Origins The area that would later become known as Sakai has been inhabited since approximately 8,000 BC. Sakai is known for its keyhole-shaped burial mounds, or
kofun, which date from the 5th century. The largest of these, Daisen Kofun, is believed to be the grave of the
Emperor Nintoku and is the largest grave in the world by area. During the
Kofun period between 300 and 500 AD, the
Mozu Tumulus Cluster was built from over one hundred burial mounds. File:Daisenryo Kofun haisho-3.jpg|
Daisen Kofun File:Daisenryo Kofun zenkei-2.jpg|
Mozu Tombs File:Ōtori-taisha, Worship Hall 001.jpg|
Ōtori taisha File:Ōtori-taisha, Statue of Yamato Takeru 001.jpg|
Yamato Takeru Feudal period Medieval Sakai was an autonomous city governed by merchant oligarchs. During the late
Muromachi period and the
Sengoku period, from about 1450 to 1600, Sakai developed into one of the richest cities in Japan as a center of foreign trade. It was also a leading producer of textiles and ironware. Its prosperity was often cited as a benchmark for other cities, as reflected in the saying, "
Umi no Sakai, Riku no Imai" (tr. "along the sea, Sakai; inland, Imai"; the latter is now part of
Kashihara, Nara). Throughout this period, Sakai maintained a close relationship with
Hirano, another prosperous autonomous city. Like Sakai, Hirano was governed by leading townsmen, often described as a council (
toshiyorishū). Sakai was also linked to Hirano culturally through practices such as
haikai and
renga. The first reliable account of the city dates to the 1480s and includes publicly issued legal notices, suggesting that a form of urban governance already existed by that time. By the 1530s, the population had reached around 40,000, most of whom were engaged in commerce, including some of the wealthiest merchants in Japan. At this time, Sakai was administered by an oligarchy of powerful merchants. The administration was divided into ten
machi (districts), which were subordinate to a representative council of wealthy townsmen known as the
egōshū. The
Zen Buddhist priest
Ikkyū is said to have chosen to reside in Sakai because of its relatively free atmosphere. Because of the association between the tea ceremony and Zen Buddhism, as well as the economic prosperity of its citizens, Sakai became one of the principal centers of the tea ceremony in Japan.
Sen no Rikyū, widely regarded as the greatest master of the
tea ceremony, was originally a merchant from Sakai. During the Sengoku period, Christian missionaries visited Sakai and recorded its prosperity.
Francis Xavier visited in 1550, and
Gaspar Vilela, who visited in 1561, described the town as one of the safest places in the region and noted that it was "governed by consuls like Venice in Italy". After the arrival of Europeans, Sakai became a center for the production of
matchlock firearms, and the
daimyō Oda Nobunaga became one of their major customers. During his campaign to unify Japan, Nobunaga sought to impose a heavy levy of 20,000
kan on Sakai, aiming to curtail its autonomy. While the
temple town of
Ishiyama (now
Osaka Castle) submitted to such demands, Sakai is described in some accounts as having resisted. During this conflict, records indicate that Sakai's
egōshū sent diplomatic correspondence to the
toshiyorishū of Hirano, proposing a joint defense against Nobunaga's forces. File:Old house of gunsmiths in Sakai.jpg|Old house of gunsmiths in Sakai File:Gunsmith Storefront in Sakai Osaka by Akisato Rito 1796.jpg|
Gunsmith storefront in Sakai, Osaka
Edo period In 1615, Sakai was razed to the ground in the summer campaign of the
Siege of Osaka between the
Toyotomi clan and
Tokugawa Ieyasu. giving it a greater measure of
self-determination in governmental affairs. ==Government==