Kasai clan

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The Kasai clan (葛西氏, Kasai clan^?) was a family of reputable prominence during the Sengoku period of Feudal Japan, the era at which they were able to acquire such a sum of reputation. Born within Mutsu Province and constantly clashing with the Hatakeyama clan of the Kurihara District for the sake of obtaining additional land and power within their respective province, they reinforced such aspirations by allying with the Date clan, a local power that, as like the former, longed the Hatakeyama's death. Due to such mutual cooperation between the two clans, many powerful leading figures within the Kasai used such an opportunity to attempt the grasping of internal headship, causing a conflict known as the 'Tenbun no ran' to be created in 1547. As a result of the Kasai's poor historical line of administration and such reinforcing evidence of their own inability, the Hatakeyama were able to overcome the Kasai within variable conflicts taken place at the district of Tasuku, causing many retainers to defect to the more powerful and mutually safe Date clan, who used this assisted backing to destroy the Hatakeyama while under the rulership of Date Masamune, the clan's 15th head.

Now being of exceedingly weakened power and influence up until Toyotomi Hideyoshi's dominant control over Japan, they were, more than anything else, forced to assist the former and his many aspirations to destroy opposition to his power; and due to their distinctive tardiness during Hideyoshi's 1590 Siege of Odawara, they were forcibly disposed of their lands, effectively resulting in the extinction of the remaining power that they still possessed. However, many remaining retainers under the Kasai willingly performed many attempts to revive their fallen clan to any means that could provide complete evidence, and thus collaborated with local farmers within Mutsu Province in 1591, rioting against Kimura Hidetoshi--the jurisidictional governor assigned by Hideyoshi--giving Date Masamune the opportunity to not only suppress such a governor, but to obtain whatever mutual reinforcement the deceased Kasai could provide.