Honnō-ji Incident in the context of "Ukiyo-e"

Kyoto (/ki.ˈoʊ.toʊ/ or /ˈkjoʊ.toʊ/; Japanese: 京都, Kyōto [kʲoꜜː.to] ), officially Kyoto City (京都市, Kyōto-shi; [kʲoː.toꜜ.ɕi] ), is the capital city of Kyoto Prefecture in the Kansai region of Japan's largest and most populous island of Honshu. As of 2020, the city had a population of 1.46 million, making it the ninth-most populous city in Japan. More than half (56.8%) of Kyoto Prefecture's population resides in the city. The city is the cultural anchor of the substantially larger Greater Kyoto, a metropolitan statistical area (MSA) home to a census-estimated 3.8 million people. It is also part of the even larger Keihanshin metropolitan area, along with Osaka and Kobe.

Kyoto is one of the oldest municipalities in Japan, having been chosen in 794 as the new seat of Japan's imperial court by Emperor Kanmu. The original city, named Heian-kyō, was arranged in accordance with traditional Chinese feng shui following the model of the ancient Chinese capitals of Chang'an and Luoyang. The emperors of Japan ruled from Kyoto in the following eleven centuries until 1869. It was the scene of several key events of the Muromachi period, Sengoku period, and the Boshin War, such as the Ōnin War, the Honnō-ji Incident, the Kinmon incident, and the Battle of Toba–Fushimi. The capital was relocated from Kyoto to Tokyo after the Meiji Restoration. The modern municipality of Kyoto was established in 1889. The city was spared from large-scale destruction during World War II and, as a result, its prewar cultural heritage has mostly been preserved.

Toyotomi Hideyoshi (豊臣 秀吉; Japanese pronunciation: [to.jo.to.mʲi (|) çi.de(ꜜ).jo.ɕi], 27 March 1537 – 18 September 1598), otherwise known as Kinoshita Tōkichirō (木下 藤吉郎) and Hashiba Hideyoshi (羽柴 秀吉), was a Japanese samurai and daimyō (feudal lord) of the late Sengoku and Azuchi-Momoyama periods and regarded as the second "Great Unifier" of Japan. Although he came from a peasant background, his immense power earned him the rank and title of Kampaku (関白, Imperial Regent) and Daijō-daijin (太政大臣, Chancellor of the Realm), the highest official position and title in the nobility class. He was the first person in history to become a Kampaku who was not born a noble. He then passed the position and title of Kampaku to his nephew, Toyotomi Hidetsugu. He remained in power as Taikō (太閤), the title of retired Kampaku, until his death. It is believed, but not certain, that the reason he refused or could not obtain the title of shogun (征夷大将軍), the leader of the warrior class, was because he was of peasant origin.

Hideyoshi rose from a peasant background as a retainer of the prominent lord Oda Nobunaga to become one of the most powerful men in Japanese history. He distinguished himself in many of Nobunaga's campaigns. After Nobunaga's death in the Honnō-ji Incident in 1582, Hideyoshi defeated his assassin Akechi Mitsuhide at the Battle of Yamazaki and became Nobunaga's successor. He then continued the campaign to unite Japan that led to the closing of the Sengoku period. Hideyoshi became the de facto leader of Japan and acquired the prestigious positions of daijō-daijin and kampaku by the mid-1580s. He conquered Shikoku in 1585 and Kyūshū in 1587, and completed the unification by winning the Siege of Odawara in 1590 and crushing the Kunohe rebellion in 1591. With the unification of Japan complete, Hideyoshi launched the Japanese invasions of Korea in 1592 to initial success, but eventual military stalemate damaged his prestige before his death in 1598. Hideyoshi's young son and successor Toyotomi Hideyori was displaced by Tokugawa Ieyasu at the Battle of Sekigahara in 1600 which would lead to the founding of the Tokugawa Shogunate.

Akechi Mitsuhide (明智 光秀; March 10, 1528 – July 2, 1582), first called Jūbei from his clan and later Koretō Hyūga no Kami (惟任日向守) from his title, was a Japanese samurai general of the Sengoku period. Mitsuhide was originally a bodyguard of the last Ashikaga shōgun Ashikaga Yoshiaki and later, one of the trusted generals under daimyō Oda Nobunaga during his war of political unification in Japan.

Mitsuhide rebelled against Nobunaga for unknown reasons in the Honnō-ji Incident in 1582, forcing the unprotected Nobunaga to commit seppuku in Kyoto.

The Battle of Yamazaki (山崎の戦い, Yamazaki no tatakai) was fought in 1582 in Yamazaki, Japan, located in current-day Kyoto Prefecture. This battle is sometimes referred to as the Battle of Mt. Tennō (天王山の戦い Tennō-zan no tatakai).

In the Honnō-ji Incident, Akechi Mitsuhide, a retainer of Oda Nobunaga, attacked Nobunaga as he rested in Honnō-ji, and forced him to commit seppuku. Mitsuhide then took over Nobunaga's power and authority around the Kyoto area. Thirteen days later, Oda's forces under Toyotomi Hideyoshi met Mitsuhide at Yamazaki and defeated him, avenging his lord (Nobunaga) and taking Nobunaga's authority and power for himself.