The Impact of the Conflict Amongst the Warrior Class Members to Japan’S 16Th Century Feudal System in Eiji Yoshikawa’S Taiko

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TITLE PAGE THE IMPACT OF THE CONFLICT AMONGST THE WARRIOR CLASS MEMBERS TO JAPAN’S 16TH CENTURY FEUDAL SYSTEM IN EIJI YOSHIKAWA’S TAIKO

AN UNDERGRADUATE THESIS

Presented as a Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements forthe Degree of Sarjana Sastra in English Letters

By PATRICIA PARAMITHA Student Number: 164214075

DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH LETTERS FACULTY OF LETTERS UNIVERSITAS SANATA DHARMA YOGYAKARTA 2020

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MOTTO PAGE

Out of breath in my lungs From the small window reflects the inverted head and Morning glories racing for growth.

-Tigridia-

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DEDICATION PAGE

For my beloved individuals who have kept me alive until this day.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS TITLE PAGE ...... i

APPROVAL PAGE ...... ii

ACCEPTANCE PAGE ...... iii

STATEMENT OF ORIGINALITY ...... iv

LEMBAR PERNYATAAN PERSETUJUAN PUBLIKASI KARYA ILMIAH UNTUK KEPENTINGAN AKADEMIS ...... v

MOTTO PAGE ...... vi

DEDICATION PAGE ...... vii

TABLE OF CONTENTS ...... viii

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS...... x

ABSTRACT ...... xi

ABSTRAK ...... xii

CHAPTER I: BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY ...... 1

A. Background of the Study ...... 1

B. Research Questions ...... 4

C. Objectives of the Study ...... 5

D. Definition of Terms ...... 5

CHAPTER II: REVIEW OF LITERATURE ...... 6

A. Review of Related Studies ...... 6

B. Review of Related Theories ...... 9

C. Theoretical Framework ...... 27

CHAPTER III: METHODOLOGY ...... 29

A. Object of the Study ...... 29

B. Approach of the Study ...... 30

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C. Method of the Study ...... 30

CHAPTER IV: ANALYSIS ...... 32

A. The Conflict amongst the Warrior Class Members in Eiji Yoshikawa’s Taiko ...... 32

B. The Impact of the Conflict towards the Feudal System in Japan ...... 47

C. The Effect of the Conflict towards Current Society ...... 58

CHAPTER V: CONCLUSION ...... 70

REFERENCES ...... 72

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

On my last days of being a member of Sanata Dharma University, I would like to send my gratitude towards all of the peers that have provided me with experiences and life advice during my studies for a bachelor’s degree.

I would like to send my deepest gratitude to my thesis advisor, Dr.

Tatang Iskarna who has been patient and helpful in this research, and also my co-advisor, Dra. Th. Enny Anggraini, Ph.D., who also helped me in this research.

Last of all, I would like to thank my mother and my friends who have been the greatest support in completing my studies. Thank you to my best friend, Deborah for being so patient and kind in dealing with me during my studies. Thank you to Chris, Rania, Nina, and especially Ersya for being such good support in my darkest times, I would have been in a very horrible condition without you all. Thank you to Hinako and Takuhiro who have been so helpful and considerate in helping me to give a clearer perspective of Japan. Thank you to everyone who I couldn’t mention for the support and heads-up. May life bring you the joy that you wanted!

Patricia Paramitha

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ABSTRACT

PARAMITHA, P. (2020). The Impact of the Conflict amongst the Warrior Class Members to Japan’s 16th Century Feudal System in Eiji Yoshikawa’s Taiko.Yogyakarta: Department of English Letters, Faculty of Letters, Universitas Sanata Dharma.

This thesis is aimed at describing the conflict amongst the members of the Warrior class, especially Shogun, Daimyō, and Samurai to gain control over Japan in the 16th century in Eiji Yoshikawa’s Taiko, a novel written in 1967 in Japanese and translated into English in 2001. Besides, it also depicts how the conflict impacts the structure of Japan’s feudal system and how the novel, as produced in a certain culture, social and intellectual context gives the effect to the Japanese society.

This thesis uses library research and applies the historical approach. The theories employed are the theory of conflict, either conflict in literary work proposed by X.J. Kennedy and Dana Gioia or sociological context stated by Max Weber and Lewis Coser’s, and the historical background of the feudal system in Japan in the 16th century described in some sources.

The findings of the research are as follows. The conflict amongst the members of the Warrior class in Japan is the conflict between a group of society against another group; the conflict begins with the conflict between Oda Nobunaga as a part of the Daimyō against the warrior-monks of Mount Hiei. After winning against the war that leads to the fall of Mount Hiei and the defeat of the warrior-monks, Oda Nobunaga encountered a new conflict with Shogun Yoshiaki as his opponent due to political disagreement. The Oda clan later won against Shogun Yoshiaki in political war. The whole reason why Oda Nobunaga took down his opponents is to gain control over Japan. The conflict gave some impact towards Japan’s feudal system in the 16th century in the way that it switched the feudal structure of Japan from the Shogun authority to the Daimyō authority and changed the perspective of the Japanese society towards the Warrior-class itself.

From the perspective of the historical context, the novel gives the effect of familiarity to the current reader, in the way that the readers can compare the situation between the conflicts that happened in 16th century Japan to the issues in 21st century Japan. This thesis analyze of the Warrior class with the government of Japan. Especially the similarities it brings in the conflict between the Daimyō and the Shogun to the conflict between the Prime minister and the governor of Tokyo in their involvement in current Japanese issues that have been going for decades.

Keywords: Warrior class, Japanese Feudal System, Social conflict

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ABSTRAK PARAMITHA, P. (2020). The Impact of the Conflict amongst the Warrior Class Members to Japan’s 16th Century Feudal System in Eiji Yoshikawa’s Taiko.Yogyakarta: Department of English Letters, Faculty of Letters, Universitas Sanata Dharma.

Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk menggambarkan konflik antara anggota kelas Prajurit, terutama Shogun, Daimyō, dan Samurai untuk mendapatkan kendali atas Jepang pada abad ke-16 dalam novel Taiko oleh Eiji Yoshikawa. Sebuah novel yang ditulis pada tahun 1967 dalam bahasa Jepang dan diterjemahkan ke dalam bahasa Inggris pada tahun 2001. Selain itu, ia juga menggambarkan bagaimana konflik berdampak pada struktur sistem feodal Jepang dan bagaimana novel, yang diproduksi dalam budaya, konteks sosial dan intelektual tertentu memberikan efek kepada masyarakat Jepang.

Penelitian ini merupakan penelitian kepustakaan dengan penerapan pendekatan historis. Teori yang digunakan adalah teori konflik, baik konflik dalam karya sastra yang diajukan oleh X.J. Kennedy dan Dana Gioia atau dalam konteks sosiologis yang dikemukakan oleh Max Weber dan Lewis Coser. Latar belakang sejarah sistem feodal di Jepang pada abad ke-16 akan dijelaskan dalam beberapa sumber.

Konflik di antara anggota kelas Prajurit di Jepang adalah konflik antara kelompok masyarakat terhadap kelompok lain. konflik dimulai dengan konflik antara Oda Nobunaga sebagai bagian dari Daimyō melawan para Sohei di Gunung Hiei. Setelah menang melawan perang yang menyebabkan jatuhnya Gunung Hiei dan kekalahan para biksu-prajurit, Oda Nobunaga menghadapi konflik baru dengan Shogun Yoshiaki sebagai lawannya karena ketidaksepakatan politik. Klan Oda kemudian menang melawan Shogun Yoshiaki di perang politik. Oda Nobunaga menurunkan lawan-lawannya untuk mendapatkan kendali atas Jepang. Konflik ini memberikan beberapa dampak terhadap sistem feodal Jepang pada abad ke-16 dengan cara mengubah struktur feodal Jepang dari otoritas Shogun ke otoritas Daimyō.

Dari perspektif konteks historis, novel ini memberikan efek familiaritas kepada pembaca saat ini, dengan cara yang pembaca dapat membandingkan situasi antara konflik yang terjadi di Jepang abad ke-16 dengan masalah di Jepang abad ke-21. Penelitian ini menganalisa kelas Prajurit dengan pemerintah Jepang. Terutama kesamaan yang membawa konflik antara Daimyō dan Shogun dengan konflik antara Perdana Menteri dan gubernur Tokyo dalam keterlibatan mereka dalam masalah-masalah Jepang saat ini yang telah berlangsung selama beberapa dekade.

Keywords: Warrior class, Japanese Feudal System, Social conflict

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CHAPTER I

INTRODUCTION

A. Background of the Study Based on real historical events and figures, Eiji Yoshikawa’s Taiko is a

story of a young child who became one of Japan's greatest unifiers. This

research analyses the concept of feudalism depicted through the society

during the Sengoku Era as recorded in the novel Taiko written by Eiji

Yoshikawa, translated into English by William Scott Wilson.

This research observes the conformity of East Asian culture into western

theories, especially through the social system in Japan during the Sengoku

Era. This observation is concerned with the idea of feudalism in Japan. John

Whitney Hall’s explanation about feudalism in Japan points out that the main

doubt that is presence in this research

American historians who reject this view are apt to be reminded by their Japanese colleagues that they have spared the onus of living under feudalism and hence cannot appreciate its reality. Certainly, the American scholar does not commute through the countryside which to him constitutes a living reminder of “the feudalism of the village” (Hall & Jansen, 1968, p. 1).

Hall’s concern of the western concept applied to the Japanese culture raises

two basic historiographical issues: the idea of feudalism itself and its

appropriateness as a general category of social organization.

In this research, the researcher attempts to observe of the feudal system in

the novel Taiko by Eiji Yoshikawa which firstly observes the

historiographical idea of feudalism in the 16th century Japan as depicted in

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the novel and correlates them to the impact of the feudal system towards the socio-political system in the current era of Japan. To eliminate the general possibility of the result, the researcher narrows down the observation of the feudal system through the conflicts that circled around the Warrior class.

As an English literary researcher who lives in Asia, the researcher should be encouraged to take a look at English translated literary works which depict the historical and cultural sense of the book itself. In terms of explaining historical studies, the researcher observes the meaning of history itself to the study of literature:

The very term literature points to another way in which history is relevant to literary study. We tend to take the term for granted as if it were yoked unproblematically to a referent. But what it designates in one historical society or culture--what counts as literature, what is expected of literature, the place literature occupies in the cultural system---may not be the same as what it designates in another. (Gossman, 1994, p. 94) In Gossman’s argument, the researcher observes that the term of literature, it must have placed respectively as a literary object. The study of history itself is deemed to be critically relevant as every setting, every storyline or plot have their own historical aspect to it, where its majority or a minor role towards the literary work itself. To this research, the researcher attempts to provide a sample of a historical study towards an East Asian culture. From this case, the researcher takes a deeper look at the socio-cultural aspect of the feudal system of Japan in Eiji Yoshikawa’s Taiko as a medium in order to observe today’s issues.

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In observing historical records of the characteristics of feudal Japan,

Toyoda T.’s argument about the concept of the feudal system in Japan is applied. Toyoda’s argument about the economic history of the feudal society in Japan provides a deeper analysis of the socio-economic system of feudal

Japan, as feudal lords during the era exercised self-assumed authority in each district of Japan, competing for their ascendance with each other. The world, as Toyoda described, was apt to become disunited one after the other which led to anarchy. Toyoda provided a great comparison to a very similar phenomenon of the European feudal age of each King of France, England, and Germany, etc. whose crown was guaranteed by the Pope (Toyoda, 1957, pp. 29-35). With Toyoda’s concept of Japanese feudalism, the researcher could finally correlate it with the novel Taiko’s plot as a historical novel.

The researcher attempts to provide a sheer look at the Japanese past history as a developed country. In accordance to Edwin O. Reichaver’s observation on why all of the countries in the world observe that the Japanese society had developed itself by the 19th century. His argument leads to the signs of changes behind the feudal facade. His findings were started from the

16th century Japan that during the 16th century, the Japanese society and the feudal system, and even the ruthless Edo regime could not force them back into a political and economic unification across the country. With the new era,

Japan aims to produce a more peaceful balance of living. The Japanese prime minister, Shinzou Abe is aiming for peaceful agreement with international relations with other countries. Through literary observation, the researcher

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could picture a situation and development of Japanese society in the 16th

century as a rather lesson of what the Japanese society attempts to achieve

with the new era.

The researcher observes how Japanese society values productivity as their

main compass of daily lives. As the researcher knows from the feudal concept

proposed in the novel that there is a conflict of creating a unified country and

producing a one-unified leadership across Japan by stagnating the social

norm. People who are wealthy in Japanese society during the era become

wealthier and the poor are deemed to stay on their position as a laborer and

obeying their lord’s deeds. The concept of productivity is reflected by the

four-tiered feudal system and continues on towards the postmodern era of

Japan. This feudal facade was of course not all negative. The factor of

applying social stagnation impacts political control as there are fewer people

claiming towards the position of a government official. In this case as a

shogunate: making the government officials become more productive in

establishing international relations as they had closed the country beforehand

due to the warring states. From this system, the researcher observes the

significance of the conflict proposed above reflected by the postmodern era of

Japan.

B. Research Questions This undergraduate thesis aims to answer several questions related to the topic, as follows: 1. What is the conflict amongst the Warriors class described in Taiko?

2. How does the conflict the Japanese Feudal system in Taiko?

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3. What is the writer’s message to the current society through the

conflict in Taiko?

C. Objectives of the Study This research has a purpose to describe the conflict amongst the Warrior

class during 16th century Japan from the novel Taiko by Eiji Yoshikawa

through understanding the situation of settings in feudalism. It also observes

the visualization of the Warrior class and the situation of the society during

the Sengoku Era, supported by historical studies provided by scholarly

sources. The impact of conflict then will be applied through textual evidence

and supported by proper theories as provided in the theoretical framework.

This research also observes the understanding of the western theories of

feudalism applied to eastern culture, in this case, the Japanese culture as a

study of a historical study to correlate with the current society and observation

of the current state of a socio-political era in Japan after the era shift to a new

era.

D. Definition of Terms

Warrior Class Members. The term Warrior Class members refer to

Shogun, Daimyo, and Samurai in this research. The term itself is derived from

Cartwright’s definition of the Samurai: The Warrior class in 16th century

Japan is different from the previous year as they’re not only working as

military personnel but also work as a governing role. The Samurai from the

Kamakura period (1185-1333 CE) is new government personnel that was

founded which was dominated by warriors and led by a shogun (military

dictator); so it would remain right up until the 19th century CE.

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CHAPTER II

REVIEW OF LITERATURE

A. Review of Related Studies

In this section of the thesis, the researcher discusses a review of related studies that supports this thesis, a study conducted by another researcher who observed through the same novel. Surya Pranata’s undergraduate thesis discusses the motivation of Hideyoshi’s will to become a Samurai. In his observation, he uses a psychological approach that is conducted through Mary

Rohberger and Samuel H.’s book Reading and Writing about Literature. In his observation, he first described how Hideyoshi’s will to become a Samurai started from the childhood of Hideyoshi’s life as described to be: a dreamer, persistent individual, thorough and loyal pupil of Oda Nobunaga. Pranata conducted his observation through western theories, applied through an eastern culture and in his observation; he found that the core of Hideyoshi’s motivation of becoming a Samurai is from the experience of his childhood, proven by textual conduction and a supporting theory from A.H. Maslow’s theory in his book A Theory of Human Motivation.

This study is related to the researcher’s topic of the depiction of the

Warrior class in which had been observed through Pranata's psychological point of view. Although observed in a historical manner, the researcher was able to correlate with Hideyoshi’s life as a peasant with the situation in 16th century Japan. In Pranata’s thesis, he also underlines the situation of the

Peasant class reflected through other characters such as Hideyoshi’s mother and

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sister. Moreover, he also observes the tragic case of a foot soldier in the

Warrior class who had to live like a peasant.

Another related work is Hartadi Dwi’s journal that explains the human relationship (Ningen Kankei) in Japan through the observation of the novel

Shinsho Taikoki (Taiko). His observation covers the first series of the serial version of the novel Taiko. Through his observation, the concept of human relationships as mentioned by Yoneyama is divided into four parts: muichi, nakama,doho, and seken. Muichi is a relationship between two personals that happened in small groups of relatives. Nakama is a relationship between two personals in mutual attachments outside the family, such as close friends or best friends. Doho means a group of people who get together and converse in a personal way through parties, exercise, religious rituals, and other real-life situations. Lastly, Seken, a relationship which has no correlation with personals instead it is the relationship between human and all of the aspects in their lives.

Through the analysis which Hartadi conducted, the human relationship which he observes through the character Toyotomi Hideyoshi as the protagonist is observed by the three aspects which are listed above, excluding the concept of

Seken.

In relation to the researcher’s observation, Hartadi’s observation covers the relationship between Hideyoshi and his mother during his childhood with his step-father, his father, Yaemon before his death and his sister, Ofuku described the concept of Muichi. In the concept of Nakama, Hartadi observed only through interaction between Tokichiro (another name for Hideyoshi) with Oda

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Nobunaga in their friendship throughout Tokichiro’s moral duty in Nobunaga’s favor. Through the interaction between Hideyoshi and Akechi Mitsuhide as personal endeavors, the concept of Doho applied in their involvement of the rebellion.

This study relates to the sociological point of view of feudalism during the era through the characters’ philosophical beliefs. As we know from Gossman’s study of History and Literary Studies, claimed that philosophical belief is a part of a historical study. There, the application of the major concept of human relations is correlating to one another. Personal familiar relations were the major effects of strong influence, in this case, the relation between Hideyoshi and his surroundings.

What makes this study different is, of course, the observational point of view. From the two studies, the researcher would not only take a deeper look at the philosophical belief of the society from Hideyoshi’s side but on the philosophical belief of the society from Oda Nobunaga who influenced

Hideyoshi in the first place. Nobunaga’s involvement in a certain event can cause impacts that affect the development of the feudal system in Japan.

Through a philosophical belief of Nobunaga and his influence on the change in the feudal system, the researcher is able to correlate the feudal system through textual evidence that there is in fact, a change of the system which runs in the country during the 16th century. The focus of this thesis would be more into the sociological and historical point of view of society, eliminating the focus on each character ad previously have been discussed by the previous researchers.

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B. Review of Related Theories

Taiko is an epic novel written by Eiji Yoshikawa. The novel tells a

story of three great unifiers of Japan during the Sengoku Era. Through the

story, the readers are delivered to the concept of feudalism in the novel. The

following theories would support the researcher conducting the study.

1. Theory of Conflict

This theory would be separated into two sub sections as it observe

same theory but in a different point of view.

a. Theory of Conflict in literature

The theory of conflict is studied from Master Class’ article about What Is

Conflict in Literature?

In literature, a conflict is a literary device characterized by a struggle between two opposing forces. Conflict provides crucial tension in any story and is used to drive the narrative forward. It is often used to reveal a deeper meaning in a narrative while highlighting characters’ motivations, values, and weaknesses (MasterClass, 2019).

A story must progress through conflict, which in this novel’s case the

rising of the feudal system in Japan with the class shift from the emperor’s

authority to the warrior’s authority. There are of course many cases on how

the conflict presented but for the sake of presenting the application of the

theory to the novel, as proposed in the article, the theory of conflict in

Literature is presented in two: Internal and External conflict.

Internal conflict is when a character struggles with their own opposing desires or beliefs. It happens within them, and it drives their development as a character. External conflict sets a character against something or

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someone beyond their control. External forces stand in the way of a character’s motivations and create tension as the character tries to reach their goals. Including both internal and external conflict is crucial for a good story, because life always includes both (MasterClass, 2019).

A citation from Grace Fleming on their journal “Conflict in Literature” also agrees on the same, through their journal presented a distinct difference of conflict through the role who are involved in a literary work itself. From their journal, the researcher focuses on the definition of man vs. man as shown below.

When you have both a protagonist (good guy) and antagonist (bad guy) at odds, you have the man versus man conflict. Which character is which may not always be evident, but in this version of the conflict, there are two people, or groups of people, that have goals or intentions that conflict with each other. The resolution comes when one overcomes the obstacle created by the other (Fleming, 2018).

What the researcher would concern about is the role of the protagonist and the antagonist. In Eiji Yoshikawa’s Taiko, the protagonist is apparent that it is

Toyotomi Hideyoshi, but in the researcher’s opinion, looking through the perspective of Toyotomi Hideyoshi would be rather more personal compared through Oda Nobunaga, another fact is that throughout the story, Toyotomi

Hideyoshi is mostly working under the influence of Oda Nobunaga’s power.

Thus, to set a clearer outline of this research, the main character who will be

Oda Nobunaga and the antagonist would be both the warrior-monks of Mount

Hiei and the Shogun.

The conflict also has significant points on roles to the plot of the story.

Whether a character is having an internal conflict between them or having a struggle towards other individuals or groups. What is applied through his

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thesis was the struggle of a group of individuals to fight against another group of individuals. b. Theory conflict in sociological point of view

Another apparent theory of conflict is shown by Lewis Coser’s theory of conflict through a sociological point of view. As also discussed through the previous theory, the conflict theory is observing the general contours of conflict of the society within it through the perspective of each class. The citation below explains the general concern of conflict theory which correlates to the distribution of power in a society.

In general, conflict theory seeks to scientifically explain the general contours of conflict in society: how conflict starts and varies, and the effects it brings. The central concerns of conflict theory are the unequal distribution of scarce resources and power (Allan, 2006, p. 213)

While there is the conflict theory applied to this novel, the concept of contemporary conflict in the researcher’s opinion gives an interesting point upon this work. Coser’s theory of conflict is mainly concerned between structural functionalism and conflict theory. He wrote that there is a basic correlation between the structures of society with conflict that they have experienced in a certain community through predicting the level of violence.

This level of violence is a determination of how severe the impact of the conflict is to the general contribution of the society within it. If the conflict can be resolved in a rational manner, it is more likely that the involvement of violence is less happening. Although, conflict can be violent and Coser gives two factors that can produce violent conflict: emotional involvement and transcendent goals. What it respectively translates is in order to achieve a

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transcendent goal, an emotional involvement must be present and the media or people who are involved within it must be engaged. The more transcendent goals there are, the greater the violence can be. (Allan, 2006, p. 217). This theory itself sought the actions of a general of a certain Warrior class in launching a war against the opponent and proves that when coordinating with their opponent, the Warrior class also counts the rational measurement of violence that is involved in the conflict itself.

The conflict theory which presented by Coser also argues that while the general source of conflict that is presented by Karl Marx, it is better to be understood that in Marx’s idea of conflict that mostly inspires the researchers on the idea of conflict, there still needs a modification of understanding which are supposed to be brought onto more consideration. The idea of deprivation can be an ideal modifier of the conflict theory as it notes the shift from absolute to relative deprivation is significant to produce a critical awareness of the conflict at hand. This relative deprivation refers to a sense of being underprivileged to some other person or group. It is simply a sense of being on acknowledging the fact that others are doing better than themselves. These people who felt a sense of being are most likely to become involved in the conflict and social change (Allan, 2006, p. 216). While the idea of Marx’s conflict theory arose in the 18th century, it is relevant to seek the authenticity of the applied theory to the current era. Thus, an interpretation of Marx’s conflict theory by Coser is applied to support the correlation between conflict in the 16th century and the reflection of the conflict in the current era.

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1. The 16th Century Feudal System in Japan

The concept of Feudalism is first discovered from the medieval model of

government. The theory of Feudalism in Japan and the theory of Feudalism in

the European medieval era contrast a difference between the two. The general

view of the Feudal system and the Japanese Feudal System are conceptualized

by Kallie Szczepanski in her comparison between the French Feudal system

with the Japanese Feudal System through the great French historian Marc

Bloch who defined French feudalism as a subject of the peasantry which is

widespread use of the service tenement instead of a salary. Although there

are some similarities of the French feudal system towards the Japanese feudal

system such as the figurehead which is placed on top of the class tier followed

by nobles and knights and how the Warrior class had provided their lower-

class tier a piece of land in an area which they’re ruling in. The class tiers had

shown a large difference in the middle class and lower class tier. In other

words, peasants or serfs in French are tied to the land and work for the

protection afforded by the landlord thus sharing the initial harvest, rather than

money in return. French warriors dominate society and are bound by codes of

ethics. Nobles, which are a smaller unit of lords, control the warrior and

peasants, while still showing obedience to a distant and relatively weak duke,

king or emperor (Szczepanski, 2019).

The Japanese feudal system, in contrast to the french, appreciates more

productivity and harvests compared to incomes. The Japanese feudal society

had put the peasants working solely as middle-class farmers because they

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provide harvests such as rice to the society and put the merchants and traders in the lower class tier due to their lack of productivity (at least compared to the farmers). In a speech of the Japanese feudal system, Szczepanski also provides of the beginning of the Japanese Feudal System as the first start of the socio-political system to work in the country itself, the Japanese feudalism was based on the ideas of the Chinese philosopher Kong Qiu or Confucius

(551–479 BCE). Confucius stressed morality and filial piety, or respect for elders and superiors. In Japan, it was the moral duty of the Daimyō and

Samurai to protect the peasants and villagers in their region. In return, the peasants and villagers were duty-bound to honor the warriors and pay taxes to them (Szczepanski, 2019).

In order to help with the visualization of the Japanese Feudal Society, the research proved a diagram which views the feudal system from the diagram provided by http://medievaljapanalyssa.weebly.com/feudal-system.html.

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The development of a feudal society in Japan had been developed from the tenth and eleventh centuries when the Fujiwara clan had entered the spotlight of the stage of Japanese history, but, despite the brilliance of the literary and artistic accomplishment of the country they dominated. The courtiers were going through the forms of ceremonies of little more than a sham government, and devoting their energies more to the arts of poetry-writing and love- making than governing, making the provincial aristocrats gains more experience in managing their estates and ruling the peasants of these estates with hardly any control or direction. The growth and change in the feudal system itself arose from the overflow of the appearance of Mongols in the late twelve century as invaders and raided certain small islands in northern

Kyushu. In the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries presented a picture of increasing political disruption and confusion, as all central control slowly

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disappeared. The basic cause for the growing political disunity itself was the main reason why the Warrior class had increased during the Kamakura period which made a united government based simply ties of personal loyalty was no longer possible. Feudal lord, or Daimyō, in order to restore the unity which proved to be as slow progress as their main goal had caused the knight to fall into irrelevance (Reischauer, 1974, pp. 45-67). This concept of provincial aristocrats ruling their own capital correlates to the situation of the setting in the novel whereas the emperor had not shown a signify interest in intervening the political matter of the Samurai and the warring states of his own country despite the fact that he was the head of the country and let the Daimyōs as the powerful ruling class taken the position to overruled the country with their authority.

A feudal society is a military hierarchy in which a ruler or lord offers mounted fighters a unit of land to control in exchange for military service.

The individual who accepted this land became a vassal, and the man who granted the land became known as his liege or his lord (Kip Wheeler, 2018).

This is correlated to the concept of feudalism in Japan written in Comparative

Studies in Society and History by John Whitney Hall. In his observation, the

Japanese feudalism developed upon a foundation laid in the semi-feudal land ownership pattern of the villages.

In accordance with the concept of feudal society, Szcezpanski proposed a comparative approach. Szczepanski’s article explains about the four-tiered class system of feudal Japan. In her article, she explained how feudalism in

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Japan differs from the European concept of feudalism. Feudalism in Japan did not put the peasants on the lowest rank compared to the European concept.

They believe in productivity, as the peasants such as farmers are considered as the middle class. Artisans, however, are considered less important even though they provided cooking utensils, woodblock prints, and other aesthetics needs for the Daimyōs and emperor. Strangely enough, the Samurai swordsmiths have even ranked the third tier in feudal Japan. On the bottom of the tier, there are merchants who include traveling traders and shopkeepers.

Merchants were often ostracized as "parasites" that profited from the labor of the more productive peasant and artisan classes. Not only did merchants live in a separate section of each city, but the higher classes were forbidden to mix with them except when conducting business.

The role of the Daimyō itself has dictated most of both the political and social flow of the country. In her other article, Szcezpanski’s take on the feudal lord in Shogunate Japan explains about the first men who became the eventual governor of Japan called the Daimyō.

The word "Daimyō" comes from the Japanese roots "dai," meaning "big or great," and "myo," or "name." It roughly translates in English to "great name." In this case, however, "myo" means something like "title to land," so the word really refers to the Daimyō's large landholdings and would most likely literally translate to "owner of great land." (Szcezpanski, 2019).

In Eiji Yoshikawa’s Taiko, the Daimyō play a very prominent role through the development of feudalism in Japan. Before Japan was unified by the three greatest unifiers, each continent fought with one another to find the next ruler of Japan, which caused the Sengoku Era. The Daimyō played a prominent

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rule due to their authority on the country and the emperor was not present at that time. Later Sengoku era finally ended when the three unifiers of Japan

(Oda Nobunaga, Toyotomi Hideyoshi, and Tokugawa Ieyasu) brought the

Daimyōs to heel and re-concentrated power in the hands of the Tokugawa shogunate. Under the Tokugawa shoguns, Daimyō would continue to rule their provinces as their own personal fiefdoms, but the shogunate was careful to create checks on the independent power of the Daimyō.

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2. The Current Socio-political Situation in Japan

To a recession to the current era, the role of an emperor as a figurehead was that of a figure who represented the country as a cultural symbol. This concept has also been held as a traditional order of succession as on a socio- political structure, it has become an apparent theme. While in the following years of their socio-political structures this concept was translated in a similar meaning yet in various different ways. As an example, the current era emperor has pledged to become the symbol of state and unity as an interpretation of their modern outlook (BBC.2019). That is to say that the emperor is willing to aid the change of the era and step onto the real world problems, yet what had seem to be the trouble on this concept is often, and yet crucial, the people under the emperor or the political officials interpret the idea in a different way as the emperor. In question: How does the same concept of the traditional order interpreted differently? This due to the effects of the sociological environment of their privacy, which in view doesn’t implement the same as it is generally implemented in the outside world. As discussed in the previous chapter, the

Japanese culture adores the idea of productivity; this idea also translates to their work ethic as it mostly requires collective decision-making. Japanese generally place a high emphasis on group mentality and believe that the formation of a well-rounded character is attained by learning to be cooperative with others.

Therefore, in Japanese society, assertiveness is considered a vice, and compromise is considered a virtue. The Japanese culture also emphasizes the culture of amae and enryo as a part of their work ethic. Both concepts are

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counter-balances to each other, amae being presuming on the goodwill of others and enryo being the one holds back on the basis that one must not presume too much on the goodwill of others (Yohko, 2006). In a sense, the emperor’s deeds to focus on the needs can be seen as a good cause to the country, while the government can be practicing on the idea of enryo as a part to deduce the goodwill which spreads across the nation.

On the other hand, Sugimoto Yoshio’s book introduces the sociological point of view of Japanese society which affects their political views. In his book titled ‘An Introduction to Japanese Society’, Sugimoto explains the democracy of the Japanese political system which affects both the economic and the socio-cultural society that is used in the twenty-first century. The

Japanese system had an interchanging correlation throughout the years, although it can be viewed that the political system that most impacted the country today was the democratical system that they formed after World War

II.

At the beginning of the twenty-first century the Japanese national ethos continues to be glorified in a variety of cultural arenas. Saito, for instance, produced many bestselling works that admire the beauty of the Japanese language. In praise of the ‘dignity of the Japanese nation’, Fujiwara maintained that the Japanese must revive the Samurai spirit rather than pursuing democracy, and must restore Japan’s traditional warm emotions and feelings rather than adhere to Western-style logic (Sugimoto, 2010, p. 36)

In the quotation above, Sugimoto explained how democracy in Japan differs from the democracy which is formed in most democratic countries. In meaning the formation of the Japanese democracy was to revive the spirit of their Samurai ancestors and preserve the glory of their cultural belief. In many

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cases, Japanese society was deeply influenced by their culture, including producing a social awareness of today’s issues.

Sugimoto’s theory of the Japanese society is used to explain the correlation of the role of the Warrior class in the Japanese feudal system with modern-day parliament.

Before heading to the interpretation of the conflict, one must understand the current situation of the Japanese government system. Being that the

Japanese social and political situation currently has been indirectly divided by two sectors: the working-class and the government. This is partially due to their lack of support from the working-class upon the faith of their political standing.

In a recent report, conducted The Genron NPO surveyed that in September of

2019, 25.3 percent of Japanese citizens are optimistic about the future of the nation while 57.3 percent of Japanese citizens feel pessimistic. In the question: what are the Japanese citizens actually concerned about to their nation? The survey shows that they’re most concerned about social security and climate issues, followed by the concern of the population decline and rapid aging of society. The reason behind this social decline is mostly involved by democracy in Japan (Aizawa, 2019).

Yu Uchiyama, a professor of political science at the University of Tokyo, said the findings are worrying. "The most critical point is that only the judiciary has the people's trust, and lawmakers have lost it. Democracy relies on a balance of the judicial, legislative and executive branches," he says. He also noted that only 40 percent of people said they thought democracy was the best possible kind of political system (Aizawa, 2019).

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Democracy in Japan did not run well amongst the working-class society.

Currently, the Japanese political system runs in democracy under constitutional monarchy, similarly occurred in England. The governmental power in Japan is distributed between three branches: the National Diet, the Cabinet, and the judiciary sections of the government. These entities serve as the legislative, executive, and judiciary branches respectively (Neely, 2016).

Japanese National Diet which consists of the upper house of representatives holds the highest power of the country along with the cabinet who fails to see the problem of the decline in the Japanese political system that leads to sociological troubles between the government and the society within it. Japan’s Prime minister, Shinzo Abe was known to have a solution upon the decrease of the country’s economy. However, the solution which he calls as

‘Abenomics’ to focus on increasing the economy was deemed at risk as the program itself is now facing difficulties with Abe himself having lost his interest upon fixing Japan’s economy. Interestingly, on a press conference held in Chengdu, China, Abe stated that he was never interested in the economy, and later instead, reciting his goal is to rip up Japan’s post war pacifist constitution and restore the perceived glories of the prewar period under a powerful emperor (Sposato, 2019). This critic itself had its own points as the goal in which Abe had recited is in reference to his grandfather, Nobusuke Kishi who strongly pushed a constitution change in the 1955 system. Worryingly, the cause to change the constitution had seemed to be the main focus of Abe in

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2020 while the country is also facing a shrinking population that leads to an inevitable limited growth.

In discussion of the sociological problem in Japan, there are many aspects that should be pointed out, the most concerning is the lower birth rate which had been expected since 1899. This low birth rate is mostly caused by the work environment that has been given to people in the working class. A report conducted by the newsThesis, Asashi Shimbun that in 2018, 586,438 couples got married, down by 20,428 from the previous year and the lowest number since the end of the Second World War. A ministry official said: “Economic conditions and the difficulty of simultaneously managing both work and child- rearing are considered the major reasons behind the declining birth rates. We need to promote policies to set up an environment where people who want to have children can have children and raise them at ease.” (Giorando, 2019). The decline of economic stability is affecting the lives of the working classes as most married couples had to focus on their economic stability instead of raising their children. What is concerning is this problem has made many families decide to not have children after they get married. Japan’s decline on economic stability is not only affecting the lives of married couples but also affecting the mental state of their workers. Japantimes reported that in 2016, a 46-year-old white-collar worker jumped to his death from the roof of a Subaru factory in what authorities ruled was a case of karōshi (death from overwork).

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While the Japanese feudal system had met its end in 1867 and transfer its government system into Meiji which marks the start of the Meiji era, the social stagnation seemed to have given a memorable effect to the social discourse. In regards to any era which the Japanese system had, the Japanese society continues to embody the concept of productivity. As a result, the Japanese society is now facing problem which arose due to their culture of promising a better social life called “Karoshi” which means death from overwork. The main reason why Karoshi had been an infamous trend across Japan is due to social pressure which spread in several workplaces. OECD survey showed Japanese had an average of 21 minutes less sleep in 2018 than they did in 2014. Jun

Kohyama, a neurologist at the Japanese Society of Sleep Research (JSSR), later calls a higher general level of concern about the problem. “Japanese people may have more awareness of sleep than before, but people tend to admire those who are devoted to work and press on without enough sleep. I am concerned that the situation hasn’t changed at all,” he says (Lewis, 2019). The case of

Karoshi itself has left Tokyo Governor, Yuriko Koike to step down and mandated staff members in government offices to must go home by 8 p.m.

(Huang & Stapczynski, 2016). Another reason to this cause is the mentality of the Japanese society has in working.

“While Western society is individualistic and non-hierarchical, Japanese society is collectivist and hierarchical,” explains Hiroshi Ono, professor of human resources management at Hitotsubashi University, who specialises in Japan’s work culture. “Thus, many people refrain from taking holiday because their bosses do not take holiday, or they are afraid that it will disrupt the group harmony.” (Demetriou, 2020)

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From the citation above, the work mentality of the Japanese people are different than the west, which they are more collectivist and hierarchical compared to other western countries. The Japanese culture is very uniformed, when one does not take a business leave, no matter the situation, everyone in that company or group are most likely not going to take business leave despite their personal needs. A recent study conducted by Demetriou also reveals that there is a natural culture amongst the Japanese that there is a culture where a person would be evaluated higher if the person is not taking days off and working harder. People think taking days off is a bad thing. The effect of the mindset is worrying that it often put people in the working class to work more in order to get admiration and seen as a devoted worker. Another fact is to their feelings upon guilt as shown below.

Japan scored lowest among 19 countries and regions in its 2018 study, with workers taking on average only half their annual leave – 10 days out of 20. As many as 58% of Japanese workers cited “feeling guilty” as the main reason for not taking their entitled holiday leave in the 2018 Expedia report, with only 43% stating that their employer was supportive of them taking leave – the lowest globally (Demetriou, 2020).

While in the research conducted by Akina Murai, head of PR for Expedia in Japan says that 62% of Japanese people within the age of 18 to 34 are vacation deprived, that is to say that younger people are more exposed to

Karoshi due to the mentality that is circled around their position as employees.

Other problem that the Japanese currently have is the decrease of birth rate that has long overdue (Giorando, 2019). The reason behind it is also due to economic pressure which often pressure women and men to work more than

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their regular shifts and often reason that there are very less time to spend on child-bearing and household duties. A research conducted by East-West Center provides a date which many of employment are listed as women. Their date shows that the increase of women labor opportunity dictates the shrinking employment of men. This research shows that history has a correlation between history and the current society of Japan. The conflict which happened in Eiji

Yoshikawa’s Taiko proves that a historical conflict which happened in the past may produce a long-term trail of the social configuration that may arise in the future. To add more argument, problems to retired elderly people had seemed to plumbing. With more people growing old and less people giving birth, elderly people who have passed their youth life working and wasn’t able to find partners have decided to live their life in a solitary existence.

A report by the South China Morning Post from 2017 called the phenomenon as Kodokushi (Dying alone). This problem is growing in Japan, where 27.7 percent of the population aged over 65 are filling up the residential area across the nation and are threatened to die alone. With the lack of governmental support, social workers are forced to step down to insist victims of Kodokushi and bury them in their respectful resting place. Another sociological problem is impacting the population. Hikikomori (recluses) are widely known amongst the society. In modern days, the cause of this phenomenon however is not related to a mental issue yet more into the social situation which is affecting Japanese youth today. Saitou Tamaki, a psychiatrist and professor from Tsukuba University who studied about Hikikomori for

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decades observed that the occurrence of Hikikomori is a form of phase which lasted for six months or more. He also stated that over 2 million people in Japan including shut-ins are Hikikomoris. In his argument, the issue of having hikikomoris in the country are causing more declination on the country, especially when there is a decrease of population each year. Another fact that arose is the involvement of the Japanese government towards the problems of hikikomoris and aging (Nippon.com, 2019).

C. Theoretical Framework

The theories above would be used as a supporting idea to examine Eiji

Yoshikawa’s Taiko. Theories that would be used in this thesis would be the theory of conflict and feudal system in Japan. The theory of Conflict comes from Masterclass’s and Grace Fleming’s characterization of conflict in literature, while the concept of feudalism in Japan comes from historical records of the feudal era in 16th century Japan.

The first stage of observation would be determining the characteristics of the Warrior class through general observation of the historical records and textual evidence. After mentioning both characteristics, the researcher is now able to determine the conflict between the two opposing classes with textual evidence and understanding of the concept of feudalism; this is where the theory of conflict will play as a prominent support of the researcher’s ideas. In order to understand the genealogy of the feudal society, one must understand the ruling class of the society; in this case, the Warrior class is depicted accordingly. From the emperor's authority shogun to the powerful families

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(Daimyō), to the Samurai and lastly the ronin in the Warrior class tier, through the largest population of the Japanese society during the Sengoku era, the peasants to lastly, artisans and merchants. By finding out the situations of the society according to their status, the researcher could find that feudalism takes its highest role of each Warrior class. The researcher later can determine how the Warrior class, from the shogun to the Samurai, impacts their feudalism towards the society, in this case the middle class of the Japanese feudal system.

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CHAPTER III

METHODOLOGY

A. Object of the Study The object of this Thesis would be the translated version of Eiji

Yoshikawa’s epic novel, Taiko. The novel itself was first published by

Kodansha in 1967, two years after the death of Eiji Yoshikawa. Later in 1992,

the novel was published in English and was translated by William Scott

Wilson. The novel is based on historical figures of the three great unifiers of

Japan. The novel tells the story according to the humble beginnings of

Toyotomi Hideyoshi as a peasant boy who rose to the top with his loyalty and

hard work to become a Samurai, following his father’s footsteps. He

eventually met Lord Nobunaga and requested to become his pupil. Under

Nobunaga’s lordship, he fought wars to acclaim the unification of Japan.

Nobunaga himself was exceedingly shrewd and ambitious on his own

lordship. He would not let anyone outcome his ambitions to overtake Kyoto.

When the warrior-monks or Sōhei became an increasing troop to beat,

Nobunaga let out a siege and thus the siege of mount Hiei started. The wiping

out of the Sōhei of mount Hiei itself was a fact of the final destruction of

Buddhism as a political force. Nobunaga and Hideyoshi, along with the

support of Tokugawa Ieyasu, continue to spread their political influence

across Japan.

This novel puts the role of Hideyoshi’s loyalty to his lord, Oda Nobunaga,

to a golden pedal stole. The man himself was a peasant, born with the face of

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a monkey, brings his smartness and his odd look to the center of the attention

of Nobunaga who was a Daimyō. When Nobunaga met his death, Hideyoshi

never stopped the cause of unifying the country. He continues on brooding the

country’s rebellion to social stagnation by putting out non-Samurai society’s

weapons out of their hands and leaves a legacy of great brilliance as a

memory of a Golden Age.

B. Approach of the Study The approach of the study would be a historical approach. The approach

itself is conducted by X.J. Kennedy and Dana Gioia’s Literature: An

Introduction to Fiction, Poetry, and Drama, Sixth Edition. In their argument

that Historical Criticism “seeks to understand a literary work by investigating

the social, cultural, and intellectual context that produced it—a context that

necessarily includes the artist’s biography and milieu.” A key goal for

historical critics is to understand the effect of a literary work upon its original

reader. (Kennedy & Gioia, 1995, p. 1790)

C. Method of the Study To further explain the methodology of the study, the researcher will

explain the methods of the study. The research would be conducted in several

steps as follows. The first stage of observation would be determining the

characteristics of the Warrior class through general observation of the

historical records and textual evidence. After mentioning both characteristics,

the researcher is now able to determine the conflict amongst the classes with

textual evidence and understanding of the concept of feudalism. This is where

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the theory of conflict will play as a prominent supporter of the thesis ideas. In order to understand the genealogy of the feudal society, one must understand the ruling class of the society, in this case the Warrior class depicted accordingly, from emperor, shogun to the powerful families (Daimyō), to the

Samurai, ronins as the Warrior class, through the largest population of the

Japanese society during the Sengoku era, the peasants to lastly, artisans and merchants. By finding out the situations of the society according to their status, the researcher could find the feudalism takes its highest role of each

Warrior class, the researcher later can determine how the Warrior class, from the shogun to the Samurai reflects their feudalism towards the lower class society, in this case, the middle class of the Japanese feudal system. Lastly,

The impact of these feudal systems itself would be observed through a cause- and-effect method where the researcher would take a look at historical facts which happened in the novel and correlates it with either the effects of the situation that had occurred in both real-life situations and towards the plot of the story itself.

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CHAPTER IV

ANALYSIS

A. The Conflict amongst the Warrior Class Members in Eiji Yoshikawa’s Taiko

In the first section of this thesis, the researcher will explain the conflict

between the Peasant class and the Warrior class as shown in the novel in

accordance with the first problem formulation. To elaborate on the discussion

of the Warrior class in Taiko, there are several points that should be

established: The importance of social role in Warrior class,

1. The Importance of the Social Role in Warrior Class

The Warrior class was seen as prestigious because of its duty to serve the

country. Moreover, their role was seen as more influential compared to the

emperor’s, although their hierarchy is below the emperor. However, the

Warrior class was not only working as a military support; they also work as a

governing lord who established rules for the Peasant class. As explained by

Demetriou, the Japanese society are known as hierarchal, what it means that

the idea as a projection that the duty of a warrior is a form of relative

deprivation which they reflect themselves as unworthy of the figurehead and

the Peasant class who are under them also felt the sense of being on being less

worthy than the Warrior class towards the figurehead. The sense of

unprivileged is most often, in association that they also strive to become

privileged through the emperor’s eyes. This idea of relative deprivation can be

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seen through the establishment of the Oda clan as landowner feudal lords, who controlled each sector of the country, including farms and living areas.

The establishment between lands was separated by a social ‘border’. As shown in the novel, the establishment rivalry of the social ‘border’ and physical domain between the Samurai clans were clearly obvious.

The lord of Owari, Oda Nobuhide, and his neighbor, Imagawa Yoshimoto, were bitter enemies, a situation that led to constant skirmishing along their common border. One year, Imagawa troops crossed the border, set fire to the villages, and trampled the crops. The Oda troops rushed out of the castles of Nagoya and Kiyosu and routed the enemy, cutting them down to the last man. When the following winter came, both food and shelter were lacking, but the people did not reproach their lord. If they starved, they starved; if they were cold, they were cold. In fact, contrary to Yoshimoto's expectations, their hardships only served to harden their hostility toward him. (Yoshikawa, 2001, p. 5)

One of the famous warriors during the time was Oda Nobunaga, who was directly involved in the conflict between the Samurai and the shogun. The researcher would like to point back to the theory of conflict itself, which in digress contemplates the subject of an individual’s influence to spread in society. The influence of Oda Nobunaga as a core representative of the Oda

Clan came from Oda Nobunaga himself. Nobunaga was a noble born. He was directing the son of the Oda Clan’s land owner or Daimyō, Nobuhide. He was described living in a flourishing life of his father’s pride. This is how a proud

Daimyō such as the Oda Samurai influences his troops and the society through his power. The following citation is an example of the influence of the Oda clan in the Japanese feudal society. In the feudal society, the glory and stories about feudal lords spread through the Peasant class. Most

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importantly, the children or the younger generation as described below are perfect examples of the social cultural trends which had been spreading in their community.

The children had seen and heard about such things from the time they were born. When they saw their lord's troops, it was as if they were seeing themselves. It was in their blood, and nothing excites them more than the sight of men-at-arms. (Yoshikawa, 2001, p. 5)

In other discussion, the Peasant class does not entirely consist of a group of farmers. Oftentimes, it consists of formerly dispatched Samurai who had fallen into poverty and were living as a farmer as they continued to struggle to find income. As explained through the theory of conflict, internal and external conflicts happened during or after the war has formed a deprivation of social status which is correlated to the concept of feudalism in

Japan during the Sengoku Era. Merchants, who are in the bottom of the class tier, are oppressed to become traveling traders forever, without allowing their single struggle to be overcome by the struggle itself. People who are classified in Japanese society during the Sengoku Era were designated to stay in their place. For instance, Toyotomi Hideyoshi’s childhood was not the lucky one, unlike his lord Oda Nobunaga who came from a noble-born. He was looked down upon as a farmer’s boy upon by multiple people, even his mother who only wished that he would stay by her side until she sent him away to work with new lords. In a sense that Samurais who are on the lower tier of the

Warrior class are most likely to be prune to lose their authority as a warrior.

The warring states era which involves war between clans constantly makes

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the Peasant class suffer through their constant need for foot-soldiers from battle to battle. As if they are brought up to the Warrior class then later discarded back to their peasantry after they had lost their ability to become a warrior. The existence of Kinoshita Yaemon, Toyotomi Hideyoshi’s father, is a perfect example of an unfortunate condition of an injured foot-soldier which was deprived into a Peasant class. The excerpt below is an explanation of a situation where Kinoshita Yaemon, a foot soldier, was injured and ended up bringing his whole family into poverty.

There were only the children, Hiyoshi, six, and his nine-year-old sister, Otsumi—neither, of course, old enough to do any real work. Her husband, wounded in battle, was capable of nothing but sitting by the hearth and staring into the space beneath the hanging teakettle, even in summer when there was no fire. Those things... I'd feel better if they were burned, she thought. Leaning against a wall of the shed was a spear with a black oak shaft, above which hung a foot-soldier's helmet and what seemed to be part of an old suit of armor. In the days when her husband had gone off to battle, this equipment has been the best he had. It was now covered with soot and, like her husband, useless. Every time she looked at she felt nothing but disgust. The thought of war made her shudder (Yoshikawa, 2001, p. 9)

The case of a Samurai family tumbling down into poverty is also shown through the fate of Horio Tanomo who previously served Oda Nobunaga’s father, Nobuhide and died in battlefield leaving his son and his wife living in poverty at the middle of the mountains nearby Inabayama Castle where

Hideyoshi happens to stumble upon during his expedition. The novel describes how the house which Tanomo’s son and wife live in was nothing more than a peasant’s house, and terribly run-down. Tanomo’s son, Mosuke

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along with his mother had to scrape out a living by hunting in the winter and making charcoal.

The Japanese wealth is counted through rice brussels which are the core produce which provides the living of the society during this time; it’s equal as an amount of money. During the feudal era, feudal lords or Daimyōs control each of their domains which often causes wars as do each feudal lords. This control of land that is conducted by each feudal lord is not interpreted as slavery, yet it is an exchange of freedom on a land. What caused the peasants to suffer in this era is most likely the external conflict between feudal lords who continuously fought for power over each other.

This is a key point of when the first conflict arose. With the famine which arose amongst the peasants and lack of aid from their lords, The peasant along with a Samurai from Sasaki clan had planned an uprising with the support of troops from the Kannoji Castle and the warrior-monks in order to take down the power of Nobunanga by taking advantage of the internal chaos of the fight between the Oda clan with Asai clan, a clan who was lead by Oda

Nobunaga’s brother-in-law, Asai Nagamasa.

Nobunaga had been thinking about his brother-in-law's punishment ever since his return to Kyoto. A secret report had been handed to Nobunaga in the dead of night. It informed him that Sasaki Rokkaku had fomented a peasant uprising with the support of Kannonji Castle and the warrior- monks. Taking advantage of the chaos and acting in concert with the Asai, Rokkaku was aiming to crush Nobunaga with a single blow (Yoshikawa, 2001, p. 457).

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As seen above, the peasant uprising wasn’t taking long as Nobunaga’s

troops had pointed to wiping off the rebellion act by destroying the defense of

Asai Nagamasa and the Sasaki clan who guarded the troops. Nobunaga

manages to defeat his enemies and eventually put the peasant uprising into the

end. The role of Nobunaga as the Warrior class in this novel drives a

significant point that in feudal government, there needs to be an establishment

of power of which party is stronger than another. Although the establishment

power doesn’t always sits right in the eyes of the lower class, the peasant

uprising done by the previous enemies of the Oda clan is a form of protest to

the shogun on how they are firmly disappointed by the power which

Nobunaga had infamously grew in the country.

2. The War between the Daimyō and the Samurai of Mount Hiei

That Sengoku Era or the era of Warring states marks the beginning of the re-unification across Japan can also be interpreted as to put a unified power or a more fixed government across Japan between all classes. During the time,

Sōhei or warrior monks were a powerful group who are also on the side with the Peasant class by representing Buddhism as their core value of life. The influence of the warrior monks was not always seen as keen in the Warrior class, due to their loyalty to their temple and their power over the peasant class.

The warrior-monks of the feudal era are particularly a different section of the feudal social chart. They can be either good or bad for the Warrior class itself.

Sampled below is a view of the warrior-monks in the eyes of the Warrior class.

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Hideyoshi cocked his head to one side and said, "Well, now. It is not the Takeda of kai, who are always lying in wait at your rear, or the Asai or Asakura clan. Lord Ieyasu is someone to be careful of, but he's an intelligent man and so shouldn't be feared altogether. The Matsunaga and Miyoshi are like flies, and there are plenty of rotting things for them to swarm around, as it's their nature to go after the dying. Your only really troublesome enemies are the warrior-monks of the Honganji, but they don't trouble my lord much yet, I think. That only leaves one person." (Yoshikawa, 2001, p. 465)

As to Hideyoshi’s note in discussion with Oda Nobunaga above, the warrior-monks were the troublesome enemies, although their existence were not as troublesome as the shogun, the leading role of the Warrior class and the direct descendants of the Ashikaga Shogunate.

"He's neither an enemy nor ally. You have to show him respect, but if that's all you do, you might quickly become trapped. He's a two-faced apparition—oh, dear, I've spoken improperly. Aren't we talking about the shogun?"

"Right. But don't mention this to anyone." Nobunaga's anxiety was about this man, who was indeed truly neither friend nor foe: Yoshiaki, the shogun. (Yoshikawa, 2001, p. 465)

In dismay, why was the Shogun, the leading head of the Warrior class had also shown an immerse threat upon Oda Nobunaga? The real answer is of course on the duplicity and yet difference which exists between Oda Nobunaga and Ashikaga Yoshiaki.

Duplicity is always found hidden away in places where one would least imagine it to be. Yoshiaki’s and Nobunaga's characters were not matched at all; their educations were different, so were their beliefs. As long as Nobunaga had helped him, Yoshiaki treated Nobunaga as a benefactor. But once he had warmed the shogun's seat a little, his gratitude turned to loathing

"The bumpkin is annoying," Yoshiaki was heard to say. He began to avoid Nobunaga, and even regarded him as a stumbling block, whose authority

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exceeded his own. He was not, however, brave enough to bring matters out into the open and fight him. Yoshiaki's nature was completely negative. And, opposed to Nobunaga's positiveness, it played itself out in secrecy to the very end. (Yoshikawa, 2001, p. 466).

Throughout their relationship described above, Yoshiaki had claimed how he finds Nobunaga as an annoyance and had even claimed him as a stumbling rock. Yoshiaki had converse with the emissary from the warrior-monks of the

Honganji, a temple in Kyoto in a bitter expression of Nobunaga, claiming him as arrogant and high-handed. Following their two impressions of each other,

Nobunaga had been waiting on a meeting on the same day to Yoshiaki’s arrival in the capital as told from the citation below.

On the very same day, in another part of the palace, Nobunaga was waiting for Yoshiaki in order to announce his arrival in the capital. Yoshiaki composed himself, assumed an air of complete innocence, and went into the reception room to meet with Nobunaga. "I hear that the battle of the Ane River was a splendid victory for you. Yet another example of your military prowess. Congratulations! This is a happy event indeed." (Yoshikawa, 2001, p. 466)

On the other hand, the Peasant class plots a revolution with the help of warrior monks to take down Nobunaga’s army in Mount Hiei. This is where the climax of the story took place. Mount Hiei is an important landmark which affects the political shift between Nobunaga and Yoshiaki.

Mount Hiei was the headquarters of the Tendai sect; the Honganji was the principal stronghold of the Ikko sect. Each called the other "the other sect" in matters of doctrine, and it was only in their opposition to Nobunaga that they were united. If Nobunaga had not had a moment's rest, it was because of the schemes of the men dressed in monks' robes, living on Mount Hiei. They had plotted with the Asai and Asakura clans and the shogun, helped enemies defeated by Nobunaga, sent secret calls for assistance as far as Echigo and Kai, and even incited peasant revolts in Owari. (Yoshikawa, 2001, p. 493).

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The importance of Mount Hiei around this time was due to the stronghold of religious power in Japan and a place where the large influence of the warrior-monks spread across the country. For Nobunaga, the rise of movement aided by the warrior-monks is his biggest threat as it involves the previously defeated enemies of him and the peasants who disguised themselves in monk- robes claiming to be warriors who essentially fought for their belief, Ikko-Ikki.

Thus, naming them the Ikko sect. The warrior-monks play a key role in the conflict as they are not only troublesome enemies but also, they had been a group who had appealed the most to the lower class. The Samurai of the Ikko sect were the one who attacked Oda clan on the way to Kyoto.

That evening, accompanied by a few retainers and a force of only three hundred men, Nobunaga followed the pathless valleys and ravines and rode all night toward Kuchikidani. They were attacked countless times by the warrior-monks of the Ikko sect and local bandits, and for two days and nights they went without food or drink, or sleep (Yoshikawa, 2001, p. 449).

By definition, the belief of Ikko-Ikki itself has been seen as problematic in the eyes of the Warrior class, especially to Nobunaga. Their beliefs were easily spread as they have massive influence on the citizens of Mount Hiei.

Ikko means single minded or devoted and the followers of this sect (called monto) were fanatical in their worship of Amida the supreme Buddha who they believed would welcome followers into paradise on their death. Despite this being of the Jodo sect they welcomed all and did not insist on any meditation or any other intellectual path to salvation, which also appealed to the masses. The monks of this sect were also not required to be celibate or become withdrawn from the material world so were able to mix with the peasants more easily. Ikki means league but can also mean mob or riot and it was through rioting mobs that the Samurai first became aware of the sect (Dugdale Pointon, 2005).

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Finding out the involvement of the Shogun with the warrior-monks,

Nobunaga is convinced to take down the warrior-monks of Mount Hiei. At the same time, the Shogun along with the warrior-monks along with the men under them despised Nobunaga’s power; in fact, this is the reason why many people are determined to put down Nobunaga. Nobunaga himself was famously known for his ambitions as proven by his crowning achievements to overtake most of his opponents. The same goes to the men who are under his lordship. The reason why many men disliked Nobunaga was also caused by the widespread uprising amongst the peasant was caused by rumors of Nobunaga’s malicious propaganda.

Nobunaga had anticipated that they would ally themselves with the Miyoshi clan, and that the weak shogun would be seduced to their side. He had also expected that malicious propaganda would be spread among the common people, and that this would most likely set off a popular uprising against him. (Yoshikawa, 2001, p. 468)

The war itself finally ended in the climax of the war between Nobunaga and the allies of the warrior-monks helped by men from Asai and Asakura clans. When Nobunaga had defeated the clans along with the peasant uprisings, he had known that he needed to do more than defeating his enemies. Thus the idea of the siege had arose, he had realized that Mount Hiei itself had become a barrier for the rebellion to hide. When his enemies had retreated to Mount Hiei,

Nobunaga was personally insulted. He remembered how Mount Hiei had built its first temple. The temple itself was a symbol for serenity of the Buddha with

His protection. To Nobunaga, he had seen it differently.

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When the Tendai sect had been introduced to Japan from China, Saint Dengyo, who built the first temple on Mount Hiei, had chanted, "May the light of the merciful Buddha give its divine protection to the timbers that we raise up in this place." Was the lamp of the Law lit on this holy peak so that the monks could force their petitions on the Emperor in Kyoto? Was it so that they could interfere with the government and grow ever more powerful with special privileges? Was it so they could ally themselves with warlords, conspire with laymen, and throw the country into confusion? Was the lamp lit so that the Law of Buddha might be accoutered with armor and helmet, and line the entire mountain with warriors' spears, guns, and war banners? (Yoshikawa, 2001, p. 473).

In the feudal system of 16th century Japan, there we no clear authority of the figurehead, although the emperor has been put on top of the class tier, the emperor had loosen his glory as the war between states runs throughout the country. This is what Nobunaga thinks of the country. He had thought that the country had grown stranded away from what they believe in.

Nobunaga looked at the towering mountain and thought, It's here. It's not the mountain that is my enemy; it's the mountain's special privileges. He saw it in a new light now. From ancient times, through the reigns of successive emperors, how much had the tradition and special privileges of the mountain troubled and pained the country's rulers and the common people? Was there even the faintest glimmer of the real Buddha on the mountain? (Yoshikawa, 2001, p. 472)

Mount Hiei to Nobunaga was a fallacy towards Buddhism. To him, he had seen how the Mount had gained a very significant privilege in the country by bringing the name of Buddha to their war. Nobunaga was outraged when he saw this act was supported by the Shogun himself, the ruler of the military supremacy during the feudal era.

With the perception of Mouth Hiei in the country, it is possible that when there is a situation changing in Mount Hiei, it would gather a lot of attention.

Thus,on the same day of the second wave of the war in Mount Hiei, Nobunaga

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had ordered his men to surround the Mount Hiei, an unusual strategy for

Nobunaga, he settled an agreement through one of his retainers who is a friend of the warrior-monk’s abbot, Ittetsu. The agreement was to convince the opposing team to surrender to Nobunaga and the warrior-monks to return back to their disciples by throwing away their weapons or Nobunaga would burn the place to the ground. In Nobunaga’s strategy he sought the agreement as a rational goal that can be solved through a less violence approach. Yet, this agreement was never settled and the abbot had sent Ittetsu back. Knowing how the settlement was ignored, Nobunaga had for see that violence needs to be justified as a conduct of power. Therefore, their war later continued in the siege of Mount Hiei, little-by-little Nobunaga’s men set fire to the main temple, and let it spread across Mount Hiei. The warrior-monks were forced to work frantically at night to keep the flames from spreading to other large temples.

When the sun came up, the warrior-monks were busy pulling up their defenses against Nobunaga’s troops leading to the food and supply crisis.

In the twelfth month, the abbot who previously had mocked and disagreed with surrender went down to Nobunaga’s camp and pleaded for peace.

Nobunaga wasn’t forgiving at this point and decapitated the man and told the other men who were with him to return to their place with the head of the abbot.

When Nobunaga appeared, he saw that it was Sonrin, the abbot who had previously met with Ittetsu. He brought the message that, because the views of the main temple had changed, he would like to plead for peace.

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Nobunaga refused. "What did you say to the envoy I sent before? Don't you know what shame is?" Nobunaga drew his sword.

"This is an outrage!" the priest cried. He stood up and tottered sideways as Nobunaga's sword flashed horizontally."Pick up his head and go back. That's my answer!" (Yoshikawa, 2001, p. 476)

His decision to decapitate the abbot was a form of resistance. In

Nobunaga’s idea, when he had settled a peace agreement, it would be a form of a chance that the abbot might return to take him down as previously planned by the abbot along with his men from Asai and Asakura clans. He soon sent a letter to the Shogun despite Hideyoshi’s suspicion of the Shogun and the fact of the relation between the Shogun and the Warrior-monks.

On the last note of the argument, the researcher would like to point out the situation during Nobunaga’s military supremacy. Buddhism wasn’t the only weapon which the warrior-monks of Mount Hiei used to persuade and encourage rebellion of the peasants. The usage of Buddhism for horrendous acts inflicted the anger of Nobunaga which sprouted out the idea of burning down the entire mountain and its citizens. This idea wasn’t all agreed by

Nobunaga’s men however, Sakuma Nobumori, one of Nobunaga’s retainers appears to have strongly disagreed with burning down the entire mountain as to eliminate the warrior-monks who resided in Mount Hiei.

"You're being heartless, my lord. It's not that we don't understand, but when you've given us an outrageous order—to burn down Mount Hiei, a place respected for hundreds of years as holy ground dedicated to the peace and preservation of the country—as your retainers—and precisely because we are your retainers—there is all the more reason why we should not obey you," Sakuma Nobumori said (Yoshikawa, 2001, p. 492).

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In Nobumori’s argument, he judged the decision of his own Daimyō. He thinks the idea was an entirely outrageous order to the holy ground. But

Nobunaga disputed the argument, he reputed that the act of the warrior-monks is Mount Hiei and a misuse of the common people. This form of action can be seen as a rational negotiation between Nobumori and Nobunaga in order to handle the situation of Mount Hiei.

"Have you not felt indignation when you watched the insurrections and this disgraceful state of affairs? Monks transgress the Laws of the Buddha, stir up the common people, store wealth and weapons, and spread rumors; under the guise of religion, they are nothing more than self-serving agitators." (Yoshikawa, 2001, p. 492)

Nobunaga questions the face of Buddha from the warrior-monks. He had seen the act of anti-Buddhism in warrior-monks. Nobunaga continued in his argument with Nobumori that the monks themselves had used the donated money to build stone walls and gates to benefit a fortress and hoard guns and spears for their own sake, to make matters worse, the monks had flaunt their wealth by eating meat and taking part in sexual intercourses. These facts were not disputed by Nobumori and the other retainers; it was true that the monks had done worse and far from the teaching of Buddhism. With no one else brave enough to argue with Nobunaga’s order to burn the entire mountain; they had decided to end the war between the Oda clan and the warrior-monks along with the peasants by the siege of Mount Hiei through force. Nobunaga himself had counted and considered how his actions would be frowned upon by the entire

Japan yet, he is willing to take any risks that come at hand, at least, to him, by

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eliminating the strongest party, he established himself to the whole country as a man who burned down the holy land.

3. The Conflict between Oda Nobunaga and Shogun Yoshiaki

As previously quoted in Lewis Coser’s theory of conflict, every conflict has its start and varies, most importantly, how it effects to the society. In this section of the thesis, the researcher will discuss the further effect of the conflict that lasted in the siege of Mount Hiei.

When the Oda clan arrived in the capital after burning down Mount Hiei,

Nobunaga was seen as the demon king who had destroyed Buddhism. On the other hand, with the defeat of Mount Hiei’s warrior-monks along with the Asai and Asakura clan , the Shogun had nothing else to defend himself. For a while, he had proclaimed that he was not scared of Nobunaga and he was considerably confident as a shogun. Little to his knowledge, Nobunaga had seen the errors which the shogun had made, he had encouraged a rebellion and disrupted the peace of the country, an opposite action of the duty of a Shogun.

"Shogun Yoshiaki is a crafty politician. He fidgets about, bestowing favors on the people, and indirectly makes them fear you. He's made good propaganda out of the burning of Mount Hiei, and seems to be inciting other religious groups to rebellion." (Yoshikawa, 2001, p. 525)

In discussion with his lord, Hideyoshi points out the error of the Shogun and expresses his concern which Nobunaga agreed with. Nobunaga himself had notices how the shogun took advantage of the peasant uprising and the power of the warrior-monks as a set of weapon and abuses his status as a military

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supremacy to overtake the power of the Oda clan instead of giving a more proper counter argument against Nobunaga’s action to Mount Hiei.

“More than that, he's taking a rather extravagant view of the remaining powers of the shogunate. In a period of transition, a cataclysm separates past and future. Almost all of those who perish are those who, because of their blind attachment to the past, fail to realize that the world has changed." (Yoshikawa, 2001, p. 526)

Hideyoshi had also mentioned how there is a period of change that is beginning to happen in the country. He views the shogun’s action as an act of denial of the war which he had lost to. The shogun failed to realize how his encouragement and unethical actions towards the peasant uprising and the warrior-monks was not a rightful decision to create a unification of a country.

From the hypothesis which Hideyoshi claimed in his discussion with

Nobunaga, it was seen that the feudal system in Japan had shown more controlled authorities by eliminating the warring states into two strong strongholds, The Oda clan and the Shogun.

B. The Impact of the Conflict towards the Feudal System in Japan

From the start of the feudal era, Shogun is an important role and a powerful influence as a military supremacy. It seemed logical that he was easy to persuade people and create propaganda to justify that Oda Nobunaga himself was a true enemy of the country. The impact of the conflict that happened preciously is the downfall of the Shogun’s authority and the rising of

Nobunaga’s supremacy.

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The key point of the fall back of the Shogun was also marked by the death of the Shingen, a Daimyō of the Kai province who is more respected compared to the Shogun himself.

For many years Shingen had assumed he was the best warrior in eastern Japan. Certainly, the efficiency of his troops and of his province's economy and administration were respected by the whole country (Yoshikawa, 2001, p. 482).

Based on the level of respect he received from the country, it was no doubt that he was a powerful opponent for Nobunaga, yet they ever had even fought against each other as his province was busy fighting against the neighboring province, Echigo led by a well-known Samurai named Uesugi Kenshin. The battle itself had taken a large number of resources and by the time he had to fight against Nobunaga, the warrior-monks who had supposed to assist his troops from Mount Hiei had been defeated by Nobunaga. The Shingen later on had a war to Mikawa, Tokugawa Ieyasu’s province. It was widely known that

Tokugawa Ieyasu was close to Nobunaga and thus the existence of the power from the Shigen was also a big threat to Nobunaga.

Like all of Nobunaga’s opponents who have been defeated, Shingen took a side with the Shogun and assisted to take down Nobunaga. In a fortunate circumstance to Nobunaga’s favor, the Shingen was shot dead before he reached Kyoto and the message of his death was eventually brought by one of

Oda’s alliance, Watanabe Tenzo who purposefully spied on the Shingen beforehand. Although, according to the history there are only speculations and very little information about the existence of the ninja called ‘Watanabe Tenzo’

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(written: 渡辺天蔵 in Kanji), the character of Watanabe Tenzo definitely brings a very prominent result to the story progression. Watanabe Tenzo’s role during the time as Toyotomi Hideyoshi’s agent was enough to ensure

Nobunaga that the death of Shingen and the military supremacy had finally bestowed upon their hands.

For a moment, Nobunaga's eyes widened and he looked straight at Hideyoshi's face. If it was true that Shingen was dead, the course of the nation was going to change very quickly. Nobunaga felt as though the tiger at his back had suddenly disappeared, and he was shocked. He wanted to believe this story, but at the same time he could not. As soon as he heard the news, he felt an incredible surge of relief, and an indescribable joy welled up inside of him.

"If this is true, a very gifted general has left this world," Nobunaga said. "And from now on history has been entrusted into our hands." His expression was not nearly as complex as Hideyoshi's. In fact, he looked as though he had just been served the main course at a meal. (Yoshikawa, 2001, p. 526)

With the relief on Nobunaga’s side, he could finally establish a more political focus upon the country. Nobunaga was also confident about the future of the country. As his opponents are decreasing and his political influence became more known in the country, Nobunaga along with his retainers didn’t take a long time to decide to take on the Shogun’s troops and overtake the capital, ending the warring states and putting his military supremacy to unify the country.

The unification of Japan itself began with the concept of a new form of feudalism. In discussion of the previous events reflection on feudalism before

Oda Nobunaga supremacy was far from unification of a country. After the

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death of Shingen and the fall back of the current shogun, Ashikaga Yoshiaki mentioned his delay on the reply for the seventeen articles regarding his fault as a shogun.

These men had a big problem: they had not yet given a clear answer to the seventeen-article document that Nobunaga had sent to Yoshiaki on New Year's Day. In it, Nobunaga had itemized all his grievances against Yoshiaki. (Yoshikawa, 2001, p. 531)

In the citation above, ‘These men’ referring to the people under the

Shogun’s watchful eyes were having troubles facing Nobunaga’s army.

Nobunaga has made Shogun Ashikaga Yoshiaki to fall straight into his trap, by providing him his faults as a politician accompanied by Yoshiaki’s ignorance of his faults, claiming that he was in fact still the Shogun and assuming submitting to nonentity such as Nobunaga unnecessary. It was clear such a politician denies his fault and holds on his own ludicrous illusion that he wasn’t about to fall is a sign that he was in fact on the fact of his own ruin.

As in regards to the Shogun’s men, they were incapable of not knowing their own value as a warrior. What had appeared in the Japanese culture during this era was their narrow view of their own culture which only surrounds the capital and believed that it prevailed more rather than viewing the common sense of the culture in each prefecture. The sad truth of the situation in this era, according to the novel, clan warriors entrusting themselves to cramped policies of the past, relied on warrior-monks of the Honganji and other Samurai warlords throughout the provinces who hated Nobunaga to survive the war against Nobunaga. Thus, when their time had come to an end, they’re worried.

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When Nobunaga’s army had arrived in Osaka to vent of the warrior-monks of the Honganji, he had also sent an envoy to pressure the response of the seventeen articles regarding Yoshiaki’s administration.

"We can strike anytime we like," he said. At this point he wanted most strongly to avoid any unnecessary expenditure of military strength. And, until this time, he had repeatedly sent envoys to Kyoto asking for a response to the Seventeen Articles. So, this was a sort of ultimatum. Yoshiaki took a highhanded view: he was shogun and he simply did not feel like listening to Nobunaga's opinions of his administration. (Yoshikawa, 2001, p. 532)

In ignorance of Nobunaga’s power in the country, Yoshiaki still taken his status as a Shogun as a defense from the seventeen articles which had been presented, amongst them, there are two articles which pressured him further, one is his crime of disloyalty towards the emperor and the second one regarding his disgraceful conduct by initiating rebellion from the provinces, thus providing a riot and disrupting the peace of the country.

When Nobunaga retreated from Osaka to come to Kyoto, the Shogun thinks it was a victory on his side. To his surprise, Nobunaga had arrived in

Kyoto to pressure him further about the seventeen articles. Yoshiaki was flabbergasted; he was clueless of Nobunaga’s arrival along with his army. In the absence of war cry and gunshots, Nobunaga waited for the response.

Yoshiaki consoles his Mibuchi Yamato, his senior advisor. Yamato himself realized that the era had changed and started to question his Shogun’s authority.

He views that the Shogun himself was blinded by his own authority and seemingly believed that Yoshiaki is not worth saving. Despite that, he did not choose to take side with Nobunaga, he had lived long, and he had passed fifty

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years old when he decided to give Yoshiaki a choice whether he will fight against Nobunaga or sue for peace. Helpless on his own, Yoshiaki sued for peace to Nobunaga. Only a hundred days later, Yoshiaki returns back to his old habits, knowing that Nobunaga would take his head eventually, Yoshiaki escaped the capital to entrenched himself in Uji, a small city between Kyoto and Nara. When Nobunaga finally caught the Shogun, it was clear that the

Ashikaga Shogunate had met its end. Begging himself to be killed by

Nobunaga, Yoshiaki had made a fool of himself by agreeing to take

Nobunaga’s offer to go to exile. He was stripped down out of his status, no matter where he ran to, he had lost the respect from the people around him.

Not wanting to play host to a bothersome, defeated aristocrat, however, Yoshitsugu soon made him feel uneasy, saying, "I think you're going to be in danger if you stay here much longer. Nobunaga could change his mind at the slightest provocation and have your head cut off." Yoshiaki left in a hurry and went to Kii, where he tried to incite the warrior monks of Kumano and Saiga to rebel, promising them grandiose favors in return for striking Nobunaga down. Using the name and dignity of his office, he did nothing more than bring down upon himself the derision and laughter of the people. It was rumored that he did not stay long in Kii, but soon crossed into Bizen and became a dependent of the Ukita clan. (Yoshikawa, 2001, p. 537)

Having no military head, Nobunaga started to take his influence as a military supremacy. With the exile of the shogun, a new era has started. In the new era,

Nobunaga has taken his focus upon the unification of the country. Yet, his struggle with the other Warrior class especially was not the end.

The eyes of the people were opened wide at Nobunaga's actions. But even though they looked up at the deep blue sky, all the thick clouds had not yet dispersed. Nobody could guess what would happen next. During the past two or three years several key men had passed away. Two years before both Mori Motonari, the lord of the largest domain in western Japan, and

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Hojo Ujiyasu, then master of eastern Japan, had died. But for Nobunaga these events did not carry nearly as great a significance as the death of Takeda Shingen and the exile of Yoshiaki. To Nobunaga, it was especially the death of Shingen—who had constantly threatened him from the north—that left him free to concentrate his strength in one direction, a direction that made more fighting and chaos almost inevitable. There was certainly no doubt that, after the demise of the shogunate, the warrior clans in every province would raise their banners and compete to be the first to enter the field. (Yoshikawa, 2001, p. 538)

After Nobunaga managed to put the previous shogun into exile with the spread of, the entire country knows that the position of a new shogun has just opened up. The Warrior class in the feudal era had raced to the position, by that means, they have to fight against Nobunaga and for those who are in alliance with Nobunaga take their advantage to show their power by securing their territories. This includes the Tokugawa clan.

In the plot of the story with the accordance of the history, Nobunaga did not take the part of becoming the shogun, instead he was busy on a war with the Takeda clan in Nagashino, along with his ally, Tokugawa Ieyasu in order to defeat all of his rivals to create a new revolutionary era. After winning the war of Nagashino, Nobunaga devised a plan with Hideyoshi to initiate a hunt of weaponry amongst the Peasant class to eliminate the potential of rebellion and the rising of warrior-monks.

In momentary bliss, Nobunaga settled down in Nijo Castle, a place where the Shogun used to live. With the downfall of Takeda Shingen’s clan, the emperor appointed Nobunaga to be the court rank of Councillor, making him the General of Right. By his status, he finally established a new headquarters in

Azuchi Castle, as a start of a new beginning to conquer Japan.

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After studying the foolishness of the shoguns, Nobunaga did not even consider setting up a government in Kyoto. That had been the old state of affairs. Azuchi was closer to his ideal: from there he could guard against the provinces to the west as well as check the advances of Uesugi Kenshin from the north. (Yoshikawa, 2001, p. 610)

With his power finally established, Nobunaga had high plans, his initial plan was to build a castle to establish the new form of government. Through the citation below, the new establishment of the castle was organized not only to impress other Daimyōs yet also a well-planned establishment both for the people and to Nobunaga’s convenience. The castle was built close to the capital thus making it easier for Nobunaga to oversee other lords, in this sense, his current foes, the Uesugi clan from north, Takeda clan from east and Mori clan from west which previously had their own respective feuds towards

Nobunaga’s alliances and including Nobunaga himself.

Nobunaga, it seemed, had already designed the structure and scale of the castle in his head. He drew a line with his finger. "It's going to stretch from here to here. We'll build a town around the castle at the bottom of the mountain, with a quarter for the merchants that will be better organized than in any other province in Japan," he said. "I'm going to devote all the resources I have to this castle. I've got to have something here imposing enough to overawe all the other lords. It won't be extravagant, but it's going to be a castle that will have no equal in the Empire. My castle will combine beauty, function, and dignity.” (Yoshikawa, 2001, p. 610)

With the involvement of the craftsmen and construction workers across

Japan, the construction of Azuchi castle started. Amongst all, a famous artist,

Kano Eitoku stands out to illustrate the doors, sliding partitions and ceilings as a form of light towards the world of Japanese traditional arts after years of decline due to the civil war. This is the one mark of the rising of the Japanese

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identity in a cultural sense. As written in W.G. Beasley’s book about The Rise of Modern Japan, that the Feudalism in Japan after time to time was to be found with sufficient identity and analogy in all of its leading features to make the coincidence striking. Azuchi castle is not just a form of a physical military supremacy. Azuchi castle was built not in entirely Japanese style, it was a mixture of Japanese, South Barbarian and Chinese. To him, as quoted in his speech towards the Uesugi Kenshin’s old-fashioned letter of challenge.

“All of the changes in weaponry and strategy in the last decade have brought us into a new world. How could anyone say the art of war hasn't changed too? He's probably laughing at my retreat as cowardice, but I can't help laughing at the fact that his outdated thinking is inferior to that of my artisans and craftsmen.” (Yoshikawa, 2001, p. 619).

In his words, Nobunaga argued that it was unnecessary to conduct civil war. He continued that time had changed and there should be change in both politics and the culture in society itself yet the message did not sit well to other parties, thus making periods of civil war continues on, even throughout the history, Nobunaga along with his trusted retainer, Toyotomi Hideyoshi had taken their main focus upon a more diplomatic matters through social influences with other lords in their alliances. The Mori clan however, did just the same as they have an extended influence over twenty provinces.

Unfortunately, Nobunaga has never finally achieved the goal he wanted, his clan had fallen apart as seven years during their cold-war against Mori clan, and by a coincidence or for reasons of military expediency, one of Nobunaga’s generals, Araki Murashige, betrayed his lord and joined the enemy camp, raising the banner of rebellion right at Oda’s feet (Yoshikawa, 2001, p. 662).

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The one who noticed the rebellion was Hideyoshi, he knew if he had told

Nobunaga, he would be furious as Nobunaga himself had taken much recognition upon Murashige’s valor. In order to console, Hideyoshi had thought about telling Nobunaga his acknowledgement upon the sudden rebellion to

Ranmaru.

"There were rumors about this sort of thing before," Ranmaru said. "The story goes that one of Lord Murashige's retainers was selling army rice to the warrior monks of the Honganji. There's a shortage of rice in Osaka. The land road has been cut for the most part, and the sea routes have been blockaded by our fleet, so there is not even the prospect of transporting provisions with the Mori's warships. The price of rice has gone way up, and if a man sells rice there, he can make an immense profit. That's just what Lord Murashige's retainer did, and when the affair was exposed, Lord Murashige took the initiative and unfurled the flag of rebellion, fearing that he would be questioned about this crime by Lord Nobunaga anyway." (Yoshikawa, 2001, p. 679)

Ranmaru analyzed that the reason why Murashige ran to revolt and declare rebellion was because of the economical affair which he had with the enemy, although this rumor once disregarded by Ranmaru and Hideyoshi, Nobunaga believed that it was true. However, Murashige was not the only one who in later story would go against Nobunaga and started a rebellion.

In 1582, Akechi Mitsuhide, one of Nobunaga’s trusted generals decided to take a decision to go against him.

While he had been in Sakamoto, he had wavered: Should he go ahead with the plan or scrap it? But this morning, when he heard the second report, his hair had suddenly stood on end. In his heart he had resolved that the time was now, and that heaven had sent him this opportunity. Nobunaga, accompanied by only forty or fifty lightly armed men, was staying at the Honno Temple in Kyoto. The demon that possessed Mitsuhide whispered to him that it was a unique opportunity (Yoshikawa, 2001, p. 850).

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As told in the quotation above, the rebellion of Mitsuhide was rather not planned before; he only seeks the opportunity where his lord is in his weak position. The core reason of why he did so is debatable, yet in most likely that throughout the novel, Mitsuhide was treated badly by Nobunaga although he had responded to him out of respect multiple times.

In all of his fifty-four years, Mitsuhide had never relied on his own wisdom the way he was doing now. Although objectively he would have had every reason to doubt his own judgment, subjectively he felt exactly the opposite. I haven't made the smallest mistake, Mitsuhide said to himself: No one could suspect what's on my mind (Yoshikawa, 2001, p. 850)

In quotation above, it is shown how Mitsuhide has been no more than loyal to his lord, but he himself doubted the plan itself. When Mitsuhide is encountered by his cousin in his future plans, he claimed that he had gone over how Nobunaga treated him, most importantly how Nobunaga treated the previous incidents. These thoughts he discussed with his cousin are what made him feel assured to betray his lord.

"Nobunaga rose against the shogun. And everyone knows how much bad karma accumulated from burning down Mount Hiei. Look what befell his senior retainers-Hayashi, Sakuma, Araki. I cannot think of their tragic fates as other people's affairs." (Yoshikawa, 2001, p. 861).

To his quote, he is aware that Nobunaga’s position in the current feudal system yet Mitsuhide couldn’t help but pity the enemies which Nobunaga had taken down especially the tragedy which happened in Mount Hiei. He eventually gave out his grudge and went to raid against Nobunaga in an

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unexpected way. Mitsuhide’s rebellion was recorded as ‘The Honno-ji Incident’

(World, 2017).

As Nobunaga’s supremacy rose in the capital, he began to send his generals across Japan in an expansionist campaign to overtake the entire Japan including Mitsuhide who were sent to aid Hideyoshi to Takamatsu castle. It was around the celebration of the defeat of Takeda clan when Mitsuhide took it upon himself to take his troops to Honno castle and attack Nobunaga in his usual resting place in Kyoto. Eventually, the castle was burned down to ashes, taking Nobunaga’s corpse along with it. However, Nobunaga did not die from the attack, and more so, he took it upon himself to commit seppuku after realizing that the situation had become dire. The death of Nobunaga is a form of retreat which he would not submit to Mitsuhide’s troops.

C. The Effect of the Conflict towards Current Society

In this section of the Thesis, the searcher discussed how the conflict itself

depicted by the writer of the novel gave effect on the current era and the

relevance of this novel’s conflict to the real world.

No one knew me as he did, Hideyoshi thought. In his last moments in the flames of the Honno Temple, he must have called out to me in his heart and left me with a trust. Insignificant as I am, I am not going to turn my back on my lord and his trust in me. Thus, Hideyoshi made a pledge to himself. It was not a vain lamentation. His belief was simple: just before Nobunaga had died, he had left Hideyoshi with his dying instructions. (Yoshikawa, 2001, p. 908)

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As shown in the quotation above, although the death of Nobunaga had passed, his legacy continues on in the hands of Toyotomi Hideyoshi who continued his conquest to conquer Japan starting from continuing what his lord had planned for the future of Japan.

Hideyoshi gave his final instructions to his retainers in Himeji Castle: "Victory and defeat are in the hands of fate, but if I should be struck down by Mitsuhide, set fire to the castle and make sure nothing remains. We have to act bravely, following the example of the man who died at the Honno Temple." (Yoshikawa, 2001, p. 930)

In the quotation above, it proves that Hideyoshi did not just take upon himself to plan to finish off Mitsuhide after what he had done to his Lord. His form action to take revenge over Mitsuhide is a form of loyalty he had persuaded over the years with Nobunaga.

The skills Hideyoshi had shown in the invasion of the western provinces over the last five years had taught many of Nobunaga's other generals his true value. Among those men were Niwa Nagahide, Nakagawa Sebei, Takayama Ukon, and Ikeda Shonyu. They perceived Hideyoshi's loyalty under such long adversity as unswerving devotion to their former lord (Yoshikawa, 2001, p. 931)

Hideyoshi’s loyalty to his lord amazed other lords. He was liked by many lords due to this fact, thus gaining him support amongst the Warrior class.

Around the same time with Hideyoshi’s plan to take revenge on Mitsuhide,

Mitsuhide himself gained popularity amongst the previous opponent of

Nobunaga. Hideyoshi who in the previous year before Nobunaga’s death had managed to settle a peace agreement with the Mori clan focuses his view onto the redefinition of the class system in Japan.

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Toyotomi Hideyoshi, in the legacy of Oda Nobunaga redefined the social class through his actions on building the large Osaka castle as a center of unified Japan, continuing to retract weaponry in the Peasant class, including swords and the last of them had been the influence of religion in Japan during the feudal era. Hideyoshi concerns about the country being divided into three spheres of influence and how it might transform back to warring states.

Nobunaga was dead, Mitsuhide was dead, and there was the possibility that the country would once again be divided into three spheres of influence, as it had been before Nobunaga. Worse, family feuds and rival warlords defending their own local interests might plunge the country into the chaos of the last years of the shogunate. (Yoshikawa, 2001, p. 968)

From the citation, the situation after Nobunaga and Mitsuhide had passed on was more disheartening. Without anyone left to take the throne as a military head, it has become a concern upon who will lead the country. In later years, Hideyoshi was the one who took the job to spread his influence and put feudal lords on their respectful places by establishing their military power against other Samurai clans, making Toyotomi Hideyoshi as the military head for a while, ending his status due to his death in 1598 and putting Tokugawa Ieyasu to continue his legacy to conquer entire Japan.

The impact of the warring states takes many efforts to digest. However, the researcher would like to stop by the quote below from epilogue as a sign of a

Daimyō who finally able to solidify the peace across Japan. Even if

Hideyoshi had lost over Ieyasu due to his background, it was rather a more political exchange that gained Hideyoshi a title of Kampaku or government official as shown below.

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In the Tenth Month of the fourteenth year of Tensho, Hideyoshi and Ieyasu met in Osaka Castle for a historic peace conference. Undefeated in the field, Ieyasu nevertheless ceded the political victory to Hideyoshi. Two years before, Ieyasu had sent his son as a hostage to Osaka, and now he took Hideyoshi's sister as his bride. The patient Ieyasu would wait for his chance—perhaps the bird would yet sing for him (Yoshikawa, 2001, p. 1256).

With many declines in both Cultural and Political aspects, Tokugawa

Ieyasu had many duties he must attend to after winning the national hegemony by a victory over the lords of west Japan and become the Shogun, making the Tokugawa clan as the heap of military supremacy. Over the course of history, the Tokugawa clan successfully restored and maintained law and order, including making policy to the administration of rural districts, supervising finances and archives to service as attendants and messengers.

Unfortunately, with nothing left to fight for, many Samurais had taken their duty as only garrison duties, which became a common complaint among reformers that there were more jobs than work (Beasley, 1940, pp. 3-7). In the same argument, the researcher agreed with W.G. Beasley presented upon discussion of the Tokugawa legacy. There was a classic belief that the

Tokugawa society is one of the fixed stratifications: a descending hierarchy of the Warrior class, farmer, artisan and merchant, yet, in reality this is misleading. The most likely meaning of social stagnation which had been executed by Hideyoshi is the existence of important distinctions between the

Warrior class and the rest. The Warrior class, though they’re left in charge of governing their own prefectures was never involved in the day-to-day management of agriculture, in fact this had become a proof to their economic

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standing which often occurs on how the Japanese government runs its political system.

As previously discussed in the description of the theory, this is where

Lewis Coser’s theory of conflict applied and X.J. Kennedy’s Historical approach would also come into discussion. That in reflection of the historical correlation between the novel’s conflict with the current socio-political situation in Japan, the researcher analyzes the possibility of the cases that happened in the 16th century as a reflection of modern-era Japan, the indication as being the start of a revolution in a government system throughout the history.

Mentioning the current society issues as described in the situation of

Japan, the researcher would like to look back to Taiko’s conflict of social stagnation. As per quoted in X.J. Kennedy’s Historical approach, the work of a literary work is seeking to understand literary work with a necessity of an author’s milieu. In the case of Eiji Yoshikawa’s Taiko, this work was originally made in the early 20th century before the translation that surfaced in

2001 (People Pill, 2020), thus the reflection of settings and the description of era used in this novel is a part of the perception that the author has in his era.

The researcher believes that while this epic novel is not a complete accurate representation of the 16th century Japan, it is necessary to see the facts that had arose in the 16th century Japan had some similarities in the historical records as discussed in the previous chapter. Thus, in this section, the

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researcher observed the effect of the conflict happened in history to the current state of socio-political system in Japan especially the era shift that recently happened in 2019.

While the era of warring states has ended, there are fair points on why the current Japanese social system has shown a stagnated diagram ever since the era of Tokugawa. Without ignoring the fact that the era had changed and there were neither more duties of the Samurais nor an existence of a shogun in today’s era. The Japanese social system shows staggering similarities to their feudal system which had seemed to take a peek upon today’s sociological issues. As explained through Sugimoto’s book An Introduction to Japanese

Society, the main goal of Japan’s democracy is to preserve the cultural essence which have been developed since the early times. On the contrary, this is exactly what Prime Minister Shinzo Abe had tried to achieve. By reviving the spirit of the prewar period in which the highest constitution is held by the emperor, his eventual plan is to show the glories of the emperor by establishing a political standing. Without forgetting the achievement that

Shinzo Abe had brought to Japan, it is shown that his cause did not produce significant support as it fails to resolve many problems which happened in the country as many reported issues, such as issues with hikikomori are estimated to keep increasing.

With the shrinking economy, low birth issues and an increase of elderly deaths, Japan is in threat of losing more of their population, which means that

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less population, less workers in the country. With fewer workers, more people are exposed to Karoshi. These issues can also lead to more decrease of their economy. To add more, the people who are in the lower class, such as the working class are starting to lose faith in their government. This is a worrying reality which needs to be issued before more damage is done.

The start of the conflict is embedded in the society’s view of the government that reflects the general observations and reactions it had produced by uninterested parties below the government class. If in feudal

Japan the authority of power is held by the shogun from the Warrior class with the absence of unity of the country and a divide of authority between the

Shogun and Oda Clan. In the current era, the authority power is hold by the government class with an absence of support from sixty percent of the working class. In projection of Coser’s theory of conflict, the researcher can say that the entitlement of government system can be seen as a structure that function in a country, that is to produce a significant power that greatly impacted both sides of the structure itself. In picturesque that in order to govern, same with the power relation theory, both sides must be able to support each other at ease. Along with knowing that logically it is impossible to get a hundred percent optimism of the government system, the government must at least win the heart of their people to decrease the absence of support.

Looking back to the conflict of the novel about the unification of Japan as a whole country, the researcher would like to point out a key point of

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relevance which counterpoints the attempt to return the constitution of Japan to perceived glories of the prewar period. The researcher also ought to be reminded by how the Japanese society runs as a collective and hierarchal society, in which they appreciate the meaning of unification as a concept of their lives. Not to mention about their belief in their philosophical concept of

Ningen Kankei as mentioned in Pratama’s observation. Through the conflict which occurred in the past eras, it supposed to have become clear that there are many flaws upon achieving the spirit of the past, even when the social system had been stagnated for so long, it became apparent that the reflection of a role which a warrior have can also be a lesson to the government, that in their own ways of reflecting their duties needs to be a devotion that could at least decrease and aid the situation of the people, instead of momentary producing more ideas that did not fix major issues.

What had seemed to be a trouble for the country is the separation between two sectors, the government and the people under their defying care As mentioned by W.G. Beasley’s discussion about the role of the Warrior class: the Warrior class are lacking in their involvement on a day-to-day basis in their agriculture which causes a large misunderstanding between two sectors.

Which are also reflected through the current era? As quoted by the Guardian on April 1, 2019, “Japanese society is no longer controlled by an emperor,”

Hiroshi Kozen, an emeritus professor of Chinese literature at Kyoto

University, told Kyodo. “The era system should reflect people’s desires, and that should start with a discussion about why we need it,” (Guardian, 2019).

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With the support of the change of era, compiled with numerous problems that had face upon the Japanese society and the faith towards the government which plummet, it has become relevant that the government, including Prime minister, Shinzo Abe to start focusing their change towards sociological issues and conducting more aid to social workers who had devote themselves into helping other people in their country. This means abandoning the idea of changing the political system to the past and start producing new ideas to fix their views of democracy that can fit into the current era and are more relevant than preserving the traditional ways.

The past events of the conflict between the Warrior class depicted from

Eiji Yoshikawa’s Taiko has a fair point to why the government should be focusing more on their people’s needs and abandoning concepts which had been deemed irrelevant. Nobunaga and Hideyoshi both agreed that running a country needs a level of agreement between the people and the government.

Especially in an era of transition, which Hideyoshi argued that people who kept being blind of their attachment to the past are threatened to be perished by the flow of time.

Furthermore, to the argument, the researcher took a look upon Nobunaga’s influence on the feudal system to Tokugawa as a part of discussion of the current socio-political situation. While in Taiko itself, the role of Tokugawa seemed to be shadowing behind the glories of Oda Nobunaga and Toyotomi

Hideyoshi rather than influential, it is during the Tokugawa Shogunate or the

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Edo era that the current socio-political belief feels closer to. This is correlating the situation of the Japanese feudal system during the Edo era which is heavily influenced by the previous era. With the growing and stability of the economy during the Tokugawa era, it has become a remarkable achievement in Japan. But this is solely due to the rise of the Shogunate as a political leader. While there is very little involvement ofthe emperor in their political development. Which means, the emperor would recede even more into the background as his position of the emperor has become almost a formality (McReynolds, 1952, p. 109)

The idea of amae and enryo can also be implemented to the general problem of the Japanese customs which resulted in many social problems listed in the previous sub chapter. As seek in the reaction of the Japanese people over the burn down of Mount Hiei, the researcher could say that it is their way of society works. Not only that people in Japan are accustomed by a collective manner but also a Hierarchal idea of living that translates to high value appreciation of the holy land. For instance, the Japanese idea of privacy is only deprived through these two ideas. In the Japanese word itself, there is no direct translation of the word ‘privacy’. The thought process of a working ethics and handling daily socialization in Japan is mostly conducted through a high emphasis on group mentality which can be taken in a positive and negative way. To further elaborate, the consciousness of the Japanese people who are victims of the Karoshi are majorly caused by the mentality that

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working overtime is considered as a good thing in the society. The reason of

Karoshi is mostly because of the Japanese society’s uniformed system.

This means that the more people appreciate the consideration of working overtime produce a significant view of the entire society, while the effects of this mentality is also perceived differently in the working class, what it could prove is that there is a line of ambivalent feelings that arose amongst the working class towards working overtime. These ambivalent feeling that arose amongst the working class is not entirely new concept. In fact, according to the novel, the feeling of ambivalent appears around the Samurai class due to questioning their loyalty in their lords.

The general spread out some documents on the floor and opened the conference by explaining them in outline. He had written a report on the military and economic power of the Oda clan. "It's said to be a small clan, but recently it would seem that its economy has rallied remarkably." As he spoke, he showed diagrams to Yoshimoto. "Owari is said to be a united province, but within its eastern and southern sections there are places, like Iwakura Castle, which owe their allegiance to you, my lord. Additionally, there are men who, although they are Oda retainers, are known to feel ambivalendy about their loyalties. Thus, under the present circumstances, the possessions of the Oda clan are less than one-half, possibly only two- fifths, of all of Owari." (Yoshikawa, 2001, p. 255)

This different perspective can also be the cause of hikikomori or NEET which are frowned upon in society. That is to say that the group mentality had produced a negative impact as hikikomori or NEET are refusing to do the same thing as the people around their environment, their actions to become shut-ins are also an indication to the society that they have not produced a cooperativeness and an ability to communicate with others and therefore their

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existence is counted as a part of predicament to the society, supported by the decline of the Japanese population itself.

The right to privacy, understood as “the individual’s right to control the circulation of information concerning him or her", is considered a shameful excess of mistrust in relation both to a cooperative society and to those who collect, store, share, and use personal data. Consequently, the sense of a right to privacy is foreign and less important to Japanese society than it is in Western societies (Yohko, 2006).

In elaboration of the discussion, the social-political structure of the

Japanese democracy system may also be an interpretation of an interpretation that lasted through decades. This is shown through the similarities of the feudal system conducted in the 16th century and the current system. The only differences that are apparent are the roles that are standing by the social status itself. The existence of the Warrior class can be interpreted the same as the government. The lack of action in Shogun Yoshiaki shows similarities with the lack of action that the current prime minister towards the issues with

Karoshi, Hikikomori, Kodokushi and the lack of birth in Japan while the action of the Daimyo to unify the country once again have also shown similarities with the action that Tokyo Governor, Yuriko Koike to protect

Japan from the current issues.

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CHAPTER V

CONCLUSION

In this chapter, the researcher would like to state some results that could be derived from the analysis done in the previous chapter. The results will further point out the signs of change in authority in feudal Japan through the conflict in the Warrior class, the significance of Nobunaga’s influence that rose in the country and the impact it brings to the current society as the readers of Taiko.

This thesis elaborates the points that were found above. The feudal system of 16th century of Japan begins with the chaos of authority in the warrior class.That is not only by the chaos which occurred between states all over

Japan but also a rise of warrior-monks. Nobunaga who is a strong believer of the emperor’s grace had seen the lack of prevention of the warring states from the Shogun’s behalf. Instead he saw the support that warrior-monks get from the Shogun when they decided to further prolong the war by causing troubles with the Oda clan. As a result, Nobunaga raged upon the existence of the warrior-monks and burn down their holy land, Mount Hiei.

The fall of Mount Hiei sparked more conflict but it also indicates an establishment of power and the fall of the Shogun. The fall of the Shogun shuffle the feudal system entirely. The 16th century feudal system which originally headed by the emperor as a culture symbol continued to Shogun was turned into the emperor continued by the Daimyō . With the change and the effect, it brings to the complete shift of authority; it became apparent that

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Nobunaga’s influence is impactful towards the society during the time. Even when he passed, his actions have constructed a new system that leads to the final unification done by his loyal alliance, Tokugawa Ieyasu.

Issues such as: Hikikomori, Karoshi, Kudokushi and Low-birth rate in

Japan has sought the eyes of the current society over decades. Unfortunately, with these issues rule out, the Japanese Prime minister has not shown much of initiative while governors of each district are forced to take matters to their own hands to save their people. Tokyo Governor, Yuriko Koike was left deeply frustrated by the fact that the Prime Minister shown verily lack of actions towards this issue. The political conflict between Prime Minister and the Governor has shown the similarities between the conflict which sparked between Shogun and the Daimyo.

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