The Great Unifier... Or One of Them, Anyway

Before Ieyasu, Japan was broken into hundreds of kingdoms, all fighting against each-other.

Plot twist: Japan's "great unifier" isn't just one person - it's a trio! The unification process got started by a brutal warlord named Oda Nobunaga. Oda had 2 wingmen: Toyotomi Hideyoshi and Tokugawa Ieyasu. After Nobunaga's death, Hideyoshi got the "crown" and Ieyasu only became shogun after his death.

Ieyasu outlasted the other two, proving that in the game of thrones (Japanese edition), it's not about who unifies first, but who unifies last.