Sekigahara Decides Japan: Tokugawa Shogunate Begins
Tokugawa Ieyasu defeated a coalition of rival daimyo at Sekigahara on October 21, 1600, in a battle involving roughly 160,000 samurai. The outcome hinged on treachery: Kobayakawa Hideaki, commanding 15,600 men on the Western flank, defected to Tokugawa mid-battle after hours of hesitation. His betrayal collapsed the Western army. The battle lasted six hours. Ieyasu established himself as shogun three years later and built a military government in Edo (modern Tokyo) that ruled Japan for 268 years. The Tokugawa shogunate imposed strict social hierarchies, banned Christianity, expelled most foreigners, and restricted foreign trade to a single port. This policy of deliberate isolation, known as sakoku, preserved internal peace until Commodore Perry's arrival in 1853 forced Japan open to the world.
October 21, 1600
426 years ago
Key Figures & Places
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