Have you ever thought that modern Japanese emperors were not powerless public figures for the first time? Well, the emperors of medieval Japan were treated the same way by society. From 1192 to 1868, Japan was ruled by three different feudal governments called shogunates, led by shoguns. Shogun was the commander-in-chief of feudal Japan and held all the military power in his hands and was the true ruler of the country over the emperor and the royal family who resided in Kyoto. However, during the Ashikaga shogunate, the second shogunate, continuous civil wars occurred between the daimyo, feudal lords, which weakened the shogunate and the daimyo lost their loyalty. In 1467, the three leading daimyo “provoked the opening of hostilities of the Onin War in Kyoto,” which civil war then involved all daimyo in the provinces in an era of warring states that lasted from 1467 to 1603. Historians Japanese called it the Sengoku period. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay Toward the end of the Sengoku period, three daimyo had risen to power, they were Oda Nobunaga, Toyotomi Hideyoshi, and Tokugawa Ieyasu, and they were called the three great unifiers of Japan. Although Ieyasu only came to power in 1598, he did not want to suddenly become the shogun to rule Japan; instead, he had ambitions to take over as he became a loyal servant of Nobunaga, then transferred his loyalty to Hideyoshi after Nobunaga's death, and finally rebelled against the Toyotomi clan to conquer all daimyos who opposed him, uniting Japan and putting an end to Sengoku. period. Ieyasu made a major military alliance with Nobunaga, who was one of the most powerful daimyo in 1562, which marked the beginning of Ieyasu's rise to power as daimyo when he fought alongside Nobunaga and received Suruga province as a reward from Nobunaga . Nobunaga expanded the Oda clan's influence beyond Owari Province, the western half of modern-day Aichi Prefecture, conquering more and more daimyo who opposed him. By the end of Nobunaga's conquest, the Oda clan controlled all of central Japan and planned to expand westward. Ieyasu saw the potential to unite Japan in Nobunaga, which Ieyasu followed with absolute loyalty. For example, Ieyasu's son and wife were found under suspicion of treason, so Nobunaga asked Ieyasu to kill them shortly thereafter. Not only did Ieyasu not defend his son and wife, but he also forced them to commit suicide without hesitation. Ieyasu reacted to this incident with the words: “I bear Nobunaga no grudge. . .. As long as I'm stuck in conflict with [my enemy, Takeda Katsuyori] and depend on Nobunaga to support me, I can't challenge Nobunaga very well. It cannot be helped." Simply put, Ieyasu's dedication to defeating his enemy Takeda Katsuyori and gaining greater territorial control with Nobunaga's help had overwhelmed his paternal bond with his son and wife, who were killed without clear evidence of betrayal. Since Nobunaga was the most powerful daimyo of the time, even if Ieyasu wanted revenge for his family, Nobunaga would have crushed Ieyasu's army and the Tokugawa clan quite quickly, and Ieyasu's dream of uniting the Japan would fade away. Therefore, for Ieyasu to preserve his glory and power as daimyo, his only choice was to follow Nobunaga's intolerable demand and act as a faithful servant despite Nobunaga's ruthless leadership and control over his followers. subjects However, Nobunaga's glory did not last when one of his retainers, Akechi Mitsuhide, rebelled against Nobunaga in 1582 and forced him to commit suicide.Honnoji, Kyoto, also known as the Honnoji Incident. Ieyasu's army was not powerful enough to conquer Japan at the time of Nobunaga's death, so he submitted to Toyotomi Hideyoshi, the successor of the Oda clan, and continued to gain political and military power while no one tried to stop him. Upon the death of Nobunaga, Hideyoshi took power and his followers, including Ieyasu, then Hideyoshi completed Nobunaga's work of uniting Japan by conquering the rest of Honshu, Shikoku, and Kyushu in 1590. Subsequently, Hideyoshi sought to reform society after decades of warfare. and passed laws that unintentionally helped Ieyasu become a ruling daimyo since Ieyasu was strategically staying out of Hideyoshi's domain to prevent conflict. Ieyasu regarded Hideyoshi as one of his formidable opponents after Nobunaga, and Ieyasu tried to avoid any conflict with Hideyoshi by being a loyal servant of the Toyotomi clan (Turnbell 53). For example, Hideyoshi redistributed daimyos to several provinces throughout Japan, and appointed his trusted daimyos in the provinces of the Kansai region surrounding Osaka and sent Ieyasu further east to the Kanto region. Furthermore, Ieyasu agreed to exchange his home province Mikawa for the Kanto provinces in eastern Honshu with Hideyoshi since Mikawa was close to Osaka. Kanto was far from Hideyoshi's home province of Osaka and Hideyoshi, although it would have been safe from Ieyasu's potential threat. Ieyasu moved his capital from Mikawa Province to eastern Honshu and established his new capital in Edo, today's Tokyo. Not only did Ieyasu's migration prevent him from having a direct conflict of interest with Hideyoshi, but the areas of the Kanto Plain and Tokyo Bay also provided resources for the Tokugawa clan to prosper. Although Ieyasu was forced to leave Mikasa, separating from Hideyoshi was his only way to strengthen his army without suspicion of treachery and then being eliminated by Hideyoshi's superior army (Turnbell 53). Furthermore, moving Ieyasu to the east had benefited him, and Hideyoshi's policies that sought to stabilize society also helped Ieyasu become a threat to Hideyoshi in later times. For example, Hideyoshi issued the edict of Katana Kari (Sword Hunt) to remove swords from civilians and to prevent his newly united empire from falling into a state of war again since one of the main causes of the Sengoku period was that people of the lower hierarchy were having too much power and losing control. The edict stated that all farmers in the country were prohibited from owning weapons, otherwise they would be put on trial. Not only that, if the samurai failed to enforce the law and punish violators, they would lose the rights and profits from the farms. The edict further stated that if farmers concentrated exclusively on agriculture and renounced the temptation to rebel against the state, their descendants would prosper on the land they cultivated and bring peace, happiness, and security to all people. Furthermore, with Hideyoshi's Sword Hunt going into effect, Ieyasu did not have to worry about the local peasants rebelling against him as the new leader of the Kanto region because Kanto was controlled by Ieyasu's enemies. Since Hideyoshi had removed his greatest threat, Ieyasu, from his sight, launched campaigns to conquer Korea and then Ming China when Ieyasu remained strategically in Kanto and did not lose his military strength in Korea. While Ieyasu strengthened his army without major disturbance, Hideyoshi's army was destroyed by Korea with the help of China, so Hideyoshi died shortly after. Hideyoshi's failure dramatically weakened one of his most capable generals, Ishida, 2012.