Project Sengoku

Sengoku period, time of civil war, political upheaval, and social transformation in Japan that lasted from roughly 1467 to 1600. The weakening of the Ashikaga shogunate led to the rise of independent daimyo (feudal lords) who fought for supremacy across the country. At the height of the Sengoku period, Japan was divided into dozens of warring states ruled by daimyo clans. This period also saw the arrival of European traders and missionaries, as well as the introduction of gunpowder weapons. Eventually, central control was established through the efforts of the “three great unifiers”—Oda Nobunaga, Toyotomi Hideyoshi, and Tokugawa Ieyasu—who laid the foundations for the long-lasting and prosperous Tokugawa period (1603–1867).