Hideyoshi is not a family name but the adopted name of one of the most illustrious figures of Japanese history. Hideyoshi himself deliberately blurred out the details of his youth and his autobiography begins with his coming into his own with a military command. It can be assumed that Hideyoshi was born in Nakamura as son of a peasant, known to us as Yaemon. His childhood name is said to have been Hiyoshimaru, meaning 'Bounty of the Sun', which, however, carries the ring of subsequent embellishment. A popular story about his youth claims that Hideyoshi had been about to be shipped off to a temple, but instead he chose to wander off in search of adventure.

Whether this story is true or not, he did find lots of adventures along his way from simple peasant to one of the most powerful men in Japanese history. Imagawa Yoshimoto was the first commander he served for a while - until Hideyoshi disappeared along with a sum of money entrusted to him. After changing his name to Tokichiru, he resurfaced again in Owari around 1557 where he found service with Oda Nobunaga, whose attention he managed to secure, as well as the enmity of Nobunaga's senior retainers. As Tokichiru he got appointed to the position of one of Nobunaga's sandal bearers. Four years after the battle of Okehazama in 1560, he altered his name to Kinoshita Hideyoshi, and probably in 1573 he adopted the self-created surname of Hashiba, a combination of the names of two of Nobunaga's retainers, Niwa Nagahide and Shibata Katsuie. The not too tactful Nobunaga, however, called the short and thinly proportioned man with the sunken features by less flashy names - Saru (monkey) or 'the bald rat', even though he was much impressed with Hideyoshi's many natural talents. Apparently Hideyoshi enjoyed drink and women more than the average man and, in his younger days, made friends very easily. He also had an unfailing sense how to read and manipulate others.

Over the years in the Oda's services, Hideyoshi gained much military experience. The unique circumstances that surrounded the avenging of Nobunaga's assassination in 1582 left Hideyoshi not only with new allies, he had also gained a position as high-ranking as the most senior of the late Nobunaga's retainers. The ensuing struggles left Hideyoshi first as de-facto leader of the Oda territories and later, in 1585, the Court finally appointed him to the position of Kampaku ('Imperial Regent'), a rank a peasant-born never could have hoped to achieve. In order to add at least a little bit of legitimacy to his new position, Hideyoshi arranged to be adopted by a court noble with the appropriate blood lines, Konoe Sakihisa. Having achieved all this, Hideyoshi now adopted the surname Toyotomi, the characters forming this name read 'Bountiful Minister'. As the Samurai Archives note: "Never one for excessive subtlety, Hideyoshi was now advertising his intention to rule Japan."

Which he did. In 1590 the last Japanese province fell under his sway, and by January 1591 all of Japan was Hideyoshi's. Having achieved national hegemony, Hideyoshi worked on establishing and securing the new Toyotomi dynasty. Much like Nobunaga before him, Hideyoshi also regarded massive structures as symbols of power and immediately launched extensive building projects, resulting in Osaka (containing the greatest castle ever built in Japan) and Fushimi (Momoyama) which became associated with his reign. Concerned about the powerful Tokugawa, Hideyoshi transferred the family from their ancestral homeland over to the Kanto region, on paper increasing their holdings, but de facto moving them out of the way, away from Kyoto. Tokugawa Ieyasu dutifully settled down in Edo.

In 1591 the death of his only child, Tsurumatsu, dampened his hopes for a stable succession; in frantic attempts to secure power for his bloodline, Hideyoshi adopted his only surviving half-brother, Hidetsugu, and appointed him his heir in January 1592. One month later Hideyoshi retired from the position of Kampaku and passed it over to Hidetsugu. Hideyoshi then assumed the title he is most famous for: Taiko ('Retired Regent'). However, all his plans changed with the birth of his second son, Hideyori, in 1593. Probably haunted by forebodings of a potential succession struggle, as he had already appointed Hidetsugu as his heir and yet had devoted himself to Hideyori, the Taiko probably made his decision in 1595.

In 1595 Hidetsugu was exiled to Mount Koya and ordered to commit suicide. All members of his family who didn't follow the order straight away - men, women and children alike - were murdered (among them 31 women and a number of infants). The (official) reason for Hidetsugu's sudden downfall and the particularly brutal treatment of his family is not clear. In the summer of 1598 Hideyoshi fell ill and established a council of regents to rule until Hideyori came of age. The Taiko died in September 1598.

Despite Hideyoshi's efforts, the Toyotomi dynasty turned out to be a rather short-lived one. In 1615 Hideyori and his sons were executed after a fierce fight for domination by none other than a member of the former council of Regents, Tokugawa Ieyasu.

Sources:
The Samurai Archives
Wikimedia Commons


~Contributed by Yoshinda Chosokabe