ABSTRACT
The age of castles (1576-1639) was a period strictly circumscribed by the circumstances of power. It was also a period indelibly stamped with the authority of the three great national unifiers: Oda Nobunaga (1534-1582), Toyotomi Hideyoshi (1536-1598) and Tokugawa Ieyasu (1542-1616). During the civil wars of the sixteenth century, these daimyo rose by diverse means to become the heads of regional power blocs. Then, as the scale of conflict spread and power coalesced, they launched their bid for national hegemony.
