Speech

Name: PHILIP WALSTROM Title: Uniting Japan: The Story of Tokugawa Ieyasu Specific Purpose: To inform the audience about the life of Tokugawa Ieyasu. Thesis Statement: I will inform you about of three periods in this incredible man’s life: 1) His early life, 2) His relations with Hideyoshi and 3) His Conquering Japan I. INTRODUCTION A. Hook: Imagine all your earliest memories being of you being a political prisoner for the benefit of your family. Then imagine yourself being given a kingdom to rule when you’re fifteen. Imagine being a fifteen year old general, fighting in a battle with the lives of thousands of people utterly dependant on your actions. B. Rapport: About five hundred and fifty eight years ago, there started a period of chaos in Japan called the Warring States Period. The turmoil would continue for about one hundred and fifty years. During this period, poverty and famine were commonplace, as was banditry. Regional warlords fought bitterly to conquer the whole of Japan. During this era, a man was born, heir to a minor clan, who would in time unite Japan under his fist and establish a two hundred and fifty year dynasty. C. Creditability: I personally love history. I take history courses for fun. I love history so much, I memorize lectures on it without any effort. Last summer, I aced a history course without taking any notes or even buying the required book. In particular, I like Japanese history, specifically the Warring States Period. I spend a lot of time enjoying both fictional and non-fictional accounts of the major people of the period and the battles they took part in. D. Bridge: This afternoon, I will inform you about three periods in this incredible man’s life: 1. His early life 2. His relations with Hideyoshi and 3. His Conquering Japan II. BODY A. Early Life 1. Birth and life as a political prisoner (Sadler, A. L. Maker of Modern Japan) 2. Beginnings as a warlord

Transition Statement: Ieyasu had failed. He had been too slow in taking control of the land, and now had to fight Hideyoshi. If Ieyasu failed again he would either lose his life or be forced to serve Hideyoshi. Even so however, Ieyasu’s determination to rule Japan would never die. B. His relations with Hideyoshi 1. The beginning of Hideyoshi’s rise to power (Jansen, Marius, ed. The Making of Modern Japan) 2. Hideyoshi’s death and aftermath (McClain, James The Cambridge History of Japan Volume 4) Transition Statement: With this the stage was set for the greatest battle ever fought in Japan. A battle where the entire course of Japan’s future rode on the shoulders of a few dozen commanders. A battle at a place called Sekigahara. C. Conquering Japan 1. Sekigahara: The fulcrum of destiny (Bryant, Anthony J. Sekigahara 1600: The Final Struggle For Power) 2. Consolation (Ponsonby-Fane, Richard. Kyoto: the Old Capital of Japan) II. A. 1. Matsudaira Takechiyo of the Mikawa Province was born on January 31 1543 as a son of the Mikawa Clan’s leader. In 1548, a rival clan invaded Mikawa, they then turned to their old ally the Imagawa for help. The Imagawa agreed to help, provided the Mikawa gave Takechiyo to them as a hostage. Mikawa’s leader agreed to hand over the five year old child. However the enemy, had learned of this arrangement and had Takechiyo abducted en route to the Imagawa capital. The enemy ordered the Mikawa to break their ties with the Imagawa clan or else the boy would be executed. The Mikawa’s leader felt that such a sacrifice would improve relations between the Mikawa and Imagawa. So he refused. However, the enemy chose not to kill Takechiyo but instead held him under their power. When Takechiyo was nine, the Imagawa won him back and Takechiyo became the Imagawa’s hostage. According to A. Sadler’s book Maker of Modern Japan, Takechiyo lived in the Imagawa capital without any event worth noting. However, when Takechiyo was fifteen, he came of age. He was then sent to Mikawa to rule it as Imagawa’s ally. He then fought in several battles, many of which he won, against the Imagawa’s chief rival: the Oda. In 1560, the Oda, lead by a man named Nobunaga, defeated an Imagawa force

and killed the Imagawa leader. Takechiyo promptly abandoned the weakened Imagawa and allied himself with the Oda. 2. In 1567, at the age of twenty four, Takechiyo changed his name. This new name suggested that he was related to the emperor, something that would permit him, someday, in theory, to be named Shogun, the de facto ruler of Japan. This name was Tokugawa Ieyasu. From 1567 on, Ieyasu fought with several clans and allied with several others. Throughout this period of war and shifting alliances, only two things remained constant for Ieyasu. His alliance with Nobunaga and the fact that his territory was steadily increasing. By 1582, Nobunaga had either defeated or allied with one third of the warlords in Japan, a feat unparalleled in one hundred years of civil war. It was at this point however that Nobunaga was killed in a coup d’tat. Although the killer, claimed Nobunaga’s holdings as his own, many warlords refused to recognize this claim. Ieyasu jumped at the chance to slay the traitor and claim Nobunaga’s land. However, he was too late, another former general of Nobunaga’s, a commoner, had beaten Ieyasu to it. A man named Hideyoshi. Transition Statement: Ieyasu had failed. He had been too slow in taking control of the land, and now had to fight Hideyoshi. If Ieyasu failed again he would either lose his life or be forced to serve Hideyoshi. Even so however, Ieyasu’s determination to rule Japan would never die. B. 1. Hideyoshi immediately had to defend his position against Ieyasu. They fought to a stalemate. Hideyoshi then sought to become Shogun, but the Emperor refused him the title and Hideyoshi was named regent to the Emperor’s son, and begin to conquer all of Japan. Although Ieyasu was under Hideyoshi’s rule, Hideyoshi never trusted the man he couldn’t defeat and prevented Ieyasu from fighting in most of Hideyoshi’s battles. Hideyoshi couldn’t have known, but this was a huge mistake. After a short time, Hideyoshi had conquered all of Japan and even started launching unsuccessful attacks on Korea. As ruler he passed a noteworthy reform, as noted by Marius Jansen the writer of The Making of Modern Japan, the reform being the banning of weapons for all non Samurai. B. However, after only twelve years of rule Hideyoshi died. This left Hideyoshi’s dynasty in trouble. He left a five year old boy as his heir and Hideyoshi had been a weak ruler, as McClain notes in The Cambridge History of Japan Volume 4, Hideyoshi as a commoner, had had to back up all of his orders as Regent with force. With Hideyoshi’s death Ieyasu saw his chance again. His armies hadn’t fought in any battles for years and that gave Ieyasu a military advantage. He began to forge alliances and in two years was ready. Hideyoshi’s most popular general had died by this time and furthermore Hideyoshi’s empire was in the hands of Mitsunari, an unpopular bureaucrat. Ieyasu attacked the

residence of Hideyoshi’s son and took control of it. Tensions quickly rose with the warlords of Japan choosing one side or the other. Many of Hideyoshi’s men, including Hideyoshi’s wife supported Ieyasu. Transition Statement: With this the stage was set for the greatest battle ever fought in Japan. A battle where the entire course of Japan’s future rode on the shoulders of a few dozen commanders. The battle of Sekigahara. C. 1. The two sides met on a large plain. Ieyasu was outnumbered but had bribed many on the other side to join him when he gave a certain signal. Anthony Bryant, author of Sekigahara 1600: The Final Struggle For Power says that without those bribes, Ieyasu would have lost. But, a combination of traitors and disagreements within Mitsunari’s army allowed Ieyasu’s forces to win the day. Mitsunari and his top generals were caught and killed. 2. With that Ieyasu, being a Samurai and being of the Emperor’s lineage was named Shogun, and with this every warlord swore their loyalty to him. Ieyasu had conquered Japan. He then rewarded his followers and the traitors of Sekigahara. After five years Ieyasu named his son Shogun and retired, although keeping the real power. PonsonbyFane's book: Kyoto: the Old Capital of Japan tells us that later in life Ieyasu took up both scholarship and religion. III. CONCLUSION Ieyasu was born with nothing. But, with ability and fortune, Ieyasu conquered a nation. Ieyasu wrote a few quotes that describe his character and how he was able to do what he did. "Life is like unto a long journey with a heavy burden. Let your step be slow and steady, that you stumble not. Persuade yourself that imperfection and inconvenience are the natural lot of mortals, and there will be no room for discontent, neither for despair.” "The strong manly ones in life are those who understand the meaning of the word patience. I am not as strong as I might be, but I have long known and practiced patience. And if my descendants wish to be as I am, they must study patience." Tokugawa Ieyasu was an amazing man.

IV. Bibliography Sadler, A. L. Maker of Modern Japan: the Life of Tokugawa Ieyasu. Tuttle Publishing, 1978 p.47 Jansen, Marius, ed. The Making of Modern Japan. 2000 p. 23 McClain, James The Cambridge History of Japan Volume 4. 1991 p. 85 Bryant, Anthony J. Sekigahara 1600: The Final Struggle For Power. 1995. p.22 Ponsonby-Fane, Richard. Kyoto: the Old Capital of Japan, 794-1969 (1956). p. 418.