Waseda University History of Japan (12 Volumes)

This book explores one of the most stirring and brilliant eras in Japanese history, an age when rival powers vied for supremacy and the country moved toward unification, laying the foundations for Japan's transformation into a modern nation. The Azuchi and Momoyama periods were closely connected and complemented each other. What the former lost, the latter gained. The Azuchi period was an age of exploration and trial and error; the Momoyama period was an age of correction and success.

The Azuchi period's stage was concentrated in Kinai, Tokai, Tosan, San'in, and San'yo, while the Momoyama period expanded across Japan and reached as far as Korea, China, and the islands of the South Seas. In other words, the Azuchi period had a regional character, while the Momoyama period had a more far-reaching one.

How did power shift from the shogun at the top, down to the kanrei, then to the chief retainer, and finally to the chief retainer's trusted followers? What was the connection between the rise of gekokujo, the lower overthrowing the upper, and the formation of Japan's age of civil war? How did social disorder break down the barriers that restricted social mobility and allow heroes to emerge in droves? What roles did Oda Nobunaga and Toyotomi Hideyoshi play in leading Japan from division to unification and from decline to revival? This book provides detailed answers.