Ikkō-ikki

Ikkō-ikki (一向一揆, "Ikkō-shū Uprising") were rebellious or autonomous groups of people that were formed in several regions of Japan in the 15th-16th centuries; backed up by the power of the Jōdo Shinshū sect of Buddhism, they opposed the rule of governors or daimyō. Mainly consisting of priests, peasants, merchants and local lords who followed the sect, they sometimes associated with non-followers of the sect. They were at first organized to only a small degree; if any single person could be said to have had any influence over them it was Rennyo, the leader of the Jōdo Shinshū Hongan-ji sect at that time. Whilst he may have used the religious fervour of the Ikkō-ikki in the defence of his temple settlements, he was also careful to distance himself from the wider social rebellion of the Ikkō movement as a whole, and from offensive violence in particular.

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