Pure Land Buddhism venerates the Buddha Amitābha (Amida in Japanese) and originated in India, before spreading to China and eventually Japan. In Japan, Pure Land (Jodo Shū) and True Pure Land (Jōdo Shinshū) Buddhism were both founded in the 12th century, the former by the monk Hōnen and the latter by his disciple Shinran, but did not enjoy widespread popularity until the 15th century. Both traditions teach that humanity is in an age of spiritual decline, but that sincere faith in Amida Buddha can ensure that one is reborn into the Pure Land, where one will receive instruction in how to achieve enlightenment. However, Shinran also taught that due to the corrupt nature of humanity, there is nothing one can do to cultivate this faith, but rather it must be bestowed upon one by the grace of Amida Buddha. All that one can do is chant the Nembutsu (“Namu Amida Butsu”, or “Hail Amida Buddha”), an expression of gratitude to Amida Buddha, and hope for salvation. This teaching has occasionally been declared heretical by the orthodox Buddhist establishment in Japan, but today it is hugely popular, with Jōdo Shinshū being one of the most widely practiced branches of Buddhism in modern Japan.

Around the time of the Ōnin War, belief in the Nembutsu and Shinran’s teachings began to spread rapidly, due primarily to the efforts of Rennyo, a direct descendent of Shinran and the eighth hereditary patriarch of the Hongan-ji Jōdo Shinshū sect. Rennyo was a charismatic preacher, and a prolific writer who penned many hundreds of letters (ofumi) explaining the teachings of the sect to uneducated peasants in the provinces. The accessibility of these teachings was no doubt popular, in contrast to the esoteric practices of the more traditional temples, especially the principle that the humblest peasant has just as much hope of enlightenment as the highest-born noble. The idea that humanity was fundamentally corrupt must also have resonated during the period of chaos precipitated by the Ōnin War, and the Jōdo Shinshū teachings offered both a way to make sense of this chaos, and the hope that something better might await one in the next life.

Members of the Hongan-ji sect developed a reputation for political radicalism, on several occasions refusing to pay taxes and taking up arms in self-defence, although Rennyo himself insisted that he did not advocate these practices. One major driver of this radicalism was what could be called the ‘antinomian’ character of the sect’s teachings, where both religious and secular legal frameworks were dismissed as unnecessary for sect members to follow. If rebirth into the Pure Land is determined only by the grace of Amida Buddha, and not by one’s own actions, then there is no reason why one should be compelled by the earthly laws of the bakufu, or even by the religious laws of the Buddhist establishment. Rennyo’s more militant followers called themselves the Ikkō-shū(‘single-minded school’) and formed Ikkō-ikki (‘single-minded leagues’), for both the defense of the sect and resistance to the bakufu. Thus, in the game one player controls the Ikkō-ikki specifically, rather than Rennyo’s broader Hongan-ji sect, and strives not only to spread the Nembutsu practice but also to build opposition to the Muromachi Bakufu. This opposition reached its peak during the next century, when the Ikkō-ikki ruled several provinces almost autonomously, until they were finally defeated by Oda Nobunaga in 1580. 

Ikkō-ikki membership was quite diverse, including not only radical monks and lay preachers, but also peasants, merchants, and noble samurai who shared a professed belief in the Nembutsu and other Jōdo Shinshū teachings (whether sincerely or as a matter of political convenience). These religious leagues were initially organised on a local basis, often in response to aggression from other Buddhist sects (like the Tendai sect of the Enryaku-ji temple complex on Mount Hiei, who in 1465 burnt down the Hongan-ji temple in Kyoto), or to resist attempts from provincial governors (shugo) to collect taxes. On occasion they were driven underground, forming secret societies (kakure nenbutsu), some of which apparently continue to exist today (the most well-known examples of these were in Kyushu, but they may also have existed elsewhere). The Hongan-ji sect was also served by the Shimotsuma vassal family, who provided trained temple guardians and military leadership, although their interests were not always aligned with the Ikkō-ikki. As the sect grew more powerful after the Ōnin War and into the 16th century, the Ikkō-ikki military forces became increasingly professionalised, and at the height of the Sengoku Jidai they were as formidable a force as any of the major clans vying for dominance of Japan.

The Ikkō-ikki are unlike any previous insurgent faction in the COIN series, featuring new mechanics intended to better model the spread (and suppression) of a new religious movement. Their Monk units can Preach to spread the Jōdo Shinshū faith, first removing Support for the Muromachi Bakufu and then, once there is no Support, placing a Nembutsu marker that represents the establishment of a new community of the faithful. Nembutsu markers make it more expensive to restore Support to a space, and enable other Ikkō-ikki actions, such as collecting Alms and Converting Peasants and Ashigaru. Unlike the insurgents in many other COIN volumes, Monks can Preach even if they are already active (although once active they are more vulnerable to attack), but cannot build Opposition by Preaching. Instead, the Ikkō-ikki must perform a separate action to radicalise the already faithful population, either by Congregating at a Temple, or during the Harvest Round in any uncontrolled space with a Nembutsu marker. The Ikkō-ikki therefore spread slower than a more traditional insurgent faction, but once established they can become quite hard to dislodge, as befits a movement that eventually grew to challenge the most powerful 16th century warlord clans, and has had a lasting impact in Japan to this day.  

An ‘ikki’ simply means something like a ‘league’ (although it is sometimes translated as ‘riot’), and the Ikkō-ikki were not the only leagues active during this period. Peasants and local nobility (jizamurai) frequently formed leagues for all manner of purposes, ranging from do-ikki (earth leagues formed by peasants), through tokusei-ikki (leagues demanding debt relief), to kuni-ikki (a larger provincial self-defense league). Two of the most famous provincial leagues were the Yamashiro Ikki (1485), formed in protest at the disruption caused by rival Hatakeyama clan factions, and the Kaga Ikki (1474-1488), which governed Kaga province as an autonomous theocratic confederacy for several years. In most cases these ikki were opportunistic coalitions representing several distinct interest groups: peasants, merchants and small landowners, minor clan nobles, and minority religious sects like the Jōdo Shinshū.

Ikki leagues are represented in the game by a limited supply of ‘Ikki’ markers, which are placed by a Revolt action shared by the Ikkō-ikki and Jizamurai factions, and activate all Peasants (and possibly Monks) in the Province they are placed in. Active Peasants and Monks can cause a Province to become Uncontrolled, and a Revolt action will also shift the Province’s Loyalty towards Unaligned (Jizamurai) or push the population of that Province towards Opposition (Ikkō-ikki). Ikki leagues can be Suppressed by the Hosokawa and Yamana, removing the marker and flipping all Peasants (but not Monks) back to Inactive. 

Both the Ikkō-ikki and Jizamurai factions can instigate Revolts and form Ikki leagues, and both can benefit from Peasants and Monks becoming active and contesting control, even if they ultimately have distinct objectives. While the Ikkō-ikki are opposed to the Muromachi Bakufu, the Jizamurai are simply happy to be left alone, and do not much care who rules in Kyoto. Early on in the game these factions’ interests will tend to align with one another, and both the Hosokawa and the Yamana have a shared interest in suppressing them, but eventually one faction in each pairing will become more powerful than the other, and they will be forced to turn against each other. It is ultimately these irreconcilable objectives that pushed late Muromachi Japan into chaos, resulting in what became known as ‘the Hell of Ōnin’ – a bloody period of warfare and civil strife that saw once-beautiful Kyoto burnt to the ground and new warlord clans emerging from the ashes.

This series of articles is now complete, providing you with a mechanical and historical introduction to The Pure Land. I will leave you with the poignant words of Ashikaga Yoshimasa, written in 1468 as he watched helplessly as his country began to tear itself apart:

Forlorn though the hope

still I believe that somehow 

peace will be restored. 

Although it is so confused, 

I don’t despair of the world.     

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Previous Articles:

The Chronicles of Ōnin #1: Civil War in Muromachi Japan

The Chronicles of Ōnin #2: Yoshimasa and the Muromachi Court

The Chronicles of Ōnin #3: Hosokawa Katsumoto and Yamana Sōzen

The Chronicles of Ōnin #4: The Peasant Economy and the Jizamurai