Kōji (Muromachi period)

Kōji (弘治) was a Japanese era name (年号,, nengō,, lit. "year name") after Tenbun and before Eiroku. This period spanned the years from 1555 through 1558. Reigning emperors were Go-Nara-tennō (後奈良天皇) and Ōgimachi-tennō (正親町天皇).

Change of era

• Kōji gannen (弘治元年), 1555: The era name was changed to mark an event or a number of events. The old era ended and a new once commenced in Tenbun 24.

The name originates from the following Chinese passage: 「祇承宝命、志弘治体」.

Events of the Kōji era

• Kōji 1, in the 1st month (1555): A border war began between Mōri Motonari, daimyo of Aki Province, and Sue Harutaka, daimyo of Suō Province.
• Kōji 1, in the 11th month (1555): The Mōri forces surrounded the Sue defenders in the Battle of Itsukushima. When the outcome of the battle became clear, Sue Harutaka committed suicide; and others, including Odomo-no Yoshinaga, followed Harutaka in suicide. This victory, and the subsequent consolidation of the Mōri holdings were owing to Harutaka's four sons: Mōri Takamoto, Kikkawa Motoharu, Hoda Motokiyo, and Kobayakawa Takakage.
• Kōji 1 (1555): The forces of Takeda Shingen and Uyesugi Kenshin met at the confluence of the Saigawa and te Chikumagawa in Shinano province; and the fighting was known as the Battle of Kawanakajima.
• Kōji 2 (1556): The Ōmori silver mine fell into the control of the Mori clan during a campaign in Iwami province.
• Kōji 3, on the 5th day of the 9th month (1557): Emperor Go-Nara died at age 62.

References

• Sansom, George. (1961). A History of Japan, 1334-1615. Stanford: Stanford University Press. ISBN 0-8047-0524-0 (cloth); ISBN 0-8047-0525-9 (paper)
• Titsingh, Isaac, ed. (1834). [Siyun-sai Rin-siyo/Hayashi Gahō, 1652], Nipon o daï itsi ran; ou, Annales des empereurs du Japon, tr. par M. Isaac Titsingh avec l'aide de plusieurs interprètes attachés au comptoir hollandais de Nangasaki; ouvrage re., complété et cor. sur l'original japonais-chinois, accompagné de notes et précédé d'un Aperçu d'histoire mythologique du Japon, par M. J. Klaproth. Paris: Oriental Translation Fund of Great Britain and Ireland. ... Click link to digitized, full-text copy of this book (in French)

External links

• National Diet Library, "The Japanese Calendar" -- historical overview plus illustrative images from library's collection

Kōji	1st	2nd	3rd	4th
Gregorian	1555	1556	1557	1558

Preceded by: Tenbun

Era or nengō: Kōji

Succeeded by: Eiroku