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==History==
==History==
The Sengoku period is characterized by the rise of the ''[[daimyo|daimyô]]'' in the countryside, while the power of the Ashikaga shogunate in the capital waned. As the shogunal court grew more insular, the ''[[shugo]]'' in the provinces lost their authority. Local lords - sometimes the vassals of the ''shugo'' - rose to fill the void, becoming the new ''daimyô''. In the mid-16th century, samurai constituted roughly 7-8% of the population; this has been contrasted with a figure of members of the "feudal class" comprising only 0.25% of the population of medieval England.<ref>[[Albert M. Craig]], ''The Heritage of Japanese Civilization'', Second Edition, Prentice Hall (2011), 59.</ref>
The Sengoku period is characterized by the rise of the ''[[daimyo|daimyô]]'' in the countryside, while the power of the Ashikaga shogunate in the capital waned. As the shogunal court grew more insular, the ''[[shugo]]'' in the provinces lost their authority. Local lords - sometimes the vassals of the ''shugo'' - rose to fill the void, becoming the new ''daimyô''. In the mid-16th century, samurai constituted roughly 7-8% of the total population of around 10 million;<ref>[[Conrad Totman]], ''Early Modern Japan'', University of California Press (1993), 11.</ref> this has been contrasted with a figure of members of the "feudal class" comprising only 0.25% of the population of medieval England.<ref>[[Albert M. Craig]], ''The Heritage of Japanese Civilization'', Second Edition, Prentice Hall (2011), 59.</ref>
Lesser houses would enter into vassalage under these new local powers, entering into a new age of feudalism. Disputes regarding resources or territories could lead to armed conflict between local lords and their allies.
Lesser houses would enter into vassalage under these new local powers, entering into a new age of feudalism. Disputes regarding resources or territories could lead to armed conflict between local lords and their allies.
In these tumultuous times, some of the local ''daimyô'' became even more ambitious, looking to install their own rule over the country. Three of these ''daimyô'' would eventually succeed in uniting the country--[[Oda Nobunaga]], [[Toyotomi Hideyoshi]], and [[Tokugawa Ieyasu]].
In these tumultuous times, some of the local ''daimyô'' became even more ambitious, looking to install their own rule over the country. Three of these ''daimyô'' would eventually succeed in uniting the country--[[Oda Nobunaga]], [[Toyotomi Hideyoshi]], and [[Tokugawa Ieyasu]].
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===Society & Economy===
Most of the ten million or so people in the Japanese archipelago in the 16th century lived in relatively small villages; most of Japan's more major cities only began to transform into major urban centers in the early 17th century. Agricultural production and maritime activity such as fishing are generally quoted as the chief economic activities in these villages, though many also featured elements of craft/artisan production, shipping, or other business. Most villages consisted primarily of thatched-roofed homes, more numerous and expansive on the plains and shores, and smaller and more scattered in the mountains. Of what they produced, the amount given as tax or rent to landlords or higher authorities (''[[kenmon]]'') varied widely, but on average was somewhat above 30%. Of the remainder, much was bartered or sold; though less commercially vibrant and interconnected than in the Edo period, Sengoku Japan was not a world of purely, or chiefly, subsistence living, and most villagers engaged in at least some kind of trade.<ref>Totman, 11-12.</ref>
Most villages had one or more prominent families which hereditarily, or by virtue of wealth, land, leadership skills, or by some other means came to serve as ''de facto'' political leaders. Many enjoyed some formal recognition from or relationship with the local authorities (a Buddhist temple, samurai lord, or other "authority" over that area, known as a ''kenmon''), and organized public works projects, oversaw tax collection and delivery, and/or provided aid to their fellow villagers in time of famine or the like; in exchange, these families received rent, or some other sort of payments, from villagers. The degree of dominance of such families varied, of course, from village to village and region to region, and many villages practiced a more egalitarian form of mutual governance, without any particular families emerging as dominant.<ref>Totman, 13.</ref>
==References==
==References==
