Jomon ca. 10,000-300 bc

Yayoi ca. 300 bc-300 ad

Kofun or Tomb Pd. 300-700 ad

Classical Era 710-1160s =

Aristocratic Bureaucracy

Medieval Era 1160s-1600 =

Feudal Fluidity

Early Modern 1600-1868 =

Integral Bureaucracy

A. Wars of Unification

The 3 Great Unifiers:

Oda Nobunaga (1534-1582)

Toyotomi Hideyoshi (1536-1598)

Tokugawa Ieyasu (1542-1615)

On the Battle of Sekigahara:

A "heads inspection" was performed at Lord Tokugawa's final encampment just north of Sekigahara along the Hokkoku Road, where he viewed the nearly 40,000 enemy heads taken in battle. Within three days, Lord Ishida Mitsunari was captured in the area of Mount Ibuki and taken to Kyoto with other captive leaders of the Western Army. All were executed on the river bed within a matter of days. Having
cleared the path to become the next shogun, Lord Tokugawa Ieyasu sat back on his stool and mused to those in his presence,"After victory, tighten the cords of yourhelmet."

from: http://www.koreanhistoryproject.org/Ket/Idx/KETIndex1304.htm