Toyotomi Hideyoshi

Early life

Mar 17, 1537

Hideyoshi was born in a village called Nakamura in Owari province, the son of a foot-soldier/peasant known to us as Yaemon. Hideyoshi's childhood name is recorded as Hiyoshimaru, or 'bounty of the sun', quite possibly a later embellishment contrived to give substance to a claim of divine inspiration Hideyoshi made regarding his birth.

Battle of Okehazama (Part 1)

1558

He joined the Oda clan, now headed by Oda Nobunaga, as an ashigaru. He became Nobunaga's sandal-bearers and was present at the Battle of Okehazama in 1560 when Nobunaga defeated Imagawa Yoshitomi to become one of the most powerful warlords in the Sengoku period.

Battle of Okehazama (Part 2)

1561

Hideyoshi married one who was Asano Nagakatsu's adopted daughter. He carried out repairs on Sunomata Castle with his younger brother Toyotomi Hidenaga, Hachisuka Masakatsu and Maeno Nagayasu. Hideyoshi's efforts were well received because Sunomata was in enemy territory. He constructed a fort in Sunomata, according to legend overnight, and discovered a secret route into Mount Inaba after which much of the garrison surrendered.

Siege of Inabayama Castle (Part 1)

1564

Hideyoshi was very successful as a negotiator. In 1564, he managed to convince, mostly with liberal bribes, a number of Mino warlords to desert the Saitō clan. Hideyoshi approached many Saitō clan samurai and convinced them to submit to Nobunaga, including the Saitō clan's strategist, Takenaka Shigeharu.

Siege of Inabayama Castle (Part 2)

1567

Nobunaga's easy victory at Inabayama Castle in 1567 was largely due to Hideyoshi's efforts,[8] and despite his peasant origins, Hideyoshi became one of Nobunaga's most distinguished generals, eventually taking the name Hashiba Hideyoshi (羽柴 秀吉). The new surname included two characters, one each from Oda's two other right-hand men, Niwa Nagahide (丹羽 長秀) and Shibata Katsuie (柴田 勝家).

Battle of Anegawa (Part 1)

1570

Hideyoshi led troops in the Battle of Anegawa in 1570 in which Oda Nobunaga allied with Tokugawa Ieyasu to lay siege to two fortresses of the Azai and Asakura clans. He participated in the 1573 Siege of Nagashima. In 1573, after victorious campaigns against the Azai and Asakura, Nobunaga appointed Hideyoshi daimyō of three districts in the northern part of Ōmi Province.

Battle of Anegawa (Part 2)

1570

Initially based at the former Azai headquarters in Odani, Hideyoshi moved to Kunitomo and renamed the city Nagahama in tribute to Nobunaga. Hideyoshi later moved to the port at Imahama on Lake Biwa. From there he began work on Imahama Castle and took control of the nearby Kunitomo firearms factory that had been established some years previously by the Azai and Asakura. Under Hideyoshi's administration, the factory's output of firearms increased dramatically.

Battle of Anegawa (Part 3)

1576

He fought in the Battle of Nagashino. Nobunaga sent Hideyoshi to Himeji Castle to conquer the Chūgoku region from the Mori clan in 1576.

Battle of Anegawa (Part 4)

1577

He then fought in the 1577 Battle of Tedorigawa, the Siege of Miki, the Siege of Itami (1579), and the 1582 Siege of Takamatsu.

Time of death

Sep 18, 1958

Toyotomi Hideyoshi died in Fushimi Castle, Kyoto, Kyoto Prefecture, Japan; his cause of death was Bubonic plague