Hideyoshi, in spite of being a warlord, transitioned Japan from a state of war to a state of peace. Though Japan wasn't finished with the sengoku jidai by the time he died in 1598, he did put in place a series of laws that made peace more profitable than war. When it came to creating a sustainable peace for the Japanese nation, he made the bird 'want to sing'

The rise of Hideyoshi from sandal bearer to dictator of Japan was phenomenal. After hundreds of year of civil war, he, without any sense of irony, brought the country to unified peace with remarkably little bloodshed. Well, at least a lot less than what one might expect if Nobunaga had lived long enough to make it happen. Not only did he unify the Daimyo, he set about reorganising the process of taxation and commerce for the whole realm.

If murdering Nobunaga was Phase One of a long thought-out and well-considered plan for the take-over of Japan it certainly wasn't obvious in 1582. In fact, it hardly seems obvious today! One thing we do know, Hideyoshi, though flat-out besieging the Mori clan, was not going to let this opportunity pass. If things went right, he could achieve victory over the Mori, avenge his lord and overcome rivals for control of post-Nobunaga Japan.

Between 1575 and 1582 Oda Nobunaga was sorely tested by the most powerful opponents to his domination; The Ikko Ikki Buddhists, the Takeda Clan and the Uesugi Clan. In the end, however, it might have been an unpaid dinner tab that killed him.

In 1570 Oda Nobunaga faced a dangerous combination of rival daimyo and religious fanaticism. He decided to treat Buddhist rivals to his power the same way he did anyone else. With fire.

Oda Nobunaga took Kyoto in the name of the Shogun and the Emperor in 1568. By 1570 the Shogun knew that he served at Nobunaga's pleasure and little else. Nobunaga almost lost it all to traitors and two bullets from a ninja's arqubus andThe Asakura and Asai daimyo took to field against Nobunaga in the famous Battle of Anegawa. Enjoy! (frug.podbean.com). Here is the script.

Oda Nobunaga had the luck, the allies, the staff, the location, the armies and the validation to make a move on Kyoto while the other major Daimyo kept busy fighting amongst themselves. He also had an ego to match his ambition. Here is a map of the provinces of medieval Japan and the the script for the episode.

In this episode we introduce one of Japan's three Great Unifiers. His rise to power was certainly not easy and could easily have relegated him to the status of also-ran.

The Portuguese bumped into Japan in 1543 and brought with them guns and god. In this podcast we will hear about how Japan received these products of the west.

War in medieval Japan was a colourful bonanza - bravery, cowardice and accounting!