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ANIMATED Three Unifiers of Sengoku Japan - The Life and Death of Nobunaga, Hideyoshi & Ieyasu — Transcript

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0:00This video is the first episode of the
0:02three unifiers of Japan series, where I
0:05will follow the lives of the three
0:07unifiers of Sengoku Japan, Oda Nobunaga,
0:10Toyotomi Hideyoshi, and Tokugawa Ieyasu.
0:14The Sengoku era is a very chaotic period
0:16in Japanese history, where too many
0:18conflicts and exciting events are
0:20happening simultaneously all across the
0:23land. So, by looking at it through their
0:25perspective, we can provide a more
0:27coherent stream of narrative for new
0:30comers to the Sengoku history. The
0:32format is the same as my Romance of the
0:34Three Kingdoms Summarized series, where
0:36I will take an eagle's eye view of the
0:38events starting from the birth of
0:40Nobunaga up to the end of the Sengoku
0:42era. So, if you think certain events
0:44should be expanded on, then feel free to
0:47comment, and I may consider doing a
0:49separate video on it. Anyway, without
0:51further ado, let's look at the life of
0:54young Nobunaga.
0:59In the year 1534, Oda Nobunaga, the man
1:03who would be known as the first unifier
1:05of Japan, was born in the province of
1:07Owari to the Oda clan. His childhood
1:10name was Kipposhi. In ancient Japan, it
1:14was customary for people to change their
1:15name once they reach adulthood, and
1:18throughout their lifetime, they may
1:19change their name multiple times for
1:22various reasons. To prevent confusion, I
1:25will just refer to these historical
1:26characters with their most commonly
1:28known names. Nobunaga was born right in
1:31the middle of the Sengoku period. A
1:33fool, a genius, tyrant, artist,
1:36iconoclast, he would grow up to be a
1:38mesmerizing bundle of contradiction that
1:40you can't peel your gaze away from. The
1:43death and destruction he would inflict
1:45throughout his conquest of Japan also
1:47laid the foundation of its
1:48reunification.
1:50Charismatic, yet dangerously sharp
1:52around the edges, he was a special
1:54product of his time. Sengoku period
1:57Japan was a dangerously chaotic world
1:59where the concept of gekokujo permeated
2:02through the land. Gekokujo means the
2:05low, those in lower position, overcoming
2:08those in higher position. Here is a
2:10quick explanation of how the politics of
2:12Japan at the period work. On paper, the
2:15ruler of Japan was the Japanese emperor.
2:18Under him was the military leader of
2:20Japan, the shogun. However, in reality,
2:23the shogun held the de facto power, and
2:26the emperor was relegated to performing
2:28ceremonial tasks as the nation's
2:30figurehead. He was the spiritual leader
2:33of Japan who claimed direct lineage from
2:35the sun goddess Amaterasu. So, that's
2:38why nobody but the member of the
2:40imperial family could take this
2:41position. Throughout Japanese history,
2:44the imperial family often came under the
2:46control of the shogun. Even the shogun
2:48themselves would fall under the control
2:51of another party. During the Kamakura
2:53shogunate, it was the shogun regent, or
2:55shikken, from the Hojo clan. And during
2:58the time of the Ashikaga shogunate,
3:00after the Onin War, it was under the
3:02control of the Hosokawa clan. The Onin
3:06War marked the start of the Sengoku
3:08period. Due to the weakening power of
3:10the central authority, various local
3:12lords and daimyos began to ignore the
3:15shogunate and exert more control within
3:17their own region. They set their own
3:20economic, agriculture, and military
3:22policies, essentially becoming mini
3:24kings within their own domain. They
3:27would also periodically fight among
3:29themselves to expand their territory.
3:31But, because of all the backstabbing and
3:34instances of gekokujo, the weaker lord
3:36overcoming the more powerful, all
3:38progress keep getting reseted, and it
3:41seemed as if the end of the Sengoku
3:43period was nowhere in sight. Oda
3:46Nobuhide, the father of Nobunaga, was
3:48one of such minor lords. He wasn't big
3:51enough to be called a daimyo, but he
3:54certainly tried his best to change that
3:56fact. Sadly, however, he just wasn't
3:59that successful of a leader. He had some
4:01victories against the neighboring
4:02Matsudaira clan and Imagawa Yoshimoto,
4:05but later on, he was successively
4:07defeated by his neighbors, Saito Dosan
4:10and Imagawa, in 1547 and 48,
4:14respectively. To broker peace, he
4:16arranged the marriage of his son,
4:18Nobunaga, to Dosan's daughter, Lady No.
4:22In the battle against the Imagawa and
4:24Matsudaira alliance, he kidnapped the
4:26son of the Matsudaira leader as hostage
4:29and threatened to kill him unless the
4:31Matsudaira clan switched sides. This is
4:33when Matsudaira Hirotada famously said
4:36that if Oda killed his son, then it
4:38would only prove his loyalty to Imagawa.
4:41If he didn't kill him, then he still won
4:43anyway. Thus, Oda Nobuhide was defeated
4:47by Imagawa Yoshimoto, and the 5-year-old
4:50child was brought back with them to
4:52Honshoji Temple, where he would be kept
4:54as hostage. The boy's name was
4:56Matsudaira Takechiyo. In the future, he
4:59will change his name to become Tokugawa
5:01Ieyasu, the last unifier of Sengoku
5:04Japan. As if fate had brought them
5:07together, the three unifiers of Japan
5:09came in close proximity of each other
5:11during their childhood. At the time,
5:14Nobunaga, who was residing at Owari, was
5:1614 years old. Hideyoshi, who went under
5:20the name Kinoshita Tokichiro, the son of
5:22a humble soldier working for the Oda
5:24clan, was 12. And the hostage, Ieyasu,
5:28was six. However, they were soon
5:31separated. Not much was known about
5:33Hideyoshi's early life. His various
5:35biographies contradicted each other.
5:38According to some sources, in 1551, he
5:41left his home to seek work in another
5:43province. As for Ieyasu, he was
5:46transferred to Imagawa the same year by
5:48Nobunaga to save his stepbrother from an
5:51Imagawa siege. But, don't worry, they
5:54would eventually be reunited under the
5:56same banner. For now, let's focus on
5:59young Nobunaga. Nobunaga was given the
6:01best samurai education they could
6:03provide. He even took the initiative to
6:05learn the art of Hojutsu, musket
6:08marksmanship. In 1543, Portuguese
6:11merchants had made contact with Japan,
6:14and in the process, they had introduced
6:16Portuguese muskets.
6:18The Japanese then adapted it to their
6:20arsenal very quickly. Its effectiveness
6:23in battlefield had yet to be proven, but
6:25the brilliant Nobunaga was an early
6:27adopter of this technology.
6:30Despite all his noble samurai training,
6:32Nobunaga acted like he was a feral
6:35child. He dressed funny, wore his hair
6:37funny, and broke every code of decorum.
6:40Thus, he was called Owari no Otsuke, the
6:43fool of Owari. Well, what do you expect?
6:47He was sent to the battlefield when he
6:49was just 13 years old, and in that time
6:52period, it wasn't even an uncommon
6:54thing. When his father died in 1552, he
6:57threw incense powder at his altar and
7:00just left. Unlike his father, the fool
7:03Nobunaga did not have complete authority
7:05over the Oda clan. Soon after, his
7:08father's vassal left him for Imagawa,
7:11and when he tried to attack the traitor,
7:13he was miserably defeated. His younger
7:16brother, Nobuyuki, was also more favored
7:19by the Kiyosu branch of the Oda clan.
7:21This created internal conflict within
7:23the clan itself. To remonstrate against
7:26Nobunaga's erratic behavior, his
7:28stepfather, Hirate Masahide, committed a
7:31special form of seppuku called kanshi to
7:34protest his young master's behavior. Not
7:37long after, Nobunaga scored some
7:39victories against the Kiyosu faction.
7:42Nobunaga's erratic behavior caught the
7:44interest of his father-in-law, Saito
7:46Dosan. In one occasion, in 1553, Dosan
7:51decided to test his son-in-law and
7:53invited him to a meeting. He was going
7:55to observe Nobunaga, and if he really
7:57turned out to be a fool, then he would
7:59capture and humiliate the boy. However,
8:02as Nobunaga approached, he was treated
8:05to a dazzling sight of a properly
8:06dressed young man, and most importantly,
8:09a well-armed troops of pikemen and 500
8:12archers and gunners. The pikes they had
8:15were long, much longer than Dosan's
8:18pike, probably to complement their
8:20artillery. Nobunaga always had a knack
8:23for innovation. Did Hirate's seppuku
8:26change him? Or had he always been
8:28pretending to be a fool?
8:30Dosan suspected that it was the latter.
8:33In this dog-eat-dog world where
8:35patricide and fratricide are as common
8:37as autumn leaves, Nobunaga couldn't be
8:40too careful. If he wanted to survive the
8:42growing might of powerful daimyos, such
8:45as Mori Motonari to the west, the Tiger
8:48of Kai, Takeda Shingen, and Dragon of
8:50Echigo, Uesugi Kenshin, to the east, and
8:53the nearby Imagawa Yoshimoto, then he
8:55better get his clan affairs sorted out
8:57quick. Since the death of his father in
9:001552, all the way to 1559, Nobunaga
9:04concentrated all his efforts into
9:06defeating the opposition within his own
9:08clan and defending against periodic
9:10Imagawa incursion. In the process, he
9:13killed his own uncle in 1555, and even
9:16his own brother, Nobuyuki, in 1557.
9:20To be fair, the boy was given a second
9:22chance after he was defeated in the
9:24previous year, but he just won't learn
9:26his lesson and launched a second
9:28rebellion. Sometime in 1558, Hideyoshi,
9:32who had somehow ended up working for
9:33Imagawa, rejoined Nobunaga's army as a
9:36lowly soldier. Nobunaga probably didn't
9:39even notice this monkey-faced kid at the
9:41time. As for Ieyasu, he became an
9:44increasingly valued vassal of Imagawa.
9:47While Nobunaga was consolidating his
9:49leadership, Imagawa Yoshimoto had been
9:51expanding rapidly and succeeded in
9:54forming an alliance with the Takeda and
9:56Hojo clan. Thus, Yoshimoto's rear was
9:59well protected, which means he could now
10:02march all the way to the capital, Kyoto,
10:04to either replace the shogun or put him
10:07under his control. In summer 1560, just
10:101 year after Nobunaga managed to
10:12consolidate power, he would face his
10:14greatest challenge yet, the old enemy of
10:17his family, Imagawa Yoshimoto, boasting
10:20an army of 45,000,
10:22and his Matsudaira allies will be
10:24bulldozing his way through Owari all the
10:26way to Kyoto. 45,000,
10:29is that for real?
10:31Could Nobunaga stand a chance against
10:33this impossibly large army?
10:41In 1560, Tokugawa Ieyasu, who was still
10:44using the name Matsudaira Motoyasu at
10:46the time, was part of the Imagawa
10:48Yoshimoto army. He was sent to conquer
10:51Marune Castle, so he was nowhere near
10:53the famous upcoming battle of Okehazama.
10:56As the main Imagawa army approached,
10:58Nobunaga received news of his enemy's
11:00movement.
11:02So, how would this young commander react
11:05to Imagawa's army, which boasted to be
11:0745,000 strong? Apparently, nothing. His
11:11retainers advised him to shore up his
11:13defenses, but to their frustration, he
11:16just remained quiet and brushed them
11:18off. "When fortune runs out, the wits
11:22dim." The elders thought that he must
11:24have been at his wit's end. The night
11:27passed uneventfully. At the crack of
11:29dawn, however, as more news of
11:31Yoshimoto's assault arrived, he promptly
11:34stood up and danced to a passage of his
11:36favorite Noh play, Atsumori. After that,
11:39he buckled up his armor, took his
11:41breakfast while standing, and rode out
11:42to war with 2,000 men. There is a thin
11:46line between genius and madness, but
11:49looking at his behavior, his retainers
11:51probably didn't know which side their
11:53master was on. Then, Nobunaga dispelled
11:56all doubts by purposefully exposing his
11:58army by riding past the paddy fields,
12:01letting his enemy see just how small his
12:03number was. It was insanity. The other
12:06commanders tried to stop him, but they
12:08just couldn't. He then sent a small
12:11contingent of 300 soldiers to make a
12:13frontal charge. Obviously, it was a
12:16futile effort, but it gave them the
12:19impression that the desperate Oda army
12:21was trying to mount a suicidal frontal
12:23attack. After driving off this puny
12:26band, the Imagawa army then got really
12:29cocky. What could Nobunaga and his small
12:32army do anyway? Ha! While they were
12:35distracted, Nobunaga actually used the
12:37opportunity to circle around the hills
12:40towards the Imagawa main camp. As if
12:42gods were on his side, a sudden hail
12:44storm came to obscure his advance. The
12:47humongous Imagawa army was mostly made
12:49up of facade and hot air. Modern
12:52scholars have estimated that he had
12:54approximately 25,000 men, instead of the
12:5745,000 which he boasted. Additionally,
13:00his army at the time was overstretched,
13:03so his main camp was vulnerable to a
13:05sneak attack. As the sky cleared, they
13:08suddenly heard Nobunaga shouting, "Now,
13:10attack! Attack!" Caught by complete
13:13surprise, the unprepared Imagawa
13:15soldiers scattered and ran. Only a group
13:18of bodyguards accompanied him on his
13:20retreat. "That's Yoshimoto's flagstaff.
13:22Go for it." Nobunaga joined his men in
13:25desperate pursuit, until finally, they
13:28got him. Two warriors from the Oda army,
13:30Hattori Koheita and Mori Shinsuke, went
13:33for their quarry, and the latter managed
13:35to struck him down. Upon hearing this
13:38news, the rest of the Imagawa army
13:39crumbled and retreated. This seemingly
13:42impossible victory was the stuff of
13:45legend, and it won Nobunaga tremendous
13:47fame. However, it is not the time to
13:50relax yet. Nobunaga's sandal bearer
13:52advised, they have to remain vigilant
13:54and be on the defensive as they wait for
13:57the potential fallout in the Imagawa
13:59camp. The advice turned out to be right.
14:02Ieyasu, who received news of Imagawa's
14:04defeat, was devastated at first, but
14:07then he saw an opportunity. The Imagawa
14:10clan hadn't been treating the Matsudaira
14:12clan well. Yoshimoto's son and
14:14successor, Ujizane, was an utter
14:16incompetent who would rather spend his
14:18time on tea parties rather than
14:20political affairs. So, he saw it as a
14:22chance to take his ancestral land back
14:24from them. However, a lot of his
14:26Matsudaira family members were held
14:28hostage by the Imagawa, so he had to
14:31approach this carefully. Nobunaga
14:33decided to make peace with Ieyasu
14:35because he needed a buffer against the
14:37Takedas. Ieyasu gladly accepted the
14:40alliance. Over the next few years,
14:42Ieyasu will be fighting the Imagawas,
14:45while Nobunaga faces the Saito clan.
14:48And this is where I will introduce
14:49multiple event timelines. The Sengoku
14:52history can be very complicated because
14:55multiple events are happening at the
14:56same time all across Japan. So, to keep
14:59track of these events, I will use this
15:01graphical cue and jump between the lines
15:04to help keep track of all that's
15:05happening. Now, let's go back to Ieyasu
15:08for a bit. Ieyasu was lucky enough to
15:10have the fearsome Honda Tadakatsu at his
15:12side and the commander of ninjas,
15:15Hattori Hanzo. Hattori may or may not
15:18have been a ninja himself, but it was
15:20recorded that he commanded ninjas, and
15:23he used them to abduct Imagawa clan
15:25members, and they were then exchanged
15:27with Matsudaira clan members. In 1564,
15:31however, his fight with the Imagawas was
15:33interrupted by a conflict with the local
15:35Ikkō-ikki in Mikawa. The Ikkō-ikki was
15:38an autonomous movement that sprang up
15:40across the land. They were made up of
15:42peasants, samurais, merchants, and
15:45various other people that by Buddhist
15:47warrior monks who resisted the daimyos'
15:49control. Ieyasu won the battle, but more
15:52of them will create annoyance for the
15:54various daimyos across the land. After
15:57this affair, Ieyasu formed an alliance
16:00with the Takeda clan in 1568 and
16:03promised to share the Imagawa provinces
16:05between themselves. Their story will be
16:07continued in the next episode. Now,
16:10let's go to Nobunaga and Hideyoshi's
16:12side and look at their conquest of Mino,
16:14the Saito clan's province. To know the
16:17context, we have to go back a couple of
16:19years before Imagawa's invasion. In
16:221558, Saito Dōsan, who was Nobunaga's
16:25father-in-law, came into conflict with
16:27his own son, Saito Yoshitatsu, who was
16:30rumored to be an illegitimate child.
16:33Before the battle between the two
16:34started, Dōsan requested Nobunaga's
16:37reinforcement and made him the heir to
16:39his province. But unfortunately,
16:41Nobunaga couldn't arrive in time, and
16:43Dōsan was killed in battle. Many of his
16:46vassals then defected to Nobunaga, while
16:49Akechi Mitsuhide moved elsewhere to seek
16:52new patronage. There's a bit of a gap in
16:55Akechi's history, but he will eventually
16:57end up working for the Asakura clan and
16:59become part of another important event
17:02timeline. Luckily for Nobunaga,
17:04Yoshitatsu died of leprosy in 1561, and
17:08he was replaced by another incompetent
17:10son, Saito Tatsuoki. During the Mino
17:13campaign, Hideyoshi, who still had the
17:15name Kinoshita Tokichiro, was the one
17:17who did most of the work, and he proved
17:20himself to be one of Nobunaga's most
17:22valuable vassals. When the Saito sent a
17:25sword master as a spy, he got into an
17:27argument with Hideyoshi. The sword
17:29master argued that a short spear was
17:32better at close quarters, but Hideyoshi
17:35disagreed. After putting their theories
17:37to the test, it emerged that with a
17:39properly coordinated group, longer
17:41spears are more effective. This
17:44impressed Nobunaga, and Hideyoshi was
17:47then promoted to a general. As for the
17:49sword master, he was made his
17:51subordinate. To double the insult, he
17:53was then uncovered as a spy, but with
17:56Hideyoshi's gift of sharp wit and silver
17:58tongue, he actually managed to convert
18:00the spy to be his double agent. To be
18:03honest, if he could convince his
18:05beautiful wife, Nene, to marry a
18:07monkey-faced freak with six fingers in
18:09one hand like him, then there is nothing
18:11he couldn't talk people into. In fact,
18:14his greatest contribution to the Oda
18:16campaign was convincing many of the
18:18Saito vassals into defecting to their
18:20side. He even managed to convince the
18:22Saito strategist who managed to repel
18:24Nobunaga's assault many times, Takenaka
18:27Shigeharu, also known as Takenaka
18:30Hanbei.
18:31According to legend, Hanbei successfully
18:33launched a coup to conquer Saito's
18:36Inabayama Castle with only a little more
18:38than a dozen men. He then relinquished
18:40control and left to become a hermit
18:43because he found his lord, Tatsuoki, to
18:45be useless. His seclusion, however, was
18:48short-lived because Hideyoshi managed to
18:50recruit him after three visits.
18:53Another one of Hideyoshi's specialty was
18:56castle building. In 1566, Nobunaga
18:59tasked him to build a castle at the edge
19:01of the enemy's territory to provide
19:03their army with a base. And what do you
19:06know? Hideyoshi did it overnight.
19:09According to some version of the story,
19:11he had actually pre-built part of the
19:12castle and let the river carry it
19:14downstream and assembled it overnight.
19:17But regardless of the method used, the
19:19sudden appearance of this castle
19:21demoralized the enemy. For this
19:23achievement, he was granted a new name
19:26by Nobunaga, Hashiba Hideyoshi. The
19:29surname Hashiba came from Nobunaga's
19:31other two loyal retainers, Niwa Nagahide
19:34and Shibata Katsuie. Yet, the battle
19:37couldn't be easily won as Inabayama
19:39Castle was too well defended. But then,
19:42in 1567,
19:44Hideyoshi was told of a winding goat
19:46path by a local that led to the back of
19:48the castle. So, in the middle of the
19:50night, he and a group of men used a
19:53passage to infiltrate the castle. Then,
19:55just before dawn, he launched his
19:57attack. He blew up the enemy's gunpowder
19:59room and threw the gates open for
20:01Nobunaga to charge in. After the
20:03resulting bloodbath, Nobunaga finally
20:06conquered Mino. After his victory,
20:08Nobunaga then changed the castle's name
20:10to Gifu Castle and made it his new base.
20:14The name Gifu, or Keys Mount, came from
20:17China's Mount Qi, the mountain of on
20:20which the founder of Zhou Dynasty
20:22announced his intention to conquer the
20:24Shang Dynasty. So, this practically
20:26meant that Nobunaga had signaled his
20:28intention to conquer the capital, Kyoto.
20:32He also started using the seal Tenka
20:34Fubu, which meant applying martial law
20:37to all under heaven. Semantically,
20:39during this period, under heaven only
20:41meant the five Kinai areas around Kyoto.
20:44So, he wasn't thinking of the whole
20:46archipelago at the time. But, don't
20:48worry, he will eventually get more
20:50ambitious.
20:51Anyway, what he needed then was only the
20:54pretext to march to the capital, which
20:56soon presented itself. Here, I will
20:59introduce a new event timeline, which
21:01eventually led to Nobunaga's march to
21:03the capital. After the Hosokawa clan,
21:06the Ashikaga shoguns came under the
21:08control of the Miyoshi clan. And after
21:10the death of the Miyoshi clan leader in
21:121564, Ashikaga Yoshiharu started to
21:15exercise more autonomy. And well, his
21:18puppeteers didn't like that. So, he was
21:21killed in 1565 by Matsunaga Hisahide and
21:25other Miyoshi conspirators. In 1568, a
21:28cousin of the previous shogun was
21:30installed as the new puppet. Meanwhile,
21:33the murdered shogun's brother, the
21:35future shogun Ashikaga Yoshiaki, sought
21:37the help of various daimyo's to correct
21:39this injustice. But, when he went to
21:42Rokkaku, he was almost assassinated. At
21:45Wakasa, they refused to help him. And at
21:48Echizen, the Asakura clan politely
21:50declined the honor of becoming his
21:52protector. Luckily, over there, he met
21:55Akechi Mitsuhide, who knew someone who
21:57could help him, the rising star Oda
22:00Nobunaga. It didn't take much to
22:03convince Nobunaga to support Yoshiaki's
22:05bid to become the shogun, and he liked
22:07Akechi's bearing. So, he employed him
22:09right there and then. This is something
22:11old Noby will regret later, but that's a
22:14problem for the next episode. For now,
22:17he had to focus on his march to the
22:19capital. Fortunately, he had made peace
22:21with the Azai clan in 1564 by marrying
22:25off his sister to their daimyo, Nagamasa
22:28Azai. So, there was one less problem to
22:30worry about. Since Nobunaga had become
22:32so strong, he just defeated those who
22:34resisted him easily. And for those he
22:37couldn't, they were bribed off by
22:39Hideyoshi and his silver tongue. Thus,
22:42before the end of the year, Nobunaga
22:44entered Kyoto with his army of 50,000
22:46veteran soldiers and drove the Miyoshi
22:49clan away. Since Miyoshi's puppet shogun
22:52had died of illness before he entered,
22:54Nobunaga installed Ashikaga Yoshiaki as
22:57the 15th Ashikaga shogun without any
22:59issues. To stay in everybody's good
23:02graces, he kept his force in check and
23:05prevented them from looting and
23:06pillaging. But, dealing with a shogun
23:09and emperor certainly wasn't an easy
23:11task. Because now, he also had to worry
23:14about the emperor's debts, and he even
23:16had to build a new castle for his
23:18shogun.
23:19Well, at least he get to control the
23:21shogun now. Or so he thought. But,
23:24apparently, the new shogun wasn't very
23:26happy with Nobunaga pardoning his
23:28brother's killer and the way he tried to
23:31marginalize his authority by signing an
23:33agreement that would turn him into a
23:35mere figurehead. He tried to bribe
23:37Nobunaga with empty titles, such as
23:40deputy shogun, but Nobunaga just won't
23:43budge because he preferred to hold real
23:45power.
23:46What could the shogun and the other
23:48daimyo's do to stop him anyway? Huh.
23:51Well, he would find out soon enough when
23:54the anti-Nobunaga coalition was formed
23:56against him.
24:02Nobunaga's conquest of Kyoto in 1568 was
24:06an easy one. What's difficult was
24:09keeping everything in order.
24:11The imperial court's finances were in
24:13shambles and there was a lot of
24:15administrative work to do. So, this is
24:17where Nobunaga the conqueror became
24:20Nobunaga the admin. There were three
24:23major policies that Nobunaga enacted,
24:25which contributed to his future success.
24:28Rakuichi Rakusa, his free market policy,
24:31which reduced trade barriers.
24:33Erizeni-rei, monetary policy that
24:35restricts trade to good quality
24:37currency. And Heino-Bunri, separation of
24:41farmers and professional soldiers, which
24:43allowed him to raise army even during
24:46harvest season. He did not invent these
24:48policies, but he was clever enough to
24:51re-implement the right ones. In the
24:53process, he also befriended a few
24:56interesting individuals, like Luis
24:58Frois, who would write early foreign
25:00accounts on Japan and Nobunaga's life.
25:03Legend says he got onto Nobunaga's good
25:06side by presenting him with konpeito
25:08candies. Nobunaga also met important tea
25:12masters at the commercial industrial
25:14town of Sakai. One of them was Sen no
25:17Rikyu. Rikyu will join him in the future
25:20and become a very important figure in
25:22the world of Japanese tea ceremony.
25:24During this period, tea ceremonies and
25:26utensils are very important part of
25:29diplomacy and reward system for
25:31samurai's due to the massive amount of
25:33prestige they bring. Nobunaga even
25:36launched a meibutsu-gari, a hunt for
25:38famous objects, and many of these
25:40objects are famous tea ceremony
25:42utensils. In 1569, when Nobunaga
25:46returned to Gifu, the capital was
25:48attacked by the Miyoshi clan and their
25:50accomplices. He quickly returned and
25:52easily drove them away. But, this
25:55incident highlighted the fact that not
25:57all clans were happy with Nobunaga's
25:59hegemony. So, to reveal who his
26:02opponents were, he invited all the
26:04daimyo's to the capital. Those who
26:06didn't come were obviously against him.
26:09And sure enough, they revealed
26:11themselves. The Asakura clan refused to
26:14go, mainly because they looked down on
26:16Oda clan's low status, despite their
26:19military superiority. But, to further
26:21complicate the matter, other powerful
26:24daimyo's, such as Takeda Shingen and
26:26Uesugi Kenshin, also refused to come.
26:29Their boycott were apparently encouraged
26:31by his very own puppet shogun, Ashikaga
26:34Yoshiaki.
26:35So, he's got a rat in his own rafters,
26:38it seemed.
26:40Unfortunately, due to political
26:42complexity, he can't kill his own
26:44shogun. So, he will just start by
26:46eliminating the Asakura's. As Nobunaga
26:49fought the Asakura's, he suddenly
26:51received a pack of beans with strings
26:53tied to both ends. It was from his
26:55sister, apparently. It was a warning
26:58from her. The Azai clan decided to
27:00reinforce the Asakura's, and Nobunaga
27:02was caught off guard. He thought that
27:04the Azai's were on his side because
27:06their daimyo married his sister. But, as
27:08it turned out, they decided to
27:10prioritize their traditional alliance
27:12with the Asakura's instead. With the
27:15help of the Rokkaku clan and the Ikki
27:17monks, Nobunaga was forced to retreat.
27:20The Battle of Kanegasaki was one of his
27:23most embarrassing defeats. On the other
27:25hand, Hideyoshi gained fame by covering
27:28Nobunaga's retreat. The anti-Nobunaga
27:30alliance or network was a loose group
27:33with rotating membership, cheered on by
27:35the pesky shogun Ashikaga Yoshiaki. He
27:39had to take them out one by one, but
27:41because there are so many parties
27:43involved, he had to jump between his
27:45projects. This story could get
27:47convoluted easily, so I've prepared this
27:50chart here.
27:51Nobunaga was as much a conqueror as he
27:54was a spreadsheet salaryman. The most
27:56troublesome element in the alliance at
27:58the time was those dreaded Ikki Buddhist
28:01sects. They have branches everywhere,
28:03and their fanaticism made them dangerous
28:06enemies. They are not as independent as
28:08people would have thought them to be
28:09either because the abbot, Kennyo Kosa,
28:13was a relative of Takeda Shingen by
28:15marriage, and he would often do his bro
28:17a solid by raising rebellion at certain
28:19provinces for his convenience. Just to
28:22clarify, unlike in other places,
28:25Buddhist monks in many Japanese schools
28:27of Buddhism are usually allowed to
28:29marry.
28:30Anyway, good old Noby needed to take
28:32care of stuff one thing at a time. So,
28:34he challenged the Asakura's and Azai's
28:36again. And this time, he's got Tokugawa
28:39Ieyasu and his reinforcements at his
28:41side. Around this time, Ieyasu had
28:44finally settled on his name, and he had
28:46finished his conquest of the Imagawa
28:48clan. So, he could send 8,000 soldiers
28:51to Nobunaga. But, the thing is, he had
28:53also recently betrayed his alliance with
28:56the Takeda clan, and he's working with
28:58the surrendered Imagawa's. So, he will
29:00need to go back pretty quickly once he's
29:01done.
29:02Thus, the Asakura's and Azai's were
29:05smashed and taught a lesson. In this
29:07battle, Nobunaga's vassal, Shibata
29:10Katsuie, earned the nickname Oni Shibata
29:13for winning a series of brilliant
29:14victories against his enemies.
29:17Next, he turned to the cathedral
29:19fortress, Ishiyama Hongan-ji, one of the
29:22main bases for the Ikki, headed by abbot
29:25Kennyo Kosa. This thing was tough, and
29:29Nobunaga's siege failed. But, he left a
29:32contingent to watch over the temple.
29:35This continuous siege will last for over
29:3810 years, one of the longest siege
29:40during the Sengoku period, if not the
29:42longest.
29:44If he can't take down Ishiyama
29:45Hongan-ji, then he would catch those in
29:47other provinces.
29:49So, he sent Katsuie to their home
29:51province of Owari and attacked the
29:53Nagashima Ikkō-ikki complexes. But, he
29:56failed. Nobunaga started to get closer
29:59to Luís Fróis because now both of them
30:02hated the Buddhists.
30:04In 1571,
30:06Nobunaga himself led an invasion to
30:08Mount Hiei and in the process he
30:11destroyed the famous Enryaku-ji temple
30:13and killed thousands of civilians. For
30:16this atrocity, he was deemed the enemy
30:19of Buddha.
30:20The title Demon King only came later
30:22because of his letter exchange in 1572
30:25with Takeda Shingen. According to Luís
30:28Fróis, Takeda Shingen signed his letter
30:31with the title Tendai Seizen Shimon
30:33Shingen. He claimed to be a protector of
30:36Buddhists. So, defiantly, Nobunaga
30:39signed his reply as Dairokuten Mao. The
30:42Sixth Heavenly Demon King, a righteous
30:45demon, which according to certain
30:47Buddhist sects mythology, clouds the
30:49Buddhist practitioners mind with desire.
30:52And that's how he came to be popularly
30:54known as Demon King because of his
30:56sarcasm.
30:58Well, the old tiger of Kai, Takeda
31:00Shingen, wasn't too happy with this
31:02little upstart's attitude and he decided
31:04to teach this twerp a lesson. But, to
31:07get to Nobunaga, he had to first get
31:10through Ieyasu. So, he made his move
31:12with his powerful cavalry and in early
31:151573, he engaged this ally of Nobunaga
31:19in the Battle of Mikatagahara. And oh
31:22wow, it wasn't pretty for the defenders.
31:25In this battle, Ieyasu pulled a good
31:28trick on the Takeda army by leaving the
31:30castle gates open, making them wary of a
31:32trap and buying enough time for the Oda
31:35reinforcements to arrive. It was
31:37basically the empty fort strategy, but
31:40still Ieyasu's army was ultimately
31:42defeated and forced to retreat.
31:45Anti-climactically,
31:46Shingen's advance came to an abrupt end
31:49because he was hit by a sniper when he
31:51carelessly approached Noda Castle. On
31:54his deathbed, he said that the only one
31:56who could defeat Oda now was his old
31:59rival, the Dragon of Echigo, Uesugi
32:02Kenshin.
32:03But, this warrior monk daimyo will enter
32:06the stage later. Nobunaga still had a
32:08lot of regular Ikkō-ikki monks he needed
32:10to eradicate. And it wasn't an easy job.
32:15His second siege of Nagashima also
32:17failed and the shogun was emboldened to
32:20openly rebel, only to be quickly driven
32:22out of Kyoto. He's just that useless.
32:26Nobunaga can't kill his own shogun. But,
32:28he didn't need to anyway since he was
32:30becoming increasingly less influential.
32:34With that nuisance out of the way,
32:35Nobunaga started to make good progress
32:38against his enemies and all this
32:40betrayal he had experienced through life
32:42turned him increasingly brutal.
32:44In 1573, when he destroyed the Asakura
32:48and Azai, he tricked his own sister to
32:50reveal her deceased husband's heir and
32:53mercilessly ordered Hideyoshi to kill
32:55his nephew. On the next year, Nobunaga
32:58finally prevailed against the Nagashima
33:00Ikkō-ikki and burned 20,000 men, women
33:03and children in the aftermath. Then, he
33:06just kept on winning. In 1575,
33:09he defeated the Takeda clan and Takeda
33:12Shingen's successor at the Battle of
33:13Nagashino. It was a historic fight where
33:16guns were finally proven to be effective
33:18weapons of war in Japan. In 1577,
33:22due to a succession dispute between the
33:24neighboring clans, Nobunaga finally came
33:26into conflict with the legendary Uesugi
33:29Kenshin. And well, he deserved to be
33:32called a legend all right because like a
33:34dragon, he excelled in the use of river
33:37and rain to his advantage and he soundly
33:39defeated Nobunaga. Interestingly,
33:42Kenshin died not long after due to
33:44illness. According to some legend, he
33:47was assassinated by a ninja who was
33:49hiding in a cesspit. Ugh, what a way to
33:52go.
33:53Takeda Shingen and Uesugi Kenshin were
33:55the two daimyos Nobunaga did not defeat
33:58outright in the battlefield and their
34:00semi-mysterious deaths fueled the
34:02imagination of many writers for
34:04centuries to come. In the same year,
34:06Hideyoshi was sent to Himeji Castle to
34:09start his campaign on the Mori clan,
34:11which had been providing Hongan-ji with
34:13supplies since 1575.
34:16His siege would cut off their supplies.
34:18So, in 1580, after 10 long years,
34:22Hongan-ji finally surrendered. There
34:24were practically no more serious
34:26competition against Nobunaga after that.
34:28In 1581, he crushed a small village in
34:32Iga province with overwhelming force.
34:34Their resistance became the basis for
34:36Iga ninja myths and in 1582, he
34:40destroyed the remnants of the Takeda
34:42clan. Easy.
34:44Next, he would go on to fulfill
34:45Hideyoshi's reinforcement request for
34:47his campaign against Mori. But,
34:50suddenly, Nobunaga's rise came to a
34:52crashing halt on 21st of June, 1582.
34:56While residing within Honnō-ji Temple,
34:58accompanied by his page, Mori Ranmaru,
35:01and former African slave, Yasuke,
35:04Nobunaga would become the target of a
35:05coup led by Akechi Mitsuhide.
35:08The enemy is at Honnō-ji. Yep, this is a
35:12classic line you always hear in dozens
35:14of tiger dramas and Jidaigeki featuring
35:16this coup. You just got to have it.
35:19Against Akechi's force of 13,000
35:21soldiers, Nobunaga's entourage of over
35:24100 was no match for them. But, why? Why
35:27would Akechi do this?
35:29This is perhaps the biggest mystery of
35:31the Sengoku era. There are many
35:34speculations over the reason for his
35:35betrayal, but the smoking gun was never
35:38found. Some records said that Nobunaga
35:41had caused the death of Akechi's mother
35:43when she was being held hostage by the
35:45Hatano clan and Nobunaga killed the
35:47Hatano clan leader, thus dooming her.
35:50But, the source of this story was
35:53considered to be unreliable. It was also
35:55unlikely that he did it just because he
35:57was chastised by Nobunaga for serving
36:00Ieyasu rotten fish at a banquet. His
36:03true motive had remained a mystery ever
36:05since. But, many historians, such as
36:08Yamagishi Ryoji, suggested that there
36:11might have been a mastermind behind the
36:12coup because the whole process just went
36:15too smoothly. The first suspect of this
36:18four-centuries-old whodunit is the Mori
36:20clan. If Hideyoshi had acquired his
36:23reinforcements, then they would have
36:25been defeated. Another one is the
36:28various Buddhist sects. Nobunaga's
36:30protection of Christianity probably
36:32threatened them. Then, there is Tokugawa
36:34Ieyasu.
36:36Earlier, in 1579, Tokugawa was forced to
36:39kill his wife because she had been
36:42accused of conspiring against Nobunaga.
36:45It wasn't known if the allegation was
36:46true, but he had to do it to prove his
36:49loyalty to Nobunaga. Then, he also
36:52killed his son, Matsudaira Nobuyasu, to
36:55prevent him from taking revenge. At the
36:57time, Ieyasu was also in the city of
37:00Sakai after Nobunaga invited him for a
37:02tour of his Azuchi Castle.
37:05He also carried a lot of money with him
37:06at the time because he was buying guns
37:08for his army. The profits of the
37:10merchants of Sakai were also threatened
37:13by Nobunaga because of the Nanban trade
37:15with the Portuguese. However, he later
37:18had difficulty going back to the
37:19province because of the incident. So, it
37:22probably wasn't him. Then, there is
37:24Hideyoshi, the man who gained the most
37:26after Nobunaga's death. It was also his
37:29request for reinforcements that gave
37:31Akechi the cover to gather an army for
37:33the coup. But, what was his motive?
37:37Hideyoshi was constantly insulted by
37:39Nobunaga as monkey or bald rat and due
37:42to his low birth status, it was
37:44difficult for him to climb the ranks
37:46despite Nobunaga's meritocratic
37:48policies. The fact that Hideyoshi was
37:51able to strike a truce with the Moris
37:53and return to Kyoto very quickly was
37:55also very suspect. Then again, Hideyoshi
37:58and Akechi didn't get along. Nobunaga
38:00had been pitting the two against each
38:02other to make them compete for his
38:04approval.
38:05Recent excavation have revealed that the
38:07newly built Azuchi Castle by Nobunaga
38:10had a room that resembled the Imperial
38:12Throne. Historian Yamagishi Ryoji
38:15suggested that Nobunaga might have
38:17planned to bring the emperor to his own
38:19castle and out of fear of losing their
38:21influence, the court nobles at Kyoto
38:24might have conspired with Mitsuhide to
38:26get rid of Nobunaga. Then again, we
38:29don't have enough solid proof for the
38:31over 50 theories related to Akechi's
38:33betrayal, but history is evolving. When
38:37enough evidence is uncovered, we may
38:39finally get the true answer. Anyway,
38:42before the end of the coup, Nobunaga
38:44went into a quiet part of the temple to
38:46commit seppuku with his attendant,
38:49Ranmaru. His remains were lost to the
38:51fire.
38:52As Nobunaga's followers were overrun,
38:54Yasuke was left alive. Mitsuhide was
38:57reported to have said, "This black man
39:00is a beast. He doesn't know anything and
39:02he is not even Japanese. So, don't kill
39:05him."
39:06Was that Akechi's way of showing mercy
39:09or the ultimate humiliation for not
39:11allowing him to die for his lord? We
39:14don't know. Much of Akechi's life was
39:17shrouded in mystery anyway.
39:25News of Nobunaga's death reached
39:27Hideyoshi while he was besieging the
39:29Mori clan and boy was he shocked to
39:32learn that his lord Nobunaga, along with
39:34his elder son, Oda Nobutada, and his
39:37page, Ranmaru, were all killed in the
39:39coup. Oh boy, this is bad. Hideyoshi was
39:43actually expecting a reinforcement from
39:45his boss against the Moris. So, this is
39:48not a pleasant surprise for him at all.
39:51Then again, Hideyoshi is not the type
39:53who would refuse to take advantage of a
39:55crisis.
39:57The events that will take place in the
39:58next few days will cement Hideyoshi's
40:00reputation as Sengoku's fastest
40:02speedster. So, what he did first was to
40:05negotiate a truce with the Moris. With a
40:08bit of bluff and bluster, they were
40:10tricked into it. Then he quickly Europe
40:13beat his way back to Kyoto area. He
40:15forced marched his troops at an average
40:17rate of 25 miles a day. As he approached
40:20Akechi, he regrouped with the scattered
40:22former vassals of Nobunaga and his army
40:25size swelled. On the night before the
40:27confrontation with Akechi, Hideyoshi
40:29sent ninjas to harass and burn the enemy
40:32camp. So, on the next day, he defeated
40:35the traitor easily. Akechi was killed by
40:38a brigand as he was escaping the
40:39battlefield. All this was accomplished
40:42in mere 13 days. That's why Akechi's
40:45reign was called three days rule, which
40:48wasn't really accurate because it was
40:50actually 13 days since Honno-ji. But,
40:53it's catchier. As mysterious as his life
40:56was, there were also quite a lot of
40:58uncertainty about Akechi's death.
41:00According to some ancient conspiracy
41:02theories, Akechi survived and disguised
41:05himself as the famous Buddhist monk,
41:07Tenkai. But, there are hardly any
41:10evidence for this theory. This sort of
41:13wild speculation is actually quite
41:15popular among storytellers. In fact,
41:17there is also a theory that Minamoto no
41:20Yoshitsune escaped his death and went to
41:22the Asian mainland to become Genghis
41:25Khan. There was also a pretty popular
41:27manga of Nobunaga surviving the coup at
41:30Honno-ji and went to Manchuria to meet
41:33Nurhaci, the patriarch of the Manchu
41:35people who will eventually conquer China
41:38and establish the Qing Dynasty. These
41:40are all interesting speculative fiction,
41:42of course, but just remember that no
41:45serious historian believed in any of
41:47these. Anyway, with Akechi gone, it's
41:50time to divvy up Nobunaga's domain. Here
41:53are some really important tips that you
41:55can also learn if you have ever cut into
41:57an inheritance dispute. Because Nobunaga
42:00did not leave a will, his vassals had to
42:02prove themselves to be their legitimate
42:04successor. The first thing that you can
42:06do is to prove your merit. Hideyoshi did
42:10this by avenging Nobunaga's death and
42:12defeating Akechi. Then, you can also
42:15show piety. Hideyoshi did this by
42:17holding a grand funeral for Nobunaga.
42:20And in the case the deceased has
42:22descendants, then you have to become
42:24their guardian or regent. When Hideyoshi
42:27and the other vassals argued about which
42:29of Nobunaga's descendant should inherit
42:31the domain, the senior Oda clan vassal,
42:34Shibata Katsuie, backed the third son,
42:36Oda Nobutaka. Look, look, look. All
42:39their names are really similar, so I'm
42:41using this number here to reduce the
42:43confusion. Anyway, Hideyoshi initially
42:46backed Nobunaga's second son, but since
42:49his candidacy was unpopular, he pulled
42:51out his secret weapon and switched his
42:54support to Nobunaga's grandson by the
42:56eldest son, Oda Hidenobu. The council
42:59eventually supported Hideyoshi's new
43:01candidate. But, the third son, Nobutaka,
43:04wasn't happy with the decision, so he
43:07approached Shibata to back his claim
43:09with his army. And to strengthen their
43:11ties, he married off his own aunt,
43:13Oichi, to him. The beautiful Oichi had a
43:16lot of admirers. It was rumored that
43:19even Shibata, who was almost twice her
43:22age, was one of her admirers. It wasn't
43:25known if she had any feelings for him,
43:27but at least the couple shared something
43:29in common. They hated Hideyoshi. So,
43:33inevitably, the two clashed in 1583, and
43:37Hideyoshi, who outnumbered his opponents
43:39almost two to one, won easily.
43:42This will be Hideyoshi's trademark
43:44strategy: heavily outnumber the opponent
43:47and crush them. For this embarrassing
43:50defeat, Shibata committed seppuku. Even
43:53though Oichi and her daughters were
43:55promised safe passage by Hideyoshi,
43:57Oichi chose to join her new husband in
44:00death rather than fall into the hand of
44:02that lecherous monkey.
44:04Poor Hideyoshi. It was rumored that he
44:07also fancied her. That's why he
44:10guaranteed her family's safety. But now,
44:13he will never have her.
44:15Then again, her eldest daughter, Chacha,
44:18was just as beautiful and even resembled
44:20her. So, he groomed her to be his future
44:23concubine. Soon enough, Hideyoshi came
44:26into conflict with the second son and
44:28his champion, Ieyasu. Ieyasu had been
44:31characteristically patient and stayed
44:33out of this kerfuffle as long as he can
44:35while building his own force. But, he
44:38was eventually enticed to join the
44:40succession dispute. Their war lasted
44:42from 1584 to 85. Even though Hideyoshi
44:46outnumbered Ieyasu, he could not
44:48overcome the latter. So, in the end,
44:51Hideyoshi did what he did best and
44:53settled things through diplomacy.
44:55Hideyoshi and Ieyasu were at peace
44:57again, and the second son, Nobukatsu,
45:00lived out the rest of his life in
45:02relative peace. Having neutralized this
45:05formidable rival, Hideyoshi then
45:07returned to his climb to power. As
45:09regent to Nobuhide, Hideyoshi's power
45:12had time limit, so he used the temporary
45:14resources at his disposal to gain as
45:17much status and influence as he could.
45:20He shamelessly bribed Konoe Sakihisa,
45:22who was just one year older than him, to
45:24adopt him as his son so that he could
45:27gain rank. Eventually, he established
45:29his own clan, Toyotomi, and became
45:32Toyotomi Hideyoshi. In the next year, in
45:351586, he finally became Kanpaku, the
45:39emperor's regent, the highest rank he
45:41could attain. Unfortunately, he couldn't
45:44become shogun because the position was
45:46reserved to those who belonged to the
45:48Minamoto clan. So, with this prestigious
45:51rank and immense amount of resources and
45:53military might, Hideyoshi's complete
45:55conquest of Japan was inevitable. In the
45:58process, he also gained the service of
46:01the Sanada family. One of its member was
46:03Sanada Nobushige, who was more popularly
46:06known as Sanada Yukimura. In the future,
46:10he will be known as the greatest warrior
46:11in Japan.
46:13Date Masamune, a famous daimyo with the
46:15nickname One-Eyed Dragon from northern
46:18Japan, also had no choice but to submit
46:20to Hideyoshi for the meantime. By 1591,
46:25Hideyoshi completed the unification of
46:27Japan, and he became so influential in
46:29his own right there wasn't even a need
46:31for him to get rid of Nobunaga's
46:33grandson. Even though he let the boy
46:35live, it didn't mean that Hideyoshi was
46:38a good person. In fact, he became
46:41progressively more authoritarian and
46:43more obsessed with his
46:44self-aggrandizement.
46:46Sometime during his unification, he
46:48commissioned a portable golden tea room
46:51that he brought with him everywhere. In
46:531587, he banished Christian missionaries
46:56from the southern island of Kyushu
46:58because he was worried that they might
47:00turn into another threat like the
47:01rebellious Ikkō-ikki Buddhist monks. To
47:04be fair, they were complicit in the
47:06slave trade of Japanese citizens and
47:09even eat horses and oxen, which were
47:11Buddhist taboos. This was just the
47:13beginnings of the restriction on
47:15Christians, though, because traders were
47:17still allowed to keep their religion.
47:19Eventually, it will get much worse. In
47:221588, Hideyoshi launched a sword hunt to
47:26disarm the peasants. The collected
47:28swords were melted into a giant Buddha
47:30statue. He also enacted other laws to
47:33prohibit piracy and private fighting
47:35among the peasantry. In 1591, he ordered
47:39the tea master, Rikyu, to commit
47:41seppuku. And after that, he turned his
47:44attention away from tea ceremonies and
47:46into Noh theater. He even commissioned a
47:49play about his life and career and
47:51played the main role himself. In 1592,
47:54he issued his population census edict
47:57and initiated a nationwide census. After
48:00that, no newcomers to any village during
48:03or after 1590 would be permitted to
48:05remain, effectively locking people to
48:08their own land. This reduced petty
48:10crime, but it also severely curtailed
48:13the social mobility of the population.
48:16All these policies may seem unrelated,
48:18but if you know what he had been
48:20planning, then everything would make
48:22sense. Hideyoshi, in all his hubris, had
48:25intended to conquer China. In fact, he
48:28had been negotiating with Joseon Korea
48:30to guarantee them a safe passage to
48:32China. His banishment of the Christian
48:35from Kyushu also increased his income
48:37from duties, helping him to fund the
48:39expedition. Not all the weaponry he
48:42collected from the sword hunt were
48:43turned into the Buddha statue, so he
48:46could use the spare iron for the
48:48upcoming war. The reason for Rikyu's
48:50death was a mystery, but one theory
48:53suggested that he was opposed to the
48:55invasion. Finally, the census
48:57information gathered gave him a good
48:59idea on the population number and how
49:02much soldier he could draft for the
49:04invasion. But, this is insanity. Why
49:08would he want to conquer China? Is that
49:10even possible? Japan was just around
49:131/20th the size of Ming Dynasty China.
49:16What was Hideyoshi thinking?
49:23The idea to conquer China originally
49:25belonged to Oda Nobunaga. It wasn't
49:28known how serious Nobunaga was because
49:31he only talked about it at a drinking
49:32party. Nevertheless, Hideyoshi had
49:35already stolen his boss's domain anyway,
49:37so he might as well steal his idea. The
49:40reason why Hideyoshi would do this is
49:43still a mystery, but there are a few
49:45possible reasons proposed by historians.
49:48It could even be a combination of these.
49:51First reason,
49:52well, he might just be an unstable
49:54megalomaniac. Being a lowborn nobody who
49:58managed to climb to the highest position
49:59in Japan, a kampaku, his conquest to
50:02conquer China would seem like a modest
50:04step up in comparison. Besides, since he
50:07was not a member of the imperial family
50:09of Japan, he could not become the
50:11emperor of Japan. The only way for him
50:13to improve his station is to conquer
50:16China and became the emperor of a
50:18massive empire larger than Japan itself.
50:22It is also possible that he saw some
50:24similarity between himself and the first
50:26emperor of Ming Dynasty, Zhu Yuanzhang.
50:29The latter was a peasant rebel who
50:31overthrew the Mongol Yuan Dynasty and
50:33became an emperor. Hideyoshi even
50:35boasted that he would lead the invasion
50:37himself, which he never did. The grief
50:41from the death of Hideyoshi's heir,
50:43Tsurumatsu, could also be the trigger
50:45for this late middle-age crisis. In
50:48early 1592, Hideyoshi appointed his
50:51nephew, Toyotomi Hidetsugu, as his heir
50:54and kampaku, while he took the position
50:56of retired regent, taiko, who still hold
50:59de facto power. Another theory is that
51:03after unifying Japan, Hideyoshi wanted
51:05to weaken the daimyo who might threaten
51:07him. So, he sent them overseas to get
51:10rid of their warriors to weaken them.
51:12Writers such as Samuel Hawley supported
51:15this theory. On the other hand, the
51:17daimyo might be interested in this idea,
51:19too, because, well, during that era of
51:22Japan was measured in koku, the amount
51:25of rice a piece of land could produce.
51:27And since Japan had limited land area,
51:30their wealth was capped. So, the
51:32expansion into the mainland had its
51:34appeals. The problem with this, however,
51:37was that the daimyo on the eastern side,
51:39such as Tokugawa Ieyasu, who had been
51:42transferred to Edo, was mostly spared
51:44from the cost of this war. And it will
51:47benefit him in the future battle of
51:49Sekigahara, when Japan will be divided
51:51into the eastern and western warring
51:53factions. A more modest theory proposed
51:56by historian Yamakishi Ryoji is that
51:59Hideyoshi just wanted to dominate the
52:01east and southeast Asian trading region.
52:04He did not need to conquer and occupy
52:06all of China. As long as he could defeat
52:08them and force them to sign a treaty to
52:10get access to Chinese products and
52:12trade, he could become extremely rich.
52:15The Ashikaga shogunate used to be part
52:17of the Chinese tributary system. That's
52:20the prerequisites for international
52:22trade with ancient China. But since
52:24Japan can't be seen as a tributary, they
52:27reinvented the shogun as the king of
52:29Japan, and the tribute was made through
52:32him instead of the emperor.
52:34It is all Asia raid, of course, and the
52:36bureaucrats from both sides pretty much
52:39just played along because there is just
52:41too much money to be earned. However,
52:44the wako attacks on Joseon Korea and
52:46Ming China ended the trade. The wakos
52:49were Japanese pirates who raided the
52:50coast of Joseon and Ming for hundreds of
52:53years, but by that period, only 30% were
52:56real Japanese and 70% were their
52:59followers. Some of the followers were
53:01even Portuguese, but the majority were
53:04commonly thought to be Chinese. One last
53:06theory I want to mention is Hideyoshi's
53:09worry about the growing influence of
53:11European power in the region. Spain, for
53:13example, had just colonized the
53:15neighboring island of Philippines, and
53:171565 was the start date of the Spanish
53:20colonization period. But Spain actually
53:23had greater ambition than this. In fact,
53:26Francisco de Sande, the governor of
53:28Spanish Philippines, wanted to conquer
53:30China, too, and he had sent proposals to
53:32do so to King Philip the Second twice.
53:35He said that the people of China were
53:38generally unarmed and poor marksmen, and
53:41their archipelagoes were worthless. So,
53:44he thought he could have done it easily.
53:46Ultimately, his proposals were rejected.
53:49So, rather than let Spain conquer China
53:51and let Japan fall in the domino, it
53:54might be rational for Hideyoshi to
53:55conquer China first. But is it even
53:59possible for him to win? Well, there was
54:01definitely a chance.
54:03At the time, the Japanese samurai and
54:05population were hardened warriors who
54:07had been fighting endless wars for over
54:09a century through the Sengoku period.
54:11They had also produced a massive amount
54:14of guns, more than any country in the
54:16world at the time. As for China, it was
54:18dealing with two confrontations
54:20simultaneously at the time, Boso
54:22rebellion to the southwest and the Ordos
54:24campaign to the northwest. So, it's got
54:27its hands tied up. Not only that, the
54:30emperor at the time, Wanli, had stopped
54:32going to court and abandoned his duties
54:35because of disagreements with his own
54:36ministers about his heir selection. But
54:39before Hideyoshi could get to China, he
54:41had to go through Korea, and this is
54:44where he would see trouble. Joseon Korea
54:46ignored his request for passage into
54:48China, and that meant war. In April
54:521592, Hideyoshi launched his invasion to
54:55Korea. There will be a total of two
54:57invasions. The first one is called Imjin
54:59War in Korea and Bunroku War in Japan.
55:02The second invasion was called the
55:04second war of Jeongyu in Korea and
55:07Keicho no Eki in Japan. Both invasions
55:09are often grouped together as just Imjin
55:11War. For the Chinese, it is just a
55:14continuous Wanli Joseon War, named after
55:17the reigning emperor. In less than a
55:19month, the capital of Joseon, Hanseong,
55:22which is Seoul today, was taken. Due to
55:25a long period of peace, the Korean army
55:27just wasn't trained or prepared enough
55:29for the onslaught brought by the
55:30battle-hardened invaders and their guns.
55:33However, the Joseon navy had powerful
55:35cannons and a lot of experience from
55:37combating the wako pirates.
55:40With Admiral Yi Sun-sin commanding the
55:42navy, more Japanese ships were prevented
55:44from landing, and their supply line was
55:47virtually cut off. Facing various
55:49resistances, the Japanese army was
55:51bogged down, and with the arrival of
55:53Chinese reinforcements, the invasion
55:55turned into a quagmire. For those of you
55:58who are interested in the details, don't
56:00worry, I will cover this war and the
56:01story of Admiral Yi in a future series.
56:05All you need to know for now is that the
56:07war just wasn't going well. In 1594, due
56:11to the stalemate, they started the
56:13negotiation process, and most of them
56:15returned to Japan. Meanwhile, back home,
56:18Nobunaga's niece, who Hideyoshi groomed
56:20to be his concubine, unexpectedly gave
56:23birth to a son, Hideyori. This glad
56:26tidings delighted Hideyoshi, but not his
56:29nephew, Hidetsugu, who suddenly became
56:31redundant. Soon, rumors about him
56:34committing unjust murders started to
56:36spread mysteriously, and in 1595,
56:40Hidetsugu was accused of plotting a
56:42coup, and he was ordered to commit
56:44seppuku. Hideyoshi then brutally
56:46executed around 30 of his nephew's
56:48family members and prevented
56:50retaliation. This act of brutality, in
56:53addition to the heavy loss from his
56:55invasion, started to alienate him from
56:57everyone, and he was pretty much seen as
57:00a complete tyrant. In 1594, the
57:03legendary thief, Ishikawa Goemon, was
57:06captured by Hideyoshi and executed by
57:09boiling. In some version of the legend,
57:11he tried to assassinate the tyrant
57:13Hideyoshi, but he was captured in the
57:15process. Goemon's name appeared
57:18historically, but his exploits were
57:20mostly legends that cannot be verified.
57:23Goemon is a popular legendary figure who
57:25stole from the rich to give to the poor,
57:27and he's often featured in popular media
57:29and video games. In one version of the
57:32story, he died in a pot of boiling oil
57:34while holding his son above his head.
57:37The Chinese envoys soon arrived to
57:39negotiate peace, but due to the language
57:41barrier and the lack of interpreter,
57:43they could only communicate through
57:45writing. And since Hideyoshi could not
57:47read much kanji, he didn't know what was
57:50discussed and was led to believe that he
57:52had won the war and the upper hand in
57:54the negotiation. Thus, he made seven
57:57outrageous demands, such as requesting
57:59the marriage of one of the Chinese
58:01emperor's daughter to the Japanese
58:02emperor. It would basically acknowledge
58:05that they are on equal standing to
58:07China, something China could never
58:09accept due to Ming Dynasty's tributary
58:11system. Since this kind of crazy demand
58:14was unlikely to be accepted, and the
58:16fighting men from both sides were eager
58:18to end the stupid war, Konishi Yukinaga,
58:21the Japanese commander, amended the
58:23demands and made it more modest. So, he
58:25and the Chinese envoy forged a groveling
58:28letter of apology to send to the Chinese
58:30emperor.
58:31I think we can see how this complete
58:34farce will blow up in everyone's faces.
58:37Soon enough, in 1596, when the Chinese
58:40envoys came to Hideyoshi, they gave him
58:42the empty title of King of Japan without
58:45the trade privilege and the command that
58:48Hideyoshi must promise to never attack
58:50Korea again. The result was the complete
58:53opposite of what he had wanted. Due to
58:56all this bureaucratic bungling,
58:58obviously, war started again. This
59:01wasn't the only infuriating thing that
59:03happened to Hideyoshi that year,
59:05actually, because in the same year, the
59:08San Felipe incident also happened. San
59:11Felipe was a Spanish ship that was
59:13shipwrecked on Shikoku, Japan, while
59:15traveling from Manila to Acapulco. The
59:18local daimyo, Chosokabe Motochika,
59:20tempted by the goods the ship was
59:22carrying, confiscated the cargo and told
59:25the crew to petition Hideyoshi himself
59:27if they wanted any recourse. Somewhere
59:29along the fiasco, one of the crew
59:31members mentioned that the Spanish modus
59:34operandi in conquering a new colony was
59:36to first convert the population to
59:38Christianity, then get the converted
59:40locals to do the fighting for them.
59:42Indeed, this method of divide and
59:44conquer was used to colonize the
59:46Philippines. Oh, that does it. The
59:50furious Hideyoshi had never liked those
59:52missionaries anyway, so he started to
59:54round up high-profile missionaries and
59:56Christians and crucified them in 1597.
1:00:00They would later be known as the 26
1:00:02martyrs of Japan.
1:00:04Additionally, churches were demolished
1:00:06and Jesuit missionaries were ordered to
1:00:08leave Japan. But, this is not the end of
1:00:11the crackdown on Christians. The worst
1:00:14were yet to come.
1:00:16Hideyoshi, however, did not have much
1:00:18time remaining in this world. In 1598,
1:00:21as he lay sick in his recently built
1:00:23Fushimi Castle, Hideyoshi made his last
1:00:26arrangements. He appointed a council of
1:00:29five elders to look after his young son,
1:00:31Hideyori. Among those in the council was
1:00:34Tokugawa Ieyasu, whose time to shine was
1:00:37about to come. Before he died, Hideyoshi
1:00:40composed a poem of parting. My life came
1:00:43like dew. Disappears like dew. All of
1:00:47Naniwa is dream after dream.
1:00:50His death was kept secret as the
1:00:52Japanese soldiers were withdrawn from
1:00:54Korea to prevent loss of morale. Within
1:00:56a couple of years, the Battle of
1:00:58Sekigahara will be fought and Tokugawa
1:01:01will claim his place as a shogun of
1:01:03Japan.
1:01:09Despite being the de facto leader of the
1:01:11Council of Five Elders, Ieyasu was being
1:01:14edged out by the bureaucrat Ishida
1:01:16Mitsunari. Mitsunari was not a popular
1:01:19guy, but he was an adept schemer who
1:01:21managed to gain a lot of influence
1:01:23through his machinations and by gaining
1:01:25the favor of Hideyori's mother,
1:01:27Yodo-dono, who was also Nobunaga's
1:01:30niece. The fact that some state loyal to
1:01:32Hideyoshi's first wife, Nene,
1:01:34contributed to the rift and pushed them
1:01:36towards Ieyasu. The Battle of Sekigahara
1:01:40will be fought in the year 1600 and the
1:01:42leader of the two factions were Ishida
1:01:44Mitsunari, who belonged to the Western
1:01:46Army, and Tokugawa Ieyasu, who belonged
1:01:49to the Eastern Army. Early on, before
1:01:52the battle even started, the two had
1:01:54already knew that they'll be each
1:01:56other's greatest rival. So, they started
1:01:58building their own support base and
1:02:01egged on each other to show their hands
1:02:03and make the first move. Ieyasu provoked
1:02:06Mitsunari by flaunting the rules set by
1:02:08Hideyoshi. He aggressively turned
1:02:10various daimyos to his side by a series
1:02:13of political marriage. This kind of
1:02:15political marriage would shift the
1:02:16political power balance of the country
1:02:18and it would usually need to be approved
1:02:20by the taiko. But, since Hideyoshi had
1:02:23died, Ieyasu got away with it. In
1:02:25response, Mitsunari tried to assassinate
1:02:28him, but Mitsunari's plan failed and
1:02:31when Ieyasu's vassals went after him, he
1:02:33had to escape by disguising himself as a
1:02:35woman. He only managed to survive by
1:02:37humiliatingly begging his rival for
1:02:39protection. So, Ieyasu let him live.
1:02:43Perhaps because he had seen through all
1:02:45his enemies' plans and it was easier to
1:02:47deal with a predictable adversary.
1:02:49Mitsunari was then escorted to his base
1:02:52in Sawayama Castle. Meanwhile, it was
1:02:55during this time that the famous English
1:02:57sailor, William Adams, shipwrecked into
1:02:59Japan. Ieyasu was pretty busy with the
1:03:02upcoming war, but he managed to spare
1:03:04some time to interrogate him about the
1:03:06world's affairs. The Jesuits tried to
1:03:08get him killed because not only was
1:03:10William a Protestant, at the time
1:03:12England and Spain was engaged in the
1:03:14Anglo-Spanish War and Portugal was also
1:03:17part of Spain under Philip III. William
1:03:21will prove himself to be very useful for
1:03:23Ieyasu in the future. But, for now,
1:03:25Ieyasu will just confiscate his cannon
1:03:28for the upcoming battle against
1:03:29Mitsunari. It's just too bad that
1:03:31cannons didn't see much action.
1:03:33Meanwhile, Mitsunari had induced the
1:03:35daimyo of Aizu, Uesugi Kagekatsu, to
1:03:38start rebuilding his castle at northern
1:03:41Japan. If this castle was built, it
1:03:43could threaten the security of Ieyasu's
1:03:45home territory of Edo. So, he sent a
1:03:48message to request Kagekatsu to explain
1:03:50himself in person to Ieyasu, who was
1:03:53residing in Osaka. Obviously, Kagekatsu
1:03:56refused this risky request and he even
1:03:58tried to kill the messenger. When the
1:04:00messenger returned to report this,
1:04:02Ieyasu was furious and marched his army.
1:04:06However, Ieyasu was no fool. It was
1:04:09obviously Mitsunari's ploy to get him
1:04:11out of the picture and conquer Osaka and
1:04:13Kyoto. So, he stationed his long-time
1:04:15vassal to guard Fushimi Castle at Kyoto
1:04:18and moved slowly, ready to rush back to
1:04:20the west at the moment Mitsunari spring
1:04:22into action. But, unbeknownst to
1:04:25Mitsunari, Ieyasu had also set up his
1:04:27traps among his rivals' ranks. As Ieyasu
1:04:31held a war council at Oyama and
1:04:33hostilities with Kagekatsu started, he
1:04:35received news that Mitsunari in the west
1:04:38had made his move. He captured Osaka
1:04:40Castle and rounded up the relatives of
1:04:42Ieyasu and his loyalists as hostage. He
1:04:46then proceeded to besiege Fushimi Castle
1:04:48and took it in 10 days with an army of
1:04:5040,000. So, immediately, Ieyasu rushed
1:04:53back to the west. Meanwhile, he promised
1:04:56the northeastern daimyos large rewards
1:04:58to take care of Kagekatsu for him. Among
1:05:00these northern daimyos was the one-eyed
1:05:03dragon, Date Masamune, who only
1:05:05participated in the Tohoku Sekigahara
1:05:08part of the battle. Ieyasu then quickly
1:05:10took the Tokaido Road back to the west
1:05:13while his son, Hidetada, took the
1:05:15Nakasendo. Along the way, the young man
1:05:17came across Ueda Castle. Unfortunately
1:05:20for him, that castle was defended by the
1:05:22patriarch of the Sanada clan, Sanada
1:05:24Masayuki, and his son, Sanada Nobushige,
1:05:28who was more popularly known by his
1:05:30other name, Sanada Yukimura, the
1:05:32greatest warrior of the Sengoku Era. So,
1:05:35despite Hidetada having 36,000 men, he
1:05:38was unable to quickly defeat the Sanada
1:05:40family and their 2,000 defenders. But,
1:05:43before Hidetada could commit his whole
1:05:45army to destroy the Sanadas, he was
1:05:47called away to the main front in the
1:05:49west. Nevertheless, this skirmish
1:05:51delayed the Hidetada contingent and he
1:05:53would arrive too late for the main
1:05:55Battle of Sekigahara. As for the
1:05:57Sanadas, they will only receive light
1:05:59punishment after this battle because
1:06:01they have family members on both sides.
1:06:04Yukimura's brother, Sanada Nobuyuki, was
1:06:06on the Eastern Army side. Some theorize
1:06:09that it was their ploy to not put all
1:06:11the eggs in one basket so that their
1:06:13family can survive no matter which side
1:06:16won the war.
1:06:17However, another explanation for this is
1:06:20simply because Nobuyuki was married to
1:06:22Ieyasu's adopted daughter and the rest
1:06:25of their wives were related to the
1:06:26Western faction. So, when Ieyasu arrived
1:06:29at Sekigahara proper, he was not at full
1:06:32strength while his enemy had been
1:06:34waiting for him in the Kakuyoku, crane's
1:06:36wing, formation. It looked like
1:06:38Mitsunari's Western Army had the upper
1:06:40hand now. But, what he didn't know was
1:06:43that Ieyasu had a few cards up his own
1:06:46sleeve. On the year 1600, October 21st
1:06:50was the fateful day of the Battle of
1:06:52Sekigahara. The morning started with
1:06:55heavy fog, obscuring the vision of both
1:06:57sides. The atmosphere was so tense, you
1:07:00could cut it with a knife. Only when the
1:07:02fog was lifted, they saw that there were
1:07:04roughly 80,000 combatants on each side
1:07:07with Ieyasu possibly slightly
1:07:09outnumbered. Mitsunari's units were
1:07:11separated into two contingents with one
1:07:14positioned to the west, including his
1:07:16own unit, and the other one over Mount
1:07:18Nangu to the south of Tokugawa's force.
1:07:21Once the fog was lifted, Ieyasu's
1:07:23Eastern Army was the first one to make
1:07:25the move with Ii Naomasa charging ahead
1:07:27of the others with his red oni riders.
1:07:30The other units then advanced and
1:07:32brought the heat to Mitsunari's front
1:07:34line. As the battle wore on, musket
1:07:36fires from the Eastern Army were
1:07:38exchanged by cannon fires from the
1:07:40Western Army. The battle remained fierce
1:07:42for the next 2 hours. Ieyasu was certain
1:07:46of success and he moved his command
1:07:48center forward. However, he just can't
1:07:50help but wonder whether his trap card
1:07:53would activate properly.
1:07:55On the other side, Mitsunari was having
1:07:57a bit of an insubordination issue.
1:07:59Shimazu Yoshihiro was ignoring his
1:08:01command to advance forward. He replied
1:08:03to the effect that he would advance when
1:08:06the time is right. The Western Army's
1:08:08greatest weakness was the loyalties of
1:08:10their commanders. Mitsunari just
1:08:12couldn't be sure who he could trust.
1:08:15Some of them were probably even bought
1:08:17out by Ieyasu.
1:08:18As the fight progressed, the Eastern
1:08:20Army were started to be driven back.
1:08:23According to Mitsunari's plan, he was
1:08:25going to push the Eastern Army back and
1:08:27have the southern contingent attack him
1:08:29at the same time and crush Ieyasu with a
1:08:32pincer attack. So, he lit the signal
1:08:34fire and ordered the action.
1:08:37But, then something went terribly wrong.
1:08:39Kobayakawa Hideaki's unit refused to
1:08:42move and over the other side of Mount
1:08:45Nangu, the whole of the Mori clan at the
1:08:47southern division refused to move
1:08:49either. When the messenger asked the
1:08:51unit in front why, the commander,
1:08:53Kikkawa Hiroyie, just replied that he
1:08:56was busy eating. As for Otani, whose
1:08:59unit was near Hideaki, he was not
1:09:01surprised by this turn of events at all
1:09:04because he had smelled the treachery
1:09:05from a mile away. But, is that it? Is
1:09:08that all there is to Ieyasu's trap card?
1:09:12No, he had something bigger planned. For
1:09:15goodness' sake, Hideaki better not
1:09:16chicken out of this. Ieyasu directed his
1:09:19gunners at Hideaki's unit and forced him
1:09:22to go through with the plan. Squeezed
1:09:24under all this pressure, Hideaki finally
1:09:27made his mind and turned against the
1:09:30Western Army. It was a full-on betrayal.
1:09:33He rode down the hills and charged at
1:09:35Otani's unit. Oh, but Otani was prepared
1:09:38for this and part of his army turned to
1:09:40face the turncoat. However, being caught
1:09:43from multiple sides by the Eastern Army
1:09:45and now the turncoat, Otani stood no
1:09:47chance and was finally crushed. After
1:09:50that, Hideaki turned to the other units
1:09:53and started to crush the other
1:09:55unprepared Western Army units. With this
1:09:58fatal betrayal, Mitsunari was done for
1:10:01and Ieyasu could breathe a sigh of
1:10:03relief. At the other side of Mount
1:10:05Nangu, since the other units in front of
1:10:07the Western Army Southern divisions
1:10:09refused to move and blocked everyone,
1:10:11the rest of them just ended up standing
1:10:13like buffoons. But, the moment they saw
1:10:16the routed Western Army running for
1:10:17their lives, screaming, they knew that
1:10:20they have lost the war and decided to
1:10:23retreat, too. With all hope lost,
1:10:25Mitsunari abandoned the battlefield. And
1:10:28with that, the victory goes to Ieyasu
1:10:31and the Eastern Army. But, the Battle of
1:10:34Sekigahara were not just fought at the
1:10:36town of Sekigahara. It was actually
1:10:38fought all over Japan. Besides the
1:10:40Battle of Tohoku, where Masamune
1:10:42defeated Kakikatsu, there was also
1:10:44another battle at Kyushu. Future master
1:10:47swordsman, Miyamoto Musashi, who was 16
1:10:50at the time, was thought to have
1:10:51participated in the Kyushu part of
1:10:53Sekigahara as a soldier. He was
1:10:55popularly depicted to have been part of
1:10:57the defeated Western Army, but recent
1:11:00scholarship has found records that his
1:11:02father belonged to the Kuroda clan's
1:11:04army, which supported Ieyasu, which
1:11:06meant that he could also have been part
1:11:08of the Eastern Army. We will talk about
1:11:11him in the future. So, in the aftermath
1:11:13of this battle, Tokugawa Ieyasu started
1:11:16the cleanup process. He dealt with all
1:11:18his political enemies and captured
1:11:20Ishida Mitsunari and executed him in
1:11:23Kyoto. Eventually, in 1603, he ascended
1:11:26to the rank of shogun and married off
1:11:29his granddaughter to Hideyori. He was
1:11:31hopeful that the political marriage with
1:11:33the Toyotomi would create a lasting
1:11:35peace.
1:11:36But, his paranoia got the better of him
1:11:38because in a little over a decade, the
1:11:41real final battle of the Sengoku era
1:11:43will be fought.
1:11:50Since Ieyasu became shogun, there hadn't
1:11:52been much major conflicts, but the
1:11:55reallocation of fiefs among damyos loyal
1:11:57to him had incurred the ire of samurais
1:11:59who lost their job and became ronins.
1:12:02The Rokugo Rebellion, fought in 1603,
1:12:05was one of such incidents when a bunch
1:12:07of unemployed local samurais resented
1:12:10the appointment of a new daimyo by
1:12:12Ieyasu. In 1605, Ieyasu retired from the
1:12:16role of shogun and passed it onto his
1:12:18son, Hidetada. However, he still pretty
1:12:21much controlled everything as Oshogu and
1:12:24he had to deal with those pesky
1:12:25Portuguese again. In 1609, Nossa Senhora
1:12:29da Graça incident happened. A bunch of
1:12:32Japanese sailors created trouble in the
1:12:34Portuguese settlement of Macau and the
1:12:36conflict was brought back to Japan when
1:12:38a Portuguese ship, Nossa Senhora da
1:12:41Graça, made a port call there. This
1:12:43sorry incident ended with the captain
1:12:45blowing up the ship, literally.
1:12:48Since then, Ieyasu favored the
1:12:50Protestant William Adams more, who was
1:12:52granted the name Miura Anjin, and also
1:12:54his Dutch associates.
1:12:56For all these years since Sekigahara,
1:12:59Ieyasu didn't just kept himself busy
1:13:01administering Japan. He was also busy
1:13:04securing his power base. Even though
1:13:06Hideyori was his grandson-in-law, he
1:13:09just can't be too careful about the
1:13:11influence of the Toyotomi family and his
1:13:13mother, Chacha, or Yodo-dono, who was a
1:13:17niece of the conqueror Oda Nobunaga.
1:13:20Luckily for him, Hideyori was a useless
1:13:22kid. At least, that's what he heard
1:13:25according to the rumors. Still, it is
1:13:27better to make sure himself. So, in
1:13:301611, he arranged a meeting with the boy
1:13:33and then he realized that he was
1:13:36tricked. The boy was no fool. It was
1:13:39just a rumor spread by the boy's
1:13:41guardians to put him off guard. This is
1:13:45not good, Ieyasu thought. He had to get
1:13:48rid of this boy before he became a
1:13:49greater threat in the future. But, he
1:13:52needed to find a just cause to eliminate
1:13:54him.
1:13:55Aha! He finally found an excuse in 1614.
1:14:00When Hideyori was rebuilding a temple,
1:14:02he had cast a bell with the words, "May
1:14:04the country be at peace and may the
1:14:06lords and ministers be happy and
1:14:09prosperous." These seemingly innocuous
1:14:12phrases could be interpreted in another
1:14:14way. It could mean breaking Ieyasu apart
1:14:17because the kanji of his name was
1:14:19separated. And you can read the next
1:14:22phrase as, "Toyotomi will become lords
1:14:24again" if you read it backwards. Oh,
1:14:27Ieyasu was mad when he heard this. Yeah,
1:14:30okay, to be honest, he was just grasping
1:14:32at straws here, getting offended over
1:14:34nothing. But, the next piece of news was
1:14:38a real cause for worry. Hideyori had
1:14:40been inviting ronins to Osaka, possibly
1:14:43to defend against an attack by Ieyasu,
1:14:46but that move became a self-fulfilling
1:14:48prophecy because it was just the excuse
1:14:51Ieyasu needed to march his army. Among
1:14:54his nearly 200,000 strong army was the
1:14:56shogun, his son Hidetada's contingent,
1:14:59various allied damyos such as the
1:15:01one-eyed dragon Date Masamune, and also
1:15:04the sword master Miyamoto Musashi, who,
1:15:07according to recent scholarship, was
1:15:09attached to the Mizuno clan. Previously,
1:15:11he was popularly thought to have fought
1:15:13for the Toyotomi side. Thus, Ieyasu
1:15:17easily defeated his enemy around the
1:15:19nearby forts before proceeding to
1:15:21besiege Osaka Castle. He outnumbered
1:15:24them almost two to one, but taking down
1:15:26this fortress is not going to be an easy
1:15:29task because this castle was built over
1:15:32the ashes of the Ishiyama Hongan-ji
1:15:34Temple, the fortress of the Ikkō-ikki
1:15:37monks, which lasted over 10 years
1:15:39against Nobunaga's siege. Its walls are
1:15:41even invulnerable to cannon fires. Not
1:15:44only that, three sides of its walls were
1:15:47protected by moats, making it more
1:15:49difficult to overcome. The only feasible
1:15:52attack point was its southern wall,
1:15:54which was reinforced by the barbican
1:15:56built by Sanada Yukimura, the Sanada
1:15:59Maru. Oh, it was the defenders' luck
1:16:02that they've got warriors like Sanada
1:16:04Yukimura with them because leadership
1:16:06was practically nonexistent on their
1:16:09side. Hideyori wasn't a military man and
1:16:12he left everything to the field
1:16:14commanders. His mom, Yodo-dono, was also
1:16:17backseat driving everyone, making
1:16:19everything worse. The main thing that
1:16:21united these commanders was their common
1:16:23hatred for Ieyasu. The Ieyasu Army
1:16:27weren't all that disciplined, either.
1:16:29The greatest motivation for these allied
1:16:31damyos were the rewards for their
1:16:33performance, such as the heavy reward
1:16:35for the first person to breach a castle.
1:16:38But, their self-interested ferocity was
1:16:41also their weakness because leading them
1:16:44into battle could feel almost like
1:16:46herding cats. In the winter campaign of
1:16:48the Osaka siege, 1615 January the 3rd,
1:16:52the Tokugawa Army assaulted the Sanada
1:16:54Maru. This is known as the Battle of
1:16:56Sanada Maru. In Japan, the Siege of
1:16:59Osaka are subdivided into smaller ones
1:17:02and this is the instance where Yukimura
1:17:04became a legend. Scouts have informed
1:17:07Yukimura that there will be an assault,
1:17:09so he withdrew inside the Sanada Maru.
1:17:12Then, he lured his enemies to attack.
1:17:14First, it was Maeda Toshitsune's unit.
1:17:17Because of the deep moats and the steep
1:17:19incline upwards, they became fish in a
1:17:22barrel that was shot mercilessly by the
1:17:24Sanada unit. Hungry for rewards, when
1:17:27the other units learned of Maeda's
1:17:29attack, Matsudaira Tadanao, Ieyasu's
1:17:31grandson, and Ii Naotaka, the
1:17:34illegitimate son of Ii Naomasa of the
1:17:36Red Oni Rider fame, charged in as well.
1:17:39Frankly, they are just offering
1:17:41themselves on a silver platter.
1:17:43Eventually, when they saw that they are
1:17:45going nowhere with this, the latter two
1:17:47decided to go around Sanada Maru and
1:17:49move to attack the Hachome Kuchi Gate of
1:17:52Osaka Castle. Some of their men managed
1:17:54to get in, but ultimately, they were
1:17:56driven back. According to some research,
1:17:59up to 80% of the losses from the
1:18:01Tokugawa side was caused by Sanada Maru.
1:18:05On the next day, more of Tokugawa forces
1:18:07attack failed. Knowing that direct
1:18:10assault will get them nowhere, Ieyasu
1:18:12decided to use his secret weapon, the
1:18:15new cannons he bought from the English
1:18:17and Dutch traders. Ah, Anjin-san proved
1:18:20himself to be useful again. But, as good
1:18:23as they were, they are not going to
1:18:25blast through Osaka Castle's wall.
1:18:27Yet, they had tremendous psychological
1:18:29effects. It was recorded that the sound
1:18:32could be heard all the way to Kyoto, 43
1:18:35km away. Originally, the cannons were
1:18:38shot only at certain time of the day,
1:18:40but starting on the 15th, they began
1:18:43full bombardment. Ieyasu ordered his men
1:18:46to deliberately bombard Yodo-dono's
1:18:48quarters. They only managed to destroy
1:18:50her tea cabinet, but the harrowing
1:18:52experience shook her. He even ordered
1:18:55his men to fake night attacks to put the
1:18:58defenders on edge, robbing them of good
1:19:00rest. In response, during the night of
1:19:03the 16th, Ban Naotugu, who was in charge
1:19:06of one of the defenses of the west side
1:19:07gates, led a night attack on a nearby
1:19:10Tokugawa unit before retreating back
1:19:12into safety. The Osaka Army's morale
1:19:14recovered slightly, but it wasn't
1:19:17enough. As for Ieyasu, he's got another
1:19:19trick up his sleeve. On January 17th,
1:19:23Ieyasu ordered to have his cannon
1:19:25pointed at a specific part of the
1:19:26castle.
1:19:28It was the prayer room where they held
1:19:30the anniversary of Hideyoshi's death.
1:19:32The projectile narrowly missed the
1:19:34praying Hideyori and killed two of
1:19:36Yodo-dono's maids. The pressure proved
1:19:39to be too much for the terrified mother
1:19:41and she pressed for a negotiation with
1:19:43the Tokugawa force despite the other
1:19:45commander's misgivings. "Ieyasu just
1:19:48can't be trusted." they say. "Some years
1:19:51ago he had a deal with the Ikki-ikki
1:19:53monks but then he proceeded to destroy
1:19:55their defenses while they were off
1:19:57guard." But no, this tiger mom won't
1:20:01listen to anyone's advice. She was the
1:20:03decision-maker there. So they started to
1:20:06negotiate and some of the negotiated
1:20:08terms were to have the ronins pardoned
1:20:11which fief to be granted to Hideyori and
1:20:14in return Hideyori will promise to never
1:20:16rebel again and the destruction of
1:20:19Sanada Maru. Well, it is the structure
1:20:22Ieyasu feared the most. Surely that's
1:20:24enough.
1:20:26Nope.
1:20:27As the discussion was ongoing, they not
1:20:29only destroyed the Sanada Maru, they
1:20:31also started covering the other moats.
1:20:34When the Toyotomi side started to
1:20:36object, Ieyasu had left the field and
1:20:39returned to Kyoto to report the peaceful
1:20:41resolution of the conflict to the
1:20:43emperor. Only his son, the shogun
1:20:46Hidetada, was left there to supervise.
1:20:49Obviously, Ieyasu was the real
1:20:51decision-maker and this only served to
1:20:53delay the communication. Additionally,
1:20:56Ieyasu's elusive answers to their
1:20:58objections caused the negotiation to
1:21:00eventually break down. In response, the
1:21:02moats were re-excavated and ronins
1:21:05started returning to the Toyotomi side.
1:21:07Thus, this led to the summer siege of
1:21:10Osaka Castle. The name is actually a
1:21:12misnomer because most of the battle was
1:21:15fought in the field. They knew that if
1:21:18they stayed at Osaka, they would just
1:21:20repeat the same failure. So they decided
1:21:22to bring the fight to the Tokugawas
1:21:24instead. Unfortunately, there were only
1:21:27around 60,000 men on the Toyotomi side
1:21:30with unknown number of ronins. Tokugawa
1:21:32on the other hand had 160,000.
1:21:37So they desperately assaulted various
1:21:39Tokugawa army divisions before they
1:21:41could converge. Unfortunately, the
1:21:44attempt was futile. Even Yukimura was
1:21:47driven back in the Battle of Domyoji.
1:21:49This was the only time he came into
1:21:50contact with Date Masamune's unit. So
1:21:53his rivalry with Date Masamune in some
1:21:56popular media is greatly exaggerated.
1:21:59With the loss of many other commanders,
1:22:01Sanada Yukimura assumed the de facto
1:22:03position of supreme commander. "The only
1:22:06way to win this war," he thought, "was
1:22:08to take a big gamble and hit them before
1:22:10they are ready. When the time is right,
1:22:12Hideyori will sally forth with his main
1:22:14army boosting their morale and crush
1:22:16their enemies." On the Battle of
1:22:18Tennoji, Yukimura took the initiative
1:22:21and hit the Tokugawa army before they
1:22:23could assume their previous position.
1:22:25Mori Katsunaga and Yukimura hit the
1:22:27vanguard of the Tokugawa army while
1:22:29another unit tries to outflank the
1:22:31Tokugawa army. Meanwhile, another
1:22:34Tokugawa unit, Asano Nagakira, tried to
1:22:37do the same but due to some
1:22:39miscalculation, they are marching
1:22:41towards their own unit. This caused
1:22:43panic on Tokugawa's vanguard. They
1:22:45thought that this is a betrayal just
1:22:47like Sekigahara. Tokugawa then
1:22:50personally moved forward to calm his
1:22:52troops and this gave Yukimura the golden
1:22:55opportunity to claim Ieyasu's head
1:22:57himself. "Ah, I'm going to die!" Ieyasu
1:23:01cried. There are many folk stories
1:23:03regarding this event. In one version,
1:23:05Ieyasu was wounded. In another more
1:23:08outlandish tall tale, Ieyasu was
1:23:10actually killed and replaced by a
1:23:12kagemusha or body double. But it was all
1:23:15wishful thinking because what was
1:23:17historically recorded, Yukimura, after
1:23:20having failed to take Ieyasu's life, lay
1:23:22incapacitated in the vicinity of
1:23:24Shitennoji Temple and allowed a warrior
1:23:27from Tokugawa's side, Nishio No Simon,
1:23:30to take his head.
1:23:31For his bravery, Yukimura was dubbed the
1:23:34greatest warrior in Japan by Shimazu
1:23:36Tadatsune, a daimyo from Tokugawa's
1:23:39side, and he became the subject of
1:23:41various popular folk stories. In some
1:23:44versions, he was even accompanied by 10
1:23:46ninjas called Sanada's 10 Braves. The
1:23:49most well-known among them was Sarutobi
1:23:52Sasuke who was pretty much the origin of
1:23:54the trope of ninjas being named Sasuke.
1:23:57Anyway, with Yukimura gone, the Toyotomi
1:23:59army was greatly demoralized and in the
1:24:02subsequent battle, they were beaten
1:24:04back. Afflicted by a series of flanking
1:24:06attacks, Hideyori marched no further
1:24:09than beyond the gates of the inner
1:24:10bailey before he had to turn back and
1:24:13later on a fire started mysteriously in
1:24:15the castle. With all hope lost, Hideyori
1:24:18sent away his family members and
1:24:20committed seppuku with his mother. Since
1:24:23Hideyori's wife was Ieyasu's
1:24:25granddaughter, she was spared but his
1:24:27heir, the 8-year-old Kunimatsu, was
1:24:30executed.
1:24:31And with that, the Toyotomi clan was
1:24:34wiped from history. But did Hideyori
1:24:38really die?
1:24:39Because there were rumors and reports
1:24:41that he was still alive. Even the
1:24:43British East India Company reported that
1:24:45there were rumors that Hideyori's body
1:24:48was not found. Nevertheless, Hideyori
1:24:51never reappeared in history ever again.
1:24:54With this final victory, Ieyasu secured
1:24:56the future of the Tokugawa shogunate for
1:24:58centuries to come. He died in the
1:25:00following year, 1616.
1:25:03There is a saying about the three
1:25:05unifiers that goes like this.
1:25:07Nobunaga prepared the rice cake,
1:25:10Hideyoshi kneaded it, and the one who
1:25:12sat down to eat it was Ieyasu.
1:25:15The only threat that was left of their
1:25:17hegemony were the Catholic Portuguese
1:25:20and their missionaries which had
1:25:21influence on some of the Christian
1:25:23daimyos. After a series of troubles
1:25:26related to the Catholics, the shogunate
1:25:28imposed a series of edicts which
1:25:30restricted trade with outsiders and
1:25:32banned Christianity. In the West, it is
1:25:35known as the Sakoku Edicts. After the
1:25:38Shimabara Rebellion which involved lots
1:25:40of Catholics was put down by the
1:25:42shogunate with the assistance of the
1:25:43Protestant Dutch, only the Dutch East
1:25:46India Company and some Chinese traders
1:25:48could continue their trade with Japan.
1:25:51This island country will only re-emerge
1:25:53in the international scene after Matthew
1:25:55Perry forced it open with his American
1:25:58black ships. But was Japan truly closed
1:26:01off from the rest of the world during
1:26:02the so-called Sakoku period?
1:26:05I will talk about it in another episode.
1:26:07So be sure to subscribe and like the
1:26:09video so that you don't miss it. If you
1:26:12like what we are doing, then you can
1:26:13support us on Patreon. Until next time,
1:26:16stay cool my bros.

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