Diplomacy in the Sengoku Jidai

**NinjaWJ** · June 02, 2011, 07:50 PM

Hi guys, especially those wise in the ways of history of the Sengoku Period. How did the clans justify their wars against other clans? Did the daimyo just wake up one day and decided to go to war or was there other reasons due to alliances, etc. Was there a declaration of war to the other daimyo or did one general just walk across the border with his army and start killing?

**SanadaYuki** · June 02, 2011, 11:28 PM

Japan (even during Sengoku Jidai) was not a barbaric country, they actually uses letters and envoys....
Nobody just got up and declare war on each other (unlike a certain country today

), they need a reason or else their land will revolt. Filial Piety, honouring alliances, order from the Emperor, order from the Shogun, etc.

read the story of Oda http://www.samurai-archives.com/nobunaga.html

Btw, before battle they launch whistling arrow to announce the start the battle http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Signal_arrow

**RollingWave** · June 03, 2011, 02:29 AM

Ehhh, there were some situations where alliances just broke on very very short notices, such as the Azai's defection of their alliances with the Oda clan.

Suffice to say though, most situations did not occur on a whim, for example while Takeda and Oda were supposedly allied, they had continued to raid into the lands of the Tokugawa while Shingen sort of played dumb when Nobunaga confronted him about the situation. So obviously the Oda clan were more than aware that their alliance with the Takedas were less than stable.

**SanadaYuki** · June 03, 2011, 04:19 AM

Originally Posted by RollingWave

Ehhh, there were some situations where alliances just broke on very very short notices, such as the Azai's defection of their alliances with the Oda clan.

Suffice to say though, most situations did not occur on a whim, for example while Takeda and Oda were supposedly allied, they had continued to raid into the lands of the Tokugawa while Shingen sort of played dumb when Nobunaga confronted him about the situation. So obviously the Oda clan were more than aware that their alliance with the Takedas were less than stable.

Hmm.. as far as I know the Azai had two alliances - one with Oda, and one with Asakura - and they had to choose between siding with Oda (allied by marriage), or siding with Asakura (allied for decades).

Well...

**Stellerex** · June 03, 2011, 04:36 PM

Actually this is something I've been meaning to ask but OP might want to change the title if he's specifically referring to justifications for wars. Now the Europeans had this concept of 'just war' where basically, you don't just fight for the hell of it, it has to be for something. Justification for war is commonly found in self-defense, appeal to God etc. How about the samurai? What did Imagawa Yoshimoto say on his warpath towards Kyoto, 'someone had to do it'?

**Ying, Duke of Qin** · June 03, 2011, 04:54 PM

Originally Posted by NinjaWJ

Hi guys, especially those wise in the ways of history of the Sengoku Period. How did the clans justify their wars against other clans? Did the daimyo just wake up one day and decided to go to war or was there other reasons due to alliances, etc. Was there a declaration of war to the other daimyo or did one general just walk across the border with his army and start killing?

A cursory glance at some of the records shows us that you can go to the Emperor or Shogun to declare an opposing clan 朝敵 (Chouteki), or "Enemy of the Imperial Way" (impromptu translation).

Granted, there's no actual benefit to it, as neither the Tenno nor the Shogun actually had any real military capability. But it sure is helpful if you want to actually justify your attacks.