Kamehameha the Great and Tokugawa Ieyasu are both revered to this day as great leaders in world history. Kamehameha unified the Hawaiian islands by defeating other ali’i using strategic timing of attacks, strong alliances with other ali’i such as Ke’eaumoku, and assistance from foreign advisors with weapons and strategies. Ieyasu, by aiding Oda Nobunaga and Toyotomi Hideyoshi, played a major role in the unification of Japan. Ieyasu came into power after outliving Nobunaga and Hideyoshi and emerging victorious in the battle of Sekigahara that made him the first national leader of Japan. Both Kamehameha and Ieyasu were effective leaders because they were able to establish successful administrative systems that maintained peace in their societies for many years. Kamehameha and Ieyasu have many similarities in how they ruled and governed their people in their newly …show more content…
Although Kamehameha and Ieyasu shared many similarities, they also had some differences. One significant difference between Kamehameha and Ieyasu was their style of leadership. Kamehameha had a very personal and visible style of leadership. He worked diligently in taro patches in order to role model proper behavior to his subjects (Potter et al. 23). Kamehameha would personally greet foreign ships as they came into port and play a very visible role in the barter for trade goods (Daws 44). Ieyasu, on the other hand, preferred to keep a much lower profile. He “retired” after only two years of being named shogun (military leader) by the emperor, passing the title to his son Hidetada (Turnbull 61). Ieyasu continued to rule from behind the scenes until his death in 1616. Ieyasu’s early retirement allowed his son to learn how to rule while under Ieyasu’s tutelage. In contrast, Kamehameha seemed to have done less to prepare Liholiho as his successor. Under Liholiho, the kapu system was overthrown only six months after Kamehameha’s death (Daws 55), while the Tokugawa system of rule would continue for 250