When their exploits were documented generations later, this began their long path from reality to legend: from deceptive warriors emerging from the peasant farms of Japan, to their depiction as ...

On the rural islands off the coast of Japan, a handful of believers practice a version of Christianity that has direct links ...

His talent and ambition had allowed him to rise from a humble peasant background. Building on Nobunaga’s achievements, Hideyoshi brought all of Japan under his control by about 1590. Two problems ...

By the time Ida struck, the vast bulk of Japan’s rice had already been harvested, and peasant pockets were ajingle with the proceeds of the nation’s fourth bumper crop (400 million bushels ...

During the Tokugawa era (A.D. 1603–1868), much of Japan was ruled by the country ... the daimyo were free to set tax rates on local peasants as they saw fit. This included the most important ...