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1590 CEReputable source · 2 sourcesWell documented

Toyotomi Hideyoshi Unifies Japan, Then Invades Korea Twice

A peasant-born general completes Nobunaga's unification and then launches two failed wars on the mainland

On the timeline · around 1590 CE · Unification and the Tokugawa PeaceThe Age of the SamuraiUnification and the Tokugawa PeaceToyotomi Hideyoshi Unifies Japan, Then Invades Korea Twice145015001550160016501700

Quick facts

Unification completed
1590 CE (fall of Odawara)
First Korean invasion
1592 CE
Second Korean invasion
1597 CE
Outcome
Both invasions failed; Japan withdrew after Hideyoshi's 1598 death

What happened

Toyotomi Hideyoshi, born Kinoshita Hiyoshimaru into a peasant family in 1537, rose through Nobunaga's ranks and, after his lord's death, completed the unification of Japan: the fall of Odawara castle in 1590 removed the last major obstacle to his rule. Rather than stop there, Hideyoshi launched two invasions of Korea, in 1592 and again in 1597, aiming to conquer Korea and eventually Ming China. The 1592 invasion initially overwhelmed an unprepared Korean army, but logistics broke down as supply lines stretched too thin, and the campaign failed. The 1597 invasion also failed, and Japanese forces were reduced to holding a line of coastal forts, wajo, which were abandoned entirely after Hideyoshi's death.

Why it matters

Hideyoshi's Korean invasions poisoned Japan-Korea relations for the following century and made the mutually beneficial trade that had existed impossible for a generation. His domestic reforms, including a sword hunt disarming the peasantry and freezing samurai and farmers into separate hereditary classes, however, set the social framework the Tokugawa shogunate would inherit and formalize.

How we know

Hideyoshi's unification and the Korean campaigns are documented in both Japanese and Korean period records, with Korean naval victories under Yi Sun-sin among the best-attested episodes of the war.

Sources

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Toyotomi Hideyoshi Unifies Japan, Then Invades Korea Twice · History of Japan · SourcedStory