Toyotomi Hideyoshi was a preeminent daimyō, warrior, general, samurai, and politician of the Sengoku period who is regarded as Japan's second "great unifier".
Background
Toyotomi Hideyoshi was born on March 17, 1536. According to tradition, he was born in Owari Province, the home of the Oda clan (present-day Nakamura-ku, Nagoya in Aichi Prefecture). He was born of no traceable samurai lineage, being the son of a peasant-ashigaru (foot soldier) named Yaemon. He had no surname, and his childhood given name was Hiyoshi-maru (日吉丸) ("Bounty of the Sun") although variations exist. Yaemon died in 1543, when Hideyoshi was 7, the younger of two children, his sibling being an older sister.
Education
His parents intended him to become a Buddhist priest and sent him to the nearby Komyoji Temple. Hideyoshi was averse to assuming that profession and at 15 years of age fled and found employment with Yukitsuna Matsushita, castellan of Kuno and a retainer of Yoshi- moto Imagawa. He became restive again and at the age of 20 assumed the name of Tokichiro Kinoshita and succeeded in becoming a menial of Nobunaga Oda, the famous warrior.
Career
In 1558, he joined the Oda clan. He became one of Nobunaga's sandal-bearers and was present at the Battle of Okehazama in 1560. In 1564, he managed to convince 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. Nobunaga's easy victory at Inabayama Castle in 1567 was largely due to Hideyoshi's efforts, and despite his peasant origins, Hideyoshi became one of Nobunaga's most distinguished generals, eventually taking the name Hashiba Hideyoshi (羽柴 秀吉).
Hideyoshi led troops in the Battle of Anegawa in 1570. 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. 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.
He fought in the Battle of Nagashino. He then fought in the 1577 Battle of Tedorigawa, the Siege of Miki, the Siege of Itami (1579), and the 1582 Siege of Takamatsu. Toyotomi Hideyoshi died September 18, 1598.
Achievements
Connections
In 1561, Hideyoshi married One who was Asano Nagakatsu's adopted daughter.