The Sengoku Period

Japanese history · warfare · feudal Japan

Centuries of fighting. The Sengoku period saw almost non-stop civil wars and big social changes throughout Japan during the 15th and 16th centuries. Different historians argue about exactly when it started and ended, but everyone agrees it was a time of huge chaos and conflict.

Multiple start dates. Historians can't quite agree on when the Sengoku period began. Some point to the Kyōtoku incident in 1454, others to the Ōnin War in 1467, and some to the Meiō incident in 1493. It's like everyone has a different marker for when things got really messy.

Unclear ending point. The period definitely overlapped with the Muromachi period (1336 to 1573), but scholars disagree about when it actually ended. Some say it ended in 1568 when Oda Nobunaga marched on Kyoto, while others say it lasted all the way until 1638 with the suppression of the Shimabara Rebellion.

All of Japan affected. These wars and upheavals happened almost everywhere in Japan, causing massive social changes and reshaping how the country was organized. It was a period when power shifted constantly and the old ways of doing things started to break down.