Feudal Map of Japan between 1573 -83', (1903). The feudal period of Japanese history was a time when powerful families (daimyo) and military warlords (shogun) ruled Japan. The Azuchi-Momoyama period began in 1568 with political unification of warlords Toyotomi Hideyoshi and Oda Nobunaga and ended in 1600 following the Battle of Sekigahara. From 'A History of Japan during the century of early foreign intercourse' (1542-1651) by James Murdoch, M.A. and Isoh Yamagata. [Kobe, Japan, 1903]