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Starting with and continuing after the Onin War, the central ruling authority of the Ashikaga or Muromachi Shogunate in the capital of Kyoto was ruined, leading to a complete breakdown in social order and civil war throughout Japan. Outside of the capital, the provincial daimyo and magistrates that relied on the shogunate for their own authority and power, found themselves isolated and vulnerable to not only external, but internal forces as well.
Many of the provincial daimyo, such as the ShimazuThe Shimazu clan was the family of the daimyo of the Satsuma Han in Japan. The founder, Shimazu Tadahisa ( 1179 1227), was a shugo daimyo during the Kamakura period, ruling Satsuma, Osumi, and Hyuga Provinces. The 19th head, Yoshihiro ( 1535 1619), was th, TakedaTakeda can refer to. Takeda Shingen, a Japanese daimyo. A PC video game that is based on Takeda Shingen Takeda Chemical Industries, Ltd. a Japanese pharmaceuticals company''., and Imagawa , having ruled their lands under the authority of not only the Ashikaga shogunate, but also under the preceding Kamakura shogunateThe Kamakura shogunate was a feudal military dictatorship ruled by the shoguns of the Minamoto family from 1185 to 1333. Based in Kamakura, Japan, this period draws its name from the capital and is known as the Kamakura period. Before the establishment of, established their own independent domains. However, many others, like the Hosokawa, Shiba, and TokiToki (; -shi) is a city located in the Gifu prefercture in Japan. It is located on the Honshu island and lies on the Toki River''. History During the civil wars in the Azuchi-Momoyama period ( 1568 1614) refugees from the city of Seto settled in Toki. found their lands taken over by their own subjects and retainers, like the Oda, late Hojo , and Saito Dosan, who had seized the opportunity to establish their own name and become new Sengoku daimyo in their own right. Also, peasants throughout Japan united with religious leaders and monks of the Buddhist Pure Land sect to form ikko ikki to rebel against and resist the rule of the daimyo. In some cases they succeeded in forming their own independent domains, of which the most famous ikko ikki in Kaga province lasted independently for almost 100 years.
This phenomenon of social upheaval where the retainers and subjects came to reject traditions and values of the prior establishment and forcefully overthrow their leaders to establish their own independence became known as Gekokujou (下克上). Literally, gekokujou means the bottom overcomes/conquers the top.