Playing N/N with the Shimazu. I took the province directly east of me like my advisor recommended, though I was bloodied a bit more than I'd have liked. Spent several turns rebuilding my forces, training new soldiers for a further push into Ito lands to the north, and encouraging my economy. Got a couple of trade ships going but was a bit suprised that the port directly to my south was already claimed by another clan located somewhere to the center of the Japan. Ito counterattacked during this downtime which increased my retraining time slightly but they were easily defeated. Eventually, I was ready to conquer Ito once and for all and started marching north. About halfway there the province I was marching on was captured by another clan to the north and my forces were sent back to my territory.

Now I had a choice: declare war on this new clan (who were ambitious and unfriendly, according to their info panel) or continue to build my forces. My economy was decent, however the fairly large army I was fielding drained a significant portion, so I decided to put them to use. Unfortunately this new clan was easily able to defeat my forces during the resulting seige, and I am stuck with just 2 provinces, and army in shambles, and an aggressive clan to the north. Not a good situation.

I think I will restart the campaign and be a little more aggressive with Ito instead of holding back for so long.