able was Tokugawa Ieyasu. He was six years younger than Hideyoshi, and
therefore in A.D. 1598, when the Taiko died, he was fifty-six years old.
He was born at the village of Matsudaira in the province of Mikawa A.D.
1542. His family counted its descent from Minamoto Yoshi-ie, who in the
eleventh century had by his military prowess in the wars against the Ainos
earned the heroic name of Hachiman-Taro. Therefore he was, as custom and
tradition now for a long time had required for those holding the office of
shogun, a descendant from the Minamoto family.(190) The name Tokugawa,
which Ieyasu rendered famous, was derived from a village in the province
of Shimotsuke, where his ancestors had lived. His first experiences in war
were under Nobunaga, side by side with Hideyoshi. He proved himself not
only a capable soldier, prudent and painstaking, but also a good
administrator in times of peace. Hideyoshi had such confidence in him, and
so much doubt about the wisdom of requiring the guardians to wait until
his son, a mere child five years old, had grown up to years of
responsibility, that he is represented as having said to Ieyasu: "I
foresee that there will be great wars after my decease; I know too that
there is no one but you who can keep the country quiet. I therefore
bequeath the whole country to you, and trust you will expend all your
strength in governing it. My son Hideyori is still young. I beg you will
look after him. When he is grown up, I leave it to you to decide whether
he will be my successor or not."(191)

As soon as the Taiko was dead, and the attempt was made to set in motion
the machinery he had designed for governing the country, troubles began to
manifest themselves. The princes whom he had appointed as members of his
governing boards, began immediately to quarrel among themselves. On Ieyasu
devolved the duty of regulating the affairs of the government. For this
purpose he resided at Fushimi, which is a suburb of Kyoto. His most active
opponent was Ishida Mitsunari, who had been appointed one of the five
_bugyo_, or governors, under the Taiko's arrangement. They grew jealous of
Ieyasu, because, under the existing order of things, the governors were of
very minor importance. Mitsunari had acquired his influence with the
Taiko, not through military achievements, but by intrigue and flattery. He
was cordially detested by such disinterested friends as Kato Kiyomasa and
others.

The ground on which the oppositio