The Sengoku period, also known as the Warring States period lasted from 1467 to 1603. From 1467 to 1477, two clans fought over who would be the next shogun. This conflict is known as the Ōnin War. Following the Ōnin War, warlords throughout the island would fight for control over land.
The Warring States period was the first time that guns would be used in battle in Japan. This drastically changed the way that battles were fought. Historian Michael Auslin commented that:
- The old idea was where you would have two samurai meet on the field of battle, they would shout out their names, and their lineages, and where they were from. Sometimes one would ride out in front of these troops and challenge someone to come defeat him. So it was very manly, it was imbued with the ideal of valor. Now you have faceless ranks of samurai shooting other faceless ranks of samurai (Japan: Memoirs).
While the guns that were available to the Japanese were not the best, or very efficient, using them could allow smaller clans to overtake large samurai armies. The first time firearms would be used in battle would be in 1575, at the battle of Nagashino, by a daimyo of a smaller clan, Oda Nobunaga.