Statue of Tokugawa Ieyasu, Sunpu Castle, Shizuoka.

“Tokugawa Ieyasu (born Matsudaira Takechiyo, 31 January 1543 – 1 June 1616) was the founder and first shōgun of the Tokugawa shogunate of Japan, which ruled from 1603 until the Meiji Restoration in 1868. He was one of the three ‘Great Unifiers’ of Japan, along with his former lord Oda Nobunaga and fellow Oda subordinate Toyotomi Hideyoshi. The son of a minor daimyo, Ieyasu once lived as a hostage under daimyo Imagawa Yoshimoto on behalf of his father. He later succeeded as daimyo after his father’s death, serving as ally, vassal and general of the Oda clan, and building up his strength under Oda Nobunaga.”