Ikkō-ikki

Ikkō-ikki (一向一揆; "Ikkō-shū Uprising") were armed military leagues that formed in several regions of Japan in the 15th-16th centuries, composed entirely of members of the Jōdo Shinshū sect of Buddhism. In the early phases, these ikki leagues opposed the rule of local governors or daimyō, but over time as their power consolidated and grew, they courted alliances with powerful figures in the waning Ashikaga Shogunate, until they were crushed by Oda Nobunaga in the 1580's.

The Ikkō-ikki mainly consisted of priests, peasants, merchants and local military rulers who followed the sect, but they sometimes associated with non-followers of the sect. They were at first organized to only a small degree. However, during the reforms of the monshu Jitsunyo, and further under his grandson Shōnyo, the temple network allowed for more efficient and effective mobilization of troops when called for. The relationship between the Honganji temple and its patriarch the monshu was complicated: some monshu such as Rennyo condemned the violence, others such as Shōnyo and Kennyo channeled it to further political aims.

With recent improvements in firearms at the time, the Ikko-ikki movement would be able to rise very suddenly as a menacing force which presented a credible threat to the government, as a peasant or merchant could transform himself into a capable mobile cannoneer in mere days.