In the second half of the XV century, Japan entered a long period of crisis called the Sengoku Jidai or the Age of the Warring States. Ashikaga Shogunate lost its authority and the clan leaders - daimyos divided the islands into 400 small feudal holdings. Three military leaders - Oda Nobunaga, Toyotomi Hideyoshi and Tokugawa Ieyasu started their struggle to consolidate Japan in the XVI century and it all culminated at the battle of Sekigahara fought in 1600 between alliances led by Tokugawa Ieyasu and Ishida Mitsunari. The battle decided the next 250 years of the Japanese history.
