Let’s learn history! A collection of Sengoku quiz questions from the nation-conquest battles

Ōnin War

The Ōnin War was a civil conflict that lasted for about eleven years from 1467 during the Muromachi period. It began due to a succession dispute over the shogunate and a rivalry between two powerful daimyō families, the Hosokawa and the Yamana. Kyoto, the main battlefield, was reduced to ashes by fierce fighting, the power of the Muromachi shogunate waned, and society shifted toward gekokujō—where the capable overthrew their social superiors—serving as a crucial turning point that led into the Sengoku period.

Monkey

The story that Oda Nobunaga called Toyotomi Hideyoshi “monkey” is very famous. It’s also known that in a letter Nobunaga sent to Hideyoshi’s wife, he referred to Hideyoshi as a “bald rat.” It’s said he gave him these nicknames because his appearance and movements resembled those animals, but it may also suggest that to Nobunaga, Hideyoshi was a familiar and dependable retainer.

Sword Hunt

While pursuing the unification of the realm, Toyotomi Hideyoshi issued an order to confiscate weapons such as swords and bows from peasants. A major objective of this policy was to prevent peasant uprisings and to promote the separation of soldiers and farmers by having peasants devote themselves to agriculture. It was explained that the confiscated weapons would be repurposed as nails and clamps for constructing the Great Buddha Hall in Kyoto, and people were told that this was to create a more peaceful society from then on.