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{{Infobox former country |
{{Infobox former country |
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| conventional_long_name = Kōka ''ikki'' |
| conventional_long_name = Kōka ''ikki'' |
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| native_name = |
| native_name = {{native name|ja|Kōka-gun Chūsō (甲賀郡中惣)}} |
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| image_map = File:Districts of Omi province.png |
| image_map = File:Districts of Omi province.png |
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| map_alt = |
| map_alt = |
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| map_caption = Location of Kōka in [[Ōmi Province]] |
| map_caption = Location of Kōka in [[Ōmi Province]] |
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| coordinates = {{coord|34|58|N|136|10|E|region:JP|display=inline,title}} |
| coordinates = {{coord|34|58|N|136|10|E|region:JP|display=inline,title}} |
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| |
| largest_city = [[Kōka, Shiga|Kōka]] |
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| |
| capital = [[Kōka District, Shiga|Kōka District]] |
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| capital_type = Location |
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| religion = [[Tendai|Tendai Buddhism]]{{*}}[[Vajrayana|Tantric Buddhism]]{{*}}[[Shinto]] |
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| religion = [[Shugendō]] |
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⚫ | |||
| religion_ref = <ref>{{Harvnb|Turnbull|2017|83}}</ref> |
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| legislature = [[Military council|Military]]-[[Elder (administrative title)|elder council]] |
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⚫ | |||
| legislature = ''Kōka-gun Chūsō'' |
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| iso3166code = omit |
| iso3166code = omit |
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| today = [[Japan]] |
| today = [[Japan]] |
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}} |
}} |
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The '''Kōka ''ikki''''' or '''Kōka |
The '''Kōka ''ikki''''' or '''Kōka Confederacy''', historically known as the '''''Kōka-gun Chūsō''''', was a military confederation and network of [[ninja]] (then known as ''shinobi'') in [[Kōka District, Shiga|Kōka District]] (often spelled Kōga) in [[Ōmi Province]] during the [[Sengoku period]] of Japan. It was the center for what would become one of the two major traditions of [[ninjutsu]] - [[Kōga-ryū]] . The other major tradition, [[Iga-ryū]], emerged out of the [[Iga ikki]] that had formed in neighboring [[Iga Province]]. After centuries of rivalry, eventually the two networks of ninja worked closely [[Iga–Kōka alliance|in alliance together]]. While in Iga the ninja families essentially gained control of the entire province in a ''de facto'' [[republic]], Ōmi province was too large, diverse, and strategically valuable for the families in Kōka to project their control over the entire area. The confederation ended with the subjugation of Kōka in 1581 to the [[Oda clan]] during the [[Tenshō Iga War]]. After that conquest, Kōka ninjas served [[Tokugawa Ieyasu]] and then his descendants late into the [[Edo period]]. |
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== Background == |
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In 15th and 16th century Japan, Kōka, in Omi Province, had some 53 ruling [[Japanese clans|clans]] and nearby [[Iga Province]] contained some 300-500 small estates.<ref name=":7">{{Harvnb|Man|2012|pp=122-123, 173}}</ref> Both regions were in [[anarchy]], their estates and families constantly engaged in low-level, small-scale feuds and squabbles within and between each region.<ref name=":7" /><ref>{{Harvnb|Maltsev|2022|p=433}}</ref> This necessitated that the local ''[[jizamurai]]'' (lesser nobles) and their soldiers develop specialized espionage and combat skills.<ref name=":7" /> Schools for these techniques produced professionally trained, highly trained mercenaries who often offered their services to nearby provinces.<ref name="Turnbull 2003 9">{{Harvnb|Turnbull|2003|p=9}}</ref><ref name="Deal 2007 165">{{Harvnb|Deal|2007|p=165}}</ref><ref name=":10">{{Citation |last=Yamada |first=Yuji |title=A History of Shinobi(忍び) |date=November 2014 |url=https://www.human.mie-u.ac.jp/kenkyu/ken-prj/iga/news/%E8%8B%B1%E8%AA%9E.pdf |work=The Truth about Ninja: A comparison of the historical 忍び(Shinobi)and 忍者(Ninja)as a cultural phenomenon |pages=2 |editor-last= |editor-first= |series= |contribution= |contribution-url= |place=[[London]], [[Alicante]], [[Valencia]], [[Barcelona]], [[Madrid]] and [[Rome]] |publisher=[[Mie University]] and [[Japan Foundation]] |doi= |id= |last2= |first2= |author-link= |author-link2= |editor-last2= |editor-first2=}}</ref> These schools eventually became the respective styles of [[Iga-ryū]] and [[Kōga-ryū]] ninjutsu. The remoteness hill country in this part of Japan might have helped in the formation of these schools.<ref>{{Harvnb|Barducci|2010|pp=|p=1007}}</ref><ref name=":10" /> Iga was surrounded by mountains and accessible mostly only by narrow paths that permitted only one horse-rider at a time. Kōka was more accessible but still protected by high mountains.<ref>{{Harvnb|Barducci|2010|p=1007}}, quoting {{cite book |last1=Souyri |first1=Pierre F. |title=War and State Building in Medieval Japan |date=2010 |publisher=[[Stanford University Press]] |year=2010 |isbn=9780804774314 |editor1-last=Ferejohn |editor1-first=John A. |location=[[Stanford, California]] |pages=110–18, 20–22 |chapter=Autonomy and War in the Sixteenth Century Iga Region and the Birth of the Ninja Phenomena |editor2-last=Rosenbluth |editor2-first=Frances McCall |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YPkYMoO0ycIC&pg=PT110#v=onepage&q&f=false}}</ref> The first references to term ''shinobi'', specifically ''shinobi-mono'', later known as [[Ninja|ninjas]], appearing in the late 1580s and early 1600s, referred to the soldiers from Iga and Kōka.<ref>{{harvnb|Barducci|2010|p=999}}</ref> The isolation in these two regions encouraged autonomy, and the communities began organizing into ''ikki'' - "revolts" or "leagues".<ref name=":10" /> While Iga was remote due to mostly being surrounded by mountains, Kōka was situated along a major road that during the Edo period became the famous [[Tōkaidō (road)|Tōkaidō]].<ref name=":0">{{Harvnb|last1=Turnbull|year=2017|p=81}}</ref> It thus bridged the isolation of Iga to the key communication lines of Ōmi.<ref name=":0" /> Historical Kōka consisted of two large and several small valleys with rivers flowing down from the mountains which separated it from Iga. The two major rivers are the Yasugawa and the Somagawa.<ref>{{Harvnb|last1=Turnbull|year=2017|pp=81-82}}</ref> About a hundred medieval fortifications have been discovered in the hills above those rivers, suggesting extensive, albeit small-scale, military activities.<ref name=":1">{{Harvnb|last1=Turnbull|year=2017|p=82}}</ref> The historian [[Stephen Turnbull (historian)|Stephen Turnbull]] wrote that Takigawa Castle, associated with the Ōhara family, is a typical arrangement of these forts. The main castle - ''kyojō'' - lies across from the [[Tendai]] temple Rakuyaji. Adjacent to it is the western castle - ''saijō'' - with another subsidiary castle - ''bunjō'' - across the valley. Each follows the mountain castle - ''yamashiro'' - design.<ref name=":1" /> |
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== History == |
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== Government == |
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In Kōka, the [[Jizamurai|''jizamurai'']] organized in a similar ''ikki'' pattern to that in Iga, the high-ranking families acting as the [[Feudal baron|barons]] of the district.<ref name=":1" /> Some 53 [[Japanese clans|clans]] in the district ruled as the [[Elder (administrative title)|elders]] of the confederation.<ref name=":7" /> The ruling class was called ''dōmyōchu'' or ''ichizoku shūdan'', and they composed the ''Kōka-gun Chūsō'', the governing assembly and historical expression for the Kōka Confederacy.<ref name=":2">{{Harvnb|last1=Turnbull|year=2017|pp=82-83}}</ref> Among the ruling families are the documented clans of Ōhara, Hattori, Mochizuki, [[Ikeda clan|Ikeda]], Ukai, Ichiyaku, Taki, Saji, Takamine, Ueno, and Oki.<ref name=":3">{{Harvnb|Turnbull|year=2017|p=83}}</ref> The lesser landholders composed the ''samurai-shū'', among whom are the documented clans Tomita, Masuda, Shiotsu, Nishioka, Kitano, and Nakagami.<ref name=":2" /> |
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== Religion == |
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The religion in the district was [[Shugendō]], a syncretism of [[Buddhism]] and [[Shinto]].<ref name=":3" /> Members of the ''samurai-shū'' are mentioned in a 1475 document of donations to Aburahi Daimyōjin, the [[Tutelary deity|patron deity]] of Kōka, and the ''Kōka-gun'' are named in a 1571 records relating to the mediation of a dispute between the Handōji, the main Shugendō temple in Kōka, and the Shingu and Yagawa Shrines.<ref name=":2" /> Takigawa Castle, of the Ōhara clan, lay across from the [[Tendai]] temple Rakuyaji.<ref name=":1" /> |
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== Citations == |
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{{Reflist}} |
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== References == |
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* {{Cite journal |last=Barducci |first=Polina |last2=Orbach |first2=Danny |date=2020-01-01 |title=Irregular Warfare in Late Medieval Japan: Towards a Historical Understanding of the “Ninja”. |url=https://www.academia.edu/45653979/Irregular_Warfare_in_Late_Medieval_Japan_Towards_a_Historical_Understanding_of_the_Ninja_ |journal=[[Journal of Military History]] |volume=84 |issue=4 |pages=997-1020}} |
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* {{Cite book |last=Man |first=John |title=Ninja |publisher=[[Random House]] |year=2012 |isbn=9781446487662 |location=London}} |
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* {{cite book |last=Turnbull |first=Stephen |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=b9sbDAAAQBAJ |title=Ninja AD 1460–1650 |publisher=[[Osprey Publishing]] |year=2003 |isbn=978-1-84176-525-9 |location=Oxford |author-link=Stephen Turnbull (historian)}} |
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* {{cite book |last=Turnbull |first=Stephen |url=https://archive.org/details/warriorsofmediev0000turn |title=Warriors of Medieval Japan |publisher=Osprey Publishing |year=2007 |isbn=978-1-84603-220-2 |location=Oxford}} |
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* {{Cite book |last=Turnbull |first=Stephen |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=c9hgDwAAQBAJ |title=Ninja: Unmasking the Myth |publisher=Frontline Books |year=2017 |isbn=9781473850439 |location=[[Barnsley]]}} |
Revision as of 21:37, 25 January 2023
Kōka ikki Kōka-gun Chūsō (甲賀郡中惣) (Japanese) | |
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Location | Kōka District 34°58′N 136°10′E / 34.967°N 136.167°E |
Largest city | Kōka |
Religion | Shugendō |
Government | Feudal military confederation • military-elder council |
Legislature | Kōka-gun Chūsō |
Today part of | Japan |
The Kōka ikki or Kōka Confederacy, historically known as the Kōka-gun Chūsō, was a military confederation and network of ninja (then known as shinobi) in Kōka District (often spelled Kōga) in Ōmi Province during the Sengoku period of Japan. It was the center for what would become one of the two major traditions of ninjutsu - Kōga-ryū . The other major tradition, Iga-ryū, emerged out of the Iga ikki that had formed in neighboring Iga Province. After centuries of rivalry, eventually the two networks of ninja worked closely in alliance together. While in Iga the ninja families essentially gained control of the entire province in a de facto republic, Ōmi province was too large, diverse, and strategically valuable for the families in Kōka to project their control over the entire area. The confederation ended with the subjugation of Kōka in 1581 to the Oda clan during the Tenshō Iga War. After that conquest, Kōka ninjas served Tokugawa Ieyasu and then his descendants late into the Edo period.
Background
In 15th and 16th century Japan, Kōka, in Omi Province, had some 53 ruling clans and nearby Iga Province contained some 300-500 small estates.[2] Both regions were in anarchy, their estates and families constantly engaged in low-level, small-scale feuds and squabbles within and between each region.[2][3] This necessitated that the local jizamurai (lesser nobles) and their soldiers develop specialized espionage and combat skills.[2] Schools for these techniques produced professionally trained, highly trained mercenaries who often offered their services to nearby provinces.[4][5][6] These schools eventually became the respective styles of Iga-ryū and Kōga-ryū ninjutsu. The remoteness hill country in this part of Japan might have helped in the formation of these schools.[7][6] Iga was surrounded by mountains and accessible mostly only by narrow paths that permitted only one horse-rider at a time. Kōka was more accessible but still protected by high mountains.[8] The first references to term shinobi, specifically shinobi-mono, later known as ninjas, appearing in the late 1580s and early 1600s, referred to the soldiers from Iga and Kōka.[9] The isolation in these two regions encouraged autonomy, and the communities began organizing into ikki - "revolts" or "leagues".[6] While Iga was remote due to mostly being surrounded by mountains, Kōka was situated along a major road that during the Edo period became the famous Tōkaidō.[10] It thus bridged the isolation of Iga to the key communication lines of Ōmi.[10] Historical Kōka consisted of two large and several small valleys with rivers flowing down from the mountains which separated it from Iga. The two major rivers are the Yasugawa and the Somagawa.[11] About a hundred medieval fortifications have been discovered in the hills above those rivers, suggesting extensive, albeit small-scale, military activities.[12] The historian Stephen Turnbull wrote that Takigawa Castle, associated with the Ōhara family, is a typical arrangement of these forts. The main castle - kyojō - lies across from the Tendai temple Rakuyaji. Adjacent to it is the western castle - saijō - with another subsidiary castle - bunjō - across the valley. Each follows the mountain castle - yamashiro - design.[12]
History
Government
In Kōka, the jizamurai organized in a similar ikki pattern to that in Iga, the high-ranking families acting as the barons of the district.[12] Some 53 clans in the district ruled as the elders of the confederation.[2] The ruling class was called dōmyōchu or ichizoku shūdan, and they composed the Kōka-gun Chūsō, the governing assembly and historical expression for the Kōka Confederacy.[13] Among the ruling families are the documented clans of Ōhara, Hattori, Mochizuki, Ikeda, Ukai, Ichiyaku, Taki, Saji, Takamine, Ueno, and Oki.[14] The lesser landholders composed the samurai-shū, among whom are the documented clans Tomita, Masuda, Shiotsu, Nishioka, Kitano, and Nakagami.[13]
Religion
The religion in the district was Shugendō, a syncretism of Buddhism and Shinto.[14] Members of the samurai-shū are mentioned in a 1475 document of donations to Aburahi Daimyōjin, the patron deity of Kōka, and the Kōka-gun are named in a 1571 records relating to the mediation of a dispute between the Handōji, the main Shugendō temple in Kōka, and the Shingu and Yagawa Shrines.[13] Takigawa Castle, of the Ōhara clan, lay across from the Tendai temple Rakuyaji.[12]
Citations
- ^ Turnbull, 2017 & 83
- ^ a b c d Man 2012, pp. 122–123, 173
- ^ Maltsev 2022, p. 433
- ^ Turnbull 2003, p. 9
- ^ Deal 2007, p. 165
- ^ a b c Yamada, Yuji (November 2014), "A History of Shinobi(忍び)" (PDF), The Truth about Ninja: A comparison of the historical 忍び(Shinobi)and 忍者(Ninja)as a cultural phenomenon, London, Alicante, Valencia, Barcelona, Madrid and Rome: Mie University and Japan Foundation, p. 2
- ^ Barducci 2010, p. 1007
- ^ Barducci 2010, p. 1007 , quoting Souyri, Pierre F. (2010). "Autonomy and War in the Sixteenth Century Iga Region and the Birth of the Ninja Phenomena". In Ferejohn, John A.; Rosenbluth, Frances McCall (eds.). War and State Building in Medieval Japan. Stanford, California: Stanford University Press. pp. 110–18, 20–22. ISBN 9780804774314.
{{cite book}}
: CS1 maint: date and year (link) - ^ Barducci 2010, p. 999
- ^ a b [[#CITEREF|]], p. 81
- ^ [[#CITEREF|]], pp. 81–82
- ^ a b c d [[#CITEREF|]], p. 82
- ^ a b c [[#CITEREF|]], pp. 82–83
- ^ a b Turnbull, p. 83
References
- Barducci, Polina; Orbach, Danny (2020-01-01). "Irregular Warfare in Late Medieval Japan: Towards a Historical Understanding of the "Ninja"". Journal of Military History. 84 (4): 997–1020.
- Man, John (2012). Ninja. London: Random House. ISBN 9781446487662.
- Turnbull, Stephen (2003). Ninja AD 1460–1650. Oxford: Osprey Publishing. ISBN 978-1-84176-525-9.
- Turnbull, Stephen (2007). Warriors of Medieval Japan. Oxford: Osprey Publishing. ISBN 978-1-84603-220-2.
- Turnbull, Stephen (2017). Ninja: Unmasking the Myth. Barnsley: Frontline Books. ISBN 9781473850439.