Thursday 5 May 2011

28mm Samurai Painted Japanese Temple.

A 28mm painted japanese temple from my samurai collection from the Sengoku period  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sengoku_period of Japans history, it's a lovely piece of kit from John Jenkins Designs.











I also use it as a base for my Ikko Ikki forces.

Ikkō-ikki (一向一揆?), literally "Ikkoshū Uprising", were mobs of peasant farmers, Buddhist monks, Shinto priests and local nobles, who rose up against samurai rule in 15th to 16th century Japan. They followed the beliefs of the Jōdo Shinshu (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 Shinshu 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.


The Ikkō-ikki were, at first, disparate and disorganized followers of Rennyo's teachings. His missionary work, and his appointment to the position of abbot of Hongan-ji, was in 1457, so perhaps it can be said that the Ikkō-ikki began then. In 1471, Rennyo was forced to flee Kyoto, and established a new Hongan-ji branch temple in Yoshizaki, in Echizen Province; it was at this temple that he began to attract a significant following among peasants and farmers. 1488 brought the first violent uprising, the first major organized action on the part of the Ikkō-ikki. They overthrew the samurai rulers of Kaga Province, and took control of it for themselves; this represented the first time in Japanese history that a group of commoners ruled a province.


Rennyo was a pacifist, and taught pacifism as any other Buddhist clergyman would. He advocated self-defense only as a guard against the particularly tumultuous times in which he lived. Daimyo, samurai warlords, fought one another for territory nearly constantly, across the entire country. Rennyo thus saw to it that the temples of his sect were fortified and defended from attackers. Though it was his charismatic leadership and populist teachings that inspired the fervor which powered the Ikkō-ikki uprisings, he never advocated or supported them.

The uprisings continued nevertheless, past Rennyo's death in 1499, and the sub-sect of Jōdo Shinshu that he had founded spread as well. They established themselves in fortresses at Ishiyama Hongan-ji, just outside Osaka, and in Nagashima, on the borders of Owari and Ise Provinces, and in a series of temples of Mikawa Province as well.

Towards the end of the 16th century, however, their growing numbers and strength caught the attention and concern of the great samurai leaders of the time. Tokugawa Ieyasu worried that the monks of Mikawa would rise up and seize the province. In 1564, his forces, with the help of Jōdo sect warrior monks, defeated the Ikkō-ikki of Mikawa in the Battle of Azukizaka.

The Battle of Azukizaka was the climatic clash between Ieyasu and the Ikki.The ikki attracted the ire of the likes of Tokugawa Ieyasu and Oda Nobunaga due to the economic and political threat they posed, more so than as a result of their military might. The Ishiyama Hongan-ji and other strongholds of the ikki lay across major trade routes and occupied the same areas that Nobunaga saw as his primary territorial objectives. Nearly every road to the capital from this western part of the country was controlled by the ikki or their allies, and the populist roots of the ikki movement gave them significant economic power as well. Nobunaga in particular sought the destruction of the Ikkō-ikki for these reasons, and because they allied themselves with nearly every one of his major enemies or rivals. Ashikaga Yoshiaki was once strongly supported in his claim to become Shogun by Nobunaga, but turned to the ikki when their relationship soured. The ikki also had powerful allies in the Mōri, Azai, and Asakura clans.

The Ishiyama Hongan-ji and Nagashima fortresses were therefore besieged and destroyed by the forces of Oda Nobunaga. After several failed attempts at seizing each emplacement, he eventually succeeded.

In the 1580s, the last of the Ikkō-ikki courted Toyotomi Hideyoshi, and fought alongside his forces against warrior monks of other sects.

59 comments:

  1. this is beautiful. reall good style. the blu really catches the eye

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  2. Really nice kit, roof is superb. How does it compare to Oshiro's kits?

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  3. Superb painting on an even better kit! Interesting piece of history too, you educated me a little there!

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  4. @Dr. Willett: Bigger, stronger and slighty better cast, if you want I will do a comparison picture at the weekend for you.

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  5. Come on mate, you are putting us into shame!
    That's simply fantastic! Don't tell us you painted it in one day.
    I will start CRYING!!!
    T.

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  6. The blue and the red look great together. You knock stuff out so quickly!

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  7. That Samurai house indeed looks lovely. Thanks for sharing the history too.

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  8. Thanks Angry, that would be great if you have time.

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  9. Very nice looking temple. I have to admit, I know little about medieval Japan, but I picked out the names Tokugawa and Nobunaga and was able to figure out a lot of it.

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  10. !!That´s very nice!!!
    Cheers
    paul

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  11. AThe Japanese have the best rooftops hands down!

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  12. Extremly nice bro, is this a new period for you, will we see more? cause I like it.

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  13. WOW!! The details on that are awesome!! :D

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  14. NICE!
    Wrong scale...but nice!

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  15. Wow that's a pretty building! I see a lot of figures people do but its rare to see such a large structure.

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  16. It is a bit strange that a nonviolent religion like Buddhism has produced so many warrior monks.

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  17. looks great! for a split second i thought it was made of legos!!

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  18. looks great, looks like lots of work as well

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  19. Fantastic. One of the players in our gaming group went to college with JJ and has LOADS of the his 54mm FIW stuff. His models realy are very good indeed. Lovely paint job Fran.

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  20. Thanks for the history lesson. Cool temple too. I think their architecture is intriguing.

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  21. beautiful, the datails are amazing!

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  22. Great looking piece and the history is wonderful addition.

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  23. Not only is the blue a great choice, but also your banners look amazing. Great job!

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  24. very nicely done and detailed

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  25. yes very good detail its amazing, and the history of it is pretty intriguing

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  26. i enjoyed this history lesson.

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  27. dude, that actually looks like delicious cake from far away! ahha

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  28. Did the paints come with the kit?

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  29. very good kit; and good painting too.

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  30. What is it made of? i'd be worried about accidentally dropping it and breaking it

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  31. Excellent terrain piece!- worth defending to the death!!

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  32. That is impressive! Excellent piece of work.

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  33. Great look temple, and thanks for the history lesson, I read that with the voice of James Earl Jones.

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  34. Great looking building Fran. I have to say Samurai are not really my thang but I that was interesting bit of info you posted there, thanks for that!

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  35. Great piece of terrain. It should take us away to another world, however familiar, and this one does. Gorgeous colours too.

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  36. I would also enjoy a comparison shot. How long did this one take?

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  37. Nice pictures, but I particularly like the writeup. You had me at 'Oda Nobunaga'.

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  38. I large part of me would kill to have my home decorated in this fashion!!!!

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  39. That right there is pretty cool.

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  40. If it is in self-defense against an aggressor there is an element of righteous indignation that brings moral strength. I used Aikido that way once on a big violent and disruptive drunk charging like a bull and it worked way better than I expected. This sounds like a variation on that idea, like Rennyo would approve in a case like that.

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  41. ohhh I want it.
    and thanks for the historic data.

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  42. wow great model and awesome read

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  43. oh man i don't want to buy one cause then i'll be hooked for sure.

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  44. You did a superb job with this Japanese Temple kit. Freakin' amazing. I like the story and history you provided on Ikkō-ikki and Rennyo. The strategies you described- that were employed during the battles and the relationships between the warring factions and individuals are fascinating. Before reading this post, I had never heard of any of this. Pretty cool.

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  45. WOW that must have tooken a lot of effort!

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  46. Looks like alot of time and effort have been spent on this, great work man ;D

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  47. BUNGA!!!! Sorry got distarcted.
    Fran isn't this the one your Mrs painted???? he he!!

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  48. That's beautiful! And great write up.

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