TOYOTOMI HIDEYOSHI
Decline and death
His health beginning to falter, but still yearning for some accomplishment to solidify his legacy, Hideyoshi adopted the dream of a Japanese conquest of China that Oda Nobunaga had contemplated, and launched two ill-fated invasions of Korea. Though he actually intended to conquer Ming China, Japanese forces would never get beyond the Korean Peninsula. Hideyoshi had been communicating with the Koreans since 1587 requesting unmolested passage into China. As allies of Ming China, the Koreans at first refused talks entirely, and in April and July 1591 refused demands that Japanese troops be allowed to march through Korea. In August, Hideyoshi ordered preparations for invasion.
In the first campaign, Japanese forces were initially very successful. By May 1592, Seoul was occupied, and in only four months, Hideyoshi's forces had a route into Manchuria and occupied much of Korea. However, despite the Japanese success on land (in fact, the commander Katō Kiyomasa had followed the eastern coast of Korea into what is now Manchuria), naval forces under Admiral Yi Sun-sin soon counterattacked the Japanese fleet, cutting off the Japanese army's supply lines and effectively strangling the invasion in Korea. In 1593, Ming Chinese Emperor Wanli sent an army under Admiral Li Rusong to block the planned invasion of China and recapture the Korean peninsula. Chinese and Korean forces drove the Japanese army from Seoul and Pyongyang. The war reached a deadlock, and after the conclusion of a cease-fire agreement, Japanese troops retreated to Japan.
The birth of Hideyoshi's second son, Hideyori, in 1593 created a potential succession problem. To avoid it, Hideyoshi exiled his nephew and heir Hidetsugu to Mount Kōya and then ordered him to commit suicide in August 1595. Hidetsugu's family members who did not follow his example were then murdered in Kyoto, including 31 women and several children.
After several years of negotiations (broken off, because envoys of both side reported to their master that the opposition surrendered), Hideyoshi launched his second invasion of Korea in 1597, but met with less success. Japanese troops would remain largely in Gyeongsang province. By June 1598, the campaign was stalled and reduced to approximately 60,000 warriors under the Shimazu clan commanders, Shimazu Yoshihiro and his son Tadatsune. The remaining Japanese forces fought desperately, turning back several Chinese attacks in Suncheon and Sacheon as the Ming army prepared for a final assault. The Koreans' unexpected talent for guerrilla warfare, aided by the fact that they were fighting on their home territories, continually harassed Japanese forces. While Hideyoshi's last battle at So-chon, was a major Japanese victory, all three parties to the war were exhausted and Hideyoshi himself now accepted that the war could not be won. He told his commander in Korea: "Don't let my soldiers become spirits in a foreign land."
Toyotomi Hideyoshi died in September 1598. His death was kept secret by the Council of Five Elders to preserve morale. It was not until late October that they sent a decree to the Japanese commanders to withdraw. In the last major conflict of the war, the Battle of Noryang, combined Korean and Chinese naval forces led by admirals Yi Sun-sin and Chen Lin blocked the Japanese withdrawal. Japanese forces suffered heavy damage and Korean admiral Yi Sun-sin was killed, but the remaining Japan forces broke through and withdrew to Busan at a cost of 200 ships destroyed and 100 captured, according to Korean records.
Because of his failure to capture Korea, Hideyoshi's forces were unable to invade China. Rather than strengthen his position, the military expeditions left his clan's coffers decreased, his vassals at odds over responsibility for the failure, and the clans that were loyal to the Toyotomi name weakened. The dream of a Japanese empire throughout Asia ended with Hideyoshi. The Tokugawa government not only prevented any military expeditions to the mainland, but closed Japan to nearly all foreigners. It was not until the late 19th century that Japan would again fight a war against China through Korea, using much the same route that Hideyoshi's invasion force had used.
After his death, the other members of the Council of Five Regents were unable to keep the ambitions of Tokugawa Ieyasu in check. Two of Hideyoshi's top generals Katō Kiyomasa and Fukushima Masanori had fought bravely during the war, but returned to find Toyotomi clan bureaucrat Ishida Mitsunari in power. He held the generals in low esteem, and they sided with Tokugawa Ieyasu. Hideyoshi's underaged son and designated successor Hideyori lost the power his father once held, and Tokugawa Ieyasu was declared shogun following the Battle of Sekigahara.
Cultural legacy
Toyotomi Hideyoshi changed Japanese society in many ways. These include imposition of a rigid class structure, restriction on travel, and surveys of land and production.
Class reforms affected commoners and warriors. During the Sengoku period, it had become common for peasants to become warriors, or for samurai to farm due to the constant uncertainty caused by the lack of centralized government and always tentative peace. Upon taking control, Hideyoshi decreed that all peasants be disarmed completely. Conversely, he required samurai to leave the land and take up residence in the castle towns. This solidified the social class system for the next 300 years.
Furthermore, he ordered comprehensive surveys and a complete census of Japan. Once this was done and all citizens were registered, he required all Japanese to stay in their respective han (fiefs) unless they obtained official permission to go elsewhere. This ensured order in a period when bandits still roamed the countryside and peace was still new. The land surveys formed the basis for systematic taxation.
A replicated Osaka Castle has been created on the site of the Hideyoshi's great donjon. The iconic castle has become a symbol of Osaka's re-emergence as a great city after its devastation in World War II.
In 1590, Hideyoshi completed construction of the Osaka Castle, the largest and most formidable in all Japan, to guard the western approaches to Kyoto. In that same year, Hideyoshi banned "unfree labor" or slavery; but forms of contract and indentured labor persisted alongside the period penal codes' forced labor.
Hideyoshi also influenced the material culture of Japan. He lavished time and money on the tea ceremony, collecting implements, sponsoring lavish social events, and patronizing acclaimed masters. As interest in the tea ceremony rose among the ruling class, so too did demand for fine ceramic implements, and during the course of the Korean campaigns, not only were large quantities of prized ceramic ware confiscated, many Korean artisans were forcibly relocated to Japan.
Inspired by the dazzling Golden Pavilion in Kyoto, he also constructed a fabulous portable tea room, covered with gold leaf and lined inside with red gossamer. Using this mobile innovation, he was able to practice the tea ceremony wherever he went, powerfully projecting his unrivaled power and status upon his arrival.
Politically, he set up a governmental system that balanced out the most powerful Japanese warlords (or daimyo). A council was created to include the most influential lords. At the same time, a regent was designated to be in command.
Just prior to his death, Hideyoshi hoped to set up a system stable enough to survive until his son grew old enough to become the next leader. A was formed, consisting of the five most powerful daimyo. Following the death of Maeda Toshiie, however, Tokugawa Ieyasu began to secure alliances, including political marriages (which had been forbidden by Hideyoshi). Eventually, the pro-Toyotomi forces fought against the Tokugawa in the Battle of Sekigahara. Ieyasu won and received the title of Seii-tai Shogun two years later.
Hideyoshi is commemorated at several Toyokuni Shrines scattered over Japan.
Ieyasu left in place the majority of Hideyoshi's decrees and built his shogunate upon them. This ensured that Hideyoshi's cultural legacy remained. In a letter to his wife, Hideyoshi wrote:
Names
Because of his low birth and high nobility, Toyotomi Hideyoshi had quite a few names throughout his life. At birth, he was given the name Hiyoshi-maru . At genpuku he took the name . Later, he was given the surname Hashiba, and the honorary court office Chikuzen no Kami; as a result he was styled . His surname remained Hashiba even as he was granted the new uji or sei ( or , clan name) Toyotomi by the emperor. His name is correctly Toyotomi no Hideyoshi. Using the writing system of his time, his name is written as 豐臣 秀吉.
The Toyotomi uji was simultaneously granted to a number of Hideyoshi's chosen allies, who adopted the new uji "" (Toyotomi no asomi, courtier of Toyotomi).
The Catholic sources of the time referred to him as "emperor Taicosama" (from taikō, a retired kampaku (see Sesshō and Kampaku), and the honorific sama).