Toyotomi, Hideyoshi (1537–1598)

A popular print depicting Hideyoshi Toyotomi, a Japanese feudal lord and samurai (Japanese warrior). Under the rule of Hideyoshi, Christian activity in Japan was greatly restricted.

Japanese warlord, one of the three military leaders who unified Japan in the 16th century (Momoyama period). Successful military campaigns and alliances gave him control of central and southwestern Japan by 1587 and eastern Japan by 1590. His invasion of Korea 1592–98 was, however, defeated.

Skilled in siege strategy, Hideyoshi rose in the service of Oda Nobunaga (1534–1582), the first of the three great Momoyama warlords, and on the death of Nobunaga took over the leadership of his troops, subduing Kyushu island in the southwest. He reached an agreement with his main rival, Tokugawa Ieyasu, in eastern central Honshu, and had himself appointed regent (kanpaku) by the emperor 1585, chancellor (dajōdaijin) 1586, and retired regent (taiko) 1592, the last being the title by which he is still known in Japan; he did not take the title of shogun. He was an able administrator, introducing new land and tax systems and ordering the disarmament of all but the samurai class. He instigated land surveys and in 1590 a population census.