Toyotomi Hideyoshi

Completed the unification of Japan and twice invaded Korea.

Life

Rose from the ashigaru

Toyotomi Hideyoshi was born into a poor peasant family in Owari, originally named Kinoshita Tokichiro. Early on he entered the service of Oda Nobunaga as a lowly ashigaru foot soldier and servant, and through quick wit and military merit rose step by step to become a general in his own right, a rare case in the Sengoku period of someone climbing from the bottom to supreme power.

Unified Japan

After the Honno-ji Incident he quickly defeated Akechi Mitsuhide to avenge his lord, then prevailed over colleagues such as Shibata Katsuie in the power struggle. In 1585 he was appointed Kampaku, and in 1590 he destroyed the Hojo clan of Odawara, completing the unification of Japan. He issued the sword hunt edict to confiscate weapons from the populace and carried out land surveys, consolidating a social order that separated warriors from farmers.

Invasion of Korea and later years

In his later years he twice invaded the Korean Peninsula, in what are known as the Bunroku and Keicho campaigns, meeting combined resistance from the Korean army and people and a Ming dynasty relief army; the war bogged down into a stalemate, and after he died of illness the Japanese forces withdrew completely, the war having achieved none of its aims. Of humble birth yet given to grandiose ambitions, in his later years he grew suspicious of old followers and had his adopted son put to death, in sharp contrast to his earlier image as a leader humble toward the worthy.

Legacy

Rising from commoner origins to the pinnacle of power, Toyotomi Hideyoshi completed the unification of Japan. His land surveys, sword hunt and fixing of social status laid the foundations of early modern Japan's social structure separating warriors from peasants, and were inherited by the Tokugawa shogunate. But the invasions of Korea he launched in his last years caused devastating destruction on the Korean Peninsula, the Ming dynasty also spent enormous sums aiding Korea, and Japan itself suffered heavy losses. After his death, the Toyotomi regime was soon supplanted by Tokugawa Ieyasu.

Major works & achievements

• Destroyed the Hojo clan in 1590 and unified Japan
• Carried out the Taiko land survey and the sword hunt
• Built Osaka Castle
• Launched two invasions of Korea (1592, 1597)

Did you know? In 1586 the imperial court granted him the surname "Toyotomi"; before that he had gone by the name Hashiba Hideyoshi.

Key dates

• 1558Entered the service of Oda Nobunaga
• 1582Defeated Akechi Mitsuhide after the Honno-ji Incident
• 1585Appointed Kampaku
• 1587Issued the edict expelling Christian missionaries, restricting Catholicism
• 1588Issued the Sword hunt edict to confiscate weapons
• 1590Destroyed the Hojo clan and unified Japan
• 1592First invasion of Korea
• 1598Died; Japanese forces withdrew from Korea