THE THREE UNIFIERS
NOBUNAGA’S QUEST TO UNIFY JAPAN WOULD BE COMPLETED, FIRST BY HIS GENERAL HIDEYOSHI, AND THEN BY HIS EQUALLY REMARKABLE ALLY IEYASU
After defeating Imagawa in 1560, Nobunaga went on to subjugate a third of the country. Following his death in 1581, his loyal general, Toyotomi Hideyoshi completed his campaign, conquering the Shimazu of Kyushu, and the mighty Hojo of Kanto, prompting the northern provinces to surrender. He rewarded loyalists with land, and uprooted troublesome clans from their homelands. Meanwhile, having forced the shogun to abdicate for monkhood, he ruled under the authority of his own martial prowess. He later had himself adopted into the Fujiwara clan, so he could serve as imperial regent, before installing a puppet emperor.
Rolling out a series of sweeping land surveys, he reformed taxes, rounded up weapons from all farmers and banned peasants from leaving their villages. He took steps to legally segregate the various classes of warriors, craftsmen, merchants and peasants, and religious institutions too were placed under his central authority. In 1592, drunk on power, he launched an ill-fated invasion of Korea hoping to conquer China, before dying in 1598.
After winning the battle of Sekigahara, his successor, Ieyasu was finally named shogun. The Tokugawa regime implemented even stricter centralisation of authority, micromanaging every aspect of society – from clothing to entertainment – and violently persecuting Christians. As villagers flocked to the city, life became increasingly formalised, as the Tokugawa oversaw more than 250 years of peace.