In November 2026, the Shizuoka City Museum of History turned its attention to a fascinating aspect of Tokugawa Ieyasu's life: his personal swords. The founder of the shogunate that ruled Japan for more than two and a half centuries left behind not only a political legacy but also historic weapons, some of which survive today.
A previously unknown letter from Toyotomi Hideyoshi, one of Japan's great unifiers, has been publicly displayed for the first time. Written in 1585, the document reveals how Hideyoshi granted Yamato Province to his younger brother, Hidenaga, and attempted to resolve complicated questions of loyalty among local samurai families.
A new historical exhibition in Japan tells the remarkable story of a teenage samurai who crossed the Pacific Ocean aboard the Kanrin Maru at just sixteen years old. His surviving travel writings offer a rare opportunity to experience America in 1860 through the eyes of a young Japanese traveler who witnessed one of the most important diplomatic journeys of his time.
Takeda Nobuyoshi (1128–1186 or later) was a prominent Japanese samurai lord of the late Heian and early Kamakura periods and the founder of the Takeda clan.
Tokugawa Iemochi (1846–1866) was the fourteenth shōgun of the Tokugawa shogunate and ruled from 1858 until his death. His reign came during the turbulent final years of the shogunate, when Japan faced growing Western pressure and serious internal political conflict.
Tokugawa Ienari (1773–1841) was the eleventh shōgun of the Tokugawa shogunate and ruled from 1787 to 1837, making him the longest-serving Tokugawa shōgun. He was a great-grandson of the eighth shōgun, Tokugawa Yoshimune.
