A New Feudalism Under Strong Leaders
Why were warriors fighting in Japan?
From 1467 to 1568, Japan entered a long, dark period of civil war. Powerful warriors took control of large areas of land. They were called daimyo. They became the most important powers in the country. The daimyo fought each other constantly to gain more land for themselves.
In 1568, one of the daimyo, Oda Nobunaga, took control of Kyoto. It was the site of the emperor’s capital. Another general, Toyotomi Hideyoshi, continued the work of bringing all of Japan under one rule. Using military conquest and clever diplomacy, he won that goal in 1590. He failed in his effort to capture Korea, however.
The work of unifying Japan was completed by Tokugawa Ieyasu. He became the shogun, or sole ruler. He moved the capital of Japan to a small fishing village named Edo. Later, it grew to become the city of Tokyo. While all of Japan was ruled by Tokugawa, the daimyo still held much power in their lands. Tokugawa solved that problem by forcing them to follow his orders. Tokugawa died in 1616. All of the shoguns to follow him were from his family. They maintained a strong central government in Japan. This system of rule, called the Tokugawa Shogunate, lasted until 1867.
