How the Tokugawa Shogunate came to power in feudal Japan

From AD 1467 to 1603, Japan experienced a long period of civil war called the Sengoku Jidai, which means 'The Warring States' period. 

During this time, individual daimyo fought each other using large samurai armies in order to be named shogun (supreme military commander) by the Japanese emperor. 

If a shogun was not powerful enough to fight off his rivals, it encouraged others to attempt to take control as well.

Three daimyo in particularly successfully managed to seize power during this time, with each one gradually controlling larger sections of the country.

These three were known as the 'unifiers of Japan' and are examined in more detail below.

Oda Nobunaga came from the region of Owari in Japan. He had a reputation as a ruthless warlord who willingly experimented with new tactics to gain an advantage over his rivals.

Most famously, he adopted western gunpowder weapons which had appeared in the country following trading missions from the Portuguese in 1543.

Throughout his rise to power, Nobunaga struggled against the political power of some Buddhist monasteries that had their own 'warrior monks', who resisted him.

On some occasions, Nobunaga attacked these religious buildings and slaughtered the monks in them, which shocked the rest of Japan.

Nobunaga achieved his greatest success after winning the Battle of Nagashino in 1575 which led to the destruction of the once powerful Takeda clan. Subsequently, Nobunaga was able to seize control of the imperial city of Kyoto.

However, his brutal reputation led to his downfall, as one of his own military commanders, Akechi Mitsuhide, betrayed him and Nobunaga was forced to commit suicide in a temple while his enemies burnt it down.

The next 'unifier of Japan' arose after Oda Nobunaga and was named Toyotomi Hideyoshi.

Hideyoshi actually served under Oda Nobunaga and had been promoted due to his gift for military matters.

By the time of Nobunaga's suicide, Hideyoshi was one of the most respected generals in his army. 

Hideyoshi felt that it was his duty to avenge his former master's betrayal and death.

He launched a series of wars against his enemies and, by 1590, had become the most powerful daimyo in Japan.

Hideyoshi establishing his capital at Osaka and planned to expand Japanese power internationally by invading the Korean peninsula.

The first invasion in 1592 was initially quite successful, with Japanese forces advancing far into Korean territory.

However, they were eventually repelled by a combination of Korean land forces, with significant assistance from the Chinese Ming Dynasty, and the Korean navy led by Admiral Yi Sun-sin.

The second invasion, which began in 1597, was less successful and was still ongoing at the time of Hideyoshi's death in 1598. and abandoned soon after.

Hideyoshi's longest impact on Japanese history is the enforcement of a strict class system that is akin to European feudalism.

He created laws that made it illegal for peasants to carry weapons and prevented people from leaving their assigned social class.

The greatest and final of the three unifiers was the daimyo of the Mikawa region: Tokugawa Ieyasu. 

Ieyasu served as a general in Nobunaga's army and regularly achieved victories on the battlefield.

After Nobunaga's suicide, Ieyasu became a commander in Hideyoshi's forces as well. 

Then, when Hideyoshi died in 1598, Ieyasu became the protector of Hideyoshi's son and used him as a way to manipulate his way to power.

Hideyoshi's other generals were angered by this move.

In AD 1600, Hideyoshi's former generals brought their combined armies against Ieyasu at the decisive battle of Sekigahara.

This is one of the most famous battles in all of Japanese history, with over 200,000 soldiers involved. 

However, Tokugawa Ieyasu used clever tactics to defeat his rivals, and in 1615, he removed the final resistance against him in Osaka.

Ieyasu established the Tokugawa Shogunate in Edo, which is the modern-day city of Tokyo.

This shogunate would last for over 250 years.

The Tokugawa Shogunate was officially established when Ieyasu received the title of shogun in 1603.

Successive Tokugawa shoguns created new laws to prevent any other daimyo from seizing power.

The daimyo were each assigned regions and government positions based upon their loyalty.

Also, every daimyo had to pay for a private house in Edo, where the daimyo's wife and heir who were required to stay in Edo as hostages.

This policy is known as "Sankin-kōtai" and was a strategy to control the daimyo. 

Every few years, all daimyo had to visit Edo, which was an expensive journey. In this way, the Tokugawa shogunate hoped to keep the daimyo poor enough that they would not rise in rebellion.

Ultimately, these strategies worked, and there was no significant rebellion against the Tokugawa until the middle of the 19th century.