Who was this person?
A commander of humble Owari birth who rose in the service of Oda Nobunaga. After the Honnō-ji Incident he defeated Akechi Mitsuhide at Yamazaki, built Osaka Castle and unified Japan in 1590. As imperial regent and Grand Minister he laid the foundations of early modern society with land surveys and the sword hunt, but his late invasions of Korea failed.
| Name | Toyotomi Hideyoshi (豊臣秀吉) |
|---|---|
| Born–died | 1537 – 1598 |
| Period | Azuchi-Momoyama period |
| Birthplace | Nakamura, Owari Province (now Nagoya), by tradition |
| Also known as | Kinoshita Tōkichirō, Hashiba Hideyoshi, the Taikō |
| Main achievements |
|
Born at Nakamura in Owari (Nagoya), a son of Kinoshita Yaemon, said to be a foot soldier or farmer (birth year and family debated). He lost his father young and grew up in poverty.
After leaving home and wandering, he entered Oda Nobunaga's service around this time. The tale of his warming Nobunaga's sandals inside his robe on a cold day is a later legend. Quick-witted and hardworking, he steadily rose.
He married Nene (One), a warrior's daughter. Despite objections over their difference in rank, it is said to have been a love match; Nene supported him all his life.
When Nobunaga, betrayed by Azai Nagamasa, retreated from Echizen, Hideyoshi took on the most dangerous post of rearguard and brought it safely back, making his name.
After the Azai fell he received their lands and became lord of Nagahama castle in Ōmi. Around this time he took the name Hashiba Hideyoshi, said to combine characters from the senior Oda retainers Niwa Nagahide and Shibata Katsuie.
By Nobunaga's order he became commander against the Mōri in the Chūgoku region, taking castle after castle in Harima, aided by strategists such as Kuroda Kanbei and Takenaka Hanbei.
While besieging Takamatsu castle in Bitchū by flooding it, he learned of the Honnō-ji Incident. He made peace with the Mōri at once, marched back some 200 km in about ten days, and defeated Akechi Mitsuhide at Yamazaki.
He defeated Shibata Katsuie, his rival over the Oda succession, at Shizugatake, and began building Osaka Castle on the site of Ishiyama Hongan-ji as the base for unification.
After fighting Tokugawa Ieyasu at Komaki-Nagakute, he made peace. That year he became the first warrior to be kanpaku (imperial regent); the next year he became Grand Minister and received the surname Toyotomi from the emperor.
He brought the Shimazu of Kyūshū to submission and issued an edict expelling Christian missionaries. At Kitano Tenmangū in Kyoto he held the Great Kitano Tea Gathering, open to all regardless of rank.
He decreed the sword hunt, confiscating swords and guns from peasants. Together with the land surveys, it sharply separated warriors and farmers.
He destroyed the Hōjō of Odawara and, with the northern lords submitting, unified the country. He transferred Ieyasu to the Kantō.
He ordered his tea master Sen no Rikyū to take his own life. That year his heir Tsurumatsu died of illness at age 2, plunging him into grief; he passed the post of kanpaku to his nephew Hidetsugu.
Aiming to conquer Ming China, he sent a huge army into Korea (Bunroku campaign). It advanced at first but suffered from Korean naval forces, popular resistance and Ming reinforcements. The next year Hideyori was born.
Partly wishing his son Hideyori to inherit, he accused Hidetsugu of treason and made him take his own life on Mount Kōya; many of Hidetsugu's wives and children were executed.
In spring he held a lavish cherry-blossom party at Daigo-ji in Kyoto. Then he fell ill and, after begging the Five Elders again and again to look after the young Hideyori, died at 61. His death poem is said to be: "Like dew I fell, like dew I vanish; even Osaka is a dream within a dream."
A. A commander of humble Owari birth who rose in the service of Oda Nobunaga. After the Honnō-ji Incident he defeated Akechi Mitsuhide at Yamazaki, built Osaka Castle and unified Japan in 1590. As imperial regent and Grand Minister he laid the foundations of early modern society with land surveys and the sword hunt, but his late invasions of Korea failed.
A. Period: Azuchi-Momoyama period. Born in 1537, died in 1598.
A. Toyotomi Hideyoshi was born in Nakamura, Owari Province (now Nagoya), by tradition.
A. The Taikō surveys measured fields and harvests nationwide on a single standard and registered the farmers who worked them. The sword hunt (1588) took swords and guns from farmers, helping separate the warrior and peasant classes.
See also: Wikipedia (ja) / Wikipedia (en) / Wikipedia (fr) / Wikipedia (zh) / Wikidata
Follow this life (autoplay)Sen no RikyūShibata KatsuieAkechi MitsuhideOda NobunagaTokugawa IeyasuAzai NagamasaImai SōkyūHachisuka Masakatsu
Hosokawa Yūsai (Fujitaka)Shimazu YoshihiroNiwa NagahideAshikaga YoshiteruAshikaga YoshiakiMaeda ToshiieHōjō UjimasaAshikaga Yoshihide
People of the Sengoku/Azuchi-Momoyama period ・ People by period
Based on facts found in textbooks and biographies. Uncertain points are marked as such.