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All of these tend to distract us from a clear and well-rounded picture of Toyotomi Hideyoshi the man. Hideyoshi is often portrayed as a hero, a shining figure and the progenitor of a golden age. The inconsistency his later actions create is often simply ignored. Yoshikawa, for instance, even in the original (unabridged) Taiko, elects to end the story prior to 1590, conveniently avoiding the less-than flattering events that follow. Furthermore, few works on Hideyoshi care to mention the almost unbelievable suffering his ill-advised invasions of Korea caused the Korean people. Few structures dated prior to 1592 can today be found anywhere in the country south of Pyongyang, a mute testimonial to the savagery of the war. One damaging result of Hideyoshi's Korean endeavors to the Toyotomi house may have been that it denied him the sort of peace in which to cement his control over the country that Ieyasu would enjoy between 1600 and 1603. One of the subtle consequences of the Korean war was that it sapped the strength of those families who might be counted on to support the Toyotomi cause in the future while sparing the potential usurpers - namely, Tokugawa Ieyasu.  

All of these tend to distract us from a clear and well-rounded picture of Toyotomi Hideyoshi the man. Hideyoshi is often portrayed as a hero, a shining figure and the progenitor of a golden age. The inconsistency his later actions create is often simply ignored. Yoshikawa, for instance, even in the original (unabridged) Taiko, elects to end the story prior to 1590, conveniently avoiding the less-than flattering events that follow. Furthermore, few works on Hideyoshi care to mention the almost unbelievable suffering his ill-advised invasions of Korea caused the Korean people. Few structures dated prior to 1592 can today be found anywhere in the country south of Pyongyang, a mute testimonial to the savagery of the war. One damaging result of Hideyoshi's Korean endeavors to the Toyotomi house may have been that it denied him the sort of peace in which to cement his control over the country that Ieyasu would enjoy between 1600 and 1603. One of the subtle consequences of the Korean war was that it sapped the strength of those families who might be counted on to support the Toyotomi cause in the future while sparing the potential usurpers - namely, Tokugawa Ieyasu.  

The Korean Invasions aside, Hideyoshi deserves much of his acclaim. More then Hojo Soun, [[Saito]] Dosan, or Takeda Shingen, Hideyoshi embodied the spirit of his age, and as fate would have it, was the one to bring it to a close. His policies and initiatives made the Tokugawa shogunate possible, shaping and changing Japanese history in ways still discernable today. For good or bad, Toyotomi Hideyoshi looms large in Japanese history, larger, perhaps, than any man before or since.

The Korean Invasions aside, Hideyoshi deserves much of his acclaim. More than [[Hojo Soun]], [[Saito Dosan]], or Takeda Shingen, Hideyoshi embodied the spirit of his age, and as fate would have it, was the one to bring it to a close. His policies and initiatives made the Tokugawa shogunate possible, shaping and changing Japanese history in ways still discernable today. For good or bad, Toyotomi Hideyoshi looms large in Japanese history, larger, perhaps, than any man before or since.

==Notes to the Text==

==Notes to the Text==