During the last half of the 16th century, a number of daimyōs became strong enough either to manipulate the Ashikaga shogunate to their own advantage or to overthrow it altogether. One attempt to overthrow the bakufu (the

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What followed was a scramble by the most powerful of Nobunaga's retainers to avenge their lord's death and thereby establish a dominant position in negotiations over the forthcoming realignment of the Oda clan. The situation became even more urgent

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Land survey
With all of Japan now under Hideyoshi's control, a new structure for national government was set up.

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Hideyoshi had on his deathbed appointed a group of the most powerful lords in Japan—Tokugawa, Maeda, Ukita, Uesugi, and Mōri, to govern as the Council of Five Elders until

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The Momoyama period was a period of interest in the outside world, which also saw the development of large urban centers and the rise of the merchant class. The ornate castle architecture and interiors adorned with painted screens embellished with gold leaf

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The contrasting personalities of the three leaders who contributed the most to Japan's final unification—Nobunaga, Hideyoshi, and Ieyasu—are encapsulated in a series of three well-known senryū that are still taught to Japanese schoolchildren:

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• 1568: Nobunaga enters Kyoto, marking the beginning of the Azuchi–Momoyama period
• 1573: Nobunaga overthrows the Muromachi bakufu and exerts control over central Japan
• 1575: Nobunaga defeats the Takeda clan the Battle of Nagashino

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