How did Toyotomi Hideyoshi Unify Japan?

Three factors to become a ruler of Japan: (1) Win without fighting, (2) Charismatic charm, and (3) Seizing the opportunity

During a turbulent age of nearly 100 years, Toyotomi Hideyoshi (1537-1598, 豊臣秀吉) became a great unifier of Japan with his excellence in his military prowess and his clever strategy of “win without fighting” from a peasant. His famous strategies are stratagems to switch the enemies to his side, starving castles, and flooding castles. He incorporated powerful federal lords over the country into his allies one by one. On the other hand, he was good at winning the hearts and minds of the people. This was not only for his vassals but also for his family. He cared a lot for them by sending his autograph letters, which were about 7,000 in total. In 1582, the turning point of his life arrived. Hideyoshi's lord, Oda Nobunaga (1534-1582, 織田信長), was killed by Akechi Mitsuhide just one step away from unifying the country. He seized the opportunity to succeed in inheriting the position of Nobunaga’s successor by the prompt defeat of Mitsuhide. Afterward, he was quickly off the mark to become almost the ruler of Japan from a peasant.

Hideyoshi Ruled Japan as a Kanpaku

However, in 1584, he was unable to win against Nobunaga’s allied Tokugawa Ieyasu (1543-1616, 徳川家康) at the Battle of Komaki and Nagakute. Consequently, he approached Ieyasu by all possible means - sending his mother to Ieyasu as a hostage - to make him become his vassal. The following year, Hideyoshi was appointed as a Kanpaku (chief adviser to the Emperor) and effectively governed Japan by leveraging the authority of emperors and the imperial court. However, it remains uncertain why Hideyoshi did not assume the title of Shogun. One theory suggests that Hideyoshi sought to leverage the Emperor's influence as the Kanpaku to become the supreme leader of all samurai because he could not defeat Ieyasu militarily. Another theory suggests that Hideyoshi probably disliked the title of the shogun because he considered it a "relic of the past," particularly since Ashikaga Yoshiaki, the last shogun of the Muromachi shogunate, was still alive. Around that time, he built a relationship with a tea master, Sen-no-Rikyu to get his advice on the tea culture and also the politics. In 1590, surrounded by Hideyoshi's 220,000-strong army including Date Masamune who rushed to Odawara at the end, the Hojo clan surrendered Odawara Castle to Hideyoshi. Here, Hideyoshi's unification of Japan was accomplished. Soon, he took a real look at foreign countries, and in 1591, he sent one letter to a governor of the Portuguese-ruled state in India to proclaim a ban on Christianity to avoid the Western country’s colonization. In addition, he intended to conquer Ming and invade Korea. After his troops drew off from Korea to Japan, he held his final cherry blossom viewing party at Daigoji Temple and then passed away while entrusting his little son, Hideyori to Ieyasu at the age of 61.

Toyotomi Hideyoshi Map

Notable Sites

Toyotomi Hideyoshi Timeline

1336	Ashikaga Takauji estabilished Muromachi Shogunate	-	Muromachi Period
1467	Onin War started (- 1477)	-
1537	Hideyoshi was born in Nagoya	Age=1
1554	Hideyoshi started to work under Nobunaga	16
1573	Muromachi Shogunate ended by the 15th Shogun, Yoshiaki was ousted by Nobunaga	36	Azuchi Momoyama Period
1577	Hideyoshi started to conquer the Estern Japan by Nobunaga's order	40
1582	Nobunaga was killed at Honnoji by Akechi Mitsuhide	45
1582	Hideyoshi defeated Akechi Mitsuhide	45
1582	Rikyu became a tea master of Hideyoshi	45
1585	Hideyoshi issued Sobuji-rei	48
1586	Hideyoshi held the tea ceremony for Emperor Ogimachi, bringing the Golden Tea Room	49
1586	Hideyoshi built the huge Osaka castle	49
1587	Hideyoshi built the huge Osaka castle	50
1587	Hideyoshi held Kitanotenmangu shrine tea ceremony	50
1590	Hideyoshi spearhead army to attack Hojo clan	53
1590	Hojo surrendered Odawara Castle to Hideyoshi	53
1590	Ieyasu moved to Edo according to Hideyoshi's order	53
1590	Hideyoshi unified the nation	53
1591	Rikyu Hara-Kiri	54
1592	Bunroku war, the invasion of Korea	55
1594	Hideyoshi built the Fushimi Castle	57
1597	Keicho war, the invasion of Korea	60
1597	Hideyoshi removed Christian missonaries from Japan and executed 26 Chrisians	60
1598	Hideyoshi enjoyed the cherry blossom viewing at Daigoji Temple	61
1598	Hideyoshi passed away	61
1600	Tokugawa Ieyasu defeated Ishida Mitsunari, Hideyoshi's right arm at the battle of Sekigahara	-
1603	Ieyasu estabished Tokugawa Shogunate at Edo	-	Edo
1603	Ieyasu built Nijo-jo Caslte	-
1607	The first Korean envoy came to Edo	-
1614	The Winter Siege of Osaka	-
1615	Toyotomi's Osaka Castle burnt down to the ground at the Summer Siege of Osaka	-