakura, rebelled against his master, defeated him, and entered into possession of his castle and territory in the province of Etsingo, where he afterward became very powerful as Ooyay Soongi Kengshing. Hossokawa and O-ooji drove one another alternately out of Miako, but ultimately the latter retired to his own western province of Suwo; and during the same time Hojio of Odawara was fighting in the Kwanto with Miura.

1486. Hossokawa massa moto was made Kwanrei.

In 1521, for the first time in many years, the Emperor made a public appearance. The officers and court were both impoverished. The land was barely and sparsely cultivated. The young were growing up in perfect ignorance. Hossokawa brought Yoshi haru to Miako, and made him Shiogoon, and put the Shiogoon, Yoshitanne, into confinement in the island of Awadsi. The following year the latter died in the province of Awa, where his descendants still live, and the head of the family is still known as “Awa kubo.”

In the year 1523 an attempt was made to commence a trade with China at Ningpo. O-ooji, the lord of the western provinces, sent over ships. But at this time the coasts of China were infested by Japanese pirates, and the attempt to trade does not seem to have been successful: it shows, however, that a commerce was beginning before the Portuguese visited Japan.

1528. Mioshi kaï woong, from the province of Awa in Sikok, attacked Miako; the Kwanrei, Takakooni, on the part of the Shiogoon, met him at the Katsura gawa, the river running into the sea at Osaka, but was defeated, and the Shiogoon fled to Oomi, where the head of the Sasaki family gave him shelter.

1530. The following year the Kwanrei and Mioshi were again at war in the neighborhood of Osaka, when the former was defeated, taken prisoner, and put to death.

1532. Haru moto, whom Mioshi had placed as Kwanrei in Miako, took offense at some of the proceedings of the latter, and ordered him to be killed.

1536. At this period the Emperor was very poor and his expenses were defrayed by O-ooji, the lord of the western provinces, to whom the Emperor gave the title of Da zai no dai ni. The Emperor Go Tsutchi died in such poverty that his body lay unburied for some days for want of money.

To this date the annals of the Emperors are brought down. Since the accession of the present dynasty of Shiogoons, the printing of every work relative to government is prohibited. There are slight notices of remarkable occurrences during each year published in an almanac form; as, for instance, it is noted that in 1533, on the tenth month, eighth day--_i.e._, November--there were observed an extraordinary number of falling stars, and in 1534 a very fatal epidemic passed over the country.

1537. During this year disturbances arose between the Buddhist priests of the Tendai sect of the Hiyaysan monastery, and those of the Hokkay or Nitchi ren sect. The former burned down the temple of the latter, and with it nearly the half of Miako was consumed.

1538. In Kwanto the chiefs were again at war. Hojio attacked Yamano ootchi in his castle of Kawa goi near Yedo and routed him by a night attack. Takeda Singeng, now a lad, turned his father out of his possessions in Kahi.

In 1539, muskets were first known--brought over to Tanegasima by the Portuguese, pistols being known to this day by the name of “tanegasima.” According to the “History of the Church in Japan,” “The islands of Japan were first discovered in the last century, but at what time is very uncertain--some say in the year 1534; St. Francis Xavier believed it was rather five or six years after. Be it as it will, Father Maffius and others tell us that three Portuguese merchants, Antony Mora, Francis Zaimor, and Anthony Pexot, in their voyage from Dodra, in Siam, to China, were thrown by tempests upon the islands of Japan in 1541, and put in at the kingdom of Cangoxima.” This is the southern part of the island of Kiusiu, off which lies the island of Tanega or Tanesima. Mendez Pinto, who appears to have been wrecked in this vessel, gives no date, but, from his account, the sensation caused by the pistols and muskets brought to this warlike nation seems to have been much greater than that caused by the apparition of strangers. It is not wonderful that the year should have been noted in the Japanese calendars as that in which firearms were introduced. They did not anticipate that the arrival of these foreigners was to be to the empire the source of much trouble. At this time the Lioo Kioo Islands seem to have been well known to the buccaneers on the Chinese coast, and with the strong southerly monsoons, so frequently broken up by typhoons, it was not likely that Japan could remain long undiscovered; and the Japanese must have known of Europeans and their customs from their own sailors trading to China and Singapore.

1540. Mowori Moto nari, ancestor of Choshiu of the present day, and founder of the family, was embroiled with his feudal superior, Amako of Idzumo, and gave in his allegiance to O-ooji. This state of disturbances is noted in the earliest letters of the Jesuits, written from Amangutchi, the capital of these provinces, which was afterward visited by Francis Xavier.

1542. This year was born (26th day of twelfth month) To sho Shingku--better known as Iyeyas--at Oka saki in Mikawa; and during the year Ima ngawa and Nobu hide, father of Nobu nanga, fought a battle at Atsuka Saka in Mikawa. The Portuguese came to Boongo to trade, and received a warm reception in the territories of Owotomo.

In 1543 the Portuguese came back again; Owotomo, Boongo no kami, was then lord of this province, and of a great part of the island of Kiusiu. An officer, by name Seito, was sent by him with the Portuguese to Miako. Hitherto the history of Japan has been made up entirely from native sources; but after this time the letters of the Jesuits, and the accounts published from time to time by Europeans, become of interest. Kagosima, the port of Satsuma at which these Portuguese merchants first touched, is not a place adapted for carrying on a large trade. It is too far out to sea, and cut off from the interior (which is not fertile) by high ranges of hills. The port offered by Owotomo was much better suited to their views. It is in the heart of the inland sea, well sheltered, and, at the same time, having water-communication with the extensive fringe of coast bordering that sea. The island of Sikok, the most fertile part of Japan, was within easy access. The whole of the western part of Nippon and the island of Kiusiu could bring their products to this port by water, while intercourse with Osaka and the capital was comparatively easy. The objection to Kagosima applies equally to Nagasaki, which is cut off from trading communication with the interior of the country by the difficulty both of its water and land approaches. The family of Owotomo had gradually risen to wealth and power in the island of Kiusiu, and at the time the Jesuits arrived, the Lord or Tono, called by them Francis, was the greatest of the feudal chiefs then ruling in the island.

1545. Miako was reduced by war and fires to such a state that it became impossible to live in it; whoever did attempt to live there ran the risk of being burned, killed, or starved. The Koongays left, and generally settled under the protection of some feudal chief in the provinces.

1548. The Shiogoon, who had fled to Sakamoto, returned to Miako, and Hossokawa was appointed Kwanrei.

1549. Mioshi tchokay, called Mioxindo no in the “History of the Church” (or Naga Yoshi), took up arms against Haru moto and the Shiogoon party, and the latter fled again to Sakamoto, about twelve miles from Miako. Nobu hide, father of Nobu nanga, died, leaving him, his son, heir of all the possessions he had acquired. Francis Xavier, then at Malacca, whither he had gone with the fondness for change and excitement which seemed to have characterized his career, met with some of those who were returning to Japan. He immediately determined to visit it. He arrived in the year 1549, and left it again in 1551, disappointed and disheartened with the realities of missionary work. In the “History of the Church” it is said, in 1549 (p. 72): “On the way from Amangutchi (Yama ootchi) to Miako the ways were infested with soldiers, by reason of troubles between the Dairi and Cubo. Miako inspired Xavier with the desire of planting there the standard of Christ, but the effect did not at all answer his expectations. Miako, which signifies a thing worth seeing, was no more than the shadow of what it formerly had been, such terrible fires and wars had laid it waste, and the present condition of affairs threatened it with total destruction. All the neighboring princes were combined against the Cubosama, and nothing was to be heard but the noise of armies. However, he endeavored to gain an audience from the Cubosama and Dairi; but his poverty made him contemptible. It required 10,000 caixes to gain an audience. To comfort himself he preached in the streets; but the town being full of confusion, and the thoughts of every man taken up with reports of war, none listened to him. After a fortnight’s stay, hearing that the Dairi bore only the name of a monarch, and that the Cubo was absolute only in the Tensa and Gokinai, he saw it was nothing but lost labor and expense to have his leave to preach over all Japan when he was not master.”

1550. Yoshi haru, late Shiogoon, died. Mioshi tchokay burned Hingashi yama, or Hiyay san, a collection of monasteries and temples near Miako.

1551. O-ooji was attacked by the forces of one of his own officers, Suyay haru kata, who obliged him to fly, and he committed suicide with several high Koongays who were residing under his protection. This Suyay had promised Owotomo, chief of Boongo, to give back to his younger brother, Yoshi Naga, the command in the province of Suwo. At the death of O-ooji the seal under which trade with China had been carried on was lost, and the trade suspended.

1552. At this time the religion of Christ was brought, according to native accounts, by “Nan bang,” foreigners from the south, to Boongo. The period at which this event took place was worthy of note. Japan had been for years torn by rival factions, and by the contests of men intriguing for power. The Emperor was powerless, and reduced by poverty and neglect to a position bordering on contempt. The eastern court at Kamakura retained some portions of its former power, and was at least a hotbed where schemes might be hatched for overthrowing either the power of the court of Miako, or that of some of the neighboring princes. Yedo was almost unknown, except as a village dependency of the castle. The western provinces were under the sway of independent chiefs, while the island of Kiusiu hardly acknowledged the authority of the Mikado. A small beginning of commerce with China had been going on for some years past, and was conducted with Ningpo. It was not likely, therefore, that at the first landing upon Tanegasima the country and people of Japan were unknown to the Portuguese buccaneers upon the coast of China. Not many years had elapsed since China had been first visited by the Portuguese, and Liampo or Ningpo was their northern port. If Mendez Pinto is to be credited, there were 800 Portuguese then living near that city under their own laws; but if his account of the doings of his countrymen in China be correct--and it is in many things corroborated by concurrent testimony--the men who sailed about these seas were not exactly the men best suited to spread a healthy commerce, or to propagate correct notions of the Christian religion. They were the buccaneers of that day, and mixed up their business of piracy and murder with trade and religion in a strange medley. The vast opening consequent upon the doubling of the Cape induced these men to push their discoveries further and further. Europe had just been convulsed by the throes of delivery of the Church of Rome. Twin children had been born by the Reformation to the Church, and the schismatic operations of Luther without gave rise to the crafty strengthening process of Loyola within the Church. The propagandist zeal of Jesuitism at this period put forth her strength to reap the harvest in Japan; but the bane of the Church of Rome pursued her here, and her desire to make the kingdom of Christ of this world brought to naught all her schemes. The Inquisition was in full operation in Portugal and Spain, where John III. and Philip II. directed the missions of the Church; and the same zeal was carried into India and all their foreign possessions. The whole power, political and ecclesiastical, in the East, was allowed by other nations to be in the hands of the King of Portugal: without his permission no bishop could be appointed; no episcopal see created without his consent; and he retained the right of filling up vacancies in every see. No European missionary could go to the East without his sanction, and with that only in a Portuguese vessel; and no bull or brief from the Holy See was of any effect in the East until it had received the approbation of the King, who in return was supposed to protect and support the Church of Rome. This was known as the Protectorate of the Crown of Portugal, and was annually confirmed by Papal bulls, in which was inserted a clause whereby the Pope annuled beforehand every bull which any one of his successors might issue to the contrary. Such was the epoch at which the Portuguese arrived in Japan.

1553. Mioshi attacked and killed Hossokawa, the minister of the Shiogoon, and the following year attacked Miako, whence the Shiogoon fled to Tanba.

1555. Fighting was going on between Mowori moto nari (ancestor of Mowori Daizen no diaboo) and Suyay haru taka, who had killed his lord O-ooji. Mowori was victorious, and gained possession of all the “middle or central provinces” west of Miako--laying the foundation of the wealth and power which remain to the family to the present time. An embassy was sent this year to Japan from China, to complain of pirates from the island of Kiusiu who were ravaging the coasts of China.

1557. The Emperor Gonara died. Nobu nanga put to death his own younger brother Nobu yuki.

1558. Oki matchi ascended the throne at forty-two years of age. At this time Hideyoshi, better known as Taiko sama, as a young man became an officer in the service of Nobu nanga.

1559. Etsingo Nangao Kage tora, a large feudal chief, went to Miako from his province of Etsingo to pay his respects to the Emperor, and to claim his installation into the office of Kwanrei, when his name and designation was changed to Ooyay Soongi teru tora.

1560. Ima ngawa, lord of Suruga, was one of the chiefs who were competing for power. He had raised a large force and met Nobu nanga, who was not inclined to face him with a small number such as he then had with him; but Hideyoshi persuaded him to join issue, and by skill and stratagem they defeated and killed Ima ngawa, and Nobu nanga took possession of all his territory.

1561. Iyeyas was infeft by Nobu nanga in the province of Mikawa, and made the castle of Okasaki his residence.

1562. Mowori moto nari and Owotomo Boongo no kami, or Zo rin (the great patron of the foreigners in Kiusiu), were at war, which was terminated by the interference of the Shiogoon, who sent down a messenger to restore peace, through a matrimonial alliance and enlargement of Owotomo’s territories.

1563. Fighting was going on in the neighborhood of Yedo between Sattomi, who possessed large territories in Awa and Owota, on the one side, and Hojio of Odawara on the other. A great battle took place between these chiefs at Kowunodai, near Yedo, in which Sattomi was defeated. The defeat took place upon the 9th of the ninth month, a festival-day all over Japan. Since the defeat, Kanagawa and Kawasaki, then belonging to Sattomi, have held the festival on the 19th. Mowori Motonari this year completely defeated Amako, the lord Idzumo, and absorbed his territories, thus becoming lord of ten provinces.

1564. Nobu nanga killed his father-in-law Seito Do Sang, the lord of Mino, and seized all his territory, and changed his own residence, which had been hitherto in Nagoya in Owarri, to Gifoo in Mino.

In 1565 Matza naga hissa hide (Daxandono, or properly Danshio, in “History of the Church”) and Mioshi attacked Yoshi teru, Shiogoon, who was surprised, and committed suicide. His younger brother Yoshi aki fled to Oomi, shaved his head, and became a priest. The grandson of Yoshi dzumi aimed at the position of Shiogoon. To oppose the designs of Mioshi, who was attempting to assassinate him, Yoshi aki joined Nobu nanga, who put him into the post of Shiogoon in 1568, and they together attacked and defeated Mioshi.

1569. Nobu nanga found it necessary to begin a crusade against the Buddhist priests, and their wealthy and powerful establishments. He attacked and routed and killed Kita batake, the lord of Isse. He built a palace for the Emperor, but it was so small and shabby that the Emperor would not inhabit it, but lived in the temple of Kammo, near Miako. This year the palace and castle of Nijio was built in Miako, and has since been occupied by the Shiogoons as their metropolitan residence.

1570. Nobu nanga was fighting with the lord of the province of Etsizen, Asakura, who was defeated, and his territories seized by Nobu nanga.

At this time Nobu nanga, Hideyoshi, and Iyeyas found it their interest to be friends. Hideyoshi had grown up as an officer in Nobu nanga’s army, and both are said to have been jealous of Iyeyas (known as a young man as “Sing Koong”), probably discerning at this early time superior administrative talents, as well as a reticence which may have displeased them. He is said to have been put forward by them into difficult positions to get rid of him, but the vigor of his character increased by overcoming the obstacles in his path. He went to the province of Oomi at the time Nobu nanga was fighting with the troops of Asayee and Asakura at Anegawa, and by his timely assistance turned the fortune of the day.

1571. The Buddhist priesthood had at this time arrived at the height of their power. The arrival of the Roman Catholics, and the spread of their doctrines, was probably hailed by many as a relief from the extravagant pretensions and power of the monasteries, and it was hoped that they might in some measure balance the power of the Buddhist priesthood. All over the country these monasteries had become very wealthy. The monks, bonzes, or bozans, were very numerous, and their retainers and dependents formed an army sufficiently powerful to cope with any single chief. The policy of the Roman Catholics seems to have been from the first of an aggressive character, attacking vehemently the native priests, abusing their characters, and getting up discussions in public, and thus unnecessarily irritating a very powerful body in the kingdom. Nobu nanga was very jealous of the power of these Buddhist monasteries, and hated the priests. He therefore gave his countenance to these newcomers, who were delighted, as thinking it showed a zeal for their mission, while, in truth, it was only to gratify his hatred of the native bozans. He suddenly fell upon the largest of the monasteries, the Hiyaysan, also called by the early writers Freno yama, and Hiyay no yama. The grounds are said to have been of great beauty, near the lake of Oomi, and inclosing thirteen valleys; and at the time the Jesuits arrived in the country there were said to be 500 temples within the area of the monastery. Nobu nanga burned all the temples and massacred the priests. These latter had been joined by some of Nobu nanga’s late opponents, but he defeated them all.

1572. Takeda Singeng, at Mikatta nga harra in Tootomi, was fighting with Iyeyas. A great mortality had taken place in the force of the latter, and he was nearly overcome, and in great danger, but finally conquered.

The same year the Shiogoon Yoshi aki became embroiled with Nobu nanga, who arrested him and put him in prison, thus bringing to a termination the real power of the Ashikanga family.

During the year Iyeyas was beaten by Takeda near Mitske; he was obliged to fly, and was pursued across the Tenrio River to a village, Hamamatchi. During the night he heard music, and creeping up with some of his men to listen, they saw Takeda himself sitting enjoying the music, when one of Iyeyas’s men fired at him with a musket. He was wounded and gave up the pursuit. He lingered a while, but at length died of the injury.

1574. All over the country Roman Catholic temples were being built, exciting the Buddhist priesthood to wrath.

1575. At Nanga shino, in Tootomi, there was some smart fighting between Katzu yori, son of Takeda Singeng, and Iyeyas, as officer of Nobu nanga. Katzu yori was very powerful, and had a large army with him of well-trained soldiers, and Nobu nanga was afraid to fight; but Iyeyas declared that if he would not fight he himself would join Katzu yori.

1576. Hideyoshi was sent by Nobu nanga to Kiusiu and the west provinces. As a whim, he this year made a new name for himself out of the half of the names of two of Nobu nanga’s officers, Shibata and Niwa, and calling himself Hashiba, a name by which he is frequently spoken of by the Jesuits.

1576. Nobu nanga built the castle of Azutchi (called Anzuquiama in “History of the Church”) in the province of Oomi; a castle which now belongs to Ee kamong no Kami.

1577. Matz nanga hissa hide, known in the “History of the Church” as Daxandono, was killed by Nobu nanga.

1578. Hashiba hide yoshi was this year fighting with Mowori teru moto, known to the Jesuits as the King of Amanguchi, and the island of Kiusiu was devastated by war between Owotomo, son of the Jesuits’ friend, and Shimadzu of Satsuma, the result being that Owotomo was defeated and his territory much diminished.

1579. The two Buddhist sects, Jodo shiu and Nitchi ren shiu, held a great discussion upon religion before Nobu nanga at Azutchi, known as the “Azutchi rong.”

Akitchi mitzu hide, one of Nobu nanga’s best officers, seized the province of Tanba. The Ikko shiu, a Buddhist sect, was very powerful at this time, and had possession of the castle of Osaka, then known as the temple of Hoonganji. Nobu nanga, by one of his generals, had been long besieging it, and had failed in taking it. In 1580 he called in the persuasive interference of the Emperor, and a compact was finally made, under which the priests consented to give up this strong fortress, which has ever since remained in the hands of the executive power.

1581. Hideyoshi this year overran the province of Harima, destroying the castle of Miki, and began to build the chateau of Himeji for himself in that province; while Nobu nanga, assisted by Iyeyas and Hojio of Odawara, completely demolished the power of the Takeda family in Kahi. The war is known as the “Ten moku san” war, from the place where Takeda concealed and destroyed himself. The tie between Nobu nanga and his generals seemed to have been very slight, and he does not appear at any time to have been considered ruler of the country. On more than one occasion Iyeyas threatened to leave him and throw his weight into the opposite scale. In a portrait drawn of Nobu nanga in the “History of the Church,” he is described as “a prince of large stature, but of a weak and delicate complexion, with a heart and soul that supplied all other wants; ambitious above all mankind; brave, generous and bold, and not without many excellent moral virtues; inclined to justice, and an enemy to treason. With a quick and penetrating wit, he seemed cut out for business; excelling in military discipline, he was esteemed the fittest to command an army, manage a siege, fortify a town, or mark out a camp, of any general in Japan, never using any head but his own: if he asked advice, it was more to know their hearts than to profit by their advice. He sought to see into others and to conceal his own counsel, being very secret in his designs; he laughed at the worship of the gods, convinced that the bonzes were impostors, abusing the simplicity of the people and screening their own debauches under the name of religion.”

This is the character given of him by the Jesuits, who considered him a friend to their cause and had some hopes of him as a convert. It agrees in the main with the pictures drawn of him by the Japanese. Hating the Buddhist priests, he patronized the Jesuits as a counterpoise, encouraging them to build even in the neighborhood of his own palace at Azutchi. Under the encouragement thus given, the Jesuit priests rose to favor and power at court. The efforts of the fathers to extend their influence were crowned with success, and at this date the position of the church is described as follows: “Father A. Valignan, superior of Japan, for convenience of government, divided Japan into three parts. The first and principal is that island where Miako stands. They had there three residences of the Society--Meaco, Anzuquiama (Azutchi-yama in Oomi) and Takacuqui. In the residence of Miako were two brothers and two fathers, who preached and celebrated the divine mysteries daily in a very fair church. In Anzuquiama they had two fathers and two brothers; the first of these took care of the church, and of all the Christians round about; the other instructed the young gentlemen in the seminary, teaching them their Catechism, and to read and write in Latin, Portuguese and the language of the country. In Takacuqui (Itami in Setzu) there was only one father and one brother. Justo Ucondono (Takayama), governor of the place, built in it a very handsome church and house for the fathers, and furnished them with all the necessaries for their families. About three leagues off were the churches of Vocayama, Fort Imori in Kawadsi, and Sanga--all dependencies of this residence. Two leagues from Sanga, Don Simon Tagandono (Tango no Kami), lord of Yao, had eight hundred subjects, all Christians. There were also great numbers of them in Amangutchi, but without any church, it being expressly against the king’s pleasure.

“The second part of Japan is that which they commonly call Ximo (Kiusiu). There the Christians had most churches, and the Jesuits most houses. In the city of Funay, the metropolis of Bungo, there were both a college and a university, where they took degrees of masters of arts and doctors of divinity. There were twenty Jesuits in the college. The noviceship stood at Vosuqui, where King Francis (_i.e._, Owotomo Boongo no Kami) resided. Besides, they had two residences--one at the valley of Ju, some seven leagues from Funay, and another at Nocen--and these four houses furnished the whole country with evangelical missionaries. Moreover, they had a house at Facata, in the kingdom of Chicuzen, that was tributary to Bungo; but Aquizuqui, having made himself master of that country, soon beat them out of those quarters. The kingdom of Chicungo, bordering upon Chicuzen, had only one church, which was governed since Riozogi’s conquest by a devout Christian, that prince being unwilling to entertain any Jesuits in his states. In the kingdom of Fingo, which Aquizuqui and Riozogi parted betwixt them, there were two houses of the Society--one in Amacusa and the other at Fort Fundo; and these two residences took charge of above twenty other churches in that country. As for the island of Xequi (Ko Siki), which stands upon the confines of Amacusa, they had only one church, with near 5,000 Christians, who were governed by one of the inhabitants; for the lord of the place, though he was to permit the fathers to visit them, would not hear of fixing a residence; which obliged the Christians, on the more solemn days, to come over to the church of Amacusa.

“In the kingdom of Goto (the five small islands to the west of Japan), since Don Lewis’s death, there was neither church nor house, the uncle and tutor to the young prince being, as was said, a most professed enemy to all religion. The King of Firando, indeed, though a heathen, was content to receive two priests and two others for the benefit of the Christians, and chiefly his uncle and son, Don John and Don Anthony.

“As for the kingdoms of Omura and Arima, religion flourished there above all other parts, Bungo only excepted. The fathers had three houses in Omura, one in Omura itself, where the King kept his court, another at Nangasak, and a third at Curi, and out of these three churches they visited forty several churches, and had charge of some 50,000 Christians that were in that kingdom. In Arima they had three residences: one in the city of Arima, with five Jesuits, whereof two had care of the seminary for educating young nobles, among whom was the King of Fiungas’ son, cousin-german to the King of Arima, and the rest, all of them sons to the chief lords in the country; the second at Arie; and the third at Cochinozi, a most celebrated port for commerce.

“In the kingdom of Saxuma, where St. F. Xaverius landed at his first entrance into Japan, there were some few Christians whom the fathers visited by times, being all banished by the bonzes, who acted by the King’s authority. They reckoned in the kingdom of Ximo upward of 30,000 Christians.

“The third part of Japan (Sikok) contains only four kingdoms, and of these only the King of Tosa received the faith. So Father Alex. Valignan, at the end of his visit, upon his return to the Indies, left 150,000 Christians in Japan, 200 churches and 39 religious of his own order, besides several able, young and virtuous Japonians who helped to instruct the new Christians.”

In 1582 Nobu nanga was gradually overrunning all Japan. He had given the revenues of the island of Sikok to his son, Nobu taka. “This year he built at Azutchi a splendid temple. In this temple he collected idols of all the gods of Japan, and placed in the midst a statue of himself, calling it Xanthi; _i.e._, supreme ruler. He then, like Nebuchadnezzar, issued an edict prohibiting any one from worshiping any other idol, and ordered all to resort to this place on his birthday to worship this representation of himself. The first that adored was his eldest son. The nobility followed, and then the gentry and people in their course.” This idol is said to be in existence at the present day. Nobu nanga, after this public adoration of his statue, returned to Miako. Akitchi mitzu hide had been one of his most prominent and successful generals, and was at this time in the neighborhood of the capital. Nobu nanga had dispatched a large body of troops to assist Hashiba Hideyoshi in his operations in the west. Whether Akitchi aspired to the position occupied by Nobu nanga, or was really jealous and hated him, in common with others, as a tyrant, or, as some relate, smarted under the insult of being struck by Nobu nanga over the head with a fan, is doubtful. But “when he saw that the guards and forces under the immediate command of Nobu nanga were so diminished in number that he was left nearly unprotected, he took advantage of what seemed to him an opportunity. He had been ordered by Nobu nanga to take a large body of troops under his command to join Hideyoshi. Accordingly, he marched, but, instead of taking the route indicated, he took aside some of the captains whom he knew to be dissatisfied with the government, discussed with them his design, and gained them over by declaiming against the violence, oppression, and tyranny of Nobu nanga, accusing him of destroying the gods and murdering the priests, and concluding by promises of wealth stored up in the castle of Adzutchi yama. He then suddenly wheeled round upon Miako, surrounding Honnoji, where Nobu nanga was residing, before he was aware of any danger. All the avenues were closed--no escape was left for him. He was washing his face when the news came that the troops had invested the place, and opening a window to see what was the matter, they poured in a shower of darts and wounded him between the shoulders. The place was soon in flames, and his body was consumed with the building. Thus died Nobu nanga, at forty-nine years of age, a little after he took upon himself the title of god, and had made himself be adored by his subjects.”

Nobu nanga was by birth of higher origin than his successor, Taikosama, and, as the son of a feudal prince, had, at a time when might gave right, some pretension to rule. Descended from Kio mori, he was of the Taira family, that clan which had contested so long with the Minnamoto for the executive power in the empire. No question of family origin entered into his rise or brought about his fall. As an individual, he rose to power through his military talents; and probably from want of administrative ability failed to strengthen himself, or insure to his sons the succession of the position to which he had risen. The period of his rule was signalized by the rise and success of the Jesuits, whom he countenanced, according to their own showing, rather from hatred to the Buddhist priests than from love for the doctrines of Christianity, or respect for the Roman Catholic priesthood. When he died, the tide of prosperity turned and ebbed till it gradually swept the whole doctrines, priests, and proselytes from the shores of Japan.

Akitchi mitsu hide, who had thus removed the master-spirit of Japan, was not the man to take the vacant seat. Apparently an able second, a successful lieutenant, he was wanting in every quality for command. He had gained over the troops placed in his charge by the promise of plunder. He marched them upon the city of Azutchi-yama, where Nobu nanga had stored up the treasures he had accumulated during many years, and in three days squandered the whole in largesses to those under his command.