Okazaki: The Birthplace of Japan’s Most Famous Shogun

The Mikawa Bushi no Yakata Ieyasu-kan Museum introduces visitors to the samurai culture of Mikawa Province that shaped Tokugawa Ieyasu, the historical SHOGUN who founded Japan’s longest-lasting shogunate. Through clear and engaging exhibits, the museum traces the eight-generation history of the Matsudaira clan and follows Ieyasu’s life from his childhood as a political hostage to his rise as the unifier of Japan. Displays explain the disciplined, pragmatic values of the Mikawa samurai, the political system Ieyasu later established, and his transformation after death into the deified figure Tōshō Daigongen. This museum provides essential context for understanding how the world of SHOGUN emerged from real people, places, and historical events.

Okazaki Castle stands on the site where Tokugawa Ieyasu was born in 1543, making it one of the most important locations connected to the origin of the SHOGUN. The castle played a central role in the early life of Ieyasu and the development of the Okazaki Domain in Mikawa Province. Inside the reconstructed castle keep, visitors learn about the structure of a feudal castle town, the governance of samurai domains, and the daily lives of both warriors and common people. From the castle, the story of Okazaki is revealed not as a peripheral regional history, but as the true starting point of the Tokugawa era and the long peace that followed.