Kinoshita Tōkichirō, Hashiba Hideyoshi

Place: Nakamura

Born: 1537

Death: 1598

Biography:

Toyotomi Hideyoshi was a Japanese samurai and daimyō (feudal lord) of the late Sengoku and Azuchi-Momoyama periods. He is regarded as the second 'Great Unifier' of Japan. Although he came from a peasant background, his immense power earned him the rank and title of Kampaku (Imperial Regent) and Daijō-daijin (Chancellor of the Realm), the highest official position and title in the nobility class. He was the first person in history to become a Kampaku who was not born a noble. Hideyoshi rose from a peasant background as a retainer of the prominent lord Oda Nobunaga to become one of the most powerful men in Japanese history. He succeeded Nobunaga after the Honnō-ji Incident in 1582 and continued Nobunaga's campaign to unite Japan that led to the closing of the Sengoku period. Hideyoshi became the de facto leader of Japan and acquired the prestigious positions of daijō-daijin and kampaku by the mid-1580s. He launched the Japanese invasions of Korea in 1592, but eventual military stalemate damaged his prestige before his death in 1598.