Shōgun

Click the image to expand and view the fiefs of the five Regents, the most powerful warlords in Japan. 

Toranaga: Toranaga rules over the Kanto, a large and prosperous region in the east. Edo was little more than a fishing village when Toranaga made it his capital, but it is already developing into a booming metropolis. Toranaga's historical model, Tokugawa Ieyasu, shared the same region and capital.Sugiyama: Sugiyama has control over Hokushū, “the northern regions,” comprising several affluent provinces. The historical counterpart of Sugiyama, Maeda Toshiie, held power over Hokkoku.Ohno: Ohno’s fief is Bungo, a province with a rich Christian tradition due to its close contact with Portuguese missionaries. In history, Ohno's counterpart, Ōtani Yoshitsugu, was not a Regent and ruled over the smaller domain of Tsuruga.Kiyama: Kiyama rules over the Higo province, which has extensive contact with wealthy Portuguese traders because of its proximity to Nagasaki. In history, Higo was controlled by one of Kiyama's historical counterparts, Konishi Yukinaga.Ishido: Ishido was gifted the Gōshū province by the Taikō, an impressive realm for a man of humble origins. Ishido’s historical model, Ishida Mitsunari, ruled over Sawayama, a part of Gōshū (also known as the Ōmi province).

<figure class="table" style="width:100%;"><table class="ck-table-resized"><colgroup><col style="width:14.74%;"><col style="width:85.26%;"></colgroup><tbody><tr><td style="height:70px;vertical-align:top;width:110px;"><h5 class="ckHeading5">1467</h5></td><td style="height:70px;vertical-align:top;">Start of the War of the Ōnin era, the country is plunged in chaos</td></tr><tr><td style="height:70px;vertical-align:top;width:110px;"><h5 class="ckHeading5">1552</h5></td><td style="height:70px;vertical-align:top;">Oda Nobunaga becomes the new head of the Oda Clan</td></tr><tr><td style="height:70px;vertical-align:top;width:110px;"><h5 class="ckHeading5">1568</h5></td><td style="height:70px;vertical-align:top;">Nobunaga enters Kyoto. Ashikaga Yoshiaki is declared Shōgun</td></tr><tr><td style="height:70px;vertical-align:top;width:110px;"><h5 class="ckHeading5">1573</h5></td><td style="height:70px;vertical-align:top;">Nobunaga banishes Yoshiaki</td></tr><tr><td style="height:70px;vertical-align:top;width:110px;"><h5 class="ckHeading5">1582</h5></td><td style="height:70px;vertical-align:top;">Akechi Mitsuhide attacks Nobunaga, who commits seppuku. Hideyoshi defeats Mitsuhide</td></tr><tr><td style="height:70px;vertical-align:top;width:110px;"><h5 class="ckHeading5">1584&nbsp;</h5></td><td style="height:70px;vertical-align:top;">War between Hideyoshi and Ieyasu</td></tr><tr><td style="height:70px;vertical-align:top;width:110px;"><h5 class="ckHeading5">1586</h5></td><td style="height:70px;vertical-align:top;">Ieyasu makes peace and submits to Hideyoshi</td></tr><tr><td style="height:70px;vertical-align:top;width:110px;"><h5 class="ckHeading5">1587</h5></td><td style="height:70px;vertical-align:top;">Hideyoshi subdues Kyushu, issues an edict expelling the Jesuits</td></tr><tr><td style="height:70px;vertical-align:top;width:110px;"><h5 class="ckHeading5">1592</h5></td><td style="height:70px;vertical-align:top;">Hideyoshi invades Korea</td></tr><tr><td style="height:70px;vertical-align:top;width:110px;"><h5 class="ckHeading5">1597</h5></td><td style="height:70px;vertical-align:top;">Second invasion of Korea</td></tr><tr><td style="height:70px;vertical-align:top;width:110px;"><h5 class="ckHeading5">1598</h5></td><td style="height:70px;vertical-align:top;">Hideyoshi forms a Council of Regents and dies of illness. Ieyasu becomes head of the Council, but tensions within the Council grow</td></tr></tbody></table></figure>

The Characters of the Three Great Warlords

In a collection of essays called Kasshi Yawa ("Evening Stories on the day of Kasshi" [the first day of the sexagenary cycle]), the Lord of Hirado, Matsura Seizan, listed many anecdotes that circulated about the Sengoku period. One concerned the characters of the three great warlords. It goes as follows."Someone brought a cuckoo. But when it would not sing,Nobunaga said, if it doesn't sing, kill it.Hideyoshi said, if it doesn't sing, make it sing.Ieyasu said, if it doesn't sing, let's wait until it sings."That describes very well how these three warlords managed the situations in which they found themselves.

Our show begins with the arrival of the Erasmus, a Dutch 260 ton fighting ship, in medieval Japanese waters. The stranding of the Erasmus on the Japanese coast is based on a real story. In history, the Erasmus was the nickname for a Dutch ship called the Liefde (Dutch for "Charity"), because it had a statue of the scholar Desiderius Erasmus on its stern. This battleship was part of a fleet of five ships that sailed from Rotterdam in Holland on June the 27th, 1598. The fleet was set up by two wealthy Dutchmen. At the time, this was a massive undertaking, involving over 500 crew members.&nbsp;Although they advertised the fleet would sail via the Cape of Good Hope to Asia for peaceful trading, the owners gave their captains a secret mission. They were to pass through the Strait of Magellan instead, attack Spanish treasure ships and strongholds on the western coast of South America and then traverse the Pacific to trade the loot in the unknown country of Japan and other places in Asia.<div class="page-break" style="page-break-after:always;">&nbsp;</div>There were many Englishmen on board, as they were brothers in arms with the Dutch in their war against the Spanish Empire. The English shared common religious ground with the Protestant Dutch and feared the Spaniards would invade England and overthrow their Queen. Catholic Spain had built up a vast empire in the Americas and the Philippines, while the Spanish King Philip II also ruled over Portugal, with its vast trading network in Asia. The Dutch and the English had to break through this Iberian monopoly of world trade with force and the fleet that sailed from Rotterdam was one of the first to try so.Among the Englishmen was a pilot by the name of William Adams, the model for John Blackthorne. The voyage turned out to be disastrous. Problems arose in the early stages, with strong headwinds, lack of food, contagious diseases and fights with the Portuguese in the Cape Verde Islands and the island of Annobón near the African coast, decimating the crew.But that was just the beginning of their distress. They got stuck in the Strait of Magellan, losing many of their crew because of the cold and starvation. When they finally got past the Strait, they were caught in a violent storm. Only two ships, the Liefde and the Hoop, got to the rendezvous site of the island of Santa Maria, before the coast of Chile. In the meantime, the indigenous Mapuche ambushed the crews of both ships. This resulted in the deaths of the captains and many able men. With much deception, they could escape the Spanish fleet and ventured into the Pacific. In the end, only the Liefde made it to Japan. The Hoop disappeared into another violent storm. In mid-April of the year 1600 the Japanese coast came into sight, almost two years after the fleet departed. Out of over 500 crew members, only 18 reached Japan, Adams being one of them.

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The Characters of the Three Great Warlords

The Arrival of the Erasmus