BIOGRAPHY OF WIVES OF THE THREE UNIFIERS OF JAPAN

​ABSTRACT

Japan had Three Unifiers during the Sengoku Period who fought to unify and bring peace in Japan, Oda Nobunaga, Toyotomi Hideyoshi, and Tokugawa Ieyasu. They all had a formidable wife behind them that helped their growth in power, Nobunaga’s wife, Nohime (Kicho) (1535-1612), Hideyoshi’s wife, Kodai-in (Nene) (1542-1579), and Ieyasu’s first wife, Tsukiyama (1543-1616). All the wives being born in a family with high ranks forced the political marriage to take place in order to keep the peace alliance between the families. They all lived as a powerful and clever model as the wives of Japan’s important leaders and supported their position. This project would portray the life story of the wives of the unifiers as they lived during the Sengoku Era supporting their husbands who were daimyos.