Tokugawa Ieyasu Tosho Daigongen Calligraphy Art Poster

徳川家康: Tokugawa Ieyasu, was the founder and first shogun of the Tokugawa shogunate of Japan, which effectively ruled Japan from the Battle of Sekigahara in 1600 until the Meiji Restoration in 1868. Ieyasu seized power in 1600, received appointment as shogun in 1603, and abdicated from office in 1605, but remained in power until his death in 1616. He was one of the three unifiers of Japan, along with his former lord Nobunaga and Toyotomi Hideyoshi. 東照大権現: Tosho Daigongen, or the "Great Gongen, Light of the East", is the devined name of Tokugawa Ieyasu when he was posthumously enshrined at Nikko Toshogu. (A Gongen is believed to be a buddha who has appeared on Earth in the shape of a spirit to save sentient beings) 征夷大将軍: Sei-i Taishogun, literally "Commander-in-Chief of the Expeditionary Force Against the Barbarians", or in shortform Shogun, was the title of the military dictator of Japan during the period from 1185 to 1868. In most of this period, the shoguns were the de facto rulers of the country, although nominally they were appointed by the Emperor as a ceremonial formality. Tokugawa Ieyasu received the title Shogun in 1603, after he forged a family tree to show he was of Minamoto descent, and became the first Shogun of Tokugawa Shogunate. In the background is the kamon (family crest) of Tokugawa, Mitsu ba aoi (三葉葵) or "triple hollyhock", on top is the armor set used by Ieyasu, and at the right side is the samurai signature of Ieyasu.