 After Ashikaga took over the shogunate in 1336, Japan never remained truly unified  Because Japan was full of castles and warriors under control of daimyos, small wars occurred for decades  In 1467, a devastating civil war known as the Onin War broke out

 This civil war lasted over a century  In order to protect their people, daimyos began building large castles, walls, and armies  During this time, farmers and villagers became wealthier and lived better lives

 Around this time a daimyo known as Oda Nobunaga began unifying Japan  Nobunaga was from a poor country family but due to his bravery and leadership was made military leader of the emperor  With his new power, Nobunaga started destroying the powers of other daimyos and private Buddhist armies

 Nobunaga would unify most of Japan for the first time in over a century and would make his capital Edo (modern Tokyo)  Shortly after, however, he would be assassinated and one of his generals, Hideyoshi, would take over his rule  At this point, neither Hideyoshi or Nobunada were not Shogun  Although they held all the power in Japan they still supported the weakened Ashikaga shogunate

 When Hideyoshi died in 1593, his son was to be left in charge when he became of age  Until than Japan would be led by a council  Before Hideyoshi’s son could become emperor Nobunaga’s other general, Tokugawa Ieyasu, defeated the other members of council and gave himself the tile of shogun

 The Tokugawa Shoguns would rule over Japan until 1867, the same year Canada became a country  In order to keep daimyos from becoming to powerful, the Tokugawa Shoguns made them live part of the year in the capital city Edo  When daimyos went to their fiefs, their family had to stay in Edo

 Kosovo  February 2008  South Sedan  July 2011  Montenegro  May 2006  Canada  July 1867

 Europeans began arriving in Japan beginning with the Portuguese in the sixteenth century  Shortly after the Spanish, Dutch, and English followed  Due to Japan’s hunger for trade, Europeans were welcomed into Japan at first

 The first major impact of the Europeans in Japan was guns  Guns became very popular in Japan and were shortly included in warfare  Perhaps more importantly, however, was the impact of Christianity

 As usual with the Spanish and Portuguese, Catholics missionaries began missions and building churches in Japan  One of the first missionaries was Saint Francis Xavier  Within a few years, thousands of Japanese had converted to Christianity

 Japanese emperors quickly became hostile to this alien religion and banned it in Japan  Missionaries were forced to leave in and in some cases killed  Japanese Christians were put to death  After a rebellion in 1637 almost all contact with the west was cut off