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Different Worlds Presents

Gamers Guide to Feudal Japan

Shogun & Daimyo

Military Dictators of Samurai Japan

By Tadashi Ehara

The samurai ruled the Land of the Rising Sun from the end of the 12th century to the middle of the 19th century. At the top were the Shogun, the military dictators who dominated Japan as regents to the Emperors. Below the Shogun were the daimyo, provincial warlords who governed their individual fiefs with virtual sovereignty.

Shogun & Daimyo provides detailed information on the three dynasties of Shogun and one Shogunal Regency that dominated Japan during the feudal era, along with 171 daimyo clans that were defeated, dispossessed, or otherwise dissolved before the end of the samurai era.

The information is organized as an handbook for creating more realistic backgrounds for role-playing games, boardgames, miniatures games, and computer games. It is also useful for those writing historical novels, screenplays, graphic novels, comic books, animé, and other creative works.

Background material includes history, government structure, and a kanji primer. For gamers, a campaign setting is provided, along with notes on road travel, gazetteers of the major routes, and the use of mon "family crests." There is also a special section on samurai cinema with plot synopsis and recommendations for 103 chanbara movies and TV shows.

Shogun & Daimyo is a companion to Daimyo of 1876. The two books together cover all the major clans and prominent families of feudal Japan.

Among the Shogun and daimyo in this book you will find:

• Taira Kiyomori, the warrior-general who established the first samurai-dominated government in the history of Japan

• Minamoto Yoritomo, Japan's 1st Shogun and eminent administrator, who moved his military government to Kamakura, far from the meddling influences of the Imperial Court in Kyoto

• Ashikaga Takauji, the controversial samurai general who fought for the restoration of Imperial rule, but left the Court divided, and took control with a new warrior government as the 1st Shogun of the 2nd Shogunal dynasty of Japan

• Takeda Shingen, a military genius and innovator who fought, Uesugi Kenshin in a series of legendary battles at Kawanaka-jima, and whose secret death drove the plot of Akira Kurosawa's film Kagemusha

• Toyotomi Hideyoshi, a son of a peasant-warrior, who rose in power to complete the unification of Japan that was started by Oda Nobunaga, but whose ambitions led to the destruction of his clan

• Tokugawa Ieyasu, a minor daimyo who became Shogun, and established the 3rd and last Shogunal dynasty that would rule the Land of the Rising Sun for two-and-a-half centuries, until the end of the samurai era.

Profusely illuminated with hundreds of woodcut prints, paintings, photos, family trees, and crests.

Suggested for mature readers.

Published September 2011
342 pages

DWP-4002
ISBN 978-0-9753999-5-8
$59.99

Click here for reviews of Shogun & Daimyo

Click here for a printable PDF of press release (1.7 MB)

Samurai Special!

Get both Shogun & Daimyo and Daimyo of 1867 for $89.99, postpaid to U.S.A. customers.

DWP-Special-1
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Different Worlds Presents

Gamers Guide to Feudal Japan

Daimyo of 1867

Samurai Warlords of Shogun Japan

By Tadashi Ehara

Adventure through a world more alien and more exotic than you have ever experienced before, yet one that actually existed. Daimyo of 1867 provides a comprehensive catalog of samurai warlords in feudal Japan. Included are detailed information on every one of the 277 daimyo clans in the year 1867, towards the end of the samurai era.

Every daimyo is listed with the image of the mon “family crest,” han “fief” name, revenue size, rank at the Shogun’s castle in Edo, prior ancestry, and other clan information. Many clan domain descriptions are embellished with photos of their castles, history of notable ancestors, and information about any branch families. Maps of castles and their surroundings are provided wherever possible.

The information is organized as an handbook for creating more realistic backgrounds for role-playing games, boardgames, miniatures games, and computer games. It is also useful for those writing historical novels, screenplays, graphic novels, comic books, animé, and other creative works.

Background information includes geography, history, major roads, social structure, religion, monetary system, and government structure. A gamers guide is provided with suggestions for scenarios, descriptions of martial arts training, ronin, vengeance, the use of ninja, and the naming of a daimyo’s son at a coming-of-age ceremony. There is also a special section with lists of samurai-themed games.

Among the daimyo you will find:

• Asano Naganori, the daimyo whose seppuku led to the revenge of the 47 ronin

• Kudo Suketsuné, who sparked the famous vendetta of the Soga Brothers, which took 18 years to complete

• Ooka Tadasuké, a minor judge with legendary wisdom, who eventually became daimyo

• Yagyu Munenori, the Shogun’s sensei for swordsmanship, a hatamoto who became daimyo

• Oda Nobunaga, a minor daimyo who began the final unification of Japan after a century of civil war, and who is the inspiration for the video game series Nobunaga’s Ambition

• Tokugawa Ieyasu, a minor daimyo who became Shogun, and established a dynasty that would rule the Land of the Rising Sun for two-and-a-half centuries, until the end of the samurai era.

Profusely illuminated with hundreds of photos and images of maps, woodcut prints, and paintings.

Suggested for mature readers.

Published April 2010
346 pages

DWP-4001
ISBN 978-0-9753999-3-4
$59.99

Click here for reviews of Daimyo of 1867

Click here for a printable PDF of press release (1.8 MB)

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