The History of~The Sengoku Jidai (Part 5: Hideyoshi's Revenge)

The history of Japan is soaked in the blood of some of the most toughest and most daring warriors during it's over 100,000 year history, and that history is known as the "Sengoku Jidai" (period of Warring States).

This is Page 5 of the 6-Page series of the Sengoku Jidai. In this page, we will talk about Hideyoshi Toyotomi and what he has done during this violent period.

## Hideyoshi's early work

Hideyoshi was a son of an Ashigaru (peasant foot soldier) Hideyoshi would be one himself in 1558 when he joined the Oda clan, but will soon rise through the ranks and become a capable leader in battle. As he fought in the Battle of Okehazama in 1560, the Battle of Anegama in 1570, the Siege of Nagashima Castle in 1573, the Battle of Nagashino in 1575, and the Siege of Takamatsu Castle in 1582.

But it was in the same year as he took Takamatsu Castle when he received word that his lord; Nobunaga was defeated at the hands of Mitsuhide Akechi (Nobunaga's once trusted general) and died at Honnoji Temple in Kyoto. This is when Hideyoshi vowed to take revenge on his lord's killer.

Note: this will be an oversimplified form of Hideyoshi's life and career as a leader, if you want to know more about him in more detail, click here

## Hideyoshi's Revenge and beyond

It would take Hideyoshi several weeks as well as some negotiation to have another clan; the Mori Clan to hunt down Mitsuhide. But Hideyoshi would catch up to him at Mt. Tenmo, and Hideyoshi would defeat Mitsuhide and avenged Nobunaga.

After that, Hideyoshi and other members of the Oda clan were trying to see who they can replace Nobunaga. Hideyoshi suggested Nobunaga's younger son; Hidenobu as well as support from other warlords from loyal clans such as Nagahide Niwa and Tsuneoki Ikeda. But a power vacuum would open up in 1583 as Katsuie Shibata as Hideyoshi denied Nobutaka (Nobunaga's other son) to take over the reigns of the Oda Clan which lead to a bit of a civil battle within the Oda Clan which would result in Hideyoshi taking over the Oda Clan himself as well as taking all of the territories once held by the Odas.

Hideyoshi also wanted to consolidate his power, so he ordered the construction of a castle in Osaka (as it was close to Kyoto) so he can be close to the Emperor. However, e had to deal with more hostility within the Oda Clan; Nobunaga's other son Nobukatsu which lead to the Battle of Komaki-Nagakute in 1584, though the battle ended in a draw, Hideyoshi was able to negotiate a truce with Nobukatsu.

Along with military conquest, Hideyoshi also tried political negotiations too with other warlords and even the Japanese Emperor himself. He used Tea Ceremonies and Noh Plays as a way to politically persuade warlords into joining him, and even the Emperor as the Emperor (though ruler only in name during the Sengoku Jidai) had the authority to bestow the title of Shogun which was the big prize for the Japanese Daimyo. Despite Hideyoshi's efforts however, the Emperor refuses to give him the coveted title because of Hideyoshi being of peasant stock. Though the emperor did give him the title of "Kampanku" (a regent to the emperor) as well as a new surname of Toyotomi.

Hideyoshi would continue to use the military however as he would take the provinces of Kii and Etchu which allowed him to take the islands of Shikoku and Kyushu. By the late 1580s, Hideyoshi was in total control of Western Japan, by 1590 he sets his eyes on the east where the powerful Hojo Clan lived. Hideyoshi along with Ieyasu Tokugawa and the Sanada clan, Hideyoshi led a 3-Month long siege of Odawara Castle, Hideyoshi would take the castle, and thus become the ruler of most of Japan.

But Hideyoshi's victory wouldn't last long as his son Tsurumatsu and his brother Hidenaga would die and Hideyoshi's health was also beginning to fail, he wanted to name several men to be his heir; his nephews Hideaki and Hidetusugu.

## Invading the Far East going too far

With Hideyoshi conquering \*MOST\* of Japan, he wanted to take the step further and invade the far east, starting with the empires of Koryu and Joseon (modern day North Korea and South Korea respectively) and then move on the Ming Dynasty (modern day China), the invasion began in 1592.

The Japanese invaded Joseon, conquered the capital of Honseong (modern day Seoul) destroyed the Joseon Royal Palace, and fighting would be rampant, over a million Joseon people will die in this invasion. But what seemed like a successful invasion by the Japanese quickly turned to be a failure as warlords from both Joseon, Koryu and the Ming Dynasty would cut off the invaders' supply lines as the Japanese would try (and fail) to invade the Ming Dynasty forcing the Japanese to retreat. But Hideyoshi would gain another son during these events; Hideyori, and would be very overprotective of him and made his followers watch him every night as Hideyori is now Hideyoshi's heir.

In 1598, Hideyoshi tried to make another run on the Far East as they invaded Joseon, but that invasion would end in a bigger failure than the first.

But, another thing with Hideyoshi that would fail is his health.

In the same year as the second invasion of Joseon, Hideyoshi was dying, and Hideyori was only 5 years old at the time. His last wish for his 5 loyal daimyo is to work together to take care of Hideyori until be comes of age, and to keep Japan unified. On September 18, 1598, Hideyoshi would die, so his base of power was replaced with the Counsel of the 5 Elders.

One of those elders was none other than Ieyasu Tokugawa who did agree to honor his lord's last wish, in reality he had his own agenda for Japan's future.

In our next page (click here) we will talk about how Tokugawa hijacked instability and formed his own Shogunate and unified Japan, and ended over a century of fighting. Until next time, this is JohnnyOTGS signing out.