Battle of Sekigahara

The Battle of Sekigahara was a decisive battle on September 15, 1600 (on the ancient Chinese calendar, October 21 on the modern calendar) that cleared the path to the Shogunate for Tokugawa Ieyasu. Though it would take three more years for Tokugawa to consolidate his position of power over the Toyotomi clan and the daimyo, Sekigahara is widely considered to be the unofficial beginning of the Tokugawa bakufu, the last shogunate to control Japan.

Trivia

• According to tradition, Miyamoto Musashi, the legendary kensei, was present at the battle among the ranks of Toyotomi Hideyori's army. Supposedly, he fought well and escaped the defeat of Hideyori's forces unharmed. Whether this is fact or myth is unknown; Musashi would have been around 16 years of age at the time.