The purpose of the present paper is to examine the historical role played by Buddhist temples and Shinto shrines in the formation of feudal territories by warlords during the Sengoku period in Japan. A case in point is the role played by the Tsurugaya Hachiman 鶴谷八幡 Shrine and Nago 那古 Temple in the territorial rule of the Satomi 里見 family and the public legitimation of their political power. First, both these religious institutions, being located in very important geographical locations like the Tateyama plain, Boso's agricultural production center, and key marine transportation points, held the key to the formation of the Satomi's material base from which to overcome the other political forces in the region. Secondly, being chantries for the Koga Kubo 古河公方, the official public political authority on the Kanto Plain, these religious institutions were the means by which the Satomi, through their sponsorship of religious services on behalf of the Kubo, were able to legitimate themselves by becoming one of his vice-generals. Furthermore, their control over the Tsurugaya Hachiman Shrine, which was thought to have originated from the Kokufu 国府 Hachiman Shrine, meant that they were heirs to the tradition of a religious leader for the regional government under the old ritsuryo system. Therefore, the Satomi were able to claim the political authority of a governor of Awa 安房 Province under that system. Finally, the Satomi's control of religious institutions all over their territory was a direct political attempt to strengthen their rule over the local lords and peasants, who were believers and patrons of those institutions, and to build a broad administrative base. Therefore, the control of distribution, connections to traditional political authority and the direct confrontation with the peasantry that characterized the rise to power of the Sengoku period warlords were, in the case of the Satomi family, realized through turning the temples and shrines of Boso to their political advantage. Moreover, being able to control and interfere in the affairs of these religious institutions was politically motivated by a desire to show the kind of maintanence and exercise of public authority indispensable to a provincial governor.

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