Who they were
Japan’s greatest story of rising from nothing: a peasant’s son — tradition has him carrying Nobunaga’s sandals — who became the ruler of all Japan.
What they did
After Nobunaga’s death he avenged him within days at Yamazaki (1582), became imperial regent (kanpaku) in 1585, and completed unification with the fall of Odawara (1590). He froze the social order: the sword hunt (1588) disarmed villages, nationwide cadastral surveys fixed taxation, and warriors and farmers were legally separated. He banned Christian missionaries (a 1587 edict; the 26 martyrs of Nagasaki followed in 1597) and built Osaka Castle. His two invasions of Korea (1592–1598) brought immense devastation to Korea and ended with his death in 1598, leaving the child heir Hideyori.
Legacy
He completed unification — and left the social framework the Tokugawa inherited.