[1582–1598] The Unification under Toyotomi Hideyoshi

The year is 1582. Japan is a shattered mosaic of warring domains, a land that has not known true peace for over a century. The most powerful warlord, Oda Nobunaga, a ruthless visionary on the cusp of total victory, is suddenly betrayed and forced to commit seppuku amidst the flames of Honnō-ji temple in Kyoto. A power vacuum rips open, and the dream of a unified Japan seems to turn to ash with him. Into this chaos steps a man of the most unlikely origins. He is not of noble samurai blood. He is short, with a face often compared to that of a monkey, and was born a peasant’s son, starting his career as a mere sandal-bearer for the great Nobunaga. His name is Hashiba Hideyoshi, and the news of his master's death reaches him hundreds of kilometers away, in the middle of a difficult siege. For any other general, this would be a moment of panic. For Hideyoshi, it is the moment of opportunity he has been waiting for his entire life.

With stunning speed and cunning, Hideyoshi makes a rapid peace with his enemy, the Mōri clan, and turns his army around. In an incredible feat of logistics and endurance, he force-marches his troops over 200 kilometers in a matter of days, a lightning-fast maneuver that would become legendary as the 'Chūgoku Return'. The traitor, Akechi Mitsuhide, barely has time to celebrate his coup before Hideyoshi's army descends upon him. At the Battle of Yamazaki, just thirteen days after Nobunaga’s death, Hideyoshi crushes the rebel forces. He presents Mitsuhide’s head at Nobunaga’s funeral, not just as an act of vengeance, but as a political declaration. He, the peasant-born general, is the true heir to Nobunaga’s legacy. The established samurai lords, with their ancient pedigrees, watch in a mixture of awe and apprehension. This upstart, who once warmed sandals with his own body for their master, now commands the largest and most battle-hardened army in Japan.

Over the next eight years, Hideyoshi would achieve what Nobunaga could only begin. His methods were a masterful blend of overwhelming force and shrewd diplomacy. He first subjugated the island of Shikoku in 1585, bringing its formidable daimyō, or regional lords, to heel. Then, in 1587, he turned his attention to the rebellious southern island of Kyūshū, leading a colossal army of over 200,000 men to secure the submission of the powerful Shimazu clan. His final great obstacle was the Hōjō clan in the east, who were protected by the most formidable fortress in the land, Odawara Castle. Rather than a bloody assault, Hideyoshi laid a masterful siege in 1590. He surrounded the castle with an army of over 220,000 soldiers and created a veritable city around it, complete with markets, theaters, and tea houses for his men. He even brought his wife and concubines to demonstrate his absolute confidence. After three months, faced with this overwhelming display of power and resolve, the Hōjō surrendered. With their fall, the last major resistance was broken. For the first time since the 15th century, one man ruled all of Japan.

Now the undisputed master of the realm, Toyotomi Hideyoshi, a name granted to him by the Emperor, began to remake Japanese society. His most transformative policy was the nationwide “Sword Hunt” of 1588. By imperial decree, he ordered the confiscation of all weapons from the peasantry. The official reason was to melt them down to construct a giant statue of the Buddha, but the true purpose was to cement a rigid class structure. Farmers were to farm, and only the samurai were permitted to carry swords. This act effectively ended the social mobility that had defined the war-torn era and allowed men like himself to rise. At the same time, he initiated the Taikō Kenchi, a comprehensive cadastral survey of the entire country. Every rice paddy was measured and its yield assessed, standardizing the tax system and giving him unprecedented knowledge and control over the nation’s wealth. The daimyō were no longer autonomous rulers of their lands; they were now vassals and managers, their income and power directly tied to and monitored by Hideyoshi's central government.

His rule ushered in a brief but dazzling period of culture known as the Momoyama period, named after the hill where he built his final castle. This era was a reflection of Hideyoshi himself: bold, opulent, and larger than life. He built the monumental Osaka Castle, its five-story main tower, or tenshu, gleaming with black lacquer and gold leaf, a symbol of power visible for miles. He commissioned lavish palaces like the Jurakudai in Kyoto, where he entertained the Emperor himself. Inside these structures, folding screens and sliding doors were covered in gold, depicting grand landscapes and powerful animals, a departure from the more subdued aesthetics of the past. He was a passionate patron of the tea ceremony, but even this quiet art form was bent to his extravagant will. He famously hosted the Grand Kitano Tea Ceremony in 1587, a massive public event where all were invited, from samurai lords to humble peasants, to share tea with the ruler of Japan. He even had a portable golden tea room constructed, a dazzling symbol of his wealth and flair.

Yet, as his power became absolute, a darker side emerged. Having unified Japan, he sought new worlds to conquer. His gaze fell upon China, with Korea as the stepping stone. In 1592, he launched a massive invasion of Korea with a veteran army of over 158,000 samurai, equipped with thousands of Japanese-made matchlock muskets known as tanegashima. Initially, they swept through the peninsula with terrifying speed, capturing Seoul in weeks. But the campaign soon bogged down. The Japanese forces were masters of land warfare, but their navy was no match for the brilliant Korean Admiral Yi Sun-sin and his heavily armored “turtle ships,” which decimated Japanese supply lines. After years of brutal fighting and a second, equally futile invasion in 1597, the campaigns ended in a costly stalemate, draining Japan's treasury and decimating its armies for no tangible gain.

Back home, his paranoia grew. He ordered the execution of his own nephew and adopted heir, Hidetsugu, along with his entire family, to clear the path for his infant son, Hideyori. Even his long-time tea master, the influential Sen no Rikyū, fell from grace and was forced to commit suicide, a stark reminder that no one was safe from the Taikō's suspicion. In the late summer of 1598, as the last of his armies were being driven from Korea, Toyotomi Hideyoshi, the peasant who became the absolute ruler of a unified nation, died in his magnificent Fushimi Castle. His final act was to create a Council of Five Elders, powerful daimyō sworn to protect his young heir. But among them was a patient, calculating man named Tokugawa Ieyasu. The peace Hideyoshi had forged with fire and sword was as fragile as his dying breath. A new struggle for power was about to begin, and the foundation of a new shogunate, one that would rule Japan for over 250 years, was being laid.