After Toyotomi Hideyoshi passes from old age, control of Japan passes to his young son - or more accurately, to his council of advisors. Tokugawa Ieyasu, the most powerful among them, looks poised to seize power for himself, but a rival named Ishida Mitsunari plots against him. After his first treacherous plot is discovered and foiled, Ishida joins with Uesugi Kagekatsu to mount a campaign against Tokugawa. An old friend, Torii Mototada, gives his life to counter the campaign and buys Tokugawa enough time to defend himself. The defection of the Kobayakawa clan from Ishida broke this opposition once and for all, leaving Tokugawa in uncontested control of Japan. Though he became shogun, Tokugawa ruled for only two years before passing succession to his son, establishing for the first time not only a stable shogun but a stable chain of succession, and bringing Sengoku Jidai period to an end in Japan.
