This page contains information about Japan in the Muromachi era. It's a very basic primer - I don't pretend to be an expert on the topic, but the information is here for the use of my players and for any GMs who care to take advantage of it.

What's here is strictly historical information. For information about generating characters, or for Hero system gaming information, go to the House rules section.

 

Chronology of the years surrounding the Sengoku Jidai

Era	Years	Events
Muromachi	1336-92	War between Northern and Southern courts
	1338	Establishment of the Ashikaga Shogunate
	1392	Reunification of the Imperial court
	1467-1477	Onin war, collapse of Shoen system of fiefs
	1528-1539	Rise of the Machi-kumi, war between Hokke and Ikko-ikki
	1542	Arrival of the first Europeans in Southern Japan
	1568	Oda Nobunaga occupies Kyoto and eliminates the militant clergy
	1573	Oda Nobunaga topples the last Ashikaga Shogun
Momoyama	1582	Death of Oda Nobunaga, ascendancy of Toyotomi Hideyoshi
	1592	Hideyoshi's first invasion of Korea
	1597	Hideyoshi's second invasion of Korea
	1598	Death of Toyotomi Hideyoshi, ascendancy of Tokugawa Ieyasu
	1600	Battle of Sekigahara
Tokugawa	1603	Establishment of the Tokugawa Shogunate

Geography

Here are maps showing the general topography of Japan, major cities and clan strongholds and the provinces of Japan.

Muromachi and Ashikaga: The Shogunate and Bakufu

The era in which Sengoku is set is the final years of the Muromachi Shogunate. This is also called the Ashikaga shogunate, or the Ashikaga Bakufu. Confusing, eh? While everybody in Japan acknowledged the imperial family as the legitimate rulers of Japan, being the descendants of the goddess Ameratsu, they had little in the way of real power. The Imperial family had long ago lost control of the powerful clans and their samurai, and so these familes fought for the ability to control Kyoto - and with it the emperor. The prize was appointment to the Shogunate - a postion which officially was simply a military command responsible for the security of Japan against external forces, but which in reality had evolved into that of military dictator. Although officially appointed by the emperor, the shogunate had long since become hereditary . The Ashikaga family seized the Shogunate in 1338, after the emperor attempted to destroy the preceding shogunate and return real power to the Imperial line, but their reign is often called the Muromachi era or Muromachi Shogunate, after the quarter of Kyoto where the Ashikaga made their base. Finally, the government through which the shoguns imposed their will on the rest of Japan was called the Bakufu - a name which dated back to the era when shogunal officials would travel about with their retainers, personally enforcing the law.

By the time Sengoku starts, that period was also well past. The Ashikaga family, an offshoot of the famous Minamoto clan, had grown more and more effete in the decadent atmosphere of Kyoto, and the political structure they imposed on Japan started to crumble as independant lords arose in the provinces and began to contend among themselves for land and power.

Political and social structure of Japan

At the top of the political pyramid sat the Shogun. Although the Ashikaga family had extensive land holdings, they did not rule primarily by force or numbers, but rather through a tangled web of alliances and political marriages to other related clans. This whole system was kept functioning by the Bakufu government which was structured like this:

However, by the 16th century the Shugo - the military governors - had largely been supplanted by local lords (Sengoku Daimyo) who owed their position not primarily to the good graces of the Shogunate, but to the power of their military forces. The Shogunate was forced to recognise them, and the whole country was split between pro-shogunate and anti-shogunate Daimyo. Only in the centre of the country - the area between Yedo and Kyoto - was the Shogun's will readily enforceable.

The social pyramid of Japan however was topped by the Emperor, and looked like this:

Kuge (Noble Class)	Imperial family
	Nobles and Courtiers	Religious orders
Buke (Military class)	Bakufu (Central Government)
	Daimyo (Provincial government)
	Upper class retainers (Kyunin)
	Lower class retainers (Kachi)
Heimin (commoners)	Farmers (Hyakusho)
	Artisans (Shokunin)
	Merchants (Chonin, Akindo)
	Outcasts (Heinin, Eta)

This is of course a gross simplification, and something of a distortion. A master of a highly valued skill such as calligraphy could actually be accorded more social prestige than someone his nominal superior - but only on some occasions. There were also many divisions within classes - at least 8 ranks of Daimyo existed, based on the extent of their land holdings and the prestige of their clan. This chart should however, give a rough outline of the social structure of Japan in the Muromachi era, a period when social divisions were not as strictly enforced as they were later to become and when some social migration was still possible. The religious orders were somewhat apart from the social pyramid. They could come from any but the highest and lowest castes of Japan, and were able to mingle - at least to some extent - with members of other castes.

 

Commerce and Travel

Both of these were pretty limited in Muromachi-era Japan. Most common people lived and died in the same small area, had never seen a foreigner, or even wanted to. While wealthier people could and did travel, toll barriers were common on any road, and travellers had to either be able to show passes from their superiors which authorised to travel to a certain place and for a certain purpose, or intimidate the guards at the barrier. Even sea travel could not avoid this - many lords set up naval patrols in order to extract tolls from merchants plying their trade up and down the coast.

Trade and merchants were not well regarded, since they were seen as parasites who made their living trading in goods produced by others. All merchants were strictly regulated, as to what they could sell, where they could trade and with whom, and they were heavily taxed for these privileges. Farmers were much better regarded, since they produced the rice on which the whole of Japan depended, and indeed, Japan's currency was initially based on the cost of rice, with different coins representing the amount of rice needed to feed a man. By Ashikaga times, however the currency had become more expansive. Any discussion of currency in this era is difficult since many Daimyo, as well as the Bakufu, minted their own coins, and these had different names and often different values. A list of some of the commonest coins, and their rice equivalent, is given below.

Name	Notes	Equivalent
Sen	small round copper coin, with a square hole in the middle	One meal
Mon	small round silver coin	Rice for one month, 30 sen
Kan	small round gold coin	Rice for one year, 12 Mon
Ryo	large oval gold coin	Rice for 4 years, 4 Kan
Oban	Large oval gold coin (very rare)	Rice for 8 years, 2 Ryo

Remember that only wealthy merchants and upper class people used coinage much. Commoners got along with barter and for this, grain - especially rice - was the commonest item.

Trade outside of Japan was even more tightly restricted, with almost all of the trade being funneled through certain "treaty ports" where foreign ships were allowed to land. This privilege was reciprocated in China and Korea, where ships from Japan were allowed to land. Treaty ports often had small communities of foreigners (mostly chinese in Japan) and the right to have such a port was much coveted by the Daimyo since it was a source of both foreign goods and more importantly, of very lucrative taxes.

Law and Order

One final aspect that might be of interest to player characters is law enforcement. Although the lords and their samurai were the ultimate enforcers of the law, they didn't get their hands dirty if they could avoid it. Most clans therefore boasted a police force which was backed up by soldiers when necessary. These (in order of importance) were Yoriki (guards at important points, normally supported by Buke), Doshin (policemen, who normally guarded entrances to each district) and Okappiki (patrolmen). These officials usually hired assistants (Tesaki) from the Hinin class to do the real dirty work like carting away bodies, guarding prisoners and carrying out executions - as well as tackling dangerous criminals. These police were often quite capable, and there are reports of them disarming or even killing armed samurai. They were often also apparently quite corrupt, augmenting their meager salaries with payoffs and extortion for protection.

The police were supported by a system of informers - who were all over cities and even villages. Cities and towns were normally divided into wards based on an area or trade, and in many fortified cities these wre enclosed by walls and/or moats so that sections of the city could be quickly isolated. To move from ward to ward required a pass. Since everyone in a ward was responsible for any action taken by someone in that ward (and could be punished for it) few criminals went unidentified for long.

However, in some areas the protection afforded by the lord was insufficient and in these areas peasants or - especially - townsmen banded together to form societies called Otokodate or Machi-kumi. These societies produced some very able fighters too and in some regions their leaders (referred to as "father") become officially charged with keeping the peace, or even providing guards for visiting dignitaries. In cases where rebellions flared up, the Otokodate were usually in the thick of it, and there are cases of them beating off samurai attacks for considerable periods of time. The Okodate were not entirely benevolent however. In many areas they became organised crime families, in some cases taking over and running towns or wards as their own petty fiefs.

 

Glossary

a brief collection of Japanese words for people, places and things from the Muromachi era.

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