The Shogun's Soldiers: Volume 1 - The Daily Life of Samurai and Soldiers in Edo Period Japan, 1603-1721

Tokugawa Ieyasu's decisive victory at Sekigahara in 1600 concluded the civil wars, confirmed his position of military supremacy as shogun (generalissimo) of Japan, and inaugurated the Edo period (1600-1868), so named because Ieyasu after the battle established his capital in Edo (modern-day Tokyo). By then, Japan was an advanced, outward-looking country.

Previously preoccupied by internal warfare, Tokugawa-ruled Japan was unified, strong, and technologically developed to a degree inferior t...