Hello, the episode you're about to listen to is part of a multi-part series introducing an overview

of Japanese history.

This is a repeat of one of the original projects the History of Japan podcast was built on,

and is intended to serve as an update and supplement to these original works.

After 10 years, my hope is to return to this approach and to do it a little bit better,

given the skills that I have improved in the intervening years.

If you haven't been doing so already, you should listen to these episodes sequentially,

starting with episode 501.

Without any further ado, enjoy the episode. Hello and welcome to the History of Japan podcast, episode 523, Reunification, Part 3.

We've covered a lot of famous names so far on the revised introduction to Japanese history,

from poets to statesmen to religious leaders, and everything in between.

And yet, when we think of the great names of Japanese history, so to speak,

I think it's fairly clear that Tokugawa Iyasu stands above them all.

He is simply put possibly the most famous person in Japanese history, and while such things

are hard to quantify, I think it's clear his impact on the course of Japan's history was massive.

We have, of course, already covered Iyasu's origins.

Originally named Matsudaira Motoyasu, he was the heir of a minor family from Mikawa province,

and spent his youth as a political hostage, first to the Oda and then to their more powerful neighbors, the Imagawa.

After Oda Nobunaga crushed the Imagawa once and for all at the Battle of Okehazama in

1560, Iayasu wisely hitched his wagon to Nobunaga's rising star and eventually found himself

among the inner circle of Nobunaga's most prominent generals. It was after that period that he

changed his name as well. After Nobunaga's most prominent generals. It was after that period that he changed his name as well.

...