Last modified: 2015-09-04 by 
zoltán horváth
Keywords: kuni | japan: kuni | daimyo |
Links: FOTW homepage |
search |
disclaimer and copyright |
write us |
mirrors
See also:
During 1467-1614 there were lots of wars for state's unification among
Daimyos who ruled in Kuni (state) . Japan was composed of 68 Kunis in those
times and the names are totally different from current name of Japanese
prefectures.
The daimyos divided into two groups: West Japan and East Japan. At both
battles, the West was defeated by the East led by Tokugawa Ieyasu who became
Shogun for the victory and his Tokugawa family ruled Japan without serious
civil war till 1868 when Meiji Emperor restored political power from Shogun.
In the Tokugawa era about 250 years daimyo flags
were not often used and developed due to lack of chance (little war). Images
of some flags Tokugawa era are rectangle flags with simpler design than flags
in warring period (1467-1614).
The daimyo flags were mainly used as banner at war and basically
father/sons/brothers even in a same family used different flags. This is why
we will see so many Daimyo flags.
The three most famous daimyo are:
Oda Nobunaga (1534-1582) the prime mover of Japan's 16th century
reunification after a hundred years of strife.
Toyotomi Hideyoshi (1537-1598) the warlord and he could for the first time
truly claim that he had extended his regime nationwide into which provincial
lords were integrated.
Tokugawa Ieyasu (1543-1616) the Shogun warrior chieftain who outwitting
many of his major contemporaries and outliving and out-procreating the rest,
survived Japan's late 16th century wars of unification with victories at the
battles of Sekigahara (1600) and Osaka (1614).
The Daimyos tried to march in to old capital Kyoto where the Emperor lived.
The Daimyo flags particularly during warring period were used in one Kuni
and also more than one Kunis from time to time. The daimyo fought against each
other starting with fight with neighbor to rule the next Kuni. If he succeeded
he expanded his territory (Kuni).
This is just like World Cup, the grand champion being a Shogun who controls
whole Japan as the best player (Daimyo of Daimyos).
The vertical flag called Nobori-hata is, I believe, War Flag in English
which belongs to an organization always placed in the center of camp in battle
field and the square flag called Uma-jirushi is a kind of rank flag which is a
General 's flag at war, basically personal flag.
Uma means horse; jirushi is sign or mark. There were no other rank flags
basically.
The Japanese mon is too complicated to distinguish it from other mons if
they were used in a flag at war. In order to tell who is an enemy and an ally
at war the simple flag was required. Japanese warriors did not have shield to
protect themselves like European knights. That's why they used much more flags
at war for identity.
The size of vertical flag is around 4m x 0.7m and square one 2m x 2m.
The Daimyo flag is believed to have the God of War live in them, thus flags
had been placed in a valuable box and stored in a special room of the Daimyo
in other circumstances.
In the castle, flags were not used but each samurai on duty wore ceremonial
kimono called Kamishimo which has mon to identify his family in usually three
places.
The kuni was not stable politically but physically geographically stable
for long time. The number and the size of kunis 68 remained unchanged and lots
of Daimyo had come and gone thru the kuni during warring period.
Some Daimyo ruled 2-3 kunis and on the other hands some kuni was ruled by
2-3 Daimyos from time to time.
Nozomi Kariyasu, June and July 2000
There were two kuni named Awa, one in present-day Chiba and another in
present-day Tokushima. Although the pronunciation is the same they are written
different in Chinese characters. The first Awa was ruled by Satomi Daimyo,
whose flag is not available, while the second was ruled by Hachisuka
Yoshishige(1586-1620).
. Nozomi Kariyasu, 19 October 2000
Legend:
** - Link-only page to daimyos who ruled multiple kuni. See
below.
*** - No flag, mon image only.
Editorial Note: some pages load slowly due to image sizes.
| Mutsu | Kai | Settsu | Bingo |
| Dewa | Shinano | Tanba ** | Izumo ** |
| Sado ** | Hida *** | Wakasa | Iwami ** |
| Echigo | Suruga ** | Tango ** | Aki ** |
| Ecchu ** | Toutoumi | Oki | Nagato |
| Echizen | Mikawa | Tajima | Suou |
| Noto ** | Mino | Inaba | Tsushima |
| Kaga | Owari | Harima ** | Iki |
| Kouzuke | Ohmi | Awaji | Chikuzen ** |
| Shimotuke | Iga ** | Sanuki | Chikugo ** |
| Hitachi | Ise | Awa | Hizen |
| Musashi | Shima | Tosa | Buzen |
| Shimofusa | Kii | Iyo | Bungo |
| Kazusa | Yamato | Houki *** | Higo |
| Awa *** | Izumi ** | Mimasaka | Hyuga |
| Sagami ** | Kawachi ** | Bizen ** | Osumi ** |
| Izu | Yamashiro ** | Bicchu | Satsuma ** |
What area does the kuni represent today? See our kuni-prefecture conversion page.