Table of Contents
Note on the Japanese Language 9
Preface 11
Chapter 1 The Emergence of the Samurai 16
The First Warriors 16
The First Samurai 21
The Samurai Control the Court 28
Chapter 2 The Genpei Wars 30
Young Samurai in Exile 30
First Phase: Conflict Breaks Out 34
Second Phase: Internal Struggle for the Minamoto Leadership 47
Third Phase: Yoshitsune Wins the War 53
Chapter 3 The First Samurai Government 60
Tying up Loose Ends 60
Yoritomo's Bakufu 64
The Death of Yoritomo 68
The Waning and Fall of the Kamakura Shogunate 70
Chapter 4 The Mongol Invasion Attempts 78
The Great Continental Threat 78
First Assault, 1274 83
Second assault, 1281 87
Chapter 5 A Century of Civil War 94
From the Fall of Kamakura to the Outbreak of War 94
The Onin War: No Winner and Many Losers 104
Beginnings of the Sengoku Period: The Age of Great Names 105
Chapter 6 Contact with Europe 111
Portuguese in Japan 111
The Arrival and Spread of Harquebuses 113
Weapons for Souls: The Catholic Mission in Japan 118
Chapter 7 The Unification of Japan 124
Late Sengoku Period: Fewer More Powerful Rivals 124
Oda Nobunaga Planted the Rice 125
…Toyotomi Hideyoshi Cooked It 142
…and Tokugawa Ieyasu Ate It All Up 151
Chapter 8 The Invasion of Korea 158
Possible Motives and Preparations 158
First Invasion and Truce 162
Second Invasion and Outcome 173
Chapter 9 The Tokugawa Shogunate 180
Ieyasu, Laying Down the Foundations of the Dynasty 180
Hidetada and Iemitsu: Stabilizing the System 191
The Samurai and the Organization of the New Country 200
Chapter 10 The Keicho Diplomatic Mission 206
The Project 206
From Japan to Rome: Great Expectations 213
From Rome to Japan: Empty-handed 219
Chapter 11 The End of the Samurai 224
Domestic Dynamite: The Waning of the Bakuhan 224
External Detonator: The New Western Threat 228
Explosion: The Wrecking of the Bakufu 233
Meiji: The Construction of a New Japan 245
Epilogue: The Samurai Myth 256
Bibliography 272
Chronology 279
Emperors of Japan 280
Shogunate of Japan 284
Maps of Japan 286
