Japan: Tokugawa Ieyasu (31 January 1543  1 June 1616), founder and first ruler of the Tokugawa Shogunate (1600-1868). Hanging scroll painting by Kano Tan'yu (1602-1674), 17th century. Tokugawa Ieyasu, born Matsudaira Takechiyo, was the founder and first shogun of the Tokugawa shogunate of Japan, which ruled from the Battle of Sekigahara in 1600 until the Meiji Restoration in 1868. Ieyasu seized power in 1600, received appointment as shogun in 1603, abdicated from office in 1605, but remained in power until his death in 1616. Ieyasu was posthumously enshrined at Nikk? T?sh?-g?.