Born in Japan

History special · HISTORY

Live as a Sengoku Warlord

Press the button and you are born as one of 12 famous Sengoku warlords: Takeda Shingen, Uesugi Kenshin, Mōri Motonari, Toyotomi Hideyoshi, Date Masamune, Sanada Nobushige and more. Succession, battles, alliances and, finally, death. Choose at each turning point of his life, then find out what really happened. Follow history, or take the "what if" road.

All "what if" outcomes and numbers are fictional. Historical years and events follow Japanese reference dictionaries. Ages use the traditional Japanese count (1 at birth).

Oda Nobunaga and Tokugawa Ieyasu have history specials of their own. Live as Oda Nobunaga / Live as Tokugawa Ieyasu

What was the Sengoku period?

The Sengoku ("Warring States") period was the age of fighting between regional lords, from around the start of the Ōnin War in 1467 until Japan was unified. Some date its start to Ise Sōzui (Hōjō Sōun) seizing Izu in 1491 or the Meiō coup of 1493, and its end is variously placed at 1568, when Oda Nobunaga entered Kyoto with Ashikaga Yoshiaki; 1573, when the Muromachi shogunate fell; or 1590, when Toyotomi Hideyoshi completed the unification.

Sengoku daimyo broke away from the shogunate’s system, absorbed local strongmen as retainers, and built independent regional governments. It was an age of gekokujō, "the low overthrowing the high": deputies toppled governors, and retainers turned on their lords to become daimyo themselves. Daimyo issued their own domain laws, such as the Takeda code (Kōshū Hatto no Shidai) and the Imagawa code (Imagawa Kana Mokuroku).

How to play

Press "Be born" and one of 12 Sengoku warlords is chosen at random; if you like, you can be born again as someone else. Each warlord has 6 to 9 chapters at turning points such as succession, battles, alliances and death, and at each you pick one of 3 or 4 choices. One of them is always the path the warlord actually took.

After you choose, you see the outcome: the real event if you followed history, or a fictional "what if" if you did not, with your Domain, Retainers, Renown and Path to rule going up or down (the numbers are game estimates, not historical figures). Then "What really happened" explains the history, checked against Japanese reference dictionaries. At the end, your choices are compared with the life history records.

Legends and disputed points

Some famous Sengoku stories are not backed by reliable sources, or are disputed. The one-on-one duel between Shingen and Kenshin at Kawanakajima is a popular legend of uncertain truth; Mōri Motonari’s "three arrows" is a later anecdote based on a letter to his sons; and the name "Yukimura" for Sanada Nobushige does not appear in reliable sources. Akechi Mitsuhide’s motive for the Honnō-ji Incident has many theories, and views differ on Ishida Mitsunari’s character and on whether Shimazu Yoshihiro ever became clan head. This page marks such points as legends or disputed.

The warlords

FAQ

What is this Sengoku warlord simulator?
A history game: press "Be born" and you become one of 12 famous Sengoku warlords at random, making choices at the turning points of his life (6 to 9 chapters). Each choice changes your Domain, Retainers, Renown and Path to rule, and then you can see what really happened. It is free, with no sign-up.
Which warlords can I play?
Twelve: Takeda Shingen, Uesugi Kenshin, Mōri Motonari, Hōjō Ujiyasu, Imagawa Yoshimoto, Toyotomi Hideyoshi, Akechi Mitsuhide, Maeda Toshiie, Date Masamune, Sanada Nobushige (Yukimura), Ishida Mitsunari and Shimazu Yoshihiro. You can also pick one directly. Oda Nobunaga and Tokugawa Ieyasu have history specials of their own.
What happens if I always follow history?
If you choose the historical option in every chapter, your ending is "The life history records", a look back at the life the warlord actually lived. Imagawa Yoshimoto’s life ends at Okehazama, for example, and Akechi Mitsuhide’s after Yamazaki.
What if I choose differently?
History branches into a "what if". The endings are: Japan unified, a domain held fast, the house survives, an early death, a quiet retreat, or lands lost. Risky choices can fail, so the same choices can turn out differently. All "what if" outcomes are fiction.
How accurate is the history?
Chapter years, events and the "what really happened" notes were checked against Japanese reference works such as the Nihon Daihyakka Zensho, Sekai Daihyakka Jiten, Nihon Jinmei Daijiten and Yamakawa Nihonshi Shōjiten (via Kotobank). Where dictionaries disagree, or a story is of uncertain truth, the page says so.
Are ages in Western years?
No, they use the traditional Japanese count: 1 at birth, plus one each New Year, the same count the dictionaries use for ages at death. For Akechi Mitsuhide, whose birth year is uncertain, ages are counted from the 1528 account.

More history specials

Sources

Sources (in Japanese): entries in the Nihon Daihyakka Zensho (Nipponica), Sekai Daihyakka Jiten, Nihon Jinmei Daijiten+Plus, Yamakawa Nihonshi Shōjiten, Hyakka Jiten Mypedia, Britannica Kokusai Daihyakka Jiten, Ōbunsha Nihonshi Jiten, Digital Daijisen and Seisen-ban Nihon Kokugo Daijiten, via Kotobank: 戦国時代, 分国法, 武田信玄, 川中島の戦い, 三方ヶ原の戦い, 上杉謙信, 上杉憲政, 敵に塩を送る, 毛利元就, 厳島の戦い, 三子教訓状, 北条氏康, 河越の戦い, 小田原衆所領役帳, 今川義元, 太原崇孚, 今川仮名目録, 桶狭間の戦い, 豊臣秀吉, 墨俣城, 山崎の戦, 賤ヶ岳の戦, 小牧・長久手の戦い, 小田原征伐, 文禄・慶長の役, 明智光秀, 坂本城, 本能寺の変, 前田利家, 末森城, 五大老, 伊達政宗, 大崎・葛西一揆, 慶長遣欧使節, 真田幸村, 真田信繁, 真田昌幸, 上田城, 九度山, 大坂の陣, 石田三成, 五奉行, 関ヶ原の戦, 島津義弘, 島津義久, 大友宗麟, 泗川の戦い

Be born in modern Japan (life simulator) →