The founder of the last shogunate in Japan, the Tokugawa shogunate, Ieyasu was born into the family of a local warrior based several miles east of modern Nagoya, one of many such families struggling to survive in a brutal age of civil strife. I

n 1560 his father was slain in a battle with a powerful neighbour and young Ieyasu seized the opportunity to return to his family's small castle and assume control. At first he directed his military efforts to crushing rebellious Buddhist sectarian groups within the Tokugawa domain.

He slowly extended his territory and became an important feudal baron and by 1600 he had become the undisputed master of Japan.

By the time he died in 1616 he had accomplished what a century of warriors had attempted and failed; he brought enduring preeminence to his own family and a lasting peace to Japan.