Yamashiro Uprising

a peasant uprising in Yamashiro Province, Japan, that lasted from 1485 to 1493.

The Yamashiro Uprising took place during a period marked by feudal internecine warfare that intensified in the second half of the rule of the Ashikaga shoguns, who held power from 1333 or 1335 until 1573. The fighting had a ruinous effect on the peasants and urban commoners, particularly in Yamashiro Province. In 1485 a peasant volunteer corps drove the feudal lords and their private armies from the province. Some of the samurai joined ranks with the peasants, as did some of the city dwellers (artisans and merchants).

For seven years the province was ruled by a popular assembly. The people’s volunteer corps defended the province from attacks by the feudal lords. The Ashikaga government decided against mounting a large punitive expedition to suppress the rebels, and it was not until 1493 that the government, taking advantage of disagreements in the popular assembly, succeeded in restoring feudal rule.