Battle of Sekigahara, (October 21, 1600), in Japanese history, a major conflict fought in central Honshu between vassals of Toyotomi Hideyoshi at the end of the Sengoku (“Warring States”) period. Led by daimyō Ishida Mitsunari, Toyotomi loyalists based mostly in western Japan clashed with largely eastern daimyō fighting for Tokugawa Ieyasu. The loyalists sought to preserve the Toyotomi legacy and halt Ieyasu’s rise to power. Ieyasu’s victory on the field laid the groundwork for the Tokugawa shogunate, which presided over Japan until 1868.
Background
Late 16th-century Japan saw the end of the Ashikaga shogunate and the unification of the provinces, a process that began with Oda Nobunaga and was completed by Toyotomi Hideyoshi in 1590. Shortly before his death in September 1598, Hideyoshi appointed five tairō, or regents, to protect his young son Hideyori and to rule on his behalf until he came of age. These tairō were Uesugi Kagekatsu, Mōri Terumoto, Maeda Toshiie, Ukita Hideie, and Tokugawa Ieyasu. When Hideyoshi died, Ieyasu relocated to Fushimi Castle, Hideyoshi’s magnificent palace in Kyōto, and approved several political marriages to cement alliances between his clan and neighbouring ones. Both the other tairō and several daimyō were troubled by these moves, as they feared that Ieyasu sought to supplant the young Toyotomi heir. Among them was Ishida Mitsunari, who formed a coalition of daimyō to reassert the authority of the Toyotomi clan and even went so far as to order an assassination attempt on Ieyasu. When that failed, Ieyasu refrained from killing him, instead moving to Ōsaka Castle to become Hideyori’s physical protector and further extend his power. On August 22, 1600, Mitsunari and his coalition formally denounced Ieyasu for this action and other transgressions. Ieyasu responded with a declaration of war.
Ieyasu and Mitsunari’s respective alliances fell along largely geographic lines: daimyō who sided with Ieyasu were primarily in the east, whereas Toyotomi loyalists were primarily in the west. One notable exception to this division was Uesugi Kagekatsu, who had plotted with Mitsunari that spring to time an attack on Ieyasu from Uesugi’s lands in the east so that the daimyō would be caught between two armies. Ieyasu had begun to march east from Ōsaka as planned, but he tasked two of his eastern allies with quelling Uesugi and moved slowly in order to watch the movements of the western army.
By September, Ieyasu had reached the city of Ōyama with some 50,000 men, and the western army had claimed both Ōsaka and Fushimi Castle. Ieyasu sent 31,000 soldiers southwest down the Tōkaidō road to capture Gifu Castle. He then directed his son, Tokugawa Hidetada, to move northwest along the Nakasendō road with 36,000 men. Finally, Ieyasu himself set out from his base with 30,000 men, intending for the three groups to reconvene in Mino province.
In October the western armies besieged a few eastern strongholds, but they were unable to progress past Gifu, which had fallen to the Tōkaidō army. On October 19 Ieyasu entered Gifu at the head of a partially combined eastern army; Hidetada had besieged Ueda Castle against Ieyasu’s orders, which prevented his force from connecting with the other two. Mitsunari was stationed a short distance away at Ōgaki Castle with his forces. Fearing a direct attack, some of Mitsunari’s men attempted to raid Ieyasu’s camp on October 20, but neither side inflicted much damage. That night, the main body of the western army withdrew from Ōgaki and took up advantageous positions at Sekigahara.
Battle
Sekigahara was a village located in a mountainous valley at the intersection of a few major roads. Ieyasu’s army of nearly 89,000 soldiers entered the valley from the Nakasendō in the east with Fukushima Masanori at the vanguard; Ii Naomasa commanded a key division of shock troops. Having arrived at Sekigahara first, the western army placed a significant portion of its forces west of the village under the command of Ukita Hidei in the center, with Shimazu Yoshihiro to the north and Ōtani Yoshitsugu to the south. Kobayakawa Hideaki and his soldiers were positioned on the slopes of Mount Matsuo just south of the Ōtani forces, while Mōri Hidemoto and his vassals waited with Chōsokabe Morichika on Mount Nangū southwest of Ieyasu’s rear guard. Together, they made up a force of just under 82,000 men. Mitsunari’s strategy was to have Ukita, Shimazu, and Ōtani soldiers hold Ieyasu’s army in the valley until he gave the signal for the Kobayakawa and Mōri clans to descend on that army from the mountains, effectively trapping Ieyasu and his men on all sides. What Mitsunari did not know, however, was that Hideaki had secretly communicated to Ieyasu that he would fight for the Tokugawa when the time came. Kikkawa Hiroie had also been in communication with eastern generals, having informed them that the Mōri clan would not move during the battle. Both daimyō had been slighted by Mitsunari and so resolved to defy his orders at Sekigahara.
On the morning of October 21, a thick fog blanketed the valley until 8:00 AM, at which time Naomasa’s shock troops circumvented their own vanguard command and made contact with the Ukita forces. Masanori followed close behind to support Naomasa. Shortly thereafter Ieyasu moved his left flank forward to engage with the Ōtani soldiers and directed nearly 20,000 men from his right flank to directly assault Mitsunari’s position, which was behind a series of fortifications adjacent to the Shimazu clan. Mitsunari ordered Shimazu Yoshihiro to move his troops forward, but the daimyō insisted on moving when he felt it was appropriate and refused to budge. At around 10:00 AM the Tokugawa rear guard attacked some of the western divisions stationed on Mount Nangū. The fighting was most intense at the center, where the western coalition began to drive Ieyasu’s army back.
At 11:00 AM Mitsunari lit the signal fire for Kobayakawa Hideaki to flank the eastern army. Hideaki did not advance, either for the west or for the east. His inaction concerned Ōtani Yoshitsugu, who rotated half of his men to face Hideaki in anticipation of betrayal. Ieyasu also saw that Hideaki had yet to move. To test his loyalty, the daimyō ordered some of his arquebusiers to fire on the Kobayakawa soldiers. Shortly after noon Hideaki responded by sending his force of 15,000 men down the mountainside and into the Ōtani lines, which were now hemmed in on two sides. Four additional western divisions defected and attacked the Ōtani forces from a third side. Recognizing that his position was untenable, Yoshitsugu asked one of his retainers to kill him.
Kobayakawa troops thoroughly disposed of the remaining Ōtani forces and proceeded to smash into the Ukita flank, prompting Ukita Hidei himself to flee the battlefield. Meanwhile, Ii Naomasa had engaged Shimazu Yoshihiro in his stationary position. At 1:30 PM Yoshihiro and his men began to retreat, but not before a volley of arquebus fire struck Naomasa and forced him to stop pursuing them. Yoshihiro fell back behind Mount Nangū, passing the Chōsokabe rear guard as they fled and informing them that the battle was going poorly. As promised, Kikkawa Hiroie refused to move his divisions for the west, and the Mōri and Chōsokabe clans were forced to follow suit, preventing some 20,000 men from possibly turning the tide of the battle. Mitsunari realized the extent of his army’s defections and retreated north into the mountains. At 2:00 PM, after six hours of fighting, Tokugawa Ieyasu declared his army victorious.
Aftermath
The Battle of Sekigahara was the last major conflict between the western and eastern armies. With Mitsunari’s coalition shattered, Ieyasu was able to capture Sawayama and Ōsaka castles in a matter of days. Mitsunari was beheaded in Kyōto within a month. At the formal conclusion of the war, Ieyasu stripped profitable lands from those prominent daimyō who opposed him and redistributed them among his allies, among whom were Kobayakawa Hideaki and Kikkawa Hiroie. Ieyasu installed Toyotomi Hideyori at Ōsaka Castle so that the Toyotomi vassals of the defeated coalition would look more favorably upon Ieyasu’s bloody campaign. Finally, in 1603 Emperor Go-Yōzei elevated Ieyasu to shōgun, the first of a line of Tokugawa shōguns that kept the peace for over 260 years.
tairō
tairō, in Japanese history, office of senior minister or chief councillor, the highest administrative post in the shogunate during the Tokugawa period (1603–1867). The office of tairō stood above the other senior councillors (rōjū) and so resembled the position of prime minister. Its chief function was to advise on matters of high policy or to serve as shogunal regent. After 1648, however, the office was filled only in times of crisis for a specific purpose.
The best-known figure to hold the position was Ii Naosuke, appointed tairō in 1858. Ii was largely responsible for the decision in 1858 to sign a commercial treaty with the United States, soon followed by treaties with England, France, Russia, and the Netherlands. He also acted swiftly to decide a succession dispute when the shogun Iesada died that same year, leaving no heir.
Ishida Mitsunari
Japanese warriorIshida Mitsunari, (born 1563, Ōmi Province, Japan—died Nov. 6, 1600, Kyōto), Japanese warrior whose defeat in the famous Battle of Sekigahara (1600) allowed the Tokugawa family to become undisputed rulers of Japan.
Distinguished in the service of Toyotomi Hideyoshi, the warrior who reunified Japan after more than a century of civil war, Ishida was appointed head of a small fief and soon became one of the most prominent officials in the new government. After Hideyoshi’s death in 1598, Ishida maintained his government position, but real power was exercised by a council of five regents, acting in the name of Hideyoshi’s infant son Hideyori. Foremost among the regents was Tokugawa Ieyasu, and in 1599, when Ishida attempted to improve his own position by plotting to sow dissension among Japanese lords, several of Tokugawa’s retainers resolved to execute him, but Tokugawa spared his life.
The following year, however, Ishida persuaded Uesugi Kagekatsu, one of the five regents, to marshal his forces against Tokugawa. While Tokugawa’s troops were diverted fighting Uesugi in the north, Ishida rallied many of the other lords to his side and attacked the Tokugawa position from the rear. When several of Ishida’s crucial allies failed to commit their full strength to the battle, Tokugawa quickly returned from the north to deal a decisive defeat to Ishida’s troops at Sekigahara. Ishida’s capture and execution marked the last major opposition to Tokugawa rule, and in 1603 Tokugawa assumed the hereditary title of shogun, or military dictator, a post that was held by the Tokugawa family until 1868.
Ishida Mitsunari, (born 1563, Ōmi Province, Japan—died Nov. 6, 1600, Kyōto), Japanese warrior whose defeat in the famous Battle of Sekigahara (1600) allowed the Tokugawa family to become undisputed rulers of Japan.
Distinguished in the service of Toyotomi Hideyoshi, the warrior who reunified Japan after more than a century of civil war, Ishida was appointed head of a small fief and soon became one of the most prominent officials in the new government. After Hideyoshi’s death in 1598, Ishida maintained his government position, but real power was exercised by a council of five regents, acting in the name of Hideyoshi’s infant son Hideyori. Foremost among the regents was Tokugawa Ieyasu, and in 1599, when Ishida attempted to improve his own position by plotting to sow dissension among Japanese lords, several of Tokugawa’s retainers resolved to execute him, but Tokugawa spared his life.
The following year, however, Ishida persuaded Uesugi Kagekatsu, one of the five regents, to marshal his forces against Tokugawa. While Tokugawa’s troops were diverted fighting Uesugi in the north, Ishida rallied many of the other lords to his side and attacked the Tokugawa position from the rear. When several of Ishida’s crucial allies failed to commit their full strength to the battle, Tokugawa quickly returned from the north to deal a decisive defeat to Ishida’s troops at Sekigahara. Ishida’s capture and execution marked the last major opposition to Tokugawa rule, and in 1603 Tokugawa assumed the hereditary title of shogun, or military dictator, a post that was held by the Tokugawa family until 1868.
Kuroda Nagamasa
Japanese warriorKuroda Nagamasa, (born 1568, Himeji, Japan—died August 29, 1623, Kyōto), noted Japanese warrior who rendered important service to two leaders, Toyotomi Hideyoshi and Tokugawa Ieyasu, in their campaigns to dominate Japan.
Upon his father’s death, Kuroda succeeded him as one of Hideyoshi’s generals in his battles to dominate Japan. When Hideyoshi invaded Korea in 1592, Kuroda served as one of the leading generals in the campaign, which continued for seven years. After Hideyoshi’s death in 1598, however, Kuroda sided with Tokugawa, one of Hideyoshi’s former subjects. At the Battle of Sekigahara in 1600, from which Tokugawa emerged as the dominant power in Japan, Kuroda rendered crucial support.
As a result of this service, after the establishment of the Tokugawa regime in 1603, Kuroda was granted the large feudal fief of Fukuoka in northern Japan. His family continued to rule this fief until the late 19th century, when it was taken over by the newly established central government of the emperor Meiji (1868) and made into a province.
Kuroda Nagamasa, (born 1568, Himeji, Japan—died August 29, 1623, Kyōto), noted Japanese warrior who rendered important service to two leaders, Toyotomi Hideyoshi and Tokugawa Ieyasu, in their campaigns to dominate Japan.
Upon his father’s death, Kuroda succeeded him as one of Hideyoshi’s generals in his battles to dominate Japan. When Hideyoshi invaded Korea in 1592, Kuroda served as one of the leading generals in the campaign, which continued for seven years. After Hideyoshi’s death in 1598, however, Kuroda sided with Tokugawa, one of Hideyoshi’s former subjects. At the Battle of Sekigahara in 1600, from which Tokugawa emerged as the dominant power in Japan, Kuroda rendered crucial support.
As a result of this service, after the establishment of the Tokugawa regime in 1603, Kuroda was granted the large feudal fief of Fukuoka in northern Japan. His family continued to rule this fief until the late 19th century, when it was taken over by the newly established central government of the emperor Meiji (1868) and made into a province.
shogunate
Japanese historyshogunate, Japanese bakufu or shōgunshoku, government of the shogun, or hereditary military dictator, of Japan from 1192 to 1867. The term shogun appeared in various titles given to military commanders commissioned for the imperial government’s 8th- and 9th-century campaigns against the Ezo (Emishi) tribes of northern Japan. The highest warrior rank, seii taishōgun (“barbarian-quelling generalissimo”), was first attained by Sakanoue Tamuramaro, and the title (abbreviated as shogun) was later applied to all shogunate leaders. Legally, the shogunate was under the control of the emperor, and the shogun’s authority was limited to control of the military forces of the country, but the increasingly feudal character of Japanese society created a situation in which control of the military became tantamount to control of the country, and the emperor remained in his palace in Kyōto chiefly as a symbol of sovereignty behind the shogun.
The samurai leader Minamoto Yoritomo gained military hegemony over Japan in 1185. Seven years later he assumed the title of shogun and established the first shogunate, or bakufu (literally, “tent government”), at his Kamakura headquarters. Eventually the Kamakura shogunate came to possess military, administrative, and judicial functions, although the imperial government remained the recognized legal authority. The shogunate appointed its own military governors, or shugo, as heads of each province and named stewards to supervise the individual estates into which the provinces had been divided, thus establishing an effective national network.
After the collapse of the Kamakura shogunate in 1333, Ashikaga Takauji established a second line of shogunal succession that ruled much of Japan from 1338 until 1573. The Ashikaga shogunate’s capital was the imperial city of Kyōto. But the increasingly independent shugo, virtual warlords, who by the 16th century were known as daimyo, eventually undermined the power of the Ashikaga shogunate.
In 1600 Tokugawa Ieyasu gained hegemony over the daimyo and thus was able to establish in 1603 the third shogunate, headquartered in Edo (now Tokyo). The Edo shogunate was the most powerful central government Japan had yet seen: it controlled the emperor, the daimyo, and the religious establishments, administered Tokugawa lands, and handled Japanese foreign affairs.
After 1862 the Tokugawa shogunate underwent drastic changes in its efforts to maintain control, but in 1867 the last shogun, Yoshinobu, was forced to yield the administration of civil and military affairs to the emperor. Still, the central administration that the Tokugawa shogunate had developed in Edo provided a foundation for the new Japanese imperial government of the late 19th century.
shogunate, Japanese bakufu or shōgunshoku, government of the shogun, or hereditary military dictator, of Japan from 1192 to 1867. The term shogun appeared in various titles given to military commanders commissioned for the imperial government’s 8th- and 9th-century campaigns against the Ezo (Emishi) tribes of northern Japan. The highest warrior rank, seii taishōgun (“barbarian-quelling generalissimo”), was first attained by Sakanoue Tamuramaro, and the title (abbreviated as shogun) was later applied to all shogunate leaders. Legally, the shogunate was under the control of the emperor, and the shogun’s authority was limited to control of the military forces of the country, but the increasingly feudal character of Japanese society created a situation in which control of the military became tantamount to control of the country, and the emperor remained in his palace in Kyōto chiefly as a symbol of sovereignty behind the shogun.
The samurai leader Minamoto Yoritomo gained military hegemony over Japan in 1185. Seven years later he assumed the title of shogun and established the first shogunate, or bakufu (literally, “tent government”), at his Kamakura headquarters. Eventually the Kamakura shogunate came to possess military, administrative, and judicial functions, although the imperial government remained the recognized legal authority. The shogunate appointed its own military governors, or shugo, as heads of each province and named stewards to supervise the individual estates into which the provinces had been divided, thus establishing an effective national network.
After the collapse of the Kamakura shogunate in 1333, Ashikaga Takauji established a second line of shogunal succession that ruled much of Japan from 1338 until 1573. The Ashikaga shogunate’s capital was the imperial city of Kyōto. But the increasingly independent shugo, virtual warlords, who by the 16th century were known as daimyo, eventually undermined the power of the Ashikaga shogunate.
In 1600 Tokugawa Ieyasu gained hegemony over the daimyo and thus was able to establish in 1603 the third shogunate, headquartered in Edo (now Tokyo). The Edo shogunate was the most powerful central government Japan had yet seen: it controlled the emperor, the daimyo, and the religious establishments, administered Tokugawa lands, and handled Japanese foreign affairs.
After 1862 the Tokugawa shogunate underwent drastic changes in its efforts to maintain control, but in 1867 the last shogun, Yoshinobu, was forced to yield the administration of civil and military affairs to the emperor. Still, the central administration that the Tokugawa shogunate had developed in Edo provided a foundation for the new Japanese imperial government of the late 19th century.
Tokugawa Ieyasu
shogun of JapanTokugawa Ieyasu, original name Matsudaira Takechiyo, also called Matsudaira Motoyasu, (born Jan. 31, 1543, Okazaki, Japan—died June 1, 1616, Sumpu), the founder of the last shogunate in Japan—the Tokugawa, or Edo, shogunate (1603–1867).
Tokugawa Ieyasu, original name Matsudaira Takechiyo, also called Matsudaira Motoyasu, (born Jan. 31, 1543, Okazaki, Japan—died June 1, 1616, Sumpu), the founder of the last shogunate in Japan—the Tokugawa, or Edo, shogunate (1603–1867).
Early life
Ieyasu was born into the family of a local warrior situated several miles east of modern Nagoya, one of many such families struggling to survive in a brutal age of endemic civil strife. His childhood was scarcely auspicious. His father, Matsudaira Hirotada, was involved in a network of shifting alliances that repeatedly drew him into battle. When Ieyasu was two years old, his mother was permanently separated from his father’s family because of one such change in alliances, and in 1547 military adversity compelled his father to send him away as hostage to the Imagawa family, powerful neighbours headquartered at Sumpu (now the city of Shizuoka) to the east. However, members of the rival Oda clan to the west waylaid his entourage, and he was held for two years before being released to the Imagawa.
Conditions at Sumpu were more settled, and Ieyasu was trained in the military and governmental arts and developed a great love for falconry. In the late 1550s he took a wife, fathered the first of several sons, and began to acquire military experience by leading forces on behalf of Imagawa Yoshimoto, the clan leader. Despite his personal comfort, however, Ieyasu’s years at Sumpu had been worrisome ones. He had learned that his father had been murdered by a close vassal in 1549 (one of the events leading to his release by the Oda) and had observed helplessly from afar the subsequent disintegration of his family fortunes.
Ieyasu was born into the family of a local warrior situated several miles east of modern Nagoya, one of many such families struggling to survive in a brutal age of endemic civil strife. His childhood was scarcely auspicious. His father, Matsudaira Hirotada, was involved in a network of shifting alliances that repeatedly drew him into battle. When Ieyasu was two years old, his mother was permanently separated from his father’s family because of one such change in alliances, and in 1547 military adversity compelled his father to send him away as hostage to the Imagawa family, powerful neighbours headquartered at Sumpu (now the city of Shizuoka) to the east. However, members of the rival Oda clan to the west waylaid his entourage, and he was held for two years before being released to the Imagawa.
Conditions at Sumpu were more settled, and Ieyasu was trained in the military and governmental arts and developed a great love for falconry. In the late 1550s he took a wife, fathered the first of several sons, and began to acquire military experience by leading forces on behalf of Imagawa Yoshimoto, the clan leader. Despite his personal comfort, however, Ieyasu’s years at Sumpu had been worrisome ones. He had learned that his father had been murdered by a close vassal in 1549 (one of the events leading to his release by the Oda) and had observed helplessly from afar the subsequent disintegration of his family fortunes.
Leadership of the Tokugawa
In 1560 Imagawa Yoshimoto was slain during a battle with Oda Nobunaga, who was rapidly gaining power, and young Ieyasu seized the opportunity to return to his family’s small castle and assume control of his surviving relatives and vassals. Within months he took steps to ally himself with Nobunaga, at the same time pacifying the new and inept leader of the Imagawa house long enough to recall his wife and son from Sumpu. Freed for a few years from warring with neighbours, he directed his military efforts to crushing rebellious Buddhist sectarian groups within the Matsudaira (after 1566, Tokugawa) domain. Concurrently, he devoted much energy to improving his small army’s command structure, appointing civil administrators, and formulating and enforcing procedures of taxation, law enforcement, and litigation.
During the later 1560s the Imagawa domain disintegrated, and Ieyasu expanded to the east as opportunity permitted. In 1570 this expansion led him to move his headquarters eastward to Hamamatsu, a small coastal town that he developed into the commercial and strategic centre of a thriving domain. Relying heavily on his alliance with the now-mighty Nobunaga, Ieyasu survived the vicissitudes of endemic war and slowly extended his territory until, by the early 1580s, he had become an important daimyo (feudal baron), in control of the fertile and populous area stretching from Okazaki eastward to the mountain barrier at Hakone.
In 1582 Nobunaga was wounded by a rebellious subordinate and committed suicide; Toyotomi Hideyoshi, his most brilliant general, quickly avenged the death and moved to assume Nobunaga’s preeminent political position. Ieyasu, then in the prime of life, emerged as his principal rival. After a few bloody but indecisive skirmishes, however, the cautious Ieyasu offered a vow of fealty, and Hideyoshi was content to leave Ieyasu’s domain intact. During the rest of the 1580s, while Hideyoshi busily extended his control over the daimyo of southwestern Japan, Ieyasu strengthened himself as best he could. He continued to enlarge his vassal force, increase his domain’s productivity, and improve the reliability of his administration. And in 1586, for greater security, he moved his headquarters even farther to the east, away from Hideyoshi, to Sumpu, the town he had known years before as a hostage.
In 1560 Imagawa Yoshimoto was slain during a battle with Oda Nobunaga, who was rapidly gaining power, and young Ieyasu seized the opportunity to return to his family’s small castle and assume control of his surviving relatives and vassals. Within months he took steps to ally himself with Nobunaga, at the same time pacifying the new and inept leader of the Imagawa house long enough to recall his wife and son from Sumpu. Freed for a few years from warring with neighbours, he directed his military efforts to crushing rebellious Buddhist sectarian groups within the Matsudaira (after 1566, Tokugawa) domain. Concurrently, he devoted much energy to improving his small army’s command structure, appointing civil administrators, and formulating and enforcing procedures of taxation, law enforcement, and litigation.
During the later 1560s the Imagawa domain disintegrated, and Ieyasu expanded to the east as opportunity permitted. In 1570 this expansion led him to move his headquarters eastward to Hamamatsu, a small coastal town that he developed into the commercial and strategic centre of a thriving domain. Relying heavily on his alliance with the now-mighty Nobunaga, Ieyasu survived the vicissitudes of endemic war and slowly extended his territory until, by the early 1580s, he had become an important daimyo (feudal baron), in control of the fertile and populous area stretching from Okazaki eastward to the mountain barrier at Hakone.
In 1582 Nobunaga was wounded by a rebellious subordinate and committed suicide; Toyotomi Hideyoshi, his most brilliant general, quickly avenged the death and moved to assume Nobunaga’s preeminent political position. Ieyasu, then in the prime of life, emerged as his principal rival. After a few bloody but indecisive skirmishes, however, the cautious Ieyasu offered a vow of fealty, and Hideyoshi was content to leave Ieyasu’s domain intact. During the rest of the 1580s, while Hideyoshi busily extended his control over the daimyo of southwestern Japan, Ieyasu strengthened himself as best he could. He continued to enlarge his vassal force, increase his domain’s productivity, and improve the reliability of his administration. And in 1586, for greater security, he moved his headquarters even farther to the east, away from Hideyoshi, to Sumpu, the town he had known years before as a hostage.
Conquest of the Hōjō
In 1589 Hideyoshi determined to obtain vows of subordination from the Hōjō daimyo, who held a large district east of the Hakone mountain barrier. When the Hōjō refused to submit, Hideyoshi and Ieyasu mobilized a great army and navy that blockaded the Hōjō forces in their seaside castle at Odawara. After a long and patient siege the Hōjō were starved into capitulation. At Hideyoshi’s suggestion Ieyasu then surrendered his coastal provinces west of Hakone in return for the Hōjō domain to the east. As rapidly as possible he moved thousands of vassals, their military equipment, and their households to the little fort and farmlands near the fishing village of Edo (modern Tokyo), nearly a month’s march from Hideyoshi’s headquarters near Kyōto.
During the 1590s Ieyasu, unlike several great daimyo from western Japan, avoided involvement in Hideyoshi’s two disastrous military expeditions to Korea. Instead, he grasped the opportunity afforded by his transfer to his new lands to deploy his forces rationally and to make his domain as secure as possible. He stationed his most powerful vassals on the perimeter of his territory and along main access routes, keeping the least powerful—and least dangerous to himself—nearer Edo.
He then placed large tracts of land close by the town under direct administration by appointed officials, thereby assuring his castle inhabitants easy access to the largest possible supply of foodstuffs, and made detailed land and property surveys in order to regularize taxation. He also confiscated the weapons of all villagers, thereby reducing the likelihood of peasant rebellion, and moved vigorously to attract skilled artisans and businessmen to his new castle town. He undertook engineering projects to enlarge his castle, facilitate urban growth, and assure a water supply for the town populace. When Hideyoshi died in 1598, Ieyasu had the largest, most reliable army and the most productive and best organized domain in all Japan.
Hideyoshi’s death precipitated another power struggle among the daimyo, and Ieyasu, as the most powerful and most respected of Hideyoshi’s former vassal advisers, became the head of one faction in that struggle. The armies assembled in the autumn of 1600 at Sekigahara, some 50 miles (80 km) northeast of Kyōto, and in the ensuing battle Ieyasu’s eastern army triumphed.
Mastery of Japan of Tokugawa Ieyasu
This triumph left Ieyasu the undisputed master of Japan, and he moved swiftly to make his mastery permanent. Just as, in earlier years, he had consistently secured every military gain by adjusting administrative arrangements to fit his new needs, so, after the Battle of Sekigahara, he initiated an extensive project of shifting daimyo about. In the process he stripped many erstwhile enemies of their lands, placed a number of his allies in strategic locations near surviving enemies, and secured for himself and his most faithful vassals direct control of much of central Japan. Then, having secured the strategic heartland, he proceeded over the next several years to make his control more sure by issuing regulations and establishing supervisory organs to constrain daimyo, imperial court nobles, and clerics, as well as his own vassals.
In 1603 the powerless but prestigious imperial court, which over the years had dutifully assigned Ieyasu titles that reflected his growing power, appointed him shogun (generalissimo), thereby acknowledging that this most powerful daimyo in Japan was the man officially authorized to keep the peace in the emperor’s name. Two years later Ieyasu formally retired, left Edo for the more pleasant surroundings of his old home at Sumpu, and had the shogunal title assigned to his son Hidetada, intending thereby to assure that the title was recognized as a hereditary Tokugawa prerogative.
As shogun, and then as retired shogun, Ieyasu assumed responsibility for foreign affairs, a responsibility he seems to have welcomed. Because the Ming dynasty in China was faltering and was without much influence abroad, the conduct of Japanese foreign affairs, which would normally have been mainly with China, involved responding to Portuguese, Dutch, and English requests for trade and to Portuguese and Spanish requests for the right to proselytize in Japan. Ieyasu welcomed the trade, seeing in it a means of acquiring firearms, commercial profits, and general information.
By 1612, however, certain diplomatic incidents had convinced the old soldier that the missionaries were, potentially at least, part of a secular threat to the political order that he had so laboriously constructed, and in the next two years he took steps to stop missionary activity and discourage the practice of their religion. Ieyasu started a trend that his successors were to pursue for three decades, until Christianity was nearly eradicated in Japan and only a token foreign trade survived at Nagasaki.
Ieyasu’s daimyo transfers and political reforms of the years after Sekigahara had greatly strengthened his position, but he remained wary of the daimyo, and from 1604 until 1614 he had Hidetada keep them at work building and enlarging the castle at Edo. Thousands of ships and tens of thousands of men were employed for years on end hauling huge stones and great logs from distant points to Edo.
By the time of his death, Ieyasu had built the largest castle in the world, a sprawling network of broad moats, towering stone walls, long wooden parapets, huge gatehouses, and great fireproof warehouses full of rice and coin. Around it lay mansions in which the daimyo essentially lived as hostages. Edo became a bustling town and port, full of artisans, traders, clerks, and labourers.
Elimination of remaining rivals
This great construction effort left Ieyasu stronger, and the cost involved left the daimyo much poorer. Yet Ieyasu still did not feel that his family fortunes were secure, for he knew full well that the undoubted military might of the Tokugawa family must evolve into undoubted political right. Although Hidetada was shogun, that did not necessarily settle the question of rightful authority, because Hideyoshi had been survived by a son, Hideyori; and, even as he was growing up in his great castle at Ōsaka, the boy gradually acquired more warrior followers and began to appear as a real threat to Tokugawa legitimacy.
By 1614, however, many of the powerful former followers of Hideyoshi had died, and Ieyasu apparently felt that he could safely undertake to destroy this last potential rival. After sufficient tension had developed, he mobilized his armies, and in two desultory and unimpressive campaigns, the old warrior finally reduced the great castle at Ōsaka and destroyed its inmates. He then made more territorial adjustments favourable to the Tokugawa forces and returned again to his home at Sumpu. A year later, in 1616, he sickened and died, having accomplished what a century of warriors had attempted and failed: he brought enduring preeminence to his own family and a lasting peace to Japan.
Nagoya
Nagoya, capital of Aichi ken (prefecture), central Honshu, Japan, and one of the country’s leading industrial cities. It is located at the head of Ise Bay.
The history of Nagoya dates from 1610, when a great castle was erected by the Owari branch of the powerful Tokugawa shogunate. After the Meiji Restoration (1868), which marked the end of shogunal government, Nagoya continued as a commercial centre. The development of Nagoya’s port, especially after World War II, and the advantages of the city’s central location and abundant hydroelectric power from the rivers of central Honshu stimulated the growth of heavy industry. The traditional manufactures of timepieces, bicycles, and sewing machines were followed by the production of special steels, chemicals, oil, and petrochemicals, as the area’s automobile, aviation, and shipbuilding industries flourished.
Several railways, including the high-speed Shinkansen (“New Trunk Line”) railway service running between Ōsaka and Tokyo, converge on Nagoya. The city is linked to other countries through its port, from which canals lead inland to industrial areas, and by Nagoya Airport, on the north side of the city.
Nagoya abounds in cultural assets. Educational institutions include Nagoya University (1939), Nagoya Institute of Technology (1949), and Nagoya City University (1950). An important landmark is Nagoya Castle, originally built in 1610–12 but destroyed by fire during World War II; it was rebuilt in 1959. The Tokugawa Art Museum preserves the collection of the Tokugawa family. The Atsuta Shrine and the nearby Grand Shrine of Ise are the oldest and most highly esteemed Shintō shrines in Japan. Other institutions include Citizen Hall, Aichi Cultural Centre, Chūnichi Hall, and Misono Theatre. Higashiyama Park is noted for its zoological and botanical gardens. Pop. (2005) 2,215,062; (2010) 2,263,894.