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1550 to 1600
This is one of my favorite periods in Japanese history. It is a period of great strife - but also of great change and growth. The key events in this period are:
1560 - Oda Nobunaga, a great samurai, takes power
1568 - Nobunaga takes control of Kyoto
1582 - Mitsuhide murders Nobunaga, then Toyotomi Hideyoshi kills Mitsuhide
1598 - Hideyoshi dies
1600 - Tokugawa Ieyasu is in charge and begins an empire
Up until this period of time, there were a large number of feudal warlords, called Daimyo, who fought with each other for power and land. There were no firearms at the time, so warfare involved sword battles and archery. There were 2 different emperors both claiming to be in control of the situation. The daimyo often led extravagant lives and imposed incredibly high taxes on their peasants. The peasants had enough of this and began rioting.
Two of the key warriors of the pre-feudal era were Uesugi Kenshin (1530-1578) and Takeda Shingen (1521-1573). Their main periods of warfare were from 1553-1568. They decided to each choose a best warrior and set them in single combat. Uesugi won that fight and took control.
Oda Nobunaga - 1534-1582
A brutal warlord who did manage to gather up 1/3rd of the Japanese empire before he was slain. He was taking control in 1560 and gained more and more land up until his death in 1582.
Toyotomi Hideyoshi - 1537-1598
Toyotomi was Oda's advisor and loyal right until Oda's murder. Toyotomi was the wise advisor in the operation, and avenged Oda's death. He led invasions against Korea and even waged war against China. He went insane in 1598.
Ieyasu Tokugawa - 1543-1616
Ieyasu was the young, valiant soldier in the trio. He loyally stayed by Oda's side and was upset when he wasn't the one to avenge his master. After a bit of squabbling he worked closely with Toyotomi up until Toyotomi lost control - at which point he stepped in to take over. His family ruled Japan for the next 250+ years.
