Tokugawa Ieyasu
Tokugawa Ieyasu was the first of the Tokugawa Shogun. Born January 31 1543 at Okazaki Castle in Aichi Prefecture, the…
The Battle of Shizugatake
The Battle of Shizugatake was fought on Mt. Shizugatake in Omi Province on the northeastern ridge between Lake Biwa and…
Oda Nobunaga (June 23 1534-June 21 1582)
The first of the three Unifiers of Japan, Oda Nobunaga was born in 1534 during the height of the civil strife…
The Battle of Mitagahara
6 January 1573 Takeda Shingen (28,000) VS Tokugawa Ieyasu (11,000, including 3,000 Oda troops) The Battle of Mikatagahara almost changed…
Shimazu Yoshihiro
Shimazu Yoshihiro（August 21, 1535 – August 30, 1619） Yoshihiro was a brave and skilled general who contributed greatly to the…
Honda Tadakatsu
Honda Tadakatsu (also known as Heihachiro) was born in Okazaki, Mikawa (Modern day Aichi Prefecture) and was one of the…
Date Masamune
One of the easiest to recognize of all the samurai thanks to his distinctive armour, and most distinctive maedate, is…
The Dog Shogun, Tokugawa Tsunayoshi
The fifth Tokugawa Shogun, Tokugawa Tsunayoshi, was brought up as a scholar instead of a warrior, as it was feared…
Battle of Nagashino
Siege and Battle, 28 June 1575, Mikawa (Aichi Prefecture) Takeda Katsuyori (12,000) VS Oda Nobunaga (30,000) and Tokugawa Ieyasu (8,000)…
Battle of Komaki Nagakute
On the outskirts of Nagoya is one of the major battlefields of the Samurai era, Nagakute. Like many of the…
Sassa Narimasa
Sassa Narimasa was born in Hira Castle (Currently the site of Kotsuji Temple, Nishi-Ku, Nagoya) in 1536. He became a…
Japanese Floor Mats, Tatami
The image of a traditional Japanese room includes the shoji, paper-covered wooden frame windows called shoji, fusuma, being sliding doors…
Japan’s Three Sacred Treasures, Symbols of Imperial Rule
According to the Kojiki, (the Record of Ancient matters, a collection of myths concerning the origins of Japan) the Three…
Samurai Signatures, Kao (花押)
Kao (花押) were stylised identification signatures used on important papers by the lords and nobility of Japan since the Heian…