Gekokujo

• Japanese: 下克上 (Gekokujou)

"The low overcome the high" - a term contemporary to the Muromachi Period that described someone of high standing being unseated by an inferior. Often applied to the frequent political upsets of the Sengoku Period. One of the first examples of Gekokujo cited in post-Onin war Japanese history is Asakura Toshikage's defeat of the the Shiba family and capturing of Echizen province. Hojo Soun is also often used as an early example of this with his invasion of Izu province in 1493.