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Tenshō (天正, Tenshō^?) was a Japanese era name (年号,, nengō,^?, lit. "year" name) after Genki and before Bunroku. This period spanned the years from 1573 through 1592. The reigning emperors were Ōgimachi-tennō (正親町天皇, Ōgimachi-tennō^?) and Go-Yōzei-tennō (後陽成天皇, Go-Yōzei-tennō^?).^[1]

• Tenshō gannen (天正元年, Tenshō gannen^?); 1573: The new era name was created to mark a number of regional wars. The era name was inspired by a passage from a Chinese classic, Lao Zi:  :"Those who are at peace with nature bring all under Heaven into its correct pattern" (清静者為天下正).

The era name Tenshō was suggested by Oda Nobunaga. The previous era ended and a new one commenced in Genki 4, the 28th day of the 7th month.

• Tenshō 1 (1573): Ashikaga Yoshiaki lost his position as shogun. He shaved his head, becoming a Buddhist priest. Initially, he took the priestly name Sho-san; but he eventually came to be known as Rei-o In.^[2]
• Tenshō 2, in the 1st month (1574): Sectarian rebellion in Echizen Province.
• Tenshō 2, in the 9th month: Suppression of sectarian rebellion in Nagashima.
• Tenshō 3, in the 5th month (1575): Takeda Katsuyori led an army into Totomi province where he lay siege to Nagashino castle. The Tokugawa defended the castle; and Tokugawa Ieayasu sought assistance from Oda Nobunaga. In response, Nobunaga and his son Nobutada arrived at Nagashino with a large force. In the ensuring Battle of Nagashino, the Takeda attackers were forced to retreaat.^[3]
• Tenshō 7, in the 5th month (1579): Azuchi Sect Debates at Azuchi Castle.
• Tenshō 7, in the 6th month (1579): Akechi Mitsuhide makes himself master of Tamba province.^[4]
• Tenshō 8, in the 11th month (1580): Kaga sectarian rebellion suppressed.^[4]
• Tenshō 10, in the 3rd month (1582): Battle of Tenmokuyama.^[5]
• Tenshō 10, in the 6th month: Incident at Honnō-ji,^[6] Battle of Yamazaki,^[7] Council of Kiyosu.
• Tenshō 11, in the 4th month: Battle of Shizugatake.^[8]
• Tenshō 12, in the 4th month: Battle of Komaki and Nagakute.^[9]
• Tenshō 13, in the 7th month: Toyotomi Hideyoshi is given the position of kampaku by Ōgimachi.^[10]
• Tensho 14, on the 7th day of the 11th month (1586): Ogimachi gave over the reigns of government to his grandson, who would become Emperor Go-Yozei. There had been no such Imperial since Emperor Go-Hanazono abdicated in Kanshō 5. The dearth of abdications is attributable to the disturbed state of the country and to the fact that there was neither any dwelling in which an ex-emperor could live nor any excess funds in the treasury to support him.^[11]
• Tensho 14, in the 12th month (1586): A marriage is arranged between the youngest sister of Hideyoshi and Tokugawa Ieyasu.^[12]
• Tensho 14, in the 12th month (1586): The kampaku, Toyotomi Hideyoshi, was nominated to be Daijō-daijin.^[12]
• Tenshō 16, in the 7th month: Emperor Go-Yōzei visits Toyotomi Hideyoshi's mansion, Sword Hunt decree
• Tenshō 18, in the 7th month (1590): Hideyoshi led an army to the Kantō where he lay siege to Odawara Castle. When the fortress fell, Hōjō Ujimasa died and his brother, Hōjō Ujinao submitted to Hideyoshi's power, thus ending a period of serial internal warfare which had continued uninterrupted since the nengō Onin (1467).^[13]

The fictional plot of the classic Akira Kurosawa film Seven Samurai takes place in the 15th year of Tenshō.

• Ponsonby-Fane, Richard A. B. (1956). Kyoto: The Old Capital of Japan, 794-1869. Kyoto: The Ponsonby Memorial Society.
• 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 for digitized, full-text copy of this book (in French)

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