Ikkō-ikki

一向一揆

Mid-15th century–1586

Capital

Ishiyama Hongan-ji (de-facto, 1496–1580)
Other regional capitals

Languages

Late Middle Japanese

Religion

Jōdo Shinshū

Government

Feudal theocratic military confederacy

Monshu

•

1457–1499

Rennyo

•

1499–1525

Jitsunyo

•

1525–1554

Shonyo

•

1560–1592

Kennyo

Historical era

Sengoku

•

Established

Mid-15th century

•

Disestablished

1586

Preceded by

Succeeded by

	Ikkō-shū
	Togashi clan

Oda clan
Toyotomi clan
Tokugawa clan
Maeda clan

Ikkō-ikki (一向一揆^?, "Ikkō-shū Uprising") were mobs of peasant farmers, Buddhist monks, Shinto priests and local nobles who rose up against daimyo rule in 15th- and 16th-century Japan. They followed the beliefs of the Jōdo Shinshū (True Pure Land) sect of Buddhism, which taught that all believers are equally saved by Amida Buddha's grace. They were organized to only a small degree; if any single person could be said to have had any influence over them it was Rennyo, the leader of the Jōdo Shinshū Hongan-ji sect at that time. Rennyo's attitude to the Ikkō-ikki was, however, highly ambivalent and pragmatic. Whilst he may have used the religious fervour of the Ikkō-ikki in the defence of his temple settlements, he was also careful to distance himself from the wider social rebellion of the Ikkō movement as a whole, and from offensive violence in particular.

According to Sansom, "The Ikko (Single-Minded) sect of Nembutsu, or Buddha-calling ... is a branch of the worship of Amida developed from the teaching of Shinran into an aggressive doctrine of salvation by faith." In the 13th century, the jizamurai, a new class of small landowners, "formed leagues (ikki) for mutual defence", since they came from "good warrior families, long established in their own districts, and they were determined to protect their interests, both economic and social, against newcomers," according to Sansom The Shirahata-Ikki, "White Flag Uprising", and Mikazuki-Ikki, "Crescent Uprising", where examples of the numerous risings against the Ashikaga shogunate. An uprising involving an entire province was called a Kuni-Ikki (kuni meaning province). Uprisings took place in 1351, 1353, 1369, 1377, 1384–86, and 1366–69. The risings in the 15th century, Tsuchi-Ikki or Do-Ikki, were better organized "and the peasants appear to have played a more prominent part." AT the conclusion of the Ōnin War, in 1477, "many of the members of the numerous ikki" occupied the monasteries and shrines, and "would ring the warning bells day and night, hoping to terrify the rich citizens," according to Sansom.

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Wikipedia