October 21st, 1600 in the solar calendar, in other words, exactly 400 years ago from today, Battle of Sekigahara took place at present Gifu prefecture.
As we all know, East Troop guided by Tokugawa, Ieyasu won over West Troop and Ishida, Mitsunari who had been the virtual leader of the West was captured and chopped his head off after the war.
It was practically the beginning of Tokugawa's era.
In my opinion, Ishida was too "bureaucratic" to lead other feudal lords. Some of them joined unwillingly to the West so his troop was already on the verge of fragmentation before the battle.
Actually, one betrayal of Kobayakawa, Hideaki caused confusion, escape and another betrayal and finally the West lost.
Ishida was a kind of elite of the age but I guess without charismatic power any system could not work out.
