People & stories

Behind every view there are people: warlords who founded cities, exiled poets, architects who gave their lives to a single church. Here are 162 historical figures linked to our destinations and 1161 local stories. History and folk legend are labelled separately, and every story has a source.

日本

Nara period · 701–756

Emperor Shōmu

The emperor who ordered the casting of the Great Buddha of Nara

1 related places

Early Heian period · 758–811

Sakanoue no Tamuramaro

Seii Taishōgun (shogun)

1 related places

Early Heian period · 774–835

Kūkai (Kōbō Daishi)

Founder of Shingon Buddhism

1 related places

Heian period · 845–903

Sugawara no Michizane

Scholar and poet, later revered as the god of learning

1 related places

Late Heian period · 1118–1181

Taira no Kiyomori

Founder of Japan's first samurai-led government

1 related places

Late Heian to Kamakura period · 1147–1199

Minamoto no Yoritomo

Founder of the Kamakura shogunate

2 related places

Muromachi period · 1358–1408

Ashikaga Yoshimitsu

Third shogun of the Muromachi shogunate

1 related places

Muromachi period · 1432–1486

Ōta Dōkan

Builder of Edo Castle, warrior and poet

1 related places

Sengoku period · 1497–1571

Mōri Motonari

Daimyo of Aki who built the Mōri domain

3 related places

Sengoku period · 1521–1573

Takeda Shingen

Daimyo of Kai, known for “Wind, Forest, Fire, Mountain”

3 related places

Sengoku period · c. 1528–1582

Akechi Mitsuhide

Sengoku commander who launched the Honnō-ji Incident

2 related places

Sengoku period · 1530–1578

Uesugi Kenshin

Daimyo of Echigo, known as the “Dragon of Echigo”

4 related places

Sengoku period · 1534–1582

Oda Nobunaga

Sengoku daimyo who began the unification of Japan

4 related places

Sengoku to Azuchi-Momoyama period · 1537–1598

Toyotomi Hideyoshi

The first commoner to become kampaku (imperial regent)

3 related places

Sengoku to Azuchi-Momoyama period · 1538–1599

Maeda Toshiie

Founder of the Kaga domain

1 related places

Sengoku to Edo period · 1543–1616

Tokugawa Ieyasu

Founder of the Edo shogunate

11 related places

Sengoku period · 1546–1604

Kuroda Kanbei

Strategist of Toyotomi Hideyoshi, born Kuroda Yoshitaka

3 related places

Sengoku period · 1548–1610

Honda Tadakatsu

Sengoku commander and senior retainer of Tokugawa Ieyasu

3 related places

Azuchi-Momoyama to early Edo period · 1562–1611

Katō Kiyomasa

Builder of Kumamoto Castle

1 related places

Azuchi-Momoyama to early Edo period · 1567–1636

Date Masamune

Founder of the Sendai domain, 'the One-Eyed Dragon'

2 related places

Sengoku period · 1567–1615

Sanada Yukimura

Sengoku commander born Sanada Nobushige

3 related places

Bakumatsu (late Edo) · 1835–1869

Hijikata Toshizō

Vice-commander of the Shinsengumi

1 related places

Bakumatsu to Meiji · 1837–1913

Tokugawa Yoshinobu

Last shogun of the Edo shogunate

1 related places

Bakumatsu to Meiji · 1838–1911

Thomas Glover

Scottish merchant

1 related places

Post-war · 1943–1955

Sadako Sasaki

Victim of the Hiroshima atomic bomb

1 related places