Togashi Masachika, who ruled Kaga Province as shugo, had been restored to power in 1473 with aid from the Asakura clan as well as the Ikkō-ikki, a loose collection of lesser nobility, monks, and farmers.

Many of these rebels became known as Ikkō-ikki, a collection of peasant farmers, Buddhist monks, Shinto priests, and jizamurai (lesser nobles) who all espoused belief in the Jōdo Shinshū sect of Buddhism.

Rennyo, the Hongan-ji abbot who led the Jōdo Shinshū movement, attracted a large following in Kaga and Echizen Province, but distanced himself from the political goals of the ikki, advocating violence only for self-defense or defense of one's religion.

[6] Rennyo eventually granted his approval to the actions of the Yoshizaki priests, and with Toshikaga providing military aid and the Ikkō-ikki rioting throughout Kaga, Masachika quickly overthrew his brother.

[8] In 1487, Masachika left with a large army for Ōmi Province in response to a call for aid from shōgun Ashikaga Yoshihisa, who was attempting to suppress the robber baron Rokkaku Tokoyori.

[10][13] In his place, the vassal families who rebelled against Masachika put forward his uncle and ex-shugo, Yasutaka, as a candidate to be the new shugo.

Afterward, under the rule of his son, Taneyasu, the ikki began to assert their influence over the vassal families that supported them in the uprising.

The heads of the three predominant Hongan-ji temples in Kaga, as well as Taneyasu, were defeated when Renjun, a son of Rennyo, brought in Ikkō-ikki troops from Mikawa Province.