The war initiated the Sengoku jidai, "the Warring States Period". This period was a long, drawn-out struggle for domination by individual daimyo, resulting in a mass power-struggle between the various houses to dominate the whole of Japan. During this long period three individuals emerged who would unite Japan under one rule; they were Oda Nobunaga, Toyotomi Hideyoshi, and Tokugawa Ieyasu.