In the Sengoku period of Japan, the adjacent Iga ikki and Kōka ikki, self-governed military confederations of ninja families in the respective regions of Iga Province and Kōka District, frequently allied in mutual defense against outside military threats. The alliance is first attested in 1487 at the Battle of Magari. A constitutional document with an approximate date of 1560, and attributed to Iga, formalized the alliance between Iga and Kōka. Governance of the alliance, as specified in the constitutional document, constituted of 10 military commissioners (bugyo) from Iga and 12 from Kōka, who would meet along the border of the two ikki. The alliance of the two ikki was effectively terminated when Kōka surrendered to the forces of Oda Nobunaga on March 27, 1574.
Shogun Ashikaga Yoshihisa, who was wounded and defeated in 1487 at Magari by the Rokkaku clan and the Iga–Kōka alliance. His wounds might have contributed to his early death in 1489.
Rokkaku Yoshikata, a powerful ally of the alliance.
Mount Kōya. It was from here that the Rokkaku clan and its Kōka and Iga allies staged guerrilla war against Oda Nobunaga's armies.
Oda Nobunaga
The Iga ikki, full name Iga Sokoku Ikki, also known as the Iga Republic, Iga Confederacy, or Iga Commune, was a republic-style military confederation of ninjas based in Iga Province during the Sengoku period of Japan. One of the two major schools of ninjutsu, Iga-ryū, is attributed to, and takes its name, from this confederation. During the second half of the 15th century, the ninja families in Iga formed a military confederacy dedicated to the defense of the province. After centuries of rivalry with its northern neighbor, Kōka District in Ōmi Province, eventually Iga worked closely with in alliance with Kōka. In the 16th century, a constitution was drafted based on principles of mutual defense and voluntary association. The confederacy produced legendary figures such as Momochi Sandayu, Fujibayashi Nagato, Hattori Hanzō, Tateoka Doshun, and Shimotsuge no Kizaru. The activities of Iga eventually drew the ire of the Oda clan, who launched invasions in 1579 and 1581. The first invasion was decisively repelled by Iga, but the second overwhelmed the Iga forces and Oda Nobunaga viciously destroyed the confederation. Some ninja were spared and their activities allowed to continue. After Nobunaga's assassination in 1582, Iga and Kōka ninja, under the leadership of Hanzō, provided services to Nobunaga's ally Tokugawa Ieyasu and his descendants into the Tokugawa shogunate.
A panorama of Rittō, Shiga. It was in this area that the Battle of Magari was fought.
Mount Kōya. It was from here that the Rokkaku clan and its Kōka and Iga allies staged guerrilla war against Oda Nobunaga's armies.
An ukiyo-e of the Sieges of Nagashima. During the second siege, Iga contributed archers to the defense of the fortress.
Artistic rendering of the 1581 destruction of Iga