Nippon

History of Nippon

Light of Heaven

Once upon a time, two divine beings, the masculine Izanagi and his female counterpart Izaname, came down from ‘Takamagahura’ (Nipponese for “the Plains of High Heaven”) to a water covered world and created the first land masses. It is said in mythical recount that “droplets from Izanagi’s spear solidified into the land now called Nippon”. In their divine wisdom Izaname and Izanagi then populated the new land Nippon with more immortal beings known as the ‘Kami’.

One of these would become Nippon’s supreme spirit – the Sun Goddess Amaterasu (meaning “Light of Heaven”), who sent one of her descendants – great-great grandson Jimmu, to the island of Kyushu with the task of unifying the warring people there; later he would become the first emperor of Nippon around -13 I.C.

At the core of Nipponese unification is Shinto, a religion peculiar to Nippon and marked by its worship of nature, ancestors, and revered national heroes. Traditionally Shinto also confers divine status to the Emperor, wherever there are Shinto Temples there will be shrines commemorating Izaname, Izanagi and Amaterasu and the creation of Nippon as a realm.

The Yayoi

The pre civilisation people to inhabit the islands of Nippon were know as the Jōmin (named after a specific ‘rope mark’ style pottery found by scholars in there burial grounds). It’s said the Jōmin were mostly hunter-gatherers, with a preference for coastal regions, though later stages of their existence show signs agricultural practices were developed which in turn led to greater stability in settlement and the emergence of larger tribal communities.

But later on still Nippon was effectively invaded by waves of immigrant races collectively referred to as the ‘Yayoi’ (from a site where scholars report their distinctive reddish wheel-thrown pottery was first found). They first arrived in the southwest, presumably through the Koreyo peninsula. Their exact origins are not recorded and are likely to be diverse possibly as a result of movements of hostile tribes from the Northern Chaos wastes.

It is believed that horses were introduced to Nippon near the end of this time (and well into the early Yamato era) The Yayoi brought with them iron and bronze technology, and highly productive wet rice-farming techniques, soon rice paddy farming would dominate the staple food source of all villages. In general the Yayoi were taller and less stocky than the native Jōmin – curiously though a Cathayan document from the around this time refers to Nippon (by this stage quite heavily peopled by the Yayoi) as “The Land of the Dwarfs”, of note Dwarven colonies did (and still do) exist on the periphery of Nipponese colonies from early times.

Scholarly accounts differ as to the nature of Yayoi relations with the Jōmin; regardless the latter were either assimilated or displaced and forced ever further north. The Yayoi by now had spread to the middle of Honshū, whereas Northern Honshū could still be considered Jōmin territory. Within a century all of present day Nippon would be dominated by the Yayoi and all modern day Nipponese (with few disparate exceptions) consider themselves of Yayoi descent.

Other consequences of the Yayoi migrations included greater intertribal/regional trade based on greater and more diverse production through introduced technologies and production techniques. But at the same time there was increased rivalry between tribal/regional groups, often over resources. Less nomadic movement and a greater reliance on the fixed agricultural civilisation in turn led to need for a consolidation of territory and the establishment of boundaries.

According to Cathayan records, the earliest history of Nippon proper is punctuated by the existence of more than a hundred independent clans; about 30 of these clans had been united by a sorceress-queen named Pimiko (or “Humiko” in Nipponese). She sent an emissary named Nashonmi with a tribute of slaves and cloth to Cathay, successfully establishing diplomatic relations. Remarkably within centuries these 100 clans were mostly subject to an ‘over-queen’ Yamayakyuki, whose own clan was known as Yamato (believed to be somewhere on northwest Kyūshū). The Cathayan Imperial Court treated Yamayakyuki as sovereign of all Nippon – the name Yamato ultimately being applied to Nippon as a whole – shrewdly Yamayakyuki acknowledged her allegiance to the Cathayan Dragon Emperor Court via annual tribute.

Under the protection of the Cathayan Imperial forces the Yamato clan remained the dominant – indeed imperial – clan in Nippon. Their power often came as a direct result of negotiation and alliance with (or incorporation of) powerful potential foes. This came to be a political practice Nippon would continue through the ages where possible, though less accommodating in the case of perceived weaker foes.

The first verifiable Nipponese Emperor is recorded as Soijin also of the Yamato clan, though some scholars think he may have simply been leader of a group of ‘horse-riders’ who appear to have moved into Nippon around -500 from the Koreyo peninsula.

The Cathayan Influence

The main cultural and religious themes in early Nipponese culture unmistakably originated from Grand Cathay such was the oldest realm in the east’s influence on surrounding cultures.

Eventually Buddhism, which originated in Indhya, would be introduced to Nippon via Cathay and Koreyo. Before long a multitude of Buddhist temples were constructed in Nippon, Buddhism was promoted by the Yamato rulers as a means of unification and control of the land. Though Buddhism originated in Indhya it was seen by the Nipponese as a Cathayan religion, and was one of a number of things Cathayan that they adopted to achieve recognition – especially by Cathay – as a civilised realm. By emulating Cathayan culture, the young Nippon hoped it could one day become as powerful; the desire to learn from the strongest/best is another enduring Nipponese ethical characteristic.

Another of the Yamamoto line – the Prince regent Shōtoku enacted a constitution of 17 articles, with a very Cathayan flavour around 200, extolling the virtues of political harmony and hard work. Major Cathayan-style reforms continued decades later, reforms such as centralisation of political power, allocation of land, and strict law codes punishable by agents of the ruling court. To strengthen the Yamamoto court regime, under Emperor Temmu the Yamamoto Imperial court initiated the compilation of historical works such as the Kojiki (“record of old things”) and Nihon Shoki (“record of Nippon”), with the aim of legitimising their power through claimed divine descent. It had the desired effect, and polarised the superstitious peasantry of Nippon – believing their ruling class to have the divine right to lead them into prosperity.

Emulation of things Cathayan was not indiscriminate however. For example, Cathayan law condoned the removal of an un-virtuous ruler felt by the people to have lost the ‘mandate of heaven’, but this ideal was not promoted in Nippon. Nor was the Nipponese practice of allowing the achievement of high rank through studious examination, the Nipponese ruling class then and now prefer birthright over the achievement of merit.

Relations with Koreyo

The Yamato ruled Nippon, eventually crystallized with definite boundaries and a strict legal administration code. Nippon maintained excellent trade and cultural ties with a prominent clan of Southern Koreyo; indeed they maintained close ties with the mainland Koreyo peninsula as well as with the southern Korean kingdoms. Mainland Koreyo exported abundant quantities of iron armour and weapons to Nippon (there was an abundance of naturally-occurring iron in that region) and there was have even a Nipponese trading\military post permanently stationed there. Northern Koreyo remained entrenched in the Cathayan influenced sphere and took their lead from Cathayan directives – which occasionally led to open albeit limited conflict with their southern brethren, armed standoffs typically inconclusive.

Due to friendly relations to the southern kingdoms on the Koreyo peninsula, the influence from the mainland in Nippon increased strongly. Buddhism was becoming popular in Nippon and was promoted by the ruling class. Amongst other cultural advances, the Cathayan writing system was introduced to Nippon during the Yamato era.

Later the ruler of southern Koreyo would appeal to the Yamato Imperial court for assistance against its belligerent enemies – the neighbouring northern province of Silla. Along with his emissaries to the Yamato Imperial court, the Koreyo king sent bronze images of Buddha, some Buddhist scriptures, and a letter praising Buddhism. These gifts managed to trigger a compelling burst of Nipponese fervour in all things Buddhist related – the Yamamoto Imperial court rushed crack troops to assist their Koreyo Buddhist bretheren.

The Battle of Baekgang soon followed, near the conclusion of the Koreyo ‘war of three kingdoms’. The Nihon Shoki records that the Yamato Court dispatched 32,000 troops and 1,000 ships to support the southern Koreyo against the combined Silla-Cathay forces. However, the Nipponese ships were intercepted by a Cathayan fleet and annihilated en route. The Koreyo armies already depleted and without aid – surrounded by Silla and Cathayan forces on the land, soon collapsed. A hostile and victorious Silla now viewed Nippon as a potential threat and moved to prevent Nippon from having any further meaningful contact with the Koreyo Peninsula until far later in time.

Golden Era of Nippon

The Naru period, is often referred to as the Golden Era of Nipponese history. The era takes its name from Naru, the city, previously known as Heijo-kyu. Empress Gemmei shifted the capital city from Asuka to Heijo-kyu and the city, which was built to resemble the Cathayan capital Chang’an, became the hub of cultural and political power in Nippon. Heijo-kyu was the capital of an agriculturally prosperous Nippon until the next Emperor, Kammu, moved his capital to Nagaoka-kyu.

The Naru period oversaw the maturing of the Cathayan writing system into a unique Nipponese calligraphy, and codification of the Nippon legal system. The country was united and centrally governed for a time, and much of the basics of the Samurai feudal system that would endure until present time were set down. Although much of the unique discipline, weapons, armour, and techniques the Nipponese Samurai would become renowned were not fully evolved yet, the core of the Nipponese feudal warrior class began during this time. At that time Nipponese mounted archers, swordsmen, and spearmen fought with weapons and techniques not too different from those of any other culture, across the eastern realms.

Inter-clan succession and boundary disputes were prevalent in this time, just as in most of the later periods; however the Naru era also saw the first Shogun, ‘Sakanoue No Tamuramaro’.

Peace and Tranquillity

The capital of Nippon was again moved, this time from Nagaoka-kyu to Heian-kyu. This era is known as the ‘Heian Era’ which means ‘peace and tranquillity” in Nipponese. Indeed Heian-kyu, the capital city, prospered in harmony and freedom from strife during this period. Nipponese literature and arts forms flourished in Heian Nippon.

The Mirumoto clan rose to manipulate much of the authority due to its intimate association (often by marriage) with the Imperial Court, inevitably the Mirumoto dominance tended to cause much dissatisfaction even leading open of rebellions in some provinces.

Inevitably the utopian sense of peace and tranquillity abruptly ended in 1155 when there was a crisis in the Imperial succession line, the current Emperor had been found poisoned without a clear heir. This led to heavy arguments of whom should next take the title of Emperor, with the Emperor’s uncle Go-Hirakawa and cousin Jozun being the most suitable candidates.

The Mirumoto clan supported the cousin and the Otomo clan the uncle, each of which were positively inclined to either clan respectively. That meant that whoever would have their candidate become Emperor would have a great boon at having their will go through at the Imperial Court. Naturally, there would not be a peaceful solution to the matter.

This eventually culminated in the long and bloody Gempei War between primarily the Otomo and Mirumoto clans each claiming a legitimate successor to the Imperial court, bolstered by a large number of smaller clans allied with one side or the other. The end of the Gempei War in 1185 brought about the end of the Heian era as the Emperor was forced into retirement, becoming a mere symbol. Mirumoto Nobunaga took the title and office of Shogun, becoming the true leader of Nippon’s power, taking up seat in Osaka castle.

During this period, Samurai warfare consisted largely of archery first and foremost, followed by limited sword play. Nearly all duels and battles began with an exchange of arrow fire, before single combat was entered, with sword and dagger. Conflict, particularly the Gempei War, and the establishment of the Shogunate that followed, mark the rise of the Samurai class over the Imperial court nobility (“kuge”). Shogunate’s – essentially military dictatorships, have succeeded in dominating Nipponese politics for the last seven hundred years, usurping the power of the Emperor and of the Imperial Court ever since.

Militarily speaking, this period also marks a crucial shift from a realm once united in relative peace from outside threats, to one that did not fear invasion and was pre-occupied with internal division and clashes between societal factions. With the exception of the Hobgoblin naval assault and the earlier Druchii incursions, Nippon did not face significant foreign threat until the arrival of Old World explorers much later. Thus, ancient Nipponese military history is largely defined not by wars with other realms but by internal conflict.

Hobgoblin Grand Fleet

In 1745, Jublai Khan, the ruler of the Hobgoblins, amassed a great horde and assailed the Cathayan Realm. After managing to break through the Great Bastion and run rampart throughout the land, Jublai set his eyes upon the Nipponese islands. Wanting to conquer all the realms of the east, he ordered his army to construct a great fleet numbering many thousand ships to sail to conquer the islands.

Nippon at this time was still strong under Mirumoto control, but was severely outnumbered by the Hobgoblins. The Shogun of the time, a rash man who attacked first and thought later, ordered the entirety of the Nipponese fleet to meet the Hobgoblin armada head on. Only a dozen Nipponese ships returned, and the Shogun, shamed by the defeat of his complete fleet, rightly performed seppuku (ritual suicide). However, not all was lost. The Empress Jungi thought of as nothing more than a symbol like the Emperors before her had been for many centuries, was in-fact an extremely powerful Shugenja sorceress.

With the Shogun gone, she rallied her troops and took to the battlefield herself. Encouraged by this great show of courage, the Samurai armies followed her. She took the Imperial Ship with her personal bodyguard to aid her, and sailed towards the approaching Hobgoblin fleet. With all her might, she summoned a huge tidal wave that swept across the Hobgoblin fleet, capsizing ships and drowning the foul greenskins in the murky depths. Over two thirds of the Hobgoblin fleet was destroyed in one strike though Empress Jungi herself almost perished from fatigue – such was the exertion required for a spell of such magnitude.

Undaunted she carried on to personally led the Nipponese forces against the parts of the Hobgoblin horde that managed to land on the coast. Nippon was ultimately saved from the sudden greenskin menace, and for a time Empress Jungi was hailed as its saviour. Many Samurai clans that had been present that day rallied behind her and proclaimed her the true ruler of Nippon. The Mirumoto Shogunate was quickly overthrown, and Empress Jungi would be proclaimed ruler in a brief period known as the Imperial Restoration.

Though Empress Jungi did actually restore the Imperial administrative system and do away with the Shogunate, this would not last. When she mysteriously disappeared some ten years later and the throne was ascended by her son Go-Daigo, there were soon whispers of rebellion. Go-Daigo did not possess the same level of leadership qualities as his mother, and some rumours even spoke about him having her assassinated to get to the throne himself.

The Ujimasa are believed to have been the first to take advantage of this weakness, rallying several of the clans and openly accusing Go-Daigo of murder. They drove him from Heian-kyu and set up their own Emperor. The ensuing ‘Wars of the Courts’ dragged on for 56 years as Go-Daigo and his heirs fought against the Ujimasa and their puppet Emperors. In 1792, however, an Ujimasa ambassador convinced the true Emperor to abdicate. The Ujimasa puppet Emperors were now seen as the rightful Emperors, but their power was to be relatively short-lived. The Ujimasa period was one of great refinement of manners, of great art and literary works.

However, during this period real power passed from the Shogun to the other great clans. The Ujimasa shoguns were never able to control these clans, and this failure was to lead to a century of violence.

Chaos Incursions

Years earlier, a warpstone meteorite had crashed in the northern part of Haikido, and the once prosperous island instead became a lair of evil. A terrible fate began to afflict the people of Haikido as the clouds of warp dust blew into the towns and villages. They began to mutate and became things much less than human. The castle of Kamakura was inhabited by foul beings, with many of the people turning to the worship of the dark gods. For millennia, those pure in spirit would fight against the Chaos forces of Haikido, holding them off from moving south into Koshu.

In 2271, the forces of Chaos were on the march over the entire world. Though it was the Old World in the west that bore the brunt of it, all was not quiet in the east either. From their Castle of Decay in Haikido, the Chaos worshippers known as the Black Army marched south, aided by many Oni that were able to traverse into the material plane through a newly opened warpgate.

The Samurai clans of Nippon were able to set their differences aside for a time since the time of Empress Jungi, and gathered to face the forces of Chaos. On what would be known as the Fields of Death in Haikido, the armies of Emperor Naganori, Shogun Ujimasa Horotome and his Samurai would battle the first and largest Chaos incursion ever seen in Nippon’s history. It was a brutal battle as Chaos Warrior fought Samurai in bitter combat. For the first time the Nipponese were to experience the horror of magic cast by the Chaos Sorcerers; many of these foul wizards had come across the seas from the West. The Nipponese could not hope to win being pitched against such a devastating weapon.

But just when the Chaos forces were to gain the upper hand the ground began to rumble as great cracks opened up directly underneath the main Chaos column. Within seconds the whole column was swallowed by a great earthquake, separating it from the main battle in the process. The Nipponese saw this as a sign from the Kami and fought with renewed vigour as they finally destroyed the followers of Chaos. It was a great, but costly, victory for Emperor Naganori and Shogun Ujimasa Horotome.

The surviving forces of Chaos retreated back north. Unable to pursue them among the warp dust, the Nipponese have never been able to fully eradicate the forces of Chaos from their position at the Castle of Decay. It is said they still plot and plan to overthrow Nippon once more, though that day has not yet come to pass.

The equipment, tactics, and military attitudes of the Samurai and their Chaos opponents differed greatly during the conflict, and while both incursions failed miserably, their impact on developments and changes in Samurai battle were quite significant. While the Samurai remained attached to the moral concept of one-on-one combat, that ideal of the honourable battle to the death between individual warriors, and particularly to the ritualistic element of battle, such as a series of archery exchanges conducted before entering into hand-to-hand fighting.

The Chaos armies in particular had shown the Samurai that few if any enemy would choose to engage in such ritualistic honourable conflict, and of course could not be expected to know anything of such Samurai conventions, and for all that were arguably far more effective as a fighting force. They did not select individual opponents with whom to engage in honourable duels, but instead sallied forward in well armoured ranks, focussed solely on killing as many as they could and causing mayhem with no regard to Nipponese notions of military protocol. Samurai attitude to open conflict were affected greatly by their experiences in the Chaos incursion, and changed forever afterwards.

As predicted battles grew larger after this era, and were less ritualized – though single combat and other elements of ritual and honourable battle conflict remained in principle, in practice organized strategies and tactics directed by skilled military commanders began to emerge, along with a greater degree of the use of formations and divisions within the Samurai armies. It was in this period as well that weapon-smithing techniques emerged creating so-called “Nipponese steel” blades, flexible yet extremely hard and sharp; the katana, and myriad similar or related blade weapons, appeared at this time and would dominate Nipponese arm manufacture, relatively unchanged, through to the present day. It was also during this era that the shift of Samurai reliance on archery to expert sword play began in a significant way and has grown ever since.

Arrival of Gunpowder

In 2322 the first Old Worlder’s arrived in Nippon, when a group of Marienburgers traders landed in Konshu. The Marienburgers brought with them one thing that would greatly affect the future of Nippon’s warfare: effective gunpowder weapons.

Gunpowder weapons were not a complete mystery to the Samurai. They certainly knew about Cathayan artillery, but gunpowder hadn’t really arrived in Nipponese warfare, until now. The guns that the Marienburgers brought to Nippon were handguns or ‘matchlocks’. They were light enough to be used by one man and relatively safe. The handgun had a slow rate of fire on the battlefield, but it did have one massive advantage that was recognised in Nippon as quickly as it had been spotted in the Old World. Training as a Samurai archer takes years of dedicated practice, while learning to use a handgun took days, at most. The Ashigaru were a pool of soldiers in every army ready and waiting for an easy-to-use missile weapon.

Given the level of skill that Nipponese sword-smiths and armourers already exhibited, it’s hardly surprising that it took remarkably little time before the handgun was being produced in Nippon, and that it was adopted enthusiastically by the Daimyo for their armies. However, although everyone could see that the handgun (“teppo”) was a useful addition to the armoury, it would still take time before someone would integrate a substantial force of Matchlock Ashigaru into his army in a tactically effective manner.

The first example of this was the Battle of Nagashino, in which reportedly 3,000 arquebusiers led by Oda Nobunaga cut down charging ranks of thousands of Beastmen, remains one of the chief examples of the effect of these weapons. Highly inaccurate, and taking a long time to reload, ‘teppo’ did not win battles on their own. Oda Nobunaga, Toyotomi Hideyoshi, and other Daimyo commanders, developed tactics that honed arquebus use to the greatest advantage. At Nagashino, Nobunaga’s gunners hid behind wooden barricades, embedded with large wooden spikes to ward off massed attack, and took turns firing volleys and reloading.

As in Old World battlefields, the debilitating effects of wet (and therefore largely useless) black-powder were decisive in a number of battles. But, one of the key advantages of the weapon was that unlike bows, which required years of training largely available only to the Samurai class, arquebus and matchlocks could be used by relatively untrained troops. Samurai stuck to their swords and their bows, engaging in cavalry or infantry tactics, while the Ashigaru wielded the firearms.

Even some militant Buddhist factions, began to produce firearms in the foundries normally employed to make bronze temple bells. In this manner, the Ikko-ikki, a group of monks and religious zealots, turned their Ishiyama Honganji cathedral-fortress into one of the most well defended fortresses in the country. The ikki and a handful of other militant religious factions thus presented significant powers unto themselves, and fought fierce battles against some of the chief Daimyo and samurai clans in the archipelago.

A great many military developments and significant battles took place during this era, ranging from advances in castle design to the advent of the massed cavalry charge, the further development of campaign strategies reached a grand scale. Samurai army compositions changed and grew more strategic; masses of Ashigaru foot-soldiers, armed with long lances (Yari) found a role alongside mounted Samurai, units of archers, and later, gunners also bolstered the Samurai armies. Siege tactics and weaponry were rare until this era, naval battles likewise until now consisted of little more than using barges to move troops within range of bow or arquebus, and then to enable hand-to-hand fighting.

The Hojo clan, in and around the Kanto area, were among the first to establish networks of satellite castles, and the concerted use of these castles both for mutual defence and coordinated attacks. The Takeda clan, under Takeda Shingen, developed the Nipponese equivalent of the massed cavalry charge; comparable to Old World Knightly ordered charges against foot-soldiers with equally comparable affect in terms of shock and awe on the defenders unused to it. Battles of particular interest or significance are too numerous to list here, but suffice it to say that this era saw a myriad of strategic and tactical developments, and some of the longest sieges and largest battles in the history Nippon.

War with Cathay

In 2355, Shogun Ujimasa Hideyoshi became Shogun after killing his predecessor in a duel. Hideyoshi was a ruthless man, who saw the decline of the Ujimasa Shogunate and the rivalling Daimyo as a pest that must be eradicated. In an effort to once again rally Nippon in more than just words of peace on a paper, he called for an invasion of Cathay to increase the borders and wealth of his glorious land. Cathay had been hit hard by the forces of Chaos during the Great War Against Chaos, and had not quite recuperated as well as Nippon. Now was the perfect time to strike.

He constructed a huge fleet of thousands of ships which would take his troops across the Far Sea to Cathay. Over 250 000 troops was sent across the treacherous waters, making landfall near Fu Chow on the eastern coast. This sudden attack was a large surprise for the Cathayans, who where quickly overtaken by the Nipponese force. Hideyoshi’s armies established a foothold with Fu Chow as a base from where they could take in more supplies and fresh troops from Nippon. The Nipponese would prove to be unstoppable, beating back every Cathayan army sent against them and conquering more and more cities on the eastern coast.

The Cathayan Generals became more and more desperate, resorting to hiding in the woods and attacking supply caravans rather than facing the Nipponese on the field of battle. The war would carry on for a total of 120 years, until the Cathayan and Nipponese armies would finally face off at the disastrous battle of Xenyong. As the Nipponese forces tried to engage the enemy, the Cathayan forces retreated – luring the lead Nipponese units into a valley to the rear of the battlefield, here the cowardly Cathayan General had planned an ambush. As the Nipponese Samurai cavalry charged into the retreating Cathayan army, they rode into range of dozens of Cathayan rocket batteries, as the rockets rained down on them – so many that the sky could barely be seen, the brave Samurai bodies fell one on top of the other.

When the smoke cleared the valley was littered with fallen Samurai, in a symbolic gesture of victory the treacherous Cathayan General cut of the head Hideyoshi who was leading the assault, and sent it to Hideyoshi’s brother who was then governor of Fu Chow.

When news of this defeat reached the rest of the Nipponese forces, the tide of the war turned in favour of Cathay and soon city after city was taken back by the Cathayan’s, until only Fu Chow remained in Nipponese control.

Hideyoshi’s brother ordered his remaining forces to board the ships back to Nippon – the war was lost. This defeat is considered the greatest in Nipponese history, and would ultimately cost the Ujimasa the power of the Shogunate. Sure that they were too weak to lead Nippon after the defeat against Cathay, the clan Daimyo once more began plotting against each other and the Shogunate.

Sengoku – Warring Clans

Sengoku battles continued to rage as they had for the previous century, growing larger and more tactically complex, in 2487 the Ujimasa Shoganate was at an all time low, spending more of their time arguing and performing tea ceremonies than leading the country. It hardly came as a surprise when full-on civil war broke out.

The weak Shogunate did nothing to prevent this, and soon rioting became prevalent in Osaka. It did not take long until the rest of the clans followed suit. Each of the great clans attempted to invade their neighbours, minor clans were trampled underfoot and destroyed, and burning fires could be seen every night. As the war spread throughout Nippon, Daimyo took the opportunity to settle old scores (and gain territory at the expense of their neighbours) with mixed results.

The central government had, for all intents and purposes, vanished. The Daimyo were free to wage as many wars as they wanted or could afford. The lesser Samurai families were quite free to dream of greater power and steal land from each other as well. A shifting pattern of rivalries and alliances emerged. One clan might ally with another against the threat from a third, only to find that their allies had become just as great a threat, or that previously loyal underlings were now more dangerous than any external threat.

Samurai warfare had always used dirty tricks, assassination and outright treachery but during earlier conflicts, such as the Gempei War, the clans who had behaved in this fashion were widely regarded as villains. In the Warring Clans period, however, all was fair in love and war. A quick murder was as acceptable as winning a battle. The Daimyo, of course, had access to the Ninja Assassins, who were in high demand during this era. It was a wise man who took precautions against assassination, even if he didn’t plot the deaths of his rivals and superiors.

Yoritomo clan

During this time, the Yoritomo clan was another one of those small Samurai families who had managed to gain control of a province during the time of the Warring Clans. In 2506, the grim Yoritomo Ieyasu became head of the clan. When the Batake clan marched towards Heian-kyu, taking advantage of the fact that the Horumi and Taneka were busy fighting each other, they came upon Ieyasu’s province. Fiercely defending his home, Ieyasu decided to attack. After a brilliant bit of trickery, he managed to convince the Batake that his army was camped in one place, and then ambushed the main Batake force in a gorge. The battle lasted minutes rather than hours. The Batake Daimyo was killed, and only realised at the last minute that the Samurai who were attacking were in fact the enemy rather than part of his own force.

Yoritomo Ieyasu was now found himself a legitimate power in the land, the temptation to march on Heian-kyu must have been tempting for Ieyasu as well, but he bided his time and secured alliances with his neighbours by marrying off his daughter and younger sister. Soon his route to Heian-kyu and the Shogunate would be open.

Yoritomo Ieyasu entered Heian-kyu in 2508, taking the city with little resistance from the incumbent Shogunate. Now, all he needed was to defeat the rest of the great clans. That same year he fell upon the Mushagi Samurai and fought the indecisive, but victorious Battle of Onogawa. While his forces won the day, they didn’t crush the Mushagi and troubles now multiplied for Ieyasu as he rapidly found he was facing not only the Mushagi, but the Horumi and Taneka clans as well.

The Taneka moved against him next, almost trapping Tokugawa Ieyasu in his castle. Ieyasu was faced with a simple choice – stay where he was and fail in his duty to prevent the Taneka from reaching Heian-kyu, or fight. He chose to leave the castle and met the Taneka army in the snow on a stretch of open moors near the Ekawasaki River. The battle that followed was a triumph for Yoritomo Ieyasu as he reportedly used the Ashigaru armed with arquebus to devastating effect. Those that survived the massed volleys were cut down by Ieyasu’s other soldiers. Having heard of this great victory, the Horumi and Mushagi soon capitulated and swore fealty to Yoritomo Ieyasu.

Ieyasu’s army now turned its full power towards the Ashikaga – continuing to make steady progress he soon besieged their castle at Izumo. The entire Ashikaga clan gathered to try and lift the siege, Ieyasu summoned reinforcements when he realised the size of the opposing force he was facing. The Ashikaga were defeated however, and they too swore fealty to Ieyasu.

The stage was now set for the confrontation between Ieyasu and the powerful Daimatzu clan. The battle was fought near Nagashige, and when it was over, Ieyasu’s Samurai relayed a count of almost 2500 heads taken from an enemy army of around 9000 soldiers. His army’s losses were minimal at 600 men, with Ieyasu’s army standing outside their city, the Daimatzu surrendered.

Ieyasu was now in a position to conquer the rest of Nippon and proclaim him-self Shogun of all the land. And that he did, not only by his military skills, but also to his political skills. When facing the Sheinzei clan, Ieyasu saw little point in fighting to the bitter end in the mountainous regions of Haikido. Instead, Ieyasu was more political and cunning; he was generous towards his enemies, letting them keep their holdings. He left them in charge as they had been, having first secured their loyalty. As a result, he managed to add the armies of the Sheinzei to his own forces and grow even stronger over time.

Now, there was only one clan left to conquer – the warlike Uruchi to the west of Koshu. During the time of the Warring clans, they had relentlessly been attacking the castles of the Batake, but to no avail. Even being as hopelessly outnumbered as they were, diplomatic discussion with the Uruchi was fruitless – the heads of Ieyasu’s messengers were simply sent back in a basket. Ieyasu gathered his armies and prepared for the inevitable confrontation.

In what would be known as the Battle of the Sundered Realm, the two sides met, or almost blundered into each other in the fog, in damp and miserable conditions. Both armies were soaked through and neither side could see the other because of dense fog. In the early part of the day, however, the fog lifted and the battle commenced – more like one huge, mud-soaked brawl.

The Uruchi, however, were both disorganized and outnumbered, and stood little chance against Ieyasu’s disciplined troops. By mid-afternoon, Ieyasu was again counting the heads of his defeated enemies. The captured Uruchi Daimyo challenged Ieyasu to a final personal duel. Ieyasu accepted, and promptly cut his head off, the remaining Uruchi submitted immediately.

From this day on, Yoritomo Ieyasu has been the undisputed ruler of Nippon. In 2517, he was declared Shogun, the title having been unused for nearly 30 years after the removal of the last of the Ujiwara clan. Now, Nippon is officially united, even if hostility and smaller conflicts between the clans still persist, the land is officially at peace. The court envoys whisper of what Ieyasu will do to keep it, and with that, his power.

Some even whisper of gathering the armies of all clans in a new attempt at invading Cathay…