Episode Overview

Title: How Did Three Samurai Warlords Unite Japan?
Podcast: Dan Snow's History Hit
Host: Dan Snow
Guest: Chris Harding (Cultural Historian of Japan, India, East-West connections)
Date: February 5, 2026

This episode dives into one of the most pivotal eras in Japanese history: the turbulent 15th and 16th centuries, culminating in the unification of Japan by three extraordinary warlords—Oda Nobunaga, Toyotomi Hideyoshi, and Tokugawa Ieyasu. Dan Snow and historian Chris Harding explore the bloody Sengoku Jidai ("Warring States" period)—its chaos, shifting alliances, power grabs, and how the ambitions and ruthlessness of these three men shaped the foundations of modern Japan.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The Sengoku Jidai: Fragmented Japan

Timestamps: 03:06–08:57

• Pre-War Japan Structure:

  • Around the 1400s, Japan was officially ruled by the Ashikaga Shogunate from Kyoto, with the emperor reduced to ceremonial duties.
  • Political control was exerted through provincial ‘warrior constables’, but their autonomy grew as the shogunate weakened.

• Onin War and Descent into Chaos:

  • Dispute over shogunal succession erupted into the Onin War (1467–1477), burning much of Kyoto and shattering central authority.
  • Japan became “a patchwork of about 120 warring domains” (Chris Harding, 05:55).

“Town burned. Populations put to the sword. This was the Sengoku Jidai, Japan’s warring states period.”
—Dan Snow [01:33]

• Ordinary People’s Experience:
  • Little sense of national identity; people identified by village or domain.
  • Most just wanted peace, not necessarily unity.

2. Oda Nobunaga: The 'Demon King'

Timestamps: 09:12–26:59

• Unexpected Origins and Ruthlessness:

  • Born 1534, derided as "the Great Fool of Owari Province" for eccentric behavior (09:12–10:18).
  • After his father’s death, quickly asserted control, consolidating power through ruthlessness—even killing rival family members.

• Strategic Innovation:

  • Transforms battlefield tactics by quickly adopting and mobilizing Portuguese firearms (arquebuses).
  • The Battle of Okehazama (1560): Defeats a much larger army by surprise (11:09–11:52).

• Relationship with Religion:

  • Aggressively opposed Buddhist militant power. The Siege of Mt. Hiei (1571): Massacred thousands, including monks, women, and children, to annihilate Buddhist resistance (17:18–19:18).

“Not even a badger or a fox moved on the mountain anymore.”
—Chris Harding, [19:08] (on the destruction of Mt. Hiei)

• Power over the Shogun:

  • Puts Ashikaga Yoshiaki on the throne as puppet shogun, ruling "the realm by force" (15:31–16:05).

• Downfall:

  • Murdered in 1582 at Honnō-ji temple by his own general, Akechi Mitsuhide—possibly motivated by humiliation and revenge (23:44–26:59).

3. Toyotomi Hideyoshi: The Peasant Who Became Ruler

Timestamps: 29:02–43:09

• Meteoric Rise:

  • Initially a sandal-bearer for Nobunaga; mocked as “the little monkey” and “bald rat” but considered a masterful battlefield strategist and negotiator.

• Seizing Power:

  • After Nobunaga's death, Hideyoshi avenges him and eliminates rivals (including Nobunaga’s sons) to secure authority.
  • Gains court rank and legitimacy through imperial titles, presenting himself as the rightful heir.

• Domestic Reforms:

  • Initiates major tax reform, the “sword hunt” (confiscating weapons from peasants), establishes a strict class hierarchy, and institutes a hostage system to keep rival lords in check.

“He has this phrase—squeeze them [peasants] like seeds in terms of their tax money... peasants should be suspended between life and death.”
—Chris Harding, [37:57]

• Hostility to Christianity:

  • Distrusts Christian influence, cracks down on missionaries and converts (including the infamous crucifixions at Nagasaki), but preserves lucrative trade with Europeans.

• Ambition & Overreach:

  • Invades Korea (1592–1598), aiming to use it as a springboard to China and India. The campaigns are disastrous, leading to mass death and no gain.

“A bloody series of battles... possibly the bloodiest war in the whole of the 16th century anywhere in the world. Up to a million people... die to achieve literally nothing.”
—Chris Harding, [41:04]

• Deathbed Reflection:
  • Hideyoshi’s death poem reflects on the impermanence of his achievements and life itself—“All of Osaka is dream after dream.” (43:09).

4. Tokugawa Ieyasu: The Consolidator

Timestamps: 44:40–57:22

• Background:

  • Early ally of Nobunaga and Hideyoshi; bides time in the resource-rich region of Edo (now Tokyo).

• Securing Power:

  • Upon Hideyoshi’s death, avoids immediate conflict, but after a few years orchestrates the decisive Battle of Sekigahara (1600) (47:15–49:21).
    • Uses negotiation, bribery, and tactical opportunism to encourage key defections.

“At the crucial moment... he has some of his men fire on the positions of the guy who’s made this promise, that goads him into action... the war is won.”
—Chris Harding, [49:13]

• Building a Lasting Order:

  • Executes the largest land redistribution in Japanese history to weaken rivals.
  • Moves the seat of actual power to Edo while keeping the emperor as figurehead in Kyoto.
  • Claims the title of Shogun and establishes the Tokugawa shogunate (1603–1868).
    • For the first time, successful hereditary succession follows.

• Isolation and Control:

  • Halts foreign expansion; institutes sakoku (national isolation), bans Christianity, and restricts European contact exclusively to Dutch traders confined to a single artificial island (Dejima) in Nagasaki.

• Sustaining Stability:

  • Maintains order with the hostage system, economic controls, and forced alternate residence for lords in Edo—progressively impoverishing rivals and eliminating opposition.

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• “Oda Nobunaga... probably the best known, maybe not best loved, figure in their history... he dresses badly, likes to wrestle in the mud with commoners... he gets this nickname, 'The Great Fool of Owari.'”
  —Chris Harding [09:12]

• “If someone crosses him and he’s got their children somewhere in a castle, he will march them out in public and burn them at the stake.”
  —Chris Harding [11:59]

• “Nobunaga pounded the rice, Hideyoshi baked the cake, Tokugawa Ieyasu ate it.”
  —Chris Harding (reciting a Japanese proverb) [29:02]

• “All of Osaka is dream after dream.”
  —Hideyoshi’s death poem, as quoted by Chris Harding [43:09]

• “He learns from people like Hideyoshi. So foreign adventures are very definitely off the menu.”
  —Chris Harding, on Tokugawa Ieyasu’s domestic focus [51:06]

Critical Timestamps

• 03:06–08:57 — Breakdown of Japanese social and political order, the Onin War, and the rise of autonomous domains.
• 09:12–26:59 — Biography, strategy, and legacy of Oda Nobunaga; his rise and fall, brutality, and innovations.
• 29:02–43:09 — The ascent of Hideyoshi, his crucial reforms, anti-Christian policies, failure in the Korean campaigns, and death.
• 44:40–57:22 — Tokugawa Ieyasu’s cautious moves, the Battle of Sekigahara, shogunate establishment, and policies of stability and isolation.
• 57:13–57:48 — Chris Harding on the unification’s long-term results: stable, cohesive, prosperous Japan.

Episode Closing Thoughts

This episode brilliantly explores how the ambitions, brutality, and calculated genius of three very different men forcibly ended a century of civil war, cementing the unity and later isolation of Japan for centuries. The discussion provides rich parallels with European history while emphasizing the distinctiveness of Japanese development, and illustrates the human costs and consequences—both immediate and lasting—of state unification.

Recommended for listeners interested in:

• Japanese history, feudal and military history, state-building, comparative history, and the origins of modern East Asia.

For further reading or questions, contact ds.hh@historyhit.com