1. Before Reunification Begins
Imagine, for a minute, that you are the ruler of a small piece of land. Your family has
ruled the land for generations, and while you technically report to a great emperor, the
fact is that you are really more fearful of someone called the Shogun. Now imagine that
suddenly, the Shogun comes along and asks that you give up all of your land to that
emperor and says it's for the good of the country. In exchange, you might get permission
to be a judge, or a governor, or some other job with some value. What would you do? If
you were a daimyo in Japan, your answer would probably be no.
For centuries, Japan had a largely united culture, but they were divided on who should be
in charge. While the emperor ruled from Kyoto, his power only reached the area a few
miles around where he lived. This allowed daimyos who were further away from the
capital to rule as they wished. It was the local daimyos who held the real power, not the
Emperor. This lasted until the 1560s.
2. Rising Military
Starting in the 1560s, powerful military leaders gathered their strength to defeat the
warring daimyos and unify Japan under a single ruler. Three important military leaders
were leading the way as allies: Oda Nobunaga, Toyotomi Hideyoshi, and Tokugawa
Ieyasu. Each of these men were good generals with large military forces under their
command.
As their power increased, they looked to the Emperor in Kyoto for approval. After
defeating another military leader's attack on Kyoto in 1560, Nobunaga attacked the
capital in 1568. He gained the support of the Emperor while there, and convinced
someone he knew to try to become the Shogun. This person would serve Nobunaga as his
puppet while in charge, but leave Nobunaga without a formal title. Because he had a
large army, and a willing ally as Shogun, Nobunaga was able to control the bakufu and
run a large part of Japan.
3. Early Battles
The first people to fight against Nobunaga were Buddhist monks, and other daimyo in the
Kyoto region. The Buddhists had their own armies that fought for control of Japan. They
had been in control of the government during the Nara Period (700-800 CE) but had not
had control of the government since then. Surrounded by his enemies, Nobunaga attacked
the Buddhists first, destroying their home base near Kyoto and killing thousands of
monks in 1571.
By 1573 he had: -defeated the Buddhists
-defeated the local daimyo who opposed him
-banished the former shogun from Kyoto
4. A Short Stay at the Top
After defeating these major enemies, Nobunaga built a seven-story castle that became a
symbol of Nobunaga's effort to unite Japan again. Nobunaga's power increased as he took
conquered enemies and let them join him in unifying Japan. He took control of one-third
of the provinces through warfare, and built up local governments to take money from
villagers and spend it on improving Japan.
In 1577 Nobunaga sent his general, Hideyoshi, to conquer twelve provinces in Western
Honshu. The war was taking longer than expected, so in 1582, Nobunaga led an army to
assist Hideyoshi. Along the way, he was assassinated. He had left his son behind as his
heir (the next in line to lead).
5. After the Death of Nobunaga
After destroying the forces responsible for Nobunaga's assassination, Hideyoshi was
rewarded by being made one of four guardians of Nobunaga's heir, who was too young to
rule. As a result, the guardians of Nobunaga's son were now the rulers of the Shogunate.
By 1584 Hideyoshi had eliminated the three other guardians, taken complete control of
Kyoto, and become the next major leader of Japan after Nobunaga.
A commoner by birth and without a surname, Hideyoshi was adopted by the Fujiwara
family. He was eventually granted the title kanpaku, which meant that he had direct
control of most parts of the government in all of Japan.
6. The Wars of Hideyoshi
In 1585, Hideyoshi continued the war of reunification in the islands of Shikoku and
northern Kyushu. In 1590, with an army of 200,000 troops, Hideyoshi also defeated his
last major rival, who controlled a large portion of eastern Honshu. The remaining enemy
daimyos gave up, and the reunification of Japan was largely complete. All of Japan was
controlled by Hideyoshi either directly or through his sworn vassals.
7. Safety with Peace?
Despite Hideyoshi's large armies and the fear he inspired in people, his position was far
from safe. He tried to protect himself from rebels by changing where untrustworthy
daimyo lived. He would place suspicious daimyos next to several daimyos he trusted so
that there would be people to help in case of rebellion. He also kept the wives and
children of the daimyos at his castle in Osaka to use as hostages if need be. Like other
Japanese rulers, he used marriages to form other alliances too.
Hideyoshi had also dreamed of conquering China. In 1592, with an army of 200,000
troops, he invaded Korea, which was an ally of China. His armies won some battles early,
but began to lose when they faced the combined Korean-Chinese army. When peace talks
failed, a second invasion began in 1597, but ended with Hideyoshi's death in 1598. The
attempt had failed.
8. The Last of the 3 Great Generals
A number of generals were appointed to guide Hideyoshi's hier after his death in 1598.
This had occurred after Nobunaga's death as well, and the results were the same. The
guardians fought over control of Japan while the heir was too young to lead himself. The
last of the Great Generals who had started the fight for the reunification of Japan, named
Tokugawa Ieyasu, eventually took control from the other guardians. This was done
through violence and warfare, but resulted in an extended period of peace for Japan.
After the fighting was over, Tokugawa Ieyasu claimed sole control over Japan for
himself. The Tokugawa Shogunate used the same methods of keeping enemies at bay as
Hideyoshi had, and remained in power until the Shogunate system was ended in 1867.
This was also the year that Canada became a country.