Tokugawa Ieyasu

A revolution took place in the centuries from the time of the Kamakura shogunate, which existed with the Tenno's court, to the Tokugawa, when the bushi became the unchallenged rulers in what historian Edwin O. Reischauer called a "centralized feudal" form of government. Instrumental in the rise of the new bakufu was Tokugawa Ieyasu, the main beneficiary of the achievements of Oda Nobunaga and Toyotomi Hideyoshi. Already powerful, Ieyasu profited by his transfer to the rich Kantō area. He maintained two million koku of land, a new headquarters at Edo, a strategically situated castle town (the future Tokyo), and also had an additional two million koku of land and thirty-eight vassals under his control. After Hideyoshi's death, Ieyasu moved quickly to seize control from the Toyotomi family. Ieyasu's victory over the western daimyo at the Battle of Sekigahara (October 21, 1600, or in the Japanese calendar on the 15th day of the ninth…

it in every way. The castle would be 5 stories tall with 3 extra stories underground with Gold leafing on the sides of the tower was used to impress visitors. The main tower of the castle was built on two raised platforms of landfill and supported by sheer walls of cut rock, the technique used is called Burdock Piling. In 1585 the in Donjon was completed, Toyotomi continued to expand the castle making it even more and more formidable to attackers. The construction of Osaka Castle was completed…

Finally, the Warring States period finished and the peaceful Edo-age started in Japan. The importance of ninjas in History diminished. Then, what became of ninjas and ninjutsu? Some of lucky ninjas who worked under Ieyasu could get important posts as guards around Edo-castle. As Ieyasu needed to look out for all of the daimyos in Japan, other ninjas were dispatched from each daimyo’s territory and yet, almost all ninjas ceased to exist. They all had to live by using their special talents and…

feudal lords second only to the shogun. During the Sengoku period, the Onin no Ran, a conflict between shogun Ashikaga Yoshimasa and his brother Ashikaga Yoshimi, had rendered the shogunate a bystander to the pending warfare between the militant abundant daimyos that sought power. The most prominent daimyos included Takeda Shingen, Uesugi Kenshin, Imagawa Yoshimoto, Tokugawa Ieyasu and the famed Oda Nobunaga; all made historical impacts during the Sengoku…

stood and fought in small isolated groups that were quickly singled out and killed. In one battle Nobunaga had defeated an army 12 times his size and stopped the Imagawa 's march on Kyoto. This battle would become known as the Miracle at Okehazama (1560), and it would begin Nobunaga 's rise to the most powerful Daimyo in Japan, and culminate in a march of his own on Kyoto. This march, however, would not be possible without the help of an ally Nobunaga would secure during the Battle of Okehazama.…

An easy explanation of the actions of the loyal 47 retainers in the Chushingura would be chuushin gishi. The definition given for chuushin gishi in the class materials was, “the loyal and righteous knight” who sacrifices all, including his life, for loyalty. According the slides, this sacrifice will make them worthy of being “worshipped posthumously”. This goal of the 47 retainers for their master, and themselves, drives them. While the Confucian ideology can be found throughout the…

Himeji-jo, or Himeji Castle, is a famous castle located in Himeji City of the Hyogo prefecture in Japan. It is considered to be one of the most well known pieces of architecture because of its unscathed appearance and well developed structure. Himeji-jo has a rich history of how it was constructed, which was initially built as a small fort by Akamatsu Norimura, along with surviving numerous battles against warring clans in Japan, bombardments from US planes, and hundreds of years of wear and…

This quality continued to be recognized through the ages. The Mikatsuki at some point landed in the hands of Toyotomi Hideyoshi’s wife Nene who bequeathed it to Tokugawa Hidetada while on her deathbed in 1624. The blade remained in the hands of the Tokugawa dynasty as an heirloom until World War II, after which it eventually became known as a National Treasure of Japan. In spite of its recent storage as an heirloom and a National Treasure, the Mikatsuki has many marks from having been used in…

The Muromachi period was from 1333 to 1600. The Muromachi shogunate was the second of Japan's three military commands. Between the Kamakura shogunate and the Tokugawa shogunate. The Shugo were selected to one or more domains in which they were to keep the stability, manage justice, and ensure tax gathering. Although military lords with extensive landholdings and personal following, their lands were not necessarily located in their provinces of assignment. During the 15th era, as some Shugo and…

Zoughari, Kacem. The Ninja: Ancient Shadow Warriors of Japan (The Secret History of Ninjutsu). 1 ed., Vermont, Tuttle Publishing, 2013, pp. 28-88. The Ninja: Ancient Shadow Warriors of Japan (The Secret History of Ninjutsu), is a book about the art of ninjitsu, including its various forms, how it is practiced and the history of ninjitsu. However, for doing research on historical ninja, its second and third chapters, “The Public Record of Ninjitsu”, and “The Private History of Ninjitsu,” proved…