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Key Terms
Oda Nobunaga [1551-1582]
Hideyoshi [1582-1598]
Hideyori [1593-1615]
Tokugawa Ieyasu
Ishida Mutsinari
Sekigahara [1600]
Adams
Shogunate [1603-1868]
Osaka [1615]

I. The Unification
A. The Age of Warring States
1. Japan is in the midst of 7 years of civil wars between the states and it destroyed the unified Japan. In 1551, of
Japan͛s 66 provinces, there were 120 independent little states amongst them.
a. The states were at war with each other and caused this to be a period of anarchy and civil wars
ÿ Japan will later be re-unified and peace will be restored and the unity was largely the work of Oda
Nobunaga, Hideyoshi, and Hideyori
m Nobles had two names, the commoners only had one name
2. Oda Nobunaga takes over half of a province in 1551 and he was one of the 120 leaders who also controlled
territories in Japan, but, by 1582, Oda succeeds by unifying over half of Japan under his rule
a. How did Oda succeed?
ÿ He was incredibly ruthless
ÿ He was an awesome military leader
ÿ He realized before anyone else in Japan, the importance of new weapons (IE: Rifles, Cannons, Etc.)
b. Before Oda could conquer the rest of the lands, he was assassinated by one of his generals. He was
assassinated because if he was in charge, then no one else would be able to take power and also because he
was a horrid ruler and was disliked by his own army
ÿ After a brief civil war, one of his generals was able to take his place
B. Progress of Unification
1. Hideyoshi claims Oda͛s power after the brief civil war (one of the only commoners to have any role in Japanese
history really). Then, after taking over Oda͛s territories, Hideyoshi was able to conquer all of Japan.
a. This was the first time that all of Japan has been officially unified in more than a century. It allowed peace
and order to come about and Hideyoshi was the second of the three men to unify Japan
II. The Age of Japan
A. After Unification
1. Hideyoshi encounters a problem: ͞Who is going to take over when he dies?͟
a. Needs a successful person in power because when he dies there͛s a peaceful transfer of power and also be a
great ruler so that Japan isn͛t plunged back into anarchy and civil wars
b. He decides that his nephew will be his leader because he had no children of his own even when he had a
bunch of girls around him
ÿ In 1593, one of Hideyoshi͛s women gives birth to a boy (finally) and the boy͛s name is Hideyori
 m Hideyoshi orders his nephew͛s family to commit suicide to ensure no problems to Hideyori͛s
succession A success?
2. Hideyoshi becomes very sick in 1598 and passes away with cancer
a. Hideyoshi was terrified because Hideyori was only five years old, who is going to protect him? To make sure
he takes over? To follow his last dying wishes?
ÿ Hideyoshi knew that children at this age for succession would be in big trouble and have problems
ÿ Solution?
m Hideyoshi created a council of five regionsͶit͛s made up of the five most powerful men in Japan
B. The Council of Five Regions
1. The idea is to have these five people run Japan until Hideyori was old enough to take over the whole empire
himself and complete Hideyoshi͛s dynasty
a. Hideyoshi realizes that if you have five guys there͛s a check and balance but if there͛s only one, then there͛s
no opposition and buffer
ÿ Hideyoshi dies in 1598 and Hideyori is technically the ruler but the council of 5 region runs Japan on
Hideyori͛s behalf (at least until he is 15 or 16 years old)
m Unfortunately, things don͛t work out the way that Hideyoshi had planned it to work because
another powerful leader named Tokugawa Ieyasu
C. Tokugawa Ieyasu
1. A member of the council of the five regions and had been a long time ally of Hideyoshi
a. Since Hideyoshi died, Tokugawa is obviously the strongest person in Japan
ÿ Everyone says that Tokugawa should take over but he says that he doesn͛t want to take over
m People want to stop Tokugawa for many reasons: 1) they wanted to remain loyal to Hideyoshi, 2)
they knew that if Tokugawa took power, it would not be in their favor
2. In 1600, Japan becomes divided into two hostile groupsͶeast & west
a. Ishida Mutsinari led the group against Tokugawa
D. @

 (1600)
1. Both armies of the Ishida and Tokugawa had about 80K men fighting at Sekigahara
a. Ishida thinks that Tokugawa would only see a portion of the men from his army and it would cause
Tokugawa to believe that he outnumbered him and then the people hidden in the hills would then hit
Tokugawa͛s army from the side and behind as a surprise attack A victory to Ishida
ÿ Ironically, the people hidden in the hills were secretly in league with Tokugawa already (lolzz)
b. The plan goes as following, the people come out from the hills, but instead, they hit Ishida instead and it is
Tokugawa that wins the battle of Sekigahara
2. This gave Tokugawa the control of u of Japan!
a. Three years later in 1603, Tokugawa proclaims himself as the Shogun (Military and political leader of Japan)
III.The Age of Japan
A. The beginning of the Tokugawa Shogunate in 1603
1. Tokugawa establishes a new ruling dynasty and his descendents will rule until 1868
2. One slight problem:
a. Hideyori, what do we do with you? The older he gets, the more he reminds people of his father Hideyoshi
and Tokugawa believes that he can͛t let him grow up as he may become a threat to him
ÿ Tokugawa wants to make an excuse to get rid of Hideyori and in 1615, Tokugawa finally finds a reason
of why he should kill Hideyori
m In 1615, Hideyori made a big bell and on it he wrote the names of all the important Japanese leaders
including Tokugawa. One problem: Tokugawa͛s name was misspelled and said that it was dishonor
from Hideyori and declares war on Hideyori
B. In 1615, Hideyori was living at the Osaka Castle
1. One of the strongest fortified castles in Japan with huge walls
2. Tokugawa says that he won͛t attack Hideyori if he is willing to take down a portion of the wall
a. Tokugawa then does an attack anyway like a douche bag and Hideyori begs Tokugawa to spare him and his
family and this works because Hideyori married Tokugawa͛s granddaughter and their children are his great
grandchildren
ÿ His family is ordered to commit suicide anyway͙ heartless right?
C. At this time, the Europeans had already entered Japan and were already Japan
1. The Japanese already had all the technical innovations that the Europeans had as well and actually
manufactured many of these for themselves. They also had developed immunity to small pox already
a. The Europeans try to send missionaries to convert their population to Christianity
ÿ They were fairly successful͙ about 1.5 million or 5% of the population had converted
m Makes Tokugawa to be very concerned
m Makes people believe that he isn͛t loyal to the Japanese cultures but is only loyal to the things
outside of Japan
ÿ He didn͛t act against the Christians until later
2. In the age of 1600 at Sekigahara, there was a person named Will Adams that was shipped wrecked in Japan
a. Eventually Adams becomes good friends with Tokugawa and Adams tells all the bad things that the Spanish
people did to Tokugawa (IE: The Aztecs and Incas). As a result, Tokugawa and his successors try to stamp out
Christianity in Japan as a sign of hatred towards the Spanish
ÿ All Japanese Christians could either renounce Christianity, go into exile from Japan, or be executed
m Japan goes into an age of isolation to all outsiders (not just Europeans) and remains closed to the
outside world for the majority of the Shungate͛s rule and Japan is finally reopened by the United
States until later