1600 Sekigahara—Samurai Showdown .........................................

Lecture 20

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n the eve of a civil war in Japan, two friends spent a convivial
evening together. They were Tokugawa Ieyasu, the most powerful
lord in Japan, and Torii Mototada, the commander of one of
Tokugawa’s castles. The next morning, the friends parted, knowing they
would never meet again. Both understood that as soon as war broke out,
their enemies would attack the castle; Mototada and the defenders would
be outnumbered, yet as samurai, they would willingly stay and die for their
lord. Soon after, 40,000 warriors besieged the castle, but Mototada held them
off for 10 days, giving Tokugawa time to muster his own armies. Tokugawa
went on to confront his enemies at the Battle of Sekigahara, the most decisive
battle of the samurai era.

The Opponents
x The Battle of Sekigahara would turn on the personalities of three
people, all of whom had ties to Toyotomi Hideyoshi, the great
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that had been repelled by Admiral Yi and his turtle ships.

x The last of the unsuccessful Korean invasions had been dispatched

in 1597 under the command of Toyotomi’s adopted son, a young

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commander; much of the real decision making was done by a

council of generals whose squabbling was a major factor in the

failure of the expedition.

x As the notional commander, Kobayakawa was summoned back

to Japan in disgrace. Toyotomi apparently planned to punish him

for his failure, but Tokugawa, who was already one of the most

important lords in Japan, persuaded Toyotomi to be lenient.

x Tokugawa was an experienced and wily general who had fought

many battles and was a skilled tactician and strategist. He had