Toyotomi Hideyoshi

Toyotomi Hideyoshi (豊臣 秀吉; Japanese pronunciation: [to.jo.to.mʲi (|) çi.de(ꜜ).jo.ɕi], 16 February 1537 – 18 September 1598), otherwise known as Kinoshita Tōkichirō (木下 藤吉郎) and Hashiba Hideyoshi (羽柴 秀吉), was a Japanese samurai and daimyō (feudal lord) of the late Sengoku and Azuchi-Momoyama periods, regarded as the second "Great Unifier" of Japan. Although he came from a peasant background, he rose to the rank and title of Kampaku (関白, Imperial Regent) and Daijō-daijin (太政大臣, Chancellor of the Realm), the highest official position and title in the nobility class. He was the first base-born person in history to become a Kampaku. He then passed the position and title of Kampaku to his nephew, Toyotomi Hidetsugu. He remained in power as Taikō (太閤), the title of a retired Kampaku, until his death. Hideyoshi rose from a peasant background as a retainer of the prominent lord Oda Nobunaga to become one of the most powerful men in Japanese history. He distinguished himself in many of Nobunaga's campaigns. After Nobunaga was killed in the Honnō-ji Incident in 1582, Hideyoshi defeated the lord's assassin, Akechi Mitsuhide, at the Battle of Yamazaki and became his successor. Hideyoshi then continued the campaign to unite Japan that led to the closing of the Sengoku period. Hideyoshi became the de facto leader of Japan and acquired the prestigious positions of daijō-daijin and kampaku by the mid-1580s. He conquered Shikoku in 1585 and Kyūshū in 1587, and completed the unification by winning the Siege of Odawara in 1590 and crushing the Kunohe rebellion in 1591. With the unification of Japan complete, Hideyoshi launched the Japanese invasions of Korea in 1592 to initial success, but eventual military stalemate damaged his prestige before his death in 1598. Hideyoshi's young son and successor Toyotomi Hideyori was displaced by Tokugawa Ieyasu at the Battle of Sekigahara in 1600 which would lead to the founding of the Tokugawa Shogunate. Hideyoshi's rule covers most of the Azuchi–Momoyama period of Japan, partially named after his castle, Momoyama Castle. Hideyoshi left an influential and lasting legacy in Japan, including Osaka Castle, the Tokugawa class system, the restriction on the possession of weapons to the samurai (the sword hunt), and the construction and restoration of many temples, some of which are still visible in Kyoto.

Early life (1537–1558)

According to tradition, Hideyoshi was born on February 16, 1537, according to the lunar Japanese calendar (March 17, 1537, according to the Julian calendar; March 27, 1537 (Proleptic Gregorian calendar)) in Nakamura, Owari Province (present-day Nakamura Ward, Nagoya), in the middle of the chaotic Sengoku period under the collapsed Ashikaga Shogunate. Hideyoshi had no traceable samurai lineage, and his father Kinoshita Yaemon was an ashigaru – a peasant employed by the samurai as a foot soldier. Hideyoshi had no surname, and his childhood given name was Hiyoshimaru (日吉丸; Japanese pronunciation: [çi.jo.ɕiꜜ.ma.ɾɯ]) although variations exist. Yaemon died in 1543 when Hideyoshi was seven years old. Contemporary writings from Ankokuji Ekei and Kakukane Ue, a retainer of the Shimazu clan, confirm Hideyoshi's poor background, with Ekei noting that Hideyoshi even had to beg on the street. Many legends describe Hideyoshi being sent to study at a temple as a young man, but he rejected temple life and went in search of adventure. Under the name Kinoshita Tōkichirō (木下 藤吉郎), he first joined the Imagawa clan as a servant to a local ruler named Matsushita Yukitsuna (松下之綱).

Service under Nobunaga (1558–1582)

In 1558, Hideyoshi became an ashigaru for the powerful Oda clan, the rulers of his home province of Owari, now headed by the ambitious Oda Nobunaga. Hideyoshi soon became Nobunaga's sandal-bearer, a position of relatively high status. According to his biographers, Hideyoshi also supervised the repair of Kiyosu Castle, a claim described as "apocryphal", and managed the kitchen. In 1561, Hideyoshi married One, the adopted daughter of Asano Nagakatsu, a descendant of Minamoto no Yorimitsu. Hideyoshi carried out repairs on Sunomata Castle with his younger half-brother, Hashiba Koichirō, along with Hachisuka Masakatsu, and Maeno Nagayasu. Hideyoshi's efforts were well-received because Sunomata was in enemy territory, and according to legend Hideyoshi constructed a fort in Sunomata overnight and discovered a secret route into Mount Inaba, after which much of the local garrison surrendered.

In 1564, Hideyoshi found success as a negotiator. He managed to convince a number of Mino warlords to desert the Saitō clan, mostly with liberal bribes. This included the Saitō clan's strategist, Takenaka Shigeharu. Nobunaga's easy victory at the siege of Inabayama Castle in 1567 was largely due to Hideyoshi's efforts, and despite his peasant origins. In 1568, Hideyoshi became one of Nobunaga's most distinguished generals, eventually taking the name Hashiba Hideyoshi (羽柴 秀吉). The new surname included two characters, one each from Oda's right-hand men Niwa Nagahide (丹羽 長秀) and Shibata Katsuie (柴田 勝家), and the new given name included characters from Akechi Mitsuhide (明智 光秀) and Mori Yoshinari (森 吉成). In 1570, Hideyoshi protected Nobunaga's retreat from Azai-Asakura forces at Kanegasaki. Later, in June 1570, Nobunaga allied with Tokugawa Ieyasu at the Battle of Anegawa to lay siege to two fortresses of the Azai and Asakura clans, and Hideyoshi was assigned to lead Oda troops into open battle for the first time. In 1573, after victorious campaigns against the Azai and Asakura, Nobunaga appointed Hideyoshi daimyō of three districts in the northern part of Ōmi Province. Initially, Hideyoshi stayed at the former Azai headquarters at Odani Castle, but moved to Kunitomo town and renamed it "Nagahama" in tribute to Nobunaga. Hideyoshi later moved to the port at Imahama on Lake Biwa, where he began work on Imahama Castle and took control of the nearby Kunitomo firearms factory that had been established some years previously by the Azai and Asakura. Under Hideyoshi's administration, the factory's output of firearms increased dramatically. Later, Hideyoshi participated in the 1573 siege of Nagashima. In 1574, Hideyoshi and Araki Murashige captured Itami Castle, and later in 1575, he fought in the Battle of Nagashino against the Takeda clan. In 1576, he took part in the Siege of Mitsuji, part of the eleven-year Ishiyama Hongan-ji War. Later, Nobunaga sent Hideyoshi to Himeji Castle to conquer the Chūgoku region from the Mori clan. Hideyoshi then fought in the Battle of Tedorigawa (1577), the siege of Miki (1578), the siege of Tottori (1581) and the siege of Takamatsu (1582).

Death of Nobunaga

On June 21, 1582, during the Siege of Takamatsu, Oda Nobunaga and his eldest son and heir Nobutada were both killed in the Honnō-ji incident. Their assassination ended Nobunaga's quest to consolidate centralised power in Japan under his authority. Hideyoshi, seeking vengeance for the death of his lord, made peace with the Mōri clan and thirteen days later met Akechi Mitsuhide and defeated him at the Battle of Yamazaki, avenging Nobunaga and taking his authority and power for himself. Meanwhile, the Hōjō clan and the Uesugi clan invaded Kai and Shinano provinces when they heard of Nobunaga's death, beginning the Tenshō-Jingo war. When the Oda clan learned of the defeat of Takigawa Kazumasu at the Battle of Kanagawa by the Hōjō clan, Hideyoshi sent a letter to Ieyasu on July 7 giving him authorization to lead military operations to secure the two provinces from the Hōjō and Uesugi clans. As the war turned in Ieyasu's favor and Sanada Masayuki defected to the Tokugawa side, the Hōjō clan negotiated a truce. Hōjō Ujinobu and Ii Naomasa were the Hōjō and Tokugawa representatives for the preliminary meetings. Representatives from the Oda clan such as Oda Nobukatsu, Oda Nobutaka, and Hideyoshi himself mediated the negotiation until the truce officially took effect in October with both Ieyasu and Hōjō Ujinao exchanging family members as hostages as a sign of goodwill.

Rise to power (1582–1585)

In 1582, Hideyoshi began construction of Osaka Castle. Built on the site of the temple Ishiyama Hongan-ji, which had been destroyed by Nobunaga, construction was completed in 1597. The castle would become the last stronghold of the Toyotomi clan after Hideyoshi's death.

Conflict with Katsuie

In late 1582, Hideyoshi was in a very strong position. He summoned the powerful daimyō to Kiyosu Castle so that they could determine Nobunaga's heir. Oda Nobukatsu and Oda Nobutaka quarreled, causing Hideyoshi to instead choose Nobunaga's infant grandson Oda Hidenobu. Shibata Katsuie initially supported Hideyoshi's decision, but later supported Nobunaga's third son Nobutaka, for whom Katsuie had performed the genpuku ritual. He allied with Nobutaka and Takigawa Kazumasu against Hideyoshi. Tension quickly escalated between Hideyoshi and Katsuie, and at the Battle of Shizugatake in the following year, Hideyoshi destroyed Katsuie's forces. Hideyoshi had thus consolidated his own power, dealt with most of the Oda clan, and now controlled some 30 provinces.

Conflict with Ieyasu

In 1584, Nobukatsu allied himself with Tokugawa Ieyasu, and the two sides fought at the inconclusive Battle of Komaki and Nagakute. This ultimately resulted in a stalemate, although Hideyoshi's forces were delivered a heavy blow. Ieyasu and Hideyoshi never fought against each other in person, but the former managed to check the advance of the latter's allies. After Hideyoshi and Ieyasu heard the news of Ikeda Tsuneoki and Mori Nagayoshi's deaths, both withdrew their troops.

Following this, Ieyasu's general Sakakibara Yasumasa circulated a derogatory manifesto condemning Hideyoshi's conduct as betrayal towards the will of Oda Nobunaga and also insulting Hideyoshi's origins. This infuriated Hideyoshi, who offered a reward of 100,000 Kan (Japanese gold ingot) to anyone who could bring him Yasumasa's head. Later, Hideyoshi made peace with Nobukatsu and Ieyasu, ending the pretext for war between the Tokugawa and Hashiba clans. However, Ieyasu continued to refuse to become Hideyoshi's vassal. Hideyoshi had begun to move towards attacking Ieyasu, but the 1586 Tenshō earthquake caused extensive damage to Osaka, causing Hideyoshi to abandon the campaign against Ieyasu. Hideyoshi sent his younger sister Asahi no kata and mother Ōmandokoro to Tokugawa Ieyasu as hostages. In response, Ieyasu finally traveled to Osaka and expressed his intention to submit to Hideyoshi.

Toyotomi clan and Imperial Court appointment

Like Oda Nobunaga before him, Hideyoshi never achieved the title of shōgun. Instead, he arranged to have himself adopted by Konoe Sakihisa, one of the noblest men belonging to the Fujiwara clan, and secured a succession of high court titles. These included Chancellor (Daijō-daijin), and in 1585, the prestigious position of Imperial Regent (kampaku). Also in 1585, Hideyoshi was formally given the new clan name Toyotomi (instead of Fujiwara) by the Imperial Court. He built a lavish palace in 1587, the Jurakudai, and entertained the reigning Emperor Go-Yōzei the following year.

Unification of Japan (1585–1592)

Also in 1585, Hideyoshi launched the siege of Negoro-ji and subjugated Kii Province. The Negoro-gumi, the warrior monks of Negoro-ji, were allied with the Ikkō-ikki and with Tokugawa Ieyasu, whom they supported in the Battle of Komaki and Nagakute the previous year. After attacking a number of other outposts in the area, Hideyoshi's forces attacked Negoro-ji from two sides. Many of the Negoro-gumi had already fled to Ōta Castle by this time, which Hideyoshi later besieged. The complex was set aflame, beginning with the residences of the priests, and Hideyoshi's samurai cut down monks as they escaped the blazing buildings. In the 1585 Invasion of Shikoku, Toyotomi forces seized Shikoku island, the smallest of Japan's four main islands, from Chōsokabe Motochika. Toyotomi's forces arrived 113,000 strong under Toyotomi Hidenaga, Toyotomi Hidetsugu, Ukita Hideie and the Mōri clan's "Two Rivers", Kobayakawa Takakage and Kikkawa Motoharu. Opposing them were 40,000 men of Chōsokabe's. Despite the overwhelming size of Hideyoshi's army, and the suggestions of his advisors, Motochika chose to fight to defend his territories. During the late summer of August 1585, Hideyoshi launched an attack on Etchū Province and Hida Province where he besieged Toyama Castle.

1586-1588 activities

In 1586 Hideyoshi conquered Kyūshū, wresting control from the Shimazu clan. Toyotomi Hidenaga, Hideyoshi's half-brother, landed in the south of Bungo Province on Kyūshū's eastern coast. Meanwhile, Hideyoshi took his own forces down a more western route, in Chikuzen Province. Later that year, with a total of 200,000 soldiers against the 30,000 men of the Shimazu forces, the two brothers met in Satsuma Province. They besieged Kagoshima castle, the Shimazu clan's home. The Shimazu surrendered. In 1588, Hideyoshi forbade ordinary peasants from owning weapons and launched a sword hunt to confiscate all such weapons. The weapons were melted down into building material for the Hall of the Great Buddha at the Hōkō temple in Kyoto, which was built by Hideyoshi. This measure effectively stopped peasant revolts and ensured greater stability at the expense of the freedom of the individual daimyō.

Odawara Campaign

In 1590, Hideyoshi carried out the Odawara Campaign against the Later Hōjō clan in the Kantō region, in what historian Stephen Turnbull refers to as "the most unconventional siege lines in samurai history". The samurai were entertained by everything from concubines, prostitutes, and musicians to acrobats, fire-eaters, and jugglers. The defenders slept on the ramparts with their teppō and armor; despite their smaller numbers, they discouraged Hideyoshi from attacking. Hideyoshi had Ishigakiyama Ichiya Castle secretly constructed in a nearby forest. During the siege, Hideyoshi offered Ieyasu the eight Hōjō-ruled provinces in the Kantō region in exchange for the submission of Ieyasu's five provinces, which Ieyasu accepted. In late September of the same year, an uprising broke out in the Yokote Basin, Senboku district (Senboku District, Akita in post-Meiji era), in opposition to the Taiko land survey conducted by the Toyotomi government. Although the Senboku rebellion was suppressed later, the result was a disaster for the Onodera clan.

1591 activities

In February 1591, Hideyoshi ordered Sen no Rikyū to commit suicide, likely in one of his angry outbursts. Following Rikyū's death, Hideyoshi turned his attention from tea ceremony to Noh, which he had been studying since becoming Imperial Regent. During his brief stay in Nagoya Castle in what is today Saga Prefecture, on Kyūshū, Hideyoshi memorised the shite (lead role) parts of ten Noh plays, which he then performed, forcing various daimyō to accompany him onstage as the waki (secondary, accompanying role). He even performed before the emperor. The Kunohe rebellion, an insurrection that occurred in Mutsu Province from March 13 to September 4, 1591, began when Kunohe Masazane, a claimant to daimyo of the Nanbu clan, launched a rebellion against his rival Nanbu Nobunao which spread across Mutsu Province. Nobunao was backed by Hideyoshi, who along with sent a large army into the Tōhoku region in mid-1591 which quickly defeated the rebels. Hideyoshi's army arrived at Kunohe Castle in early September. Masazane, outnumbered, surrendered Kunohe Castle and was executed with the castle defenders. The Kunohe rebellion was the final battle in Hideyoshi's campaigns during the Sengoku period and completed the unification of Japan.

Taikō (1592–1598)

The future stability of the Toyotomi dynasty after Hideyoshi's eventual death was put in doubt when his only son, three-year-old Tsurumatsu, died in September 1591, which followed his half-brother Hidenaga's death from illness earlier that year in February. Hideyoshi subsequently named his nephew Hidetsugu his heir, adopting him in January 1592. Hideyoshi resigned as kampaku to take the title of taikō (retired regent), and Hidetsugu succeeded him as kampaku.

Hideyoshi adopted Oda Nobunaga's dream of a Japanese conquest of China, and launched the conquest of the Ming dynasty by way of Korea (at the time known as Koryu or Joseon). In 1592, Hideyoshi began an invasion of Korea with the intent of conquering Korea and eventually Ming China. In 1593, he attempted but failed at compelling Taiwan into a tributary relationship. Hideyoshi's explicit war goal was for Japan to replace China at the top of the international order. Hideyoshi wrote to his adopted son Hidetsugu that "it is not Ming China alone that is destined to be subjugated by us, but India, the Philippines, and many islands in the South Sea will share a like fate."

First campaign against Korea

In the first campaign, Hideyoshi appointed Ukita Hideie as field marshal and sent him to the Korean Peninsula in April 1592. Konishi Yukinaga occupied Seoul, which was the capital of Joseon, on June 19. After Seoul fell, Japanese commanders held a war council there in June and determined targets of subjugation called Hachidokuniwari, literally Eight(八) Route(道), Country(国) Division(割). Each targeted province was attacked by one of the army's eight divisions:

Pyeongan Province by the First Division led by Konishi Yukinaga. Hamgyong by the Second Division led by Katō Kiyomasa. Hwanghae Province by the Third Division led by Kuroda Nagamasa. Gangwon Province by the Fourth Division led by Mōri Katsunaga. Chungcheong Province by the Fifth Division led by Fukushima Masanori. Jeolla Province by the Sixth Division led by Kobayakawa Takakage. Gyeongsang Province by the Seventh Division led by Mōri Terumoto. Gyeonggi Province by the Eighth Division led by Ukita Hideie. Within four months, Hideyoshi's forces had a route into Manchuria and had occupied much of Korea. The Korean king Seonjo of Joseon escaped to Uiju and requested military intervention from China. In 1593, the Wanli Emperor of Ming China sent an army under general Li Rusong to block the planned Japanese invasion of China and recapture the Korean peninsula. On January 7, 1593, the Ming relief forces recaptured Pyongyang and surrounded Seoul, but Kobayakawa Takakage, Ukita Hideie, Tachibana Muneshige and Kikkawa Hiroie were able to win the Battle of Byeokjegwan north of Seoul (now Goyang). At the end of the first campaign, Japan's entire navy was destroyed by Admiral Yi Sun-sin of Korea, whose base was located in a part of Korea the Japanese could not control. This destroyed Japan's ability to resupply their troops in Seoul, effectively ending the invasion.

Succession dispute

Following Hideyoshi's appointment of his nephew Hidetsugu to the position of kampaku, tensions started to develop due to the dual power structure between Hidetsugu, who led the court system, and Hideyoshi, who retained actual military power as retired regent. Although Hideyoshi orchestrated Hidetsugu's rise, the regent's position was governed by established court frameworks, limiting Hideyoshi's ability to bypass precedents. This led to the formation of two factions: the "Taiko (Hideyoshi's) group" and the "Kampaku (Hidetsugu's) group," which clashed over political and military issues. The birth of Hideyoshi's second son in 1593, Hideyori, exacerbated these tensions, as it introduced another potential heir to the Toyotomi dynasty. In July 1595, amidst suspicions of treason and the ongoing Korean invasion, Hidetsugu was stripped of his titles, exiled to Mount Kōya, and then ordered to commit suicide in August 1595. Hidetsugu's family members who did not follow his example, including 31 women and several children, were then beheaded in Kyoto. In the aftermath, Hideyoshi solidified his authority by securing loyalty oaths, signed in blood, from magistrates and daimyos including influential damiyo like Tokugawa Ieyasu, Maeda Toshiie, Ukita Hideie, Mori Terumoto, and Kobayakawa Takakage.

Second campaign against Korea

After several years of negotiations, which were broken off after envoys from both sides falsely reported that the opposition had surrendered, Hideyoshi appointed Kobayakawa Hideaki to lead a renewed invasion of Korea. This invasion met with less success than the first; Japanese troops remained pinned down in Gyeongsang Province, and although the Japanese forces turned back several Chinese offensives in Suncheon and Sacheon in June 1598, they were unable to make further progress as the Ming army prepared for a final assault. While Hideyoshi's battle at Sacheon, led by Shimazu Yoshihiro, was a major Japanese victory, all three parties to the war were exhausted. He told his commander in Korea, "Don't let my soldiers become spirits in a foreign land.".

Death

Toyotomi Hideyoshi died at Fushimi Castle on September 18, 1598 (Keichō 3, 18th day of the 8th month). His last words, delivered to his closest daimyō and generals, were "I depend upon you for everything. I have no other thoughts to leave behind. It is sad to part from you." His death was kept secret by the Council of Five Elders to preserve morale, and they ordered Japanese forces in Korea to return to Japan. According to the Tokugawa Jikki record, Hideyoshi held a secret meeting with Koide Hidemasa and Katagiri Katsumoto where he shared his regret about launching invasions of Korea. Hideyoshi also instructed Hidemasa and Katsumoto to guide Hideyori into making an alliance with Ieyasu, as he predicted the power of the Tokugawa clan would grow unchecked after his death, and the only solution for the Toyotomi clan to survive was to not oppose Ieyasu. After Hideyoshi's death, the other members of the Council of Five Elders were unable to keep Ieyasu's ambitions in check. Two of Hideyoshi's top generals, Katō Kiyomasa and Fukushima Masanori, had fought bravely during the war but returned to find the Toyotomi clan castellan Ishida Mitsunari in power. He held the generals in contempt, and they sided with Ieyasu. Hideyori lost the power his father once held, and Ieyasu's power was consolidated when his Eastern Army defeated the Mitsunari's Western Army at the Battle of Sekigahara in 1600. Ieyasu, who was appointed as a shogun in 1603 and established the Tokugawa shogunate, attacked Osaka Castle twice in 1614 and 1615 (the Siege of Osaka), forcing Hideyoshi's concubine Yodo-dono and Hideyori to commit suicide, destroying the Toyotomi clan. It is now believed that Hideyoshi's loss of all his adult heirs, leaving only the five-year-old Hideyori as his successor, was the primary reason for the weakening of the Toyotomi regime and its eventual downfall.

== Family == Father: Kinoshita Yaemon (d. 1543) Adopted father: Konoe Sakihisa (1536–1612) Mother: Ōmandokoro (1513–1592) Siblings: Toyotomi Hidenaga (1540–1591) Tomo (1534–1625), married Soeda Jinbae Asahi no kata (1543–1590), married first Soeda Oshinari then Tokugawa Ieyasu

Wives and concubines

Wife Nene (between 1541 and 1549–1624), or One, later Kōdai-in Minami-dono, daughter of Yamana Toyokuni Yodo-dono (1569–1615), or Chacha, later Daikōin, daughter of Azai Nagamasa Minami no Tsubone, daughter of Yamana Toyokuni Kyōgoku Tatsuko, daughter of Kyōgoku Takayoshi Kaga-dono or Maahime, daughter of Maeda Toshiie Kaihime, daughter of Narita Ujinaga Sonnomaru-dono, adopted daughter of Gamō Ujisato, daughter of Oda Nobunaga Kusu no Tsubone, later Hokoin, daughter of Azai Nagamasa Sanjo-dono or Tora, daughter of Gamō Katahide Himeji-dono, daughter of Oda Nobukane Hirozawa no Tsubone, daughter of Kunimitsu Kyosho Ōshima or Shimako, later Gekkein, daughter of Ashikaga Yorizumi Anrunkin or Otane no Kata Ofuku, later Enyu-in, daughter of Miura Noto no Kami and mother of Ukita Hideie