Editing Sengoku period (section)

==== The rise of the Miyoshi clan ====
[[File:三好長慶.jpg|thumb|[[Miyoshi Nagayoshi]]]]
Miyoshi Motonaga's son, [[Miyoshi Nagayoshi]], fought against Hosokawa Harumoto, but chose to subordinate himself to Harumoto. As a follower of Harumoto, Miyoshi Nagayoshi defeated [[Kizawa Nagamasa]], the most powerful member of the [[Hatakeyama clan]] who served as ''Kanrei'', and in 1547 defeated the 12th shogun, Ashikaga Yoshiharu and [[:ja:細川氏綱|Hosokawa Ujitusna]], son of Hosokawa Takakuni, in the {{nihongo3|Battle of Shari-ji|[[:ja:舎利寺の戦い|舎利寺の戦い]]|}}. This further reduced the power of the Ashikaga Shogunate. Miyoshi Nagayoshi was told by a retainer of the Hosokawa family that [[Miyoshi Masanaga]] had played a dark role in his father's death, and he petitioned his lord Hosokawa Harumoto to overthrow Masanaga, but this petition was not accepted, and, in turn, Nagayoshi was almost eliminated by Harumoto. In response, Miyoshi Nagayoshi attacked and defeated Miyoshi Masanaga, expelled Hosokawa Harumoto, Ashikaga Yoshiharu, the 12th shogun, and his son Ashikaga Yoshiteru from Kyoto, and established control over the Kyoto area in 1549. After that, he fought several times against Ashikaga Yoshiteru, who became the 13th shogun, for control of the Kyoto area. However, one by one, his sons died in war or from disease, and the [[Miyoshi clan]] began to decline rapidly.<ref name="nagayoshi">{{cite web|url=https://www.touken-world.jp/tips/46488/|archive-url=|script-title=ja:三好長慶|language=ja|publisher=The Nagoya Japanese Sword Museum Nagoya Touken World|date=|archive-date=|access-date=29 March 2024}}</ref>

By the time of the 13th shogun, [[Ashikaga Yoshiteru]], the shogun already had few direct fiefs and direct military forces, and his sphere of influence was limited to a few lands around Kyoto, losing both economic and military power. As a result, Ashikaga Yoshiteru was often chased out of Kyoto by the ''sengoku daimyo'' Miyoshi Nagayoshi and his forces, and was finally killed in an attack by the forces of [[Miyoshi Yoshitsugu]] and [[Matsunaga Hisahide]]. Ashikaga Yoshiteru was known as a great swordsman and was a student of [[Tsukahara Bokuden]], who was known as one of the strongest swordsmen.<ref name="kotobateru">{{cite web|url=https://kotobank.jp/word/%E8%B6%B3%E5%88%A9%E7%BE%A9%E8%BC%9D-14302/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240314235845/https://kotobank.jp/word/%E8%B6%B3%E5%88%A9%E7%BE%A9%E8%BC%9D-14302|script-title=ja:足利義輝|language=ja|publisher=Kotobank|date=|archive-date=14 March 2024|access-date=14 March 2024}}</ref> According to [[Yagyū Munenori]], a swordsmanship instructor in the Tokugawa Shogunate, Ashikaga Yoshiteru was one of the five best swordsmen of his time. According to several historical books, including [[Luís Fróis]]' ''Historia de Japam'', he fought hard with ''[[naginata]]'' and ''[[tachi]]'' during a raid, defeating many of his enemies, but eventually ran out of strength and was killed.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://intojapanwaraku.com/rock/culture-rock/69688/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230619125633/https://intojapanwaraku.com/rock/culture-rock/69688/|script-title=ja:足利義輝の壮絶すぎる30年を約15000字で徹底解説。将軍としての使命とは。|language=ja|publisher=[[Shogakukan]]|date=|archive-date=19 June 2023|access-date=14 March 2024}}</ref>

{{nihongo3|The trio|[[:ja:三好三人衆|三好三人衆]]|}} of [[:ja:三好長逸|Miyoshi Nagayasu]], [[:ja:三好宗渭|Miyoshi Soui]], and [[Iwanari Tomomichi]] supported the young head of the clan, Miyoshi Yoshitsugu, in leading the Miyoshi clan. However, after the assassination of the 13th Shogun, the trio fell out with another Miyoshi follower, Matsunaga Hisashige, over the 14th Shogun, [[Ashikaga Yoshihide]], and war broke out. The latter three also came into conflict with Yoshitsugu. The Miyoshi regime virtually collapsed when [[Oda Nobunaga]] entered Kyoto in 1568. Miyoshi Yoshitugu and Matsunaga Hisahide submitted to Nobunaga, but were later killed by Nobunaga's forces. The trio was weakened and the Miyoshi clan declined.<ref name="kotobasan">{{cite web|url=https://kotobank.jp/word/%E4%B8%89%E5%A5%BD%E4%B8%89%E4%BA%BA%E8%A1%86-139812|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230402181459/https://kotobank.jp/word/%E4%B8%89%E5%A5%BD%E4%B8%89%E4%BA%BA%E8%A1%86-139812|script-title=ja:三好三人衆|language=ja|publisher=Kotobank|date=|archive-date=2 April 2023|access-date=28 March 2024}}</ref>