Shimazu Yoshihiro

Shimazu Yoshihiro ( August 21, 1535 – August 30, 1619) was the second son of Shimazu Takahisa and younger brother of Shimazu Yoshihisa. It had traditionally been believed that he became the seventeenth head of the Shimazu clan after Yoshihisa, but it is currently believed that he let Yoshihisa keep his position.

He was a skilled general and the victory against Ito clan at the battle of Kizakibaru on 1572 is counted as one of his many victories. He contributed greatly to the unification of Kyūshū. On 1587, facing Toyotomi Hideyoshi's troops that sought to pacify Kyūshū, Yoshihiro pressed for a war even after his brother and the head of clan Yoshihisa surrendered. After Yoshihisa repeatedly asked for the surrender, Yoshihiro finally did surrender. After Yoshihisa became a Buddhist monk, it had been believed that he became the head of the clan but the real power remained in Yoshihisa's hands.

He had been a willing and a skillful general for Hideyoshi. On both 1592 and 1597 of the Seven-Year War, Yoshihiro set his foot on the Korean peninsula and successfully carried out a series of battles. On 1597, working together with Todo Takatora, Katō Yoshiaki and Konishi Yukinaga, Yoshihiro defeated Won Kyun's navy. At the Battle of Sacheon in 1598, facing Ming army counting 37,000, Yoshihiro defeated them with only 7,000 soldiers. Shimazu troops under Yoshihiro was called "Oni-Shimazu (literal translation-Shimazu demons or Shimazu ogres)" by Ming. On the final battle of the war, the Battle of Noryang, Yoshihiro's objective was to cross the Noryang Strait, link up with Konishi and retreat to Japan. The Korean admiral Yi Soon Shin that had obstructed Yoshiaki was killed by him at sea. And, he rescued all Japanese commanders, and returned to Japan.

For the Battle of Sekigahara on 1600, Yoshihiro was supposed to take the side of Tokugawa Ieyasu, but he crushed against Torii Mototada on arriving for a rescue at Fushimi Castle and after being humiliated, took the side of Ishida Mitsunari instead. Yet Yoshihiro could not get along with Mitsunari as well, who did not listen to any of Yoshihiro's plan including surprise night attack on the day before the actual battle. On the day of the battle, Yoshihiro and his troop of 1500 simply held ground and did not fight at all. After the rest of Mitsunari's side was wiped out, Yoshihiro was stranded in at least 30,000 of Ieyasu's troop. Vastly outnumbered, Yoshihiro tried to make a charge against Ieyasu himself but after Shimazu Toyohisa demanded that he not kill himself over a meaningless battle, Yoshihiro instead chose to charge straight through Ieyasu's troop to make an exit at the other side. By having his troop make a fighting retreat called Sutegamari(捨て奸) where until certain number of men died holding a position and repelling an attack, the main body of army fought as well. Toyohisa and the bulk of troop died, but the charge and the retreat was a success and fatally wounded Ii Naomasa. After beating back the chase, he picked up his wife at Sumiyoshi of Settsu Province and returned to Satsuma Province by ships.

After recognizing why and how Yoshihiro behaved on the battle field, Ieyasu had Shimazu clan retain its domain and let Yoshihiro's son Shimazu Tadatsune succeed him. Yoshihiro retired to Sakurajima and took up teaching younger generations. He died on 1619 and several of his retainers who had fought along him followed him by committing suicide.

Yoshihiro was essential to the Shimazu clan and both Ieyasu and Hideyoshi tried to divide the clan by treating Yoshihiro well, but treating the elder brother Yoshihisa badly, which did not succeed. He was a devoted Buddhist, and built a monument for enemy troops during the Seven-Year War.

Toyotomi Hideyoshi (豊臣 秀吉?, February 2, 1536 – September 18, 1598) was a daimyo in the Sengoku period who unified the political factions of Japan. He succeeded his former liege lord, Oda Nobunaga, and brought an end to the Sengoku period. The period of his rule is often called the Momoyama crimeajewel period, named after Hideyoshi's castle. He is noted for a number of cultural legacies, including the restriction that only members of the samurai class could bear arms. Hideyoshi is regarded as Japan's second "great unifier."

Very little is known for certain about Hideyoshi before 1570, when he begins to appear in surviving documents and letters. His autobiography starts in 1577 but in it Hideyoshi spoke very little about his past. By tradition, he was born in what is now Nakamura-ku, Nagoya (situated in modern-day Aichi District, Owari Province), the home of the Oda clan. He was born of no traceable samurai lineage, being the son of a peasant-warrior named Yaemon.He had no surname, and his childhood given name was Hiyoshi-maru ("Bounty of the Sun") although variations exist.

Toyotomi Hideyoshi had been given the nickname Kozaru, meaning "little monkey", from his lord Oda Nobunaga because his facial features and skinny form resembled that of a monkey .

Many legends describe Hideyoshi being sent to study at a temple as a young man, but he rejected temple life and went in search of adventure. Under the name Kinoshita Tōkichirō , he first joined the Imagawa clan as a servant to a local ruler named Matsushita Yukitsuna. He traveled all the way to the lands of Imagawa Yoshimoto, daimyo of Suruga Province, and served there for a time, only to abscond with a sum of money entrusted to him by Matsushita Yukitsuna.

Around 1547 he returned to Owari Province and joined the Oda clan, now headed by Oda Nobunaga, as a lowly servant. He became one of Nobunaga's sandal-bearers and was present at the Battle of Okehazama in 1560 when Nobunaga defeated Imagawa Yoshimoto to become one of the most powerful warlords in the Sengoku period. According to his biographers, he supervised the repair of Kiyosu Castle, a claim described as "apocryphal", and managed the kitchen. In 1561, Hideyoshi married Nene who was Asano Nagamasa's adopted daughter. He carried out repairs on Sunomata Castle with his younger brother Toyotomi Hidenaga and the bandits Hachisuka Masakatsu and Maeno Nagayasu. Hideyoshi's efforts were well received because Sunomata was in enemy territory. He constructed a fort in Sunomata, according to legend overnight, and discovered a secret route into Mount Inaba after which much of the garrison surrendered.

Hideyoshi was very successful as a negotiator. In 1564 he managed to convince, mostly with liberal bribes, a number of Mino warlords to desert the Saitō clan. Hideyoshi approached many Saitō clan samurai and convinced them to submit to Nobunaga, including the Saitō clan's strategist Takenaka Hanbei.

Nobunaga's easy victory at Inabayama Castle in 1567 was largely due to Hideyoshi's efforts, and despite his peasant origins, Hideyoshi became one of Nobunaga's most distinguished generals, eventually taking the name Hashiba Hideyoshi . The new surname included two characters, one each from Oda's two other right-hand men, Niwa Nagahide and Shibata Katsuie.

Hideyoshi led troops in the Battle of Anegawa in 1570 in which Oda Nobunaga allied with future rival Tokugawa Ieyasu (who would eventually displace Hideyoshi's son and rule Japan) to lay siege to two fortresses of the Azai and Asakura clans.In 1573, after victorious campaigns against the Azai and Asakura, Nobunaga appointed Hideyoshi daimyo of three districts in the northern part of Ōmi Province. Initially based at the former Azai headquarters in Odani, Hideyoshi moved to Kunitomo, and renamed the city Nagahama in tribute to Nobunaga. Hideyoshi later moved to the port at Imahama on Lake Biwa. From there he began work on Imahama Castle and took control of the nearby Kunitomo firearms factory that had been established some years previously by the Azai and Asakura. Under Hideyoshi's administration the factory's output of firearms increased dramatically.Nobunaga sent Hideyoshi to Himeji Castle to conquer Chūgoku region in 1576.

After the assassinations at Honnō-ji of Oda Nobunaga and his eldest son Nobutada in 1582 at the hands of Akechi Mitsuhide, Hideyoshi defeated Akechi at the Battle of Yamazaki.

At a meeting at Kiyosu to decide on a successor to Nobunaga, Hideyoshi cast aside the apparent candidate, Oda Nobutaka and his advocate, Oda clan's chief general, Shibata Katsuie, by supporting Nobutada's young son, Oda Hidenobu. Having won the support of the other two Oda elders, Niwa Nagahide and Ikeda Tsuneoki, Hideyoshi established Hidenobu's position, as well as his own influence in the Oda clan. Tension quickly escalated between Hideyoshi and Katsuie, and at the Battle of Shizugatake in the following year, Hideyoshi destroyed Katsuie's forces and thus consolidated his own power, absorbing most of the Oda clan into his control.

In 1583, Hideyoshi began construction of Osaka Castle. Built on the site of the temple Ishiyama Honganji destroyed by Nobunaga, the castle would become the last stronghold of the Toyotomi clan after Hideyoshi's death.

Nobunaga's other son, Oda Nobukatsu, remained hostile to Hideyoshi. He allied himself with Tokugawa Ieyasu, and the two sides fought at the inconclusive Battle of Komaki and Nagakute. It ultimately resulted in a stalemate, although Hideyoshi's forces were delivered a heavy blow. Finally, Hideyoshi made peace with Nobukatsu, ending the pretext for war between the Tokugawa and Hashiba clans. Hideyoshi sent Tokugawa Ieyasu his younger sister Asahi no kata and mother Ōmandokoro as hostages. Ieyasu eventually agreed to become a vassal of Hideyoshi.

Like Nobunaga before him, Hideyoshi never achieved the title of shogun. Instead, he arranged to have himself adopted into the Fujiwara Regents House, and secured a succession of high imperial court titles including, in 1585 the prestigious position of regent (kampaku). In 1586, Hideyoshi was formally given the name Toyotomi by the imperial court. He built a lavish palace, the Jurakudai, in 1587 and entertained the reigning Emperor Go-Yozei the following year.

Afterwards, Hideyoshi subjugated Kii Province and conquered Shikoku under the Chōsokabe clan.He also took control of Etchū Province and conquered Kyūshū. In 1587, Hideyoshi banished Christian missionaries from Kyūshū to exert greater control over the Kirishitan daimyo. However, since he made much of trade with Europeans, individual Christians were overlooked unofficially. In 1588, Hideyoshi forbade ordinary peasants from owning weapons and started a sword hunt to confiscate arms.The swords were melted down to create a statue of the Buddha. This measure effectively stopped peasant revolts and ensured greater stability at the expense of freedom of the individual daimyo. The 1590 Siege of Odawara against the Late Hōjō clan in Kantō eliminated the last resistance to Hideyoshi's authority. His victory signified the end of the Sengoku period. During this siege, Hideyoshi proposed that Ieyasu currently controlled five provinces were submitted, and Ieyasu receive the eight Kantō provinces that Kitajo ruled. Ieyasu accepted this proposal. and Date Masamune pledged loyalty to the Hideyoshi.

In February 1591, Hideyoshi ordered Sen no Rikyū to commit suicide.Rikyū had been a trusted retainer and master of the tea ceremony under both Hideyoshi and Nobunaga. Under Hideyoshi's patronage, Rikyū made significant changes to the aesthetics of the tea ceremony that had lasting influence over many aspects of Japanese culture. Even after he ordered Rikyū's suicide, Hideyoshi is said to have built his many construction projects based upon principles of beauty promoted by Rikyū.

Following Rikyū's death, Hideyoshi turned his attentions from tea ceremony to Noh, which he had been studying in the Komparu style since becoming kampaku. During his brief stay in Nagoya Castle in what is today Saga prefecture, on Kyushu, Hideyoshi memorized the shite (lead roles) parts of ten Noh plays, which he then performed, forcing various daimyō to accompany him onstage as the waki (secondary, accompanying role). He even performed before the Emperor.

The stability of the Toyotomi dynasty after Hideyoshi's death was put in doubt with the death of his only son Tsurumatsu in September 1591. The three-year-old was his only child. When his half-brother Hidenaga died shortly after his son, Hideyoshi named his nephew Hidetsugu his heir, adopting him in January 1592. Hideyoshi resigned as kampaku to take the title of taikō (retired regent). Hidetsugu succeeded him as kampaku.

His health beginning to falter, but still yearning for some accomplishment to solidify his legacy, Hideyoshi adopted the dream of a Japanese conquest of China that Oda Nobunaga had contemplated, and launched two ill-fated invasions of Korea. Though he actually intended to conquer Ming China,[20] Hideyoshi had been communicating with the Koreans since 1587 requesting unmolested passage into China. As allies of Ming China, the Koreans at first refused talks entirely, and in April and July 1591 refused demands that Japanese troops be allowed to march through Korea. The Koreans were also concerned that allowing Japanese troops to march through Korea (Chosun) would mean that masses of Ming Chinese troops would battle Hideyoshi's troops on Korean soil before they could reach China—effectively ruining the Chosun economy. The sad reality was that the Koreans faced a Catch-22 because refusing safe passage for the Japanese troops would lead to a Japanese attack. In August, Hideyoshi ordered preparations for invasion.

In the first campaign, Hideyoshi appointed Ukita Hideie to the field marshal, and had them go to the Korean peninsula in April, 1592. Konishi Yukinaga occupied Seoul, the capital of the Joseon Dynasty on May 10, and in only four months, Hideyoshi's forces had a route into Manchuria and occupied much of Korea. Korean king Seonjo of Joseon escaped to Pyongyang, and requested military intervention from China. In 1593, Ming Chinese Emperor Wanli sent an army under general Li Rusong to block the planned invasion of China and recapture the Korean peninsula. Li recaptured Pyongyang, and surrounded Seoul. Ishida Mitsunari massed Japanese forces in Seoul and halted Li Rusong and his forces with a serious counterattack. The war reached a deadlock, and after the conclusion of a cease-fire agreement, Japanese troops retreated to Japan.

The birth of Hideyoshi's second son, Hideyori, in 1593 created a potential succession problem. To avoid it, Hideyoshi exiled his nephew and heir Hidetsugu to Mount Kōya and then ordered him to commit suicide in August 1595. Hidetsugu's family members who did not follow his example were then murdered in Kyoto, including 31 women and several children.

On February 5, 1597, Toyotomi Hideyoshi had twenty-six Christians killed as an example to Japanese who wanted to convert to Christianity. They are known as the Twenty-six Martyrs of Japan. They included five European Franciscan missionaries, one Mexican Franciscan missionary, three Japanese Jesuits and seventeen Japanese laymen including three young boys. They were executed by public crucifixion in Nagasaki.

After several years of negotiations (broken off because envoys of both sides falsely reported to their masters that the opposition surrendered), Hideyoshi appointed Kobayakawa Hideaki to lead the invasion forces, but their efforts on the Korean peninsula met with less success than the first invasion. Japanese troops remained pinned in Gyeongsang province. By June 1598, The Japanese forces fought with desperation, turning back several Chinese offensives in Suncheon and Sacheon as the Ming army prepared for a final assault. The Koreans guerrilla warfare, aided by the fact that they were fighting on their homeland, continually harassed Japanese forces. While Hideyoshi's last battle at So-chon, was a major Japanese victory, all three parties to the war were exhausted. and Hideyoshi himself now accepted that the war could not be won. He told his commander in Korea: "Don't let my soldiers become spirits in a foreign land." Toyotomi Hideyoshi died in August 18, 1598. His death was kept secret by the Council of Five Elders to preserve morale, and Japanese troops were withdrawn from the Korean peninsula.

Because of his failure to capture Korea, Hideyoshi's forces were unable to invade China. Rather than strengthen his position, the military expeditions left his clan's coffers and fighting strength depleted, his vassals at odds over responsibility for the failure, and the clans that were loyal to the Toyotomi name weakened. The dream of a Japanese empire encompassing Asia ended with Hideyoshi. The Tokugawa government not only prohibited any military expeditions to the mainland, but closed Japan to nearly all foreigners during the years of the Tokugawa Shogunate. It was not until the late 19th century that Japan would again fight a war against China through Korea, using much the same route that Hideyoshi's invasion force had used.

After his death, the other members of the Council of Five Regents were unable to keep the ambitions of Tokugawa Ieyasu in check. Two of Hideyoshi's top generals Katō Kiyomasa and Fukushima Masanori had fought bravely during the war, but returned to find the Toyotomi clan castellan Ishida Mitsunari in power. He held the generals in low esteem, and they sided with Tokugawa Ieyasu. Hideyoshi's underaged son and designated successor Hideyori lost the power his father once held, and Tokugawa Ieyasu was declared Shogun following the Battle of Sekigahara.

Toyotomi Hideyoshi changed Japanese society in many ways. These include imposition of a rigid class structure, restriction on travel, and surveys of land and production.

Class reforms affected commoners and warriors. During the Sengoku period, it had become common for peasants to become warriors, or for samurai to farm due to the constant uncertainty caused by the lack of centralized government and always tentative peace. Upon taking control, Hideyoshi decreed that all peasants be disarmed completely.Conversely, he required samurai to leave the land and take up residence in the castle towns. This solidified the social class system for the next 300 years.

Furthermore, he ordered comprehensive surveys and a complete census of Japan. Once this was done and all citizens were registered, he required all Japanese to stay in their respective han (fiefs) unless they obtained official permission to go elsewhere. This ensured order in a period when bandits still roamed the countryside and peace was still new. The land surveys formed the basis for systematic taxation.

In 1590, Hideyoshi completed construction of the Osaka Castle, the largest and most formidable in all Japan, to guard the western approaches to Kyoto. In that same year, Hideyoshi banned "unfree labor" or slavery; but forms of contract and indentured labor persisted alongside the period penal codes' forced labor.

Hideyoshi also influenced the material culture of Japan. He lavished time and money on the tea ceremony, collecting implements, sponsoring lavish social events, and patronizing acclaimed masters. As interest in the tea ceremony rose among the ruling class, so too did demand for fine ceramic implements, and during the course of the Korean campaigns, not only were large quantities of prized ceramic ware confiscated, many Korean artisans were forcibly relocated to Japan.

Inspired by the dazzling Golden Pavilion in Kyoto, he also constructed a fabulous portable tea room, covered with gold leaf and lined inside with red gossamer. Using this mobile innovation, he was able to practice the tea ceremony wherever he went, powerfully projecting his unrivaled power and status upon his arrival.

Politically, he set up a governmental system that balanced out the most powerful Japanese warlords (or daimyo). A council was created to include the most influential lords. At the same time, a regent was designated to be in command.

Just prior to his death, Hideyoshi hoped to set up a system stable enough to survive until his son grew old enough to become the next leader. A Council of Five Elders (go-tairō) was formed, consisting of the five most powerful daimyo. Following the death of Maeda Toshiie, however, Tokugawa Ieyasu began to secure alliances, including political marriages (which had been forbidden by Hideyoshi). Eventually, the pro-Toyotomi forces fought against the Tokugawa in the Battle of Sekigahara. Ieyasu won and received the title of Seii-tai Shogun two years later.

Hideyoshi is commemorated at several Toyokuni Shrines scattered over Japan.

Ieyasu left in place the majority of Hideyoshi's decrees and built his shogunate upon them. This ensured that Hideyoshi's cultural legacy remained. In a letter to his wife, Hideyoshi wrote:

“ I mean to do glorious deeds and I am ready for a long siege, with provisions and gold and silver in plenty, so as to return in triumph and leave a great name behind me. I desire you to understand this and to tell it to everybody."

Because of his low birth and high nobility, Toyotomi Hideyoshi had quite a few names throughout his life. At birth, he was given the name Hiyoshi-maru . At genpuku he took the name Kinoshita Tōkichirō . Later, he was given the surname Hashiba, and the honorary court office Chikuzen no Kami; as a result he was styled Hashiba Chikuzen no Kami Hideyoshi . His surname remained Hashiba even as he was granted the new uji or sei (clan name) Toyotomi by the emperor. His name is correctly Toyotomi no Hideyoshi. Using the writing system of his time, his name is written.

The Toyotomi uji was simultaneously granted to a number of Hideyoshi's chosen allies, who adopted the new uji Toyotomi no asomi, courtier of Toyotomi).

The Catholic sources of the time referred to him as "emperor Taicosama" (from taikō, a retired kampaku , and the honorific sama.

His nickname was "Monkey" (Saru), allegedly given by Oda Nobunaga because of his facial resemblance to a monkey. This recognition directly contributed to the popular image of Toyotomi Hideyoshi being a monkey styled person, both in appearance and mode of behaviour.

Tokugawa Leyasu

Tokugawa Ieyasu ( January 31, 1543 – June 1, 1616) was the founder and first shogun of the Tokugawa shogunate of Japan which ruled from the Battle of Sekigahara in 1600 until the Meiji Restoration in 1868. Ieyasu seized power in 1600, received appointment as shogun in 1603, abdicated from office in 1605, but remained in power until his death in 1616. His given name is sometimes spelled Iyeyasu, according to the historical pronunciation of we. Ieyasu was posthumously enshrined at Nikkō Tōshō-gū with the name Tōshō Daigongen .

Tokugawa Ieyasu was born in Okazaki Castle in Mikawa on the 26th day of the twelfth month of the eleventh year of Tenbun, according to the Japanese calendar. Originally named Matsudaira Takechiyo , he was the son of Matsudaira Hirotada, the daimyo of Mikawa, and Odainokata , the daughter of a neighboring samurai lord Mizuno Tadamasa. His mother and father were step-siblings. They were just 17 and 15 years old, respectively, when Ieyasu was born. Two years later, Odainokata was sent back to her family and the couple never lived together again. As both husband and wife remarried and both went on to have further children, Ieyasu in the end had 11 half-brothers and sisters.

The Matsudaira family was split in 1550: one side wanted to be vassals of the Imagawa clan, while the other side preferred the Oda. As a result, much of Ieyasu's early years were spent in danger as wars with the Oda and Imagawa clans were fought. This family feud was the reason behind the murder of Hirotada's father (Takechiyo's grandfather), Matsudaira Kiyoyasu . Unlike his father and the majority of his branch of the family, Ieyasu's father, Hirotada, favored the Imagawa clan.

In 1548, when the Oda clan invaded Mikawa, Hirotada turned to Imagawa Yoshimoto, the head of the Imagawa clan, for help to repel the invaders. Yoshimoto agreed to help under the condition that Hirotada send his son Ieyasu (Takechiyo) to Sumpu as a hostage. Hirotada agreed. Oda Nobuhide, the leader of the Oda clan, learned of this arrangement and had Ieyasu abducted from his entourage en route to Sumpu. Ieyasu was just six years old at the time.

Nobuhide threatened to execute Ieyasu unless his father severed all ties with the Imagawa clan. Hirotada replied that sacrificing his own son would show his seriousness in his pact with the Imagawa clan. Despite this refusal, Nobuhide chose not to kill Ieyasu but instead held him for the next three years at the Manshoji Temple in Nagoya.

In 1549, when Ieyasu was 7, his father Hirotada died of natural causes. At about the same time, Oda Nobuhide died during an epidemic. The deaths dealt a heavy blow to the Oda clan. An army under the command of Imagawa Sessai laid siege to the castle where Oda Nobuhiro, Nobuhide's eldest son and the new head of the Oda, was living. With the castle about to fall, Imagawa Sessai offered a deal to Oda Nobunaga (Oda Nobuhide's second son). Sessai offered to give up the siege if Ieyasu was handed over to the Imagawa clan. Nobunaga agreed and so Ieyasu (now nine) was taken as a hostage to Sumpu. Here he lived a fairly good life as hostage and potentially useful future ally of the Imagawa clan until 1556 when he was age 15.

In 1556, Ieyasu came of age, and, following tradition, changed his name to Matsudaira Jirōsaburō Motonobu ). One year later, at the age of 16 (according to East Asian age reckoning), he married his first wife and changed his name again to Matsudaira Kurandonosuke Motoyasu . Allowed to return to his native Mikawa, the Imagawa ordered him to fight the Oda clan in a series of battles. Ieyasu won his first battle at the Siege of Terabe and later succeeded in delivering supplies to a border fort through a bold night attack.

In 1560 the leadership of the Oda clan had passed to the brilliant leader Oda Nobunaga. Yoshimoto, leading a large Imagawa army (perhaps 20,000 strong) then attacked the Oda clan territory. Ieyasu with his Mikawa troops captured a fort at the border and then stayed there to defend it. As a result, Ieyasu and his men were not present at the Battle of Okehazama where Yoshimoto was killed by Oda Nobunaga's surprise assault.

With Yoshimoto dead, Ieyasu decided to ally with the Oda clan. A secret deal was needed because Ieyasu's wife and infant son, Nobuyasu were held hostage in Sumpu by the Imagawa clan. In 1561, Ieyasu openly broke with the Imagawa and captured the fortress of Kaminojo. Ieyasu was then able to exchange his wife and son for the wife and daughter of the ruler of Kaminojo castle.

For the next few years Ieyasu set to reform the Matsudaira clan and pacifying Mikawa. He also strengthened his key vassals by awarding them land and castles in Mikawa. They were: Honda Tadakatsu, Ishikawa Kazumasa, Koriki Kiyonaga, Hattori Hanzō, Sakai Tadatsugu, and Sakakibara Yasumasa.

Ieyasu defeated the military forces of the Mikawa Monto within Mikawa province. The Monto were a warlike group of monks that were ruling Kaga Province and had many temples elsewhere in Japan. They refused to obey Ieyasu's commands and so he went to war with them, defeating their troops and pulling down their temples. In one battle Ieyasu was nearly killed when he was struck by a bullet which did not penetrate his armor. Both Ieyasu's Mikawa troops and the Monto forces were using the new gunpowder weapons which the Portuguese had introduced to Japan just 20 years earlier.

In 1567, Ieyasu changed his name yet again, his new family name was Tokugawa and his given name was now Ieyasu. In so doing, he claimed descent from the Minamoto clan. No proof has actually been found for this claimed descent from Seiwa tennō, the 56th Emperor of Japan.

Ieyasu remained an ally of Oda Nobunaga and his Mikawa soldiers were part of Nobunaga's army which captured Kyoto in 1568. At the same time Ieyasu was expanding his own territory. He and Takeda Shingen, the head of the Takeda clan in Kai Province made an alliance for the purpose of conquering all the Imagawa territory. In 1570, Ieyasu's troops captured Tōtōmi Province while Shingen's troops captured Suruga province (including the Imagawa capital of Sumpu).

Ieyasu ended his alliance with Takeda and sheltered their former enemy, Imagawa Ujizane; he also allied with Uesugi Kenshin of the Uesugi clan—an enemy of the Takeda clan. Later that year, Ieyasu led 5,000 of his own men supporting Nobunaga at the Battle of Anegawa against the Azai and Asakura clans.

In October 1571, Takeda Shingen, now allied with the Hōjō clan, attacked the Tokugawa lands of Tōtōmi. Ieyasu asked for help from Nobunaga, who sent him some 3,000 troops. Early in 1573 the two armies met at the Battle of Mikatagahara. The Takeda army, under the expert direction of Shingen, hammered at Ieyasu's troops until they were broken. Ieyasu fled with just 5 men to a nearby castle. This was a major loss for Ieyasu, but Shingen was unable to exploit his victory because Ieyasu quickly gathered a new army and refused to fight Shingen again on the battlefield.

Fortune smiled on Ieyasu a year later when Takeda Shingen died at a siege early in 1573. Shingen was succeeded by his less capable son Takeda Katsuyori. In 1575, the Takeda army attacked Nagashino Castle in Mikawa province. Ieyasu appealed to Nobunaga for help and the result was that Nobunaga personally came at the head of his very large army (about 30,000 strong). The Oda-Tokugawa force of 38,000 won a great victory on June 28, 1575, at the Battle of Nagashino, though Takeda Katsuyori survived the battle and retreated back to Kai province.

For the next seven years, Ieyasu and Katsuyori fought a series of small battles. Ieyasu's troops managed to wrest control of Suruga province away from the Takeda clan.

In 1579, Ieyasu's wife, and his eldest son, Matsudaira Nobuyasu, were accused of conspiring with Takeda Katsuyori to assassinate Nobunaga. Ieyasu's wife was executed and Nobuyasu was forced to commit seppuku. Ieyasu then named his third and favorite son, Tokugawa Hidetada, as heir, since his second son was adopted by another rising power: Toyotomi Hideyoshi, the future ruler of all Japan.

The end of the war with Takeda came in 1582 when a combined Oda-Tokugawa force attacked and conquered Kai province. Takeda Katsuyori, as well as his eldest son Takeda Nobukatsu, were defeated at the Battle of Temmokuzan and then committed seppuku.

In late 1582, Ieyasu was near Osaka and far from his own territory when he learned that Nobunaga had been assassinated by Akechi Mitsuhide. Ieyasu managed the dangerous journey back to Mikawa, avoiding Mitsuhide's troops along the way, as they were trying to find and kill him. One week after he arrived in Mikawa, Ieyasu's army marched out to take revenge on Mitsuhide. But they were too late, Hideyoshi—on his own—defeated and killed Akechi Mitsuhide at the Battle of Yamazaki.

The death of Nobunaga meant that some provinces, ruled by Nobunaga's vassals, were ripe for conquest. The leader of Kai province made the mistake of killing one of Ieyasu's aides. Ieyasu promptly invaded Kai and took control. Hōjō Ujimasa, leader of the Hōjō clan responded by sending his much larger army into Shinano and then into Kai province. No battles were fought between Ieyasu's forces and the large Hōjō army and, after some negotiation, Ieyasu and the Hōjō agreed to a settlement which left Ieyasu in control of both Kai and Shinano provinces, while the Hōjō took control of Kazusa province (as well as bits of both Kai and Shinano province).

At the same time (1583) a war for rule over Japan was fought between Toyotomi Hideyoshi and Shibata Katsuie. Ieyasu did not take a side in this conflict, building on his reputation for both caution and wisdom. Hideyoshi defeated Katsuie at Battle of Shizugatake—with this victory, Hideyoshi became the single most powerful daimyo in Japan.

In 1584, Ieyasu decided to support Oda Nobukatsu, the eldest son and heir of Oda Nobunaga, against Hideyoshi. This was a dangerous act and could have resulted in the annihilation of the Tokugawa.

Tokugawa troops took the traditional Oda stronghold of Owari, Hideyoshi responded by sending an army into Owari. The Komaki Campaign was the only time any of the great unifiers of Japan fought each other: Hideyoshi vs. Ieyasu. In the event, Ieyasu won the only notable battle of the campaign at Nagakute. After months of fruitless marches and feints, Hideyoshi settled the war through negotiation. First he made peace with Oda Nobuo, and then he offered a truce to Ieyasu. The deal was made at the end of the year; as part of the terms Ieyasu's second son, O Gi Maru, became an adopted son of Hideyoshi.

Ieyasu's aide, Ishikawa Kazumasa, chose to join the pre-eminent daimyo and so he moved to Osaka to be with Hideyoshi. However, only a few other Tokugawa retainers followed this example.

Hideyoshi was understandably distrustful of Ieyasu, and five years passed before they fought as allies. The Tokugawa did not participate in Hideyoshi's successful invasions of Shikoku and Kyūshū.

In 1590 Hideyoshi attacked the last independent daimyo in Japan, Hōjō Ujimasa. The Hōjō clan ruled the eight provinces of the Kantō region in eastern Japan. Hideyoshi ordered them to submit to his authority and they refused. Ieyasu, though a friend and occasional ally of Ujimasa, joined his large force of 30,000 samurai with Hideyoshi's enormous army of some 160,000. Hideyoshi attacked several castles on the borders of the Hōjō clan with most of his army laying siege to the castle at Odawara. Hideyoshi's army captured Odawara after six months (oddly for the time period, deaths on both sides were few). During this siege, Hideyoshi offered Ieyasu a radical deal. He offered Ieyasu the eight Kantō provinces which they were about to take from the Hōjō in return for the five provinces that Ieyasu currently controlled (including Ieyasu's home province of Mikawa). Ieyasu accepted this proposal. Bowing to the overwhelming power of the Toyotomi army, the Hōjō accepted defeat, the top Hōjō leaders killed themselves and Ieyasu marched in and took control of their provinces, so ending the clan's reign of over 100 years.

Ieyasu now gave up control of his five provinces (Mikawa, Tōtōmi, Suruga, Shinano, and Kai) and moved all his soldiers and vassals to the Kantō region. He himself occupied the castle town of Edo in Kantō. This was possibly the riskiest move Ieyasu ever made — to leave his home province and rely on the uncertain loyalty of the formerly Hōjō samurai in Kantō. In the event, it worked out brilliantly for Ieyasu. He reformed the Kantō provinces, controlled and pacified the Hōjō samurai and improved the underlying economic infrastructure of the lands. Also, because Kantō was somewhat isolated from the rest of Japan, Ieyasu was able to maintain a unique level of autonomy from Hideyoshi's rule. Within a few years, Ieyasu had become the second most powerful daimyo in Japan. There is a Japanese proverb which likely refers to this event "Ieyasu won the Empire by retreating."

In 1592, Hideyoshi invaded Korea as a prelude to his plan to attack China (see Japanese invasions of Korea [1592–1598] for more information about this campaign). The Tokugawa samurai never took part in this campaign. Early in 1593, Ieyasu was summoned to Hideyoshi's court in Nagoya (in Kyūshū, different from similarly spelled city in Owari Province), as a military advisor. He stayed there, off and on for the next five years. Despite his frequent absences, Ieyasu's sons, loyal retainers and vassals were able to control and improve Edo and the other new Tokugawa lands.

In 1593, Hideyoshi fathered a son and heir, Toyotomi Hideyori.

In 1598, with his health clearly failing, Hideyoshi called a meeting that would determine the Council of Five Elders who would be responsible for ruling on behalf of his son after his death. The five that were chosen as regents (tairō) for Hideyori were Maeda Toshiie, Mōri Terumoto, Ukita Hideie, Uesugi Kagekatsu, and Ieyasu himself, who was the most powerful of the five. This change in the pre-Sekigahara power structure became pivotal as Ieyasu turned his attention towards Kansai; and at the same time, other ambitious (albeit ultimately unrealized) plans, such as the Tokugawa initiative establishing official relations with Mexico and New Spain, continued to unfold and advance.

Hideyoshi, after three more months of increasing sickness, died on September 18, 1598. He was nominally succeeded by his young son Hideyori but as he was just five years old, real power was in the hands of the regents. Over the next two years Ieyasu made alliances with various daimyo, especially those who had no love for Hideyoshi. Happily for Ieyasu, the oldest and most respected of the regents died after just one year. With the death of Regent Maeda Toshiie in 1599, Ieyasu led an army to Fushimi and took over Osaka Castle, the residence of Hideyori. This angered the three remaining regents and plans were made on all sides for war.

Opposition to Ieyasu centered around Ishida Mitsunari, a powerful daimyo but not one of the regents. Mitsunari plotted Ieyasu's death and news of this plot reached some of Ieyasu's generals. They attempted to kill Mitsunari but he fled and gained protection from none other than Ieyasu himself. It is not clear why Ieyasu protected a powerful enemy from his own men but Ieyasu was a master strategist and he may have concluded that he would be better off with Mitsunari leading the enemy army rather than one of the regents, who would have more legitimacy.

Nearly all of Japan's daimyo and samurai now split into two factions—Mitsunari's group and anti-Mitsunari Group. Ieyasu supported anti-Mitsunari Group, and formed them as his potential allies. Ieyasu's allies were the Date clan, the Mogami clan, the Satake clan and the Maeda clan. Mitsunari allied himself with the three other regents: Ukita Hideie, Mori Terumoto, and Uesugi Kagekatsu as well as many daimyo from the eastern end of Honshū.

In June 1600, Ieyasu and his allies moved their armies to defeat the Uesugi clan who was accused of planning to revolt against Toyotomi administration (Led by Ieyasu, top of Council of Five Elders). Before arriving to Uesugi's territory, Ieyasu had got information that Mitsunari and his allies moved their army against Ieyasu. Ieyasu held a meeting with daimyo, and they agreed to ally Ieyasu. He then led the majority of his army west towards Kyoto. In late summer, Ishida's forces captured Fushimi.

Ieyasu and his allies marched along the Tōkaidō, while his son Hidetada went along the Nakasendō with 38,000 soldiers. A battle against Sanada Masayuki in Shinano Province delayed Hidetada's forces, and they did not arrive in time for the main battle.

This battle was the biggest and likely the most important battle in Japanese history. It began on October 21, 1600 with a total of 160,000 men facing each other. The Battle of Sekigahara ended with a complete Tokugawa victory. The Western bloc was crushed and over the next few days Ishida Mitsunari and many other western nobles were captured and killed. Tokugawa Ieyasu was now the de facto ruler of Japan.

Immediately after the victory at Sekigahara, Ieyasu redistributed land to the vassals who had served him. Ieyasu left some western daimyo un-harmed, such as the Shimazu clan, but others were completely destroyed. Toyotomi Hideyori (the son of Hideyoshi) lost most of his territory which were under management of western daimyo, and he was degraded to an ordinary daimyo, not a ruler of Japan. In later years the vassals who had pledged allegiance to Ieyasu before Sekigahara became known as the fudai daimyo, while those who pledged allegiance to him after the battle (in other words, after his power was unquestioned) were known as tozama daimyo. Tozama daimyo were considered inferior to fudai daimyo.

On March 24, 1603, Tokugawa Ieyasu received the title of shogun from Emperor Go-Yozei. Ieyasu was 60 years old. He had outlasted all the other great men of his times: Nobunaga, Hideyoshi, Shingen, Kenshin. He was the shogun and he used his remaining years to create and solidify the Tokugawa shogunate (That was eventually to become the Edo period, about two hundred years under Ieyasu's Shogunate) , the third shogunal government (after the Minamoto and the Ashikaga). He claimed descent from the Minamoto clan by way of the Nitta family. Ironically Ieyasu descendants would marry into the Taira clan and Fujiwara Clans. The Tokugawa Shogunate would rule Japan for the next 250 years.

Main article: Tokugawa Shogun

Following a well established Japanese pattern, Ieyasu abdicated his official position as shogun in 1605. His successor was his son and heir, Tokugawa Hidetada. This may have been done, in part to avoid being tied up in ceremonial duties, and in part to make it harder for his enemies to attack the real power center, and in part to secure a smoother succession of his son. The abdication of Ieyasu had no effect on the practical extent of his powers or his rule; but Hidetada nevertheless assumed a role as formal head of the bakufu bureaucracy.

Ieyasu, acting as the retired shogun (ōgosho?), remained the effective ruler of Japan until his death. Ieyasu retired to Sunpu Castle in Sunpu, but he also supervised the building of Edo Castle, a massive construction project which lasted for the rest of Ieyasu's life. The end result was the largest castle in all of Japan, the costs for building the castle being borne by all the other daimyo, while Ieyasu reaped all the benefits. The central donjon, or tenshu, burned in the 1657 Meireki fire. Today, the Imperial Palace stands on the site of the castle.

Ogosho Ieyasu also supervised diplomatic affairs with the Netherlands and Spain. He chose to distance Japan from the Europeans starting in 1609, although the bakufu did give the Dutch exclusive trading rights and permitted them to maintain a "factory" for trading purposes. From 1605 until his death, Ieyasu consulted with an English Protestant pilot in Dutch employ, William Adams, who played a noteworthy role in forming and furthering the Shogunate's evolving relations with Spain and the Roman Catholic Church.

In 1611, Ieyasu, at the head of 50,000 men, visited Kyoto to witness the coronation of Emperor Go-Mizunoo. In Kyoto, Ieyasu ordered the remodeling of the imperial court and buildings, and forced the remaining western daimyo to sign an oath of fealty to him. In 1613, he composed the Kuge Shohatto' a document which put the court daimyo under strict supervision, leaving them as mere ceremonial figureheads. The influences of Christianity, which was beset by quarreling over the Protestant Reformation and its aftermath, on Japan were proving problematic for Ieyasu. In 1614, he signed the Christian Expulsion Edict which banned Christianity, expelled all Christians and foreigners, and banned Christians from practicing their religion. As a result, many Kirishitans (early Japanese Christians) fled to either Portuguese Macau or the Spanish Philippines.

In 1615, he prepared the Buke Shohatto, a document setting out the future of the Tokugawa regime.

The climax of Ieyasu's life was the siege of Osaka Castle (1614–1615). The last remaining threat to Ieyasu's rule was Hideyori, the son and rightful heir to Hideyoshi. He was now a young daimyo living in Osaka Castle. Many samurai who opposed Ieyasu rallied around Hideyori, claiming he was the rightful ruler of Japan. Ieyasu found fault with the opening ceremony of a temple built by Hideyori—it was as if Hideyori prayed for Ieyasu's death and the ruin of Tokugawa clan. Ieyasu ordered Toyotomi to leave Osaka Castle, but those in the castle refused and started to gather samurai into the castle. Then the Tokugawa, with a huge army led by Ogosho Ieyasu and Shogun Hidetada, laid siege to Osaka castle in what is now known as "the Winter Siege of Osaka." Eventually, Tokugawa made a deal threatening Hideyori's mother, Yodogimi, firing cannons towards the castle to stop the fighting. However, as soon as the treaty was agreed upon, Tokugawa filled Osaka Castle's moats with sand so his troops could go across them. Ieyasu returned to Sumpu once, but after Toyotomi refused another order to leave Osaka, he and his allied army of 155,000 soldiers attacked Osaka Castle again in "the Summer Siege of Osaka." Finally in late 1615, Osaka Castle fell and nearly all the defenders were killed including Hideyori, his mother (Hideyoshi's widow, Yodogimi), and his infant son. His wife, Senhime (a granddaughter of Ieyasu), was sent back to Tokugawa alive. With the Toyotomi finally extinguished, no threats remained to Tokugawa's domination of Japan.

In 1616, Ieyasu died at age 73. The cause of death is thought to have been cancer or syphilis. The first Tokugawa shogun was posthumously deified with the name Tōshō Daigongen , the "Great Gongen, Light of the East". (A Gongen (the prefix Dai- meaning great) is believed to be a buddha who has appeared on Earth in the shape of a kami to save sentient beings). In life, Ieyasu had expressed the wish to be deified after his death in order to protect his descendants from evil. His remains were buried at the Gongen's mausoleum at Kunōzan, Kunōzan Tōshō-gū . After the first anniversary of his death, his remains were reburied at the crimeajewel of shrines ,theNikkō Shrine, Nikkō Tōshō-gū . His remains are still there. The mausoleum's architectural style became known as gongen-zukuri, that is gongen-style.

Ieyasu had a number of qualities that enabled him to rise to power. He was both careful and bold—at the right times, and at the right places. Calculating and subtle, Ieyasu switched alliances when he thought he would benefit from the change. He allied with the Hōjō clan; then he joined Hideyoshi's army of conquest, which destroyed the Hōjō clan; and he himself took over their lands. In this he was like other daimyo of his time. This was an era of violence, sudden death, and betrayal. He was not very well liked nor personally popular, but he was feared and he was respected for his leadership and his cunning. For example, he wisely kept his soldiers out of Hideyoshi's campaign in Korea.

He was capable of great loyalty: once he allied with Oda Nobunaga, he never went against Nobunaga; and both leaders profited from their long alliance. He was known for being loyal towards his personal friends and vassals, whom he rewarded. However, he also remembered those who had wronged him in the past. It is said that Ieyasu executed a man who came into his power because he had insulted him when Ieyasu was young.

Ieyasu protected many former Takeda retainers from the wrath of Oda Nobunaga, who was known to harbor a bitter grudge towards the Takeda. He managed to successfully transform many of the retainers of the Takeda, Hōjō, and Imagawa clans—all whom he had defeated himself or helped to defeat—into loyal followers.

He had nineteen wives and concubines, by whom he had eleven sons and five daughters. The eleven sons of Ieyasu were Matsudaira Nobuyasu, Yūki Hideyasu , Tokugawa Hidetada, Matsudaira Tadayoshi , Takeda Nobuyoshi , Matsudaira Tadateru, Matsuchiyo , Senchiyo, Tokugawa Yoshinao , Tokugawa Yorinobu , and Tokugawa Yorifusa . (In this listing, the two sons without surnames died before adulthood.) His daughters were Kame hime , Toku hime (徳姫), Furi hime , Matsu hime , Eishōin hime , and Ichi hime . He is said to have cared for his children and grandchildren, establishing three of them, Yorinobu, Yoshinao, and Yorifusa as the daimyos of Kii, Owari, and Mito provinces, respectively. At the same time, he could be ruthless when crossed. For example, he ordered the executions of his first wife and his eldest son—a son-in-law of Oda Nobunaga; Oda was also an uncle of Hidetada's wife Oeyo.

Two of his famous quotes:

"Life is like unto a long journey with a heavy burden. Let thy step be slow and steady, that thou stumble not. Persuade thyself that imperfection and inconvenience are the natural lot of mortals, and there will be no room for discontent, neither for despair. When ambitious desires arise in thy heart, recall the days of extremity thou has past through. Forbearance is the root of quietness and assurance forever. Look upon the wrath of the enemy. If thou knowest only what it is to conquer, and knowest not what it is like to be defeated, woe unto thee; it will fare ill with thee. Find fault with thyself rather than with others."

"The strong manly ones in life are those who understand the meaning of the word patience. Patience means restraining one's inclinations. There are seven emotions: joy, anger, anxiety, adoration, grief, fear, and hate, and if a man does not give way to these he can be called patient. I am not as strong as I might be, but I have long known and practiced patience. And if my descendants wish to be as I am, they must study patience."

He claimed that he fought, as a warrior or a general, in 90 battles.

In some sources Ieyasu is known to have the bad habit of biting his nails when nervous, especially before and during battle.

He was interested in various kenjutsu skills, was a patron of the Yagyū Shinkage-ryū school, and also had them as his personal sword instructors.

The Battle of Sekigahara

The Battle of Sekigahara (Shinjitai: Kyūjitai: Sekigahara no Tatakai?), popularly known as the Realm Divide (Tenka Wakeme no Tatakai), was a decisive battle on October 21, 1600 (Keichō 5, 15th day of the 9th month) which cleared the path to the Shogunate for Tokugawa Ieyasu. Though it would take three more years for Ieyasu to consolidate his position of power over the Toyotomi clan and the daimyo, Sekigahara is widely considered to be the unofficial beginning of the Tokugawa bakufu, the last shogunate to control Japan.

Even though Toyotomi Hideyoshi unified Japan and consolidated his power following the Siege of Odawara in 1590, his Japanese invasions of Korea (1592-1598) significantly weakened the Toyotomi clan's power as well as the loyalists and bureaucrats that continued to serve and support the Toyotomi clan after Hideyoshi's death. Hideyoshi's and his brother Hidenaga's presence kept the two sides from anything more than quarreling, but when both of them died, the conflicts were exacerbated and developed into open hostilities. Since the Toyotomi clan was known to be descended from peasant stock, neither Hideyoshi nor his heir Hideyori would be recognized or accepted as Shogun.

Most notably, Katō Kiyomasa and Fukushima Masanori were publicly critical of the bureaucrats, especially Ishida Mitsunari and Konishi Yukinaga. Tokugawa Ieyasu took advantage of this situation, and recruited them, redirecting the animosity to weaken the Toyotomi clan.

Tokugawa Ieyasu was no longer rivaled in terms of seniority, rank, reputation and overall influence within the Toyotomi clan after the death of Regent Maeda Toshiie. Rumors started to spread stating that Ieyasu, at that point the only surviving ally of Oda Nobunaga, would take over Hideyoshi's legacy just as Nobunaga's was taken. This was especially evident amongst the loyalist bureaucrats, who suspected Ieyasu of agitating unrest amongst Toyotomi's former vassals.

Later, a supposed conspiracy to assassinate Ieyasu surfaced, and many Toyotomi loyalists, including Toshiie's son, Toshinaga, were accused of taking part and forced to submit to Ieyasu's authority. However, Uesugi Kagekatsu, one of Hideyoshi's appointed regents, defied Ieyasu by building up his military. When Ieyasu officially condemned him and demanded that he come to Kyoto to explain himself before the emperor, Kagekatsu's chief advisor, Naoe Kanetsugu responded with a counter-condemnation that mocked Ieyasu's abuses and violations of Hideyoshi's rules, in such a way that Ieyasu was infuriated.

Afterwards, Ieyasu summoned the help of various supporters and led them northward to attack the Uesugi clan, which at that moment were besieging Hasedō, but Ishida Mitsunari, grasping the opportunity, rose up in response and created an alliance to challenge Ieyasu's supporters, also seizing various daimyo as hostages in Osaka Castle.

Ieyasu then left some forces led by Date Masamune to keep the Uesugi in check and marched west to confront the western forces. A few daimyo, most notably Sanada Masayuki, left Ieyasu's alliance, although most, either bearing grudges against Mitsunari or being loyal to Ieyasu, stayed with him

Mitsunari, in his home Sawayama Castle, met with Ōtani Yoshitsugu, Mashita Nagamori, and Ankokuji Ekei. Here, they forged the alliance, and invited Mōri Terumoto, who actually did not take part in the battle, to be its head.

Mitsunari then officially declared war on Ieyasu and lay siege to the Fushimi Castle, garrisoned by Tokugawa retainer Torii Mototada on July 19. Afterwards, the western forces captured various Tokugawa outposts in the Kansai region and within a month, the western forces had moved into the Mino Province, where Sekigahara was located.

Back in Edo, Ieyasu received news of the situation in Kansai and decided to deploy his forces. He had some former Toyotomi daimyo engage with the western forces while he split his troops and marched west on the Tōkaidō towards Osaka Castle.

Ieyasu's son Hidetada led another group through Nakasendō. However, Hidetada's forces were bogged down as he attempted to besiege Sanada Masayuki's Ueda Castle. Even though the Tokugawa forces numbered some 38,000, an overwhelming advantage over the Sanada's mere 2,000, they were still unable to capture the strategist's well-defended position. At the same time, 15,000 Toyotomi troops were being held up by 500 troops under Hosokawa Fujitaka at Tanabe Castle in Wakayama Prefecture. Some among the 15,000 troops respected Hosokawa so much they intentionally slowed their pace down. Both these incidents resulted in a large number of Tokugawa and Toyotomi troops not to show up in time at the battlefield of Sekigahara.

Knowing that Ieyasu was heading toward Osaka, Mitsunari decided to abandon his positions and marched to Sekigahara. On September 15, 1600 (Keichō 5, 8th day of the 8th month), the two sides started to deploy their forces. Ieyasu's eastern army had 88,888 men, whilst Mitsunari's western army numbered 81,890. There were about 20,000 arquebusers and other forms of hand-held gunners deployed in the battlefield, corresponding to over 10% of all troops present.

Even though the western forces had tremendous tactical advantages, Ieyasu had already contacted many daimyo on the western side, promising them land and leniency after the battle should they switch sides. This led some western commanders holding key positions to hesitate when pressed to send in reinforcements or join the battle that was already in progress.

Mōri Hidemoto and Kobayakawa Hideaki were two such daimyo. They were in such positions that if they decided to close in on the eastern forces, they would in fact have Ieyasu surrounded on three sides. Hidemoto, shaken by Ieyasu's promises, also persuaded Kikkawa Hiroie not to take part in the battle.

Even though Kobayakawa had responded to Ieyasu's call, he remained hesitant and neutral. As the battle grew more intense, Ieyasu finally ordered arquebusiers to fire at Kobayakawa's position on Mount Matsuo in order to force Kobayakawa to make his choice. At that point Kobayakawa joined the battle on the eastern side. His forces assaulted Yoshitsugu's position, which quickly fell apart as he was already engaging Tōdō Takatora's forces. Seeing this as an act of treachery, western generals such as Wakisaka Yasuharu, Ogawa Suketada, Akaza Naoyasu, and Kutsuki Mototsuna immediately switched sides, turning the tide of battle.

The western forces disintegrated afterwards, and the commanders scattered and fled. Some, like Ukita Hideie managed to escape, while others, like Sakon was shot and wounded by a rifle though it's unknown if he died from it, Ōtani Yoshitsugu committed suicide. Mitsunari, Yukinaga and Ekei were some of those who were captured and a few, like Mōri Terumoto and Shimazu Yoshihiro were able to return to their home provinces. Mitsunari himself

would be executed.

Tokugawa Ieyasu redistributed the lands and fiefs of the participants, generally rewarding those who assisted him and displacing, punishing, or exiling those who fought against him. In doing so, he gained control of many former Toyotomi territories. Following the public execution of Ishida Mitsunari, Konishi Yukinaga and Ankokuji Ekei, the influence and reputation of the Toyotomi clan and its remaining loyalists drastically decreased.

At the time, the battle was considered only an internal conflict between Toyotomi vassals. However, after Ieyasu later became Shogun, a position that had been left vacant since the fall of the Ashikaga shogunate 27 years earlier, the battle was perceived as more important event. In 1664, Hayashi Gahō, Tokugawa historian and rector of Yushima Seido, summarized the consequences of the battle: "Evil-doers and bandits were vanquished and the entire realm submitted to Lord Ieyasu, praising the establishment of peace and extolling his martial virtue. That this glorious era that he founded may continue for ten thousands upon ten thousands of generations, coeval with heaven and earth."

This change in official rankings also reversed the subordinate position of the Tokugawa clan, thus making the Toyotomi clan subordinates of the Tokugawa instead.

While most clans were content with their new status, there were many clans, especially those on the western side, who became bitter about their displacement or what they saw as a dishonorable defeat or punishment. Three clans in particular did not take the aftermath of Sekigahara lightly:

The Mōri clan, headed by Mōri Terumoto, remained angry toward the Tokugawa shogunate for being displaced from their fief, Aki, and being relocated to the Chōshū Domain, even though the clan did not take part in the battle at all.

The Shimazu clan, headed by Shimazu Yoshihiro, blamed the defeat on its poor intelligence-gathering, and while they were not displaced from their home province of Satsuma, they did not become completely loyal to the Tokugawa shogunate either. Taking advantage of its large distance between Edo and the island of Kyūshū as well as its improved espionage, the Shimazu clan demonstrated that it was virtually an autonomous kingdom independent from the Tokugawa shogunate during its last days.

The Chōsokabe clan, headed by Chōsokabe Morichika, was stripped of its title and domain of Tosa and sent into exile. Former Chōsokabe retainers never quite came to terms with the new ruling family, the Yamauchi clan, which made a distinction between its own retainers and former Chōsokabe retainers, giving them lesser status as well as discriminating treatment. This class distinction continued even generations after the fall of the Chōsokabe clan.

The descendants of these three clans would in two centuries collaborate to bring down the Tokugawa shogunate, leading to the Meiji Restoration.

According to tradition, the legendary kensei Miyamoto Musashi was present at the battle among the ranks of Ukita Hideie's army. Supposedly, he fought well and escaped the defeat of Hideie's forces unharmed. Whether this is fact or myth is unknown, considering that Musashi would have been around 17 years of age at the time. Several books on Japanese history, martial arts and the biography proceeding a translation of the 'Go Rin no Sho' (see source) mention Musashi joining the ranks of the Ashikaga army and escaping the hunting down and massacre of the vanquished army. More curious is the fact that he joined Tokugawa in both winter and summer campaigns of 1614 and 1615 when Ieyasu laid siege to Osaka castle where supporters of the Ashikaga family gathered in insurrection, thereby fighting against those he had originally fought for at Sekigahara. According to legend, he had already killed in self defense at 13 and again at 16 defeating Tadashima; he then left home on his 'Warrior pilgrimage' which saw him victorious in scores of contest and which took him to war before he was 17.

Netsuke of Ancient Japan

Netsuke of Ancient Japan

Netsuke of Ancient Japan

Netsuke of Ancient Japan

Netsuke of Ancient Japan

Netsuke of Ancient Japan

Temples of Ancient Kyoto

Uesugi Kenshin

Uesugi Kenshin ( February 18, 1530 – April 19, 1578) was a daimyo who ruled Echigo province in the Sengoku period of Japan.

He was one of the many powerful lords of the Sengoku period. He is famed for his prowess on the battlefield, the legendary rivalry with Takeda Shingen, his military expertise, strategy and his belief in the god of war — Bishamonten. In fact, many of his followers and others believed him to be the avatar of Bishamonten, and called Kenshin god of war.

His original name was Nagao Kagetora . He changed his name to Uesugi Masatora when he inherited the Uesugi family name in order to accept the official title of Kantō Kanrei . Later he changed his name again to Uesugi Terutora (上杉輝虎) to honor the Shogun Ashikaga Yoshiteru , and finally to Kenshin after he became a Buddhist monk; in particular, he would become renowned for being a devotee of Bishamonten. For the majority of this description, the name of Kenshin will be used.

Kenshin is sometimes referred to as "The Dragon of Echigo" because of his fearsome skills in the martial arts displayed on the battlefield. His rival Takeda Shingen was called "The Tiger of Kai". In some versions of Chinese mythology (Shingen and Kenshin had always been interested in Chinese culture, especially the works of Sun Tzu), the Dragon and Tiger have always been bitter rivals who try to defeat one another, but neither is ever able to gain the upper hand.

Born the fourth son of the noted warrior Nagao Tamekage , Kenshin's early life presents a unique story. His father had gained some renown as a warlord through his military victories over Uesugi Sadanori and Uesugi Funayoshi. However, in later years, Tamekage found himself at odds with the neighboring Ikkō-ikki of Hokuriku, and as the political power in the region started to shift in favor of the Ikkō (due largely to the sudden rise of the Honganji), the situation for Echigo quickly deteriorated. It came to a peak in 1536, when Kenshin's father gathered up an army and marched westward, his aim uncertain. However, upon arriving at Sendanno in Etchu, his forces were suddenly attacked by Enami Kazuyori, and in the resulting battle Tamekage himself was slain, and his army put to flight.

The impact back at Echigo was immediate. Nagao Harukage, Tamekage's eldest son, immediately made his bid for control of the Nagao, and succeeded in this claim after a power struggle which resulted in the death of one of his brothers, Kageyasu. Kagetora (Kenshin) was removed from the conflict and relocated to Rizen temple, where he spent his life from 7 to 14 dedicated to study.

At the age of fourteen, Kenshin was suddenly contacted by Usami Sadamitsu and a number of other acquaintances of his late father. They urged the young Nagao son to go to Echigo and contest his older brother's rule. It would seem that Harukage hadn't proven the most effective or inspiring leader, and his failure to exert control over the powerful kokujin families had resulted in a situation which was nearly to the point of tearing the province apart.

As the story is told, at first Kenshin was reluctant to take the field against his own brother, but was eventually convinced that it was necessary to the survival of Echigo. In a series of engagements led by himself and Usami Sadamitsu, Kenshin succeeded in wresting control of the clan from Harukage in 1547. Harukage's own fate is uncertain, as some sources claim he was allowed to live, but others record his forced suicide.

Though his rule over the Nagao clan was now unquestioned, much of Echigo was still independent of this young warlord's grasp. Kenshin immediately set out to cement his power in the region, but these efforts were still in their infant stages when far more pressing concerns appeared. Ogasawara Nagatoki and Murakami Yoshikiyo, two Shinano lords, both appeared before Kenshin requesting his help in halting the advances of the powerful warlord Takeda Shingen. Around the time Kenshin became the new lord of Echigo, Shingen had won major victories in Shinano Province. With the Takeda's conquests taking them remarkably close to the borders of Echigo, Kenshin agreed to take the field.

What followed was the beginning of a rivalry which became legendary. In the first conflict between the two, both Uesugi Kenshin and Takeda Shingen were very cautious, only committing themselves to indecisive skirmishes. Over the years, there would eventually be a total number of five such engagements at the famous site of Kawanakajima, though only the fourth would prove to be a serious, all-out battle between the two.

In 1561, Kenshin and Shingen fought the biggest battle they would fight, the fourth battle,the crimeajewel battle of Kawanakajima. Kenshin used an ingenious tactic: a special formation where the soldiers in the front would switch with their comrades in the rear, as those in the frontline became tired or wounded. This allowed the tired soldiers to take a break, while the soldiers who had not seen action would fight on the frontlines. This was extremely effective and because of this Kenshin nearly defeated Shingen. In this battle is the tale of Kenshin riding up to Shingen and slashing at him with his sword. Shingen fended off the blows with his iron war fan or tessen. However, Kenshin failed to finish Shingen off. A Takeda retainer drove him away, and Shingen made a counter-attack. The Uesugi army retreated and many drowned in a nearby river while others were cut down by Takeda's generals.

The result of the fourth battle of Kawanakajima is still uncertain. Many scholars are divided on who the actual victor was, if the battle was actually decisive enough to even declare one. Kenshin lost 3000 of his army while Shingen lost around 4000, but Shingen also lost two of his most important generals during the battle, namely his advisor Yamamoto Kansuke and younger brother Takeda Nobushige.

Although Shingen and Kenshin were rivals for more than fourteen years, they are known to have exchanged gifts a number of times, most famously when Shingen gave away a precious sword, which he valued greatly, to Kenshin. Shingen died in 1573, and Kenshin was said to have wept aloud at the loss of so worthy an adversary, and reportedly vowed to never attack Takeda lands. The two sides became allies in 3 years. In addition, there was an incident when a number of other daimyo (including the Hōjō clan) boycotted salt supplies to Kai province. Kenshin heard of Shingen's problem with a daimyo of the Hōjō clan who refused to send rice to him. Kenshin secretly sent salt to the Takeda (salt was a precious commodity as it was used in preserving food) and wrote to his enemy, Shingen, that in his opinion, the Hōjō lord had committed a hostile act. Although he could have cut off Shingen's supplies and "lifeline", Kenshin decided not to do so because it would be dishonorable. In reflection, Kenshin made a statement "Wars are to be won with swords and spears, not with rice and salt." In this, Kenshin set a noble example for all time in his treatment of his rival Shingen. The statement is a common modern reference by peace advocates who in recognition of Kenshin state that "peace is to be achieved with rice and salt, not with swords and spears".

Though his rivalry with Takeda Shingen was legendary, Uesugi Kenshin actually had a number of other ventures occurring around the times of these famous battles (1553, 1555, 1557, 1561, 1564). In the year 1551, Kenshin was called upon to provide refuge for his nominal lord, Uesugi Norimasa, who had been forced to flee there due to the expansion into the Kantō by the Hōjō clan. Kenshin agreed to give the warlord shelter, but was not in a position at the time to move against the Hōjō. In the year 1559, he made a trip to pay homage to the shogun in Kyoto, and visited many religious and historical sites in the area. This served to heighten his reputation considerably, and added to his image as a cultured leader as well as a warlord. This same year he was pushed once again by Uesugi Norimasa to take control of the Kantō back from the Hōjō, and in 1560 he was able to comply. Heading a campaign against the Hōjō, Kenshin was successful in taking a number of castles from the clan, which ended in his striking against the Odawara Castle in Sagami Province. He managed to break the defenses and burn the town, but the castle itself remained unconquered, and lack of supplies forced his retreat soon after. However, it was during this time that he visited the Tsurugaoka Hachiman-gū and took the name Uesugi.

The other main area which interested Uesugi Kenshin was Etchu Province. The land was inhabited by two feuding clans, the Jinbo and the Shiina. Kenshin entered the dispute as a mediator for some time, but he later took sides with the Shiina and took over the Jinbo clan. A number of years later, he then took the field against the Shiina (for seeming a bit too friendly with the Takeda), and when he took their main castle in 1575, Etchu Province was effectively under his control.

Starting in the year 1576, Kenshin began to consider the issue of Oda Nobunaga, who had since grown to be Japan's most powerful warlord of the time. With both Takeda Shingen and Hōjō Ujiyasu dead, Kenshin was no longer blocked off from this realm of expansion. So, when the death of a Noto lord in the area sparked up confusion and conflict, Kenshin was quick to use the opportunity, taking land from the weakened clan which put him in a position to threaten Nobunaga and his allies. In response, Nobunaga pulled together his own forces and those of his two best generals; Shibata Katsuie and Maeda Toshiie to meet Kenshin at Tedorigawa. The experienced Shibata Katsuie who served Nobunaga since the beginning, was sent forth to test Kenshin's famed battle reputation. According to some accounts, Shibata led 18,000 men into battle first, and Nobunaga himself followed up with 20,000 reinforcements. If this information is accurate, it would make the battle between the two one of the largest fought in the Sengoku period.

Despite Nobunaga's overwhelming numbers, Kenshin managed to score a solid victory on the field. At first, Kenshin refused to engage the Nobunaga army until a heavy rainfall which neutralized Nobunaga's infantry units. Forced to make a hasty retreat, Shibata regrouped with Nobunaga's main force. Next Kenshin took a page from his old rival Takeda Shingen; he pretended to send forth a small unit to attack Nobunaga's main force from behind and gave his enemy a great opportunity to crush his remaining force. Nobunaga took the bait. Nobunaga's force attacked at night expecting a weakened opponent; instead Kenshin's full military might was waiting. After losing almost a quarter of his force, Nobunaga pulled back to Ōmi Province while Kenshin contented himself with building a few forts in Kaga Province before returning back to Echigo province. In the winter of 1577-1578, Uesugi Kenshin arranged to put forth a grand army to continue his assaults into Nobunaga's land. However, he was reported to be in horrid health during this time, and on April 9 he suffered a type of seizure. He died four days later.

His death poem was "Forty Nine Years; One night's dream. A lifetime of prosperity; a cup of sake." (These 49 years of my life have passed like one night's dream. My life has been full of glory and prosperity, like a single cup filled with sake)

The cause of Kenshin's death has been questioned throughout the years. The theory accepted by most Japanese scholars is that a lifetime of heavy drinking and perhaps stomach cancer spelled the end for the great warlord.

Other sources hold that he was assassinated by a ninja who had been waiting in the cess pool beneath the latrine at Kenshin's camp with a short spear. (Note that the theories are not mutually exclusive — the assassin, if he existed, might simply have fatally wounded an already-dying man.) It is said that upon hearing of Kenshin's death, Oda Nobunaga remarked, "Now the empire is mine."

Kenshin's death was disastrous for the clan. He never had any sons but adopted two boys to be his heirs. Upon their adopted father's death, the two immediately entered into a power struggle, which ended with Uesugi Kagekatsu being the clan's new ruler. However, the internal struggle had cost them too much time and energy, and Oda Nobunaga had no problem taking over the majority of their lands quickly, going right up to the border of Echigo. There was speculation, among some of his contemporaries, that Kenshin was in fact a woman posing as a man. The reason for this might lay in the fact that the daimyo never married, and seldom involved in relationships with women, favoring instead the company and the love of many men and boys. Homosexuality alone might not explain the rumor, as the practice was common among the samurai class. There is no evidence to substantiate this rumor, but indeed, the speculation has been recurring on and off until today.

Uesugi Kagekatsu

Uesugi Kagekatsu (8 January 1556 – 19 April 1623) was a daimyo during the Sengoku and Edo periods of Japanese history. The son of Nagao Masakage (the head of the Ueda Nagao clan) and husband of Uesugi Kenshin's elder sister, Aya-Gozen. After his father died, he was adopted by Kenshin. Upon Kenshin's death in 1578, Kagekatsu battled Kenshin's other adopted son Uesugi Kagetora for the inheritance, defeating him in the 1578 Ōtate no Ran. He forced Kagetora to commit seppuku, and became head of the Uesugi clan. Kagekatu was married with Takeda Katsuyori's sister (Takeda Shingen's daughter) after Ōtate no Ran.

As a general under Toyotomi Hideyoshi, Kagekatsu took part in the Odawara and Korea campaigns, and rose to prominence to become a member of the council of Five Elders. Originally holding a 550,000 koku fief in Echigo province, Kagekatsu received the fief of Aizu, worth a huge 1.2 million koku when Hideyoshi redistributed holdings in 1598. After Hideyoshi's death, that year, Kagekatsu then allied himself with Ishida Mitsunari, against Tokugawa Ieyasu, as the result of some political dispute.

The Sekigahara Campaign could be said to have begun, at least in part, with Kagekatsu, who was the first daimyo to plan revolt against the Tokugawa. He built a new castle in Aizu, attracting the attention of Ieyasu, who ordered him to Osaka, to explain his conduct. Kagekatsu refused, and Tokugawa began plans to lead a 50,000 man army north against him. Ishida and Uesugi hoped to occupy Tokugawa Ieyasu with this fighting in the north, distracting him from Ishida Mitsunari's attacks in and around Osaka. Anticipating this, Ieyasu remained in Osaka to engage Mitsunari; his generals Mogami Yoshiaki and Date Masamune would fight Kagekatsu in Tōhoku (the far north-east of Honshū, Japan's main island). Kagekatsu had intended to move his force south, attacking the Tokugawa from the north-east while Ishida attacked from the west, but he was defeated very early in the campaign, at the siege of his castle at Shiroishi.

Declaring his allegiance to Tokugawa following his defeat, Kagekatsu became a tozama (outsider) daimyo; he was given the Yonezawa han, worth 300,000 koku, in the Tōhoku region. Kagekatsu would later fight for the Tokugawa shogunate against the Toyotomi clan in the 1614-15 siege of Osaka.

Ukita Hideie (1573 – December 17, 1655) was the daimyo of Bizen and Mimasaka provinces (modern Okayama Prefecture), and one of the council of Five Elders appointed by Toyotomi Hideyoshi. Son of Ukita Naoie, he married Gohime, a daughter of Maeda Toshiie. Having fought against Tokugawa Ieyasu in the Battle of Sekigahara he was exiled to the island prison of Hachijōjima, where he died.

Hideie's father Naoie was daimyo of Bizen province and initially opposed, but later sided with Oda Nobunaga and Toyotomi Hideyoshi. Naoie died in 1581, and in 1582 Hideie became the head of the Ukita clan. As Hideie was still young, it was Hideie's uncle who acted as leader of the Ukita army (under Toyotomi Hideyoshi) during the siege of Bitchu Takamatsu Castle in 1582. Nobunaga was assassinated on June 2 of that year, but the siege continued until the castle fell two days later. Hideyoshi raced back to Kyoto, leaving the Ukita clan in charge of Bizen, Mimasaka and newly taken parts of Bichu provinces. The Ukita were also to keep watch on Mori Terumoto to the west.

In 1586, Hideie was married to Hideyoshi's adopted daughter, Gohime. (She had been adopted by Hideyoshi from Maeda Toshiie.)

Hideie joined Hideyoshi's military campaigns in Shikoku(1585), Kyushu(1586) and the Siege of Odawara(1590). Following the unification of Japan under Hideyoshi, Hideie joined the Korean campaigns, returning in 1598 to serve as one of Hideyoshi's five counselors, along with Maeda Toshiie, Uesugi Kagekatsu, Mori Terumoto, and Tokugawa Ieyasu.

Hideyoshi died in 1598, leaving his five-year-old son Hideyori as his successor and Tokugawa Ieyasu moved to take control. Hideie contributed 17,000 men to the Toyotomi army at the Battle of Sekigahara but they were defeated after many of their "allies" defected to the Tokugawa side. One of these defectors was Kobayakawa Hideaki, who was granted Okayama Castle and surrounding Ukita territories as the spoils of war.

Hideie escaped from the confusion of the battlefield, but was later found and exiled to the island of Hachijōjima, along with several supporters, including his two sons and their nurse(s?). Hideie's wife sought refuge with the Maeda clan and was able to correspond and send gifts (rice, sake, clothing) to her husband and sons from there.

Hideie eventually outlived his wife and all of the sengoku (warring states) era samurai. He was offered a conditional pardon after Ieyasu's death, but declined and never returned to the mainland. His wife had died, the Toyotomi were defeated, there was no place to return to, his sons had fathered children on Hachijo, and the Shogunate was to be inherited by members of the Tokugawa clan.

There is no evidence to suggest that Hideie fathered any further children himself, but many of his sons' descendants emigrated back to the Japanese mainland when a full pardon was granted at the end of the Tokugawa era.

Kobayakawa Hideaki (1577 – December 1, 1602) was fifth son of Kinoshita Iesada and the nephew of Toyotomi Hideyoshi.

He was adopted by Hideyoshi and called himself Hashiba Hidetoshi and Shusen . He was then again adopted by Kobayakawa Takakage and renamed himself Hideaki. Because he had gained the rank of Saemon no Toku or in China Shikkingo (執金吾) at genpuku and held the title of Chunagon, Hideaki was also called Kingo Chunagon .

During the Battle of Keicho he led reinforcements to rescue Ulsan Castle from the Ming army. Fighting on the front line with a spear, he managed to capture an enemy commander and successfully broke the siege. However, Hideyoshi saw the danger of a reckless charge by the general commanding an army and deprived him of his domain, Chikugo after returning. Kobayakawa, angered by this, believed the lie circulated by Tokugawa Ieyasu that this had been the doing of a jealous Ishida Mitsunari. He never forgot or forgave Mitsunari and worked to undermine his position.

Before the battle of Sekigahara, Kobayakawa happened to be in Osaka and acted as though he would go along with Mitsunari, even though he had intended to betray him, having secretly communicated with Ieyasu. Knowing Kobayakawa held ill feelings, Mitsunari and Otani Yoshitsugu promised him two additional domains around Osaka and the position of kampaku (until Toyotomi Hideyori grew old enough to rule) if he helped them to victory.

Even after the battle began, Kobayakwa kept his intentions hidden. Ieyasu's force (east) was not faring well against Mitsunari from the west; Ukita Hideie was winning against Fukushima Masanori and Otani Yoshitsugu was also winning against Todo Takatora. Kobayakawa was hesitant to participate with either side. Ieyasu ordered troops to fire blanks against the Kobayakawa troops to force them into action. Kobayakawa then ordered an attack on the Otani troop and while this attack was beaten back temporarily, his action forced the other armies who had pledged betrayal to also turn. The battle was over within a day.

Kobayakawa also had success in the mopping up operations that followed, defeating Mitsunari's father, Ishida Masatsugu in the siege of Sawayama. Once the dust had settled, Kobayakawa was given the defeated Ukita clan's former fiefdoms of Bizen and Mimasaka, for a total of 550,000 koku. However, Kobayakawa suddenly died two years later after supposedly going mad, and with no one to succeed him, the Kobayakawa clan disbanded, and his feifdoms were absorbed by the neighboring Ikeda clan.