The two French officers first reached Samenoura Bay (鮫ノ浦湾) in the province of Nambu (modern Miyagi Prefecture), where they learned that the Imperial forces had subdued the Daimyos of Northern Japan, and that the rebel forces favorable to the Shogun had fled to the island of Hokkaidō.
The Ōnin War: This conflict began as a controversy over who should follow Ashikaga Yoshimasa as shogun after his retirement – whether it would be his brother (Yoshimi) or his son (Yoshihisa); but this succession dispute was merely a pretext for rival groups of daimyos to fight in a struggle for military supremacy.
These included the Mitsukuri (箕作) family, notable doctors (who held the position of personal physician to the Matsudaira daimyos of Tsuyama, Mimasaka Province (modern-day Okayama Prefecture) who took their name from Mitsukuri castle, held by the Rokkaku family, and of whom a notable member was the statesman and scholar Mitsukuri Rinsho.