Tokugawa Ieyasu (1541-1616)

When Toyotomi Hideyoshi passed away, he left his five-year old son Hideyori as his heir. He assigned five of his most trusted allies to protect the boy until he was of age to rule. Chief among these five protectors was Tokugawa Ieyasu, who had been in the inner circles of both Oda Nobunaga and Hideyoshi. Being in such proximity to such influential men had made Ieyasu very powerful; in terms of annual income (measured in rice), he earned over twice the amount of the second most powerful daimyo in Japan.

Shortly after Hideyoshi's death disagreement arose within the five chosen protectors, and the group soon splintered into two factions, each claiming to act in Hideyori's best interests. On one side was Ieyasu and on the other was Ishida Mitsunari, with the other daimyo choosing their sides carefully. Ishida was not of a warrior background, however, and Ieyasu won the support of most of Hideyoshi's samurai. The animosity between the two groups increased and battle ensued.

The conflict ended with Ieyasu's victory in the Sekigahara War of 1600. He was now left in a very favorable position from which he could quickly increase his power. The Tokugawa lineage can be traced back to the ancient Minamoto, so Ieyasu had a definite claim to the posiion of shogun (unlike Hideyoshi, who rose from a peasant family). In 1603 he was named the first shogun of the Edo Period, and proceeded to further his influence. He moved his capital to Edo, where he reinforced the defenses at Edo castle and built a solid defensive network around the city. He appointed a new Bakufu, (known as the Edo Bakufu or the Tokogawa Bakufu), and the restoration of the military government was complete.

And what of Toyotomi Hideyori, Hideyoshi's son? From 1614 to 1615 Ieyasu laid seige to Hideyori and his army at Osaka castle. On June 2, 1615, the two sides clashed in the last battle ever fought between samurai armies. After a hard-fought struggle, the Tokugawa forces managed to break through into the castle. Seeing that all was lost, Hideyori and his mother committed seppuku. Hideyori's eight-year old son was decapitated, thus ending the Toyotomi clan. Tokugawa Ieyasu died the following year, but unlike Hideyori before him, he died having first made sure that his son was firmly established as the next ruler of Japan.