Made Familiar to Western audiences by the films of Akira Kurosawa, Japan's Sengoku Jidai ('Warring States Period') was a time of crisis and dynamic instability. Beginning with the Onin War in 1467 and climaxing in the siege of Osaka Castle in 1615, this class will trace the social and political transformation of Japan as the military class of bushi (Samurai) and their lords, daimyo ('great names') struggled for power and dominance over a disparate, fragmented collection of warring provinces. Drawing on contemporary written accounts (Japanese and foreign) we will meet the three remarkable men who played such unique roles in re-unifying Japan: Oda Nobunaga ('the Fool'), Toyotomi Hideyoshi ('the Monkey'), and Tokugawa Ieyasu ('the Old Badger'). Through illustrated lectures and discussion will also look at Japan's relations with Korea, with the nanban (the Portuguese, Spanish and Dutch), and assess the impact of Christianity on Japanese society. Why did Japan isolate itself from the world in 1640? Was it fear of foreign invasion or 'spiritual conquest'?