Tokugawa Ieyasu

I was born Matsudaira Takechiyo in Mikawa, passed as a hostage between the Oda and Imagawa. As a hostage I learned to listen longer than I spoke. After Okehazama in 1560 felled Imagawa Yoshimoto, I took back my domain, allied with Oda Nobunaga, and claimed the Tokugawa name with Minamoto lineage. At Nagashino I watched matchlocks cut down Takeda horse; steel alone no longer ruled.

When Toyotomi Hideyoshi rose after Nobunaga’s death, I bowed to him and waited. In 1590 he sent me east to the Kantō; Edo was marsh and salt wind. We cut moats, straightened streets, drew new rice from wet ground, and set my men to mind the tide. While others reached for Kyoto, I built a city at the edge of the bay.

After Hideyoshi’s death I sat among his Five Elders and watched his men quarrel. At Sekigahara in 1600 I chose the ground and broke Ishida Mitsunari. Three years later the court named me shogun. I moved power to Edo, bound allies close as fudai and set the great tozama at a distance. I fixed post-stations on the great roads so messengers, taxes, and orders would not tire.

In 1605 I yielded the title to my son yet governed as Ōgosho. I tested and then forbade the missionaries, expelling them in 1614. When Osaka rose and fell, I set down laws for the warrior houses (Buke Shohatto) and limited castles to what the realm required. I licensed red-seal ships and heard the Dutch and English speak plainly of trade. Patience did the cutting; the sword only finished the knot.