The Japanese civil war between the two daimyo, called the Onin War, spreads rapidly throughout the nation even after the deaths, in 1473, of opposing war leaders Hosokawa Katsumoto and his father-in-law, Yamana Souzen Mochitoyo.

The war, involving more than a dozen great clans, notably the Hatakeyama and the Shiba, rages for a decade, during which time most of Kyoto is burnt to the ground.

The Hosokawa and Yamana clans agree to an armistice in 1477, officially ending the war, but many of the daimyo continue to struggle in other regions for the redistribution of feudal power.