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Two obstacles stood between Hideyoshi and his dreams. On Kyushu, the Shimazu family was invading Bungo, the last piece of the island not in their hands. To the east, the Hojo ruled over the vast Kanto region and eyed the developments in Kyoto with suspicion, confident, perhaps, in the Hakone Mountains and the imposing walls of [[Odawara castle]] to shield them from Hideyoshi's ambitions. Once affairs had been settled in Shikoku, Hideyoshi was in a position to concern himself with the Kyushu matter. On 12 November [[1585]], following a personal plea from Otomo Sorin, he dispatched a message to [[Shimazu Yoshihisa]] demanding that he withdraw from Bungo and make peace with the Otomo, to which Shimazu replied with thinly veiled insults. As doubtlessly displeased as Hideyoshi may have been, it would be a little over a year before any Toyotomi troops could be put on the island. In December an advance force under Chosokabe Motochika and Sengoku Hidehisa arrived at the Otomo capital of Funai. Once there, [[Otomo Yoshimune]] and Sengoku decided to take an offensive approach and went out to relieve a fort besieged by the Shimazu, ignoring both orders by Hideyoshi to stand on the defensive and Motochika's objections. The result was the [[Battle of the Hetsugigawa]] and a defeat for the Ôtomo-Toyotomi forces. Motochika lost a favorite son in the battle and the reinforcements were forced to flee the area, allowing Shimazu to march into Funai in triumph. This moment would be Yoshihisa's final brush with glory. On 20 January [[Hashiba Hidenaga]] landed on Kyushu with as many as 60,000 men, followed by Kobayakawa Takakage and the Mori, who had with them a further 90,000. Faced with this mighty host, the Shimazu withdrew south rapidly, allowing Hidenaga to proceed with an advance along the eastern coast of the island. Hideyoshi himself arrived with yet another 30,000 in February and secured the submission of most of the warlords of the provinces conquered by the Shimazu in the past decade, including the [[Akizuki clan|Akizuki]], [[Arima clan|Arima]], [[Goto clan|Goto]], [[Nabeshima clan|Nabeshima]], Omura, and [[Ryuzoji clan|Ryuzoji]]. The Toyotomi progress was almost leisurely, especially since the only real Shimazu resistance would come at the Sendai River on 6 June, and this was in essence a show of simple defiance by the proud Shimazu warriors. Within days of this battle, Shimazu Yoshihisa arrived in Hideyoshi's presence with a shaved head and surrendered. Hideyoshi accepted the Shimazu submission and announced that they would be allowed to retain Satsuma, Osumi, and southern Hyuga. Yoshihisa was ordered to retire and was replaced by his younger brother Yoshihiro.

Two obstacles stood between Hideyoshi and his dreams. On Kyushu, the Shimazu family was invading Bungo, the last piece of the island not in their hands. To the east, the Hojo ruled over the vast Kanto region and eyed the developments in Kyoto with suspicion, confident, perhaps, in the Hakone Mountains and the imposing walls of [[Odawara castle]] to shield them from Hideyoshi's ambitions. Once affairs had been settled in Shikoku, Hideyoshi was in a position to concern himself with the Kyushu matter. On 12 November [[1585]], following a personal plea from Otomo Sorin, he dispatched a message to [[Shimazu Yoshihisa]] demanding that he withdraw from Bungo and make peace with the Otomo, to which Shimazu replied with thinly veiled insults. As doubtlessly displeased as Hideyoshi may have been, it would be a little over a year before any Toyotomi troops could be put on the island. In December an advance force under Chosokabe Motochika and Sengoku Hidehisa arrived at the Otomo capital of Funai. Once there, [[Otomo Yoshimune]] and Sengoku decided to take an offensive approach and went out to relieve a fort besieged by the Shimazu, ignoring both orders by Hideyoshi to stand on the defensive and Motochika's objections. The result was the [[Battle of the Hetsugigawa]] and a defeat for the Ôtomo-Toyotomi forces. Motochika lost a favorite son in the battle and the reinforcements were forced to flee the area, allowing Shimazu to march into Funai in triumph. This moment would be Yoshihisa's final brush with glory. On 20 January [[Hashiba Hidenaga]] landed on Kyushu with as many as 60,000 men, followed by Kobayakawa Takakage and the Mori, who had with them a further 90,000. Faced with this mighty host, the Shimazu withdrew south rapidly, allowing Hidenaga to proceed with an advance along the eastern coast of the island. Hideyoshi himself arrived with yet another 30,000 in February and secured the submission of most of the warlords of the provinces conquered by the Shimazu in the past decade, including the [[Akizuki clan|Akizuki]], [[Arima clan|Arima]], [[Goto clan|Goto]], [[Nabeshima clan|Nabeshima]], Omura, and [[Ryuzoji clan|Ryuzoji]]. The Toyotomi progress was almost leisurely, especially since the only real Shimazu resistance would come at the Sendai River on 6 June, and this was in essence a show of simple defiance by the proud Shimazu warriors. Within days of this battle, Shimazu Yoshihisa arrived in Hideyoshi's presence with a shaved head and surrendered. Hideyoshi accepted the Shimazu submission and announced that they would be allowed to retain Satsuma, Osumi, and southern Hyuga. Yoshihisa was ordered to retire and was replaced by his younger brother Yoshihiro.

Hideyoshi dallied in Kyushu for a time, making land grants to his loyal generals, with the largest tracts going to [[Konishi Yukinaga]] (Higo), [[Kato Kiyomasa]] (Higo), Kuroda Kanbei (Buzen), and Kobayakawa Takakage (Chikuzen). These men and the native Kyushu warriors would provide the vanguard for Hideyoshi's greatest endeavor-the Invasion of Korea in the 1590's. While in Kyushu Hideyoshi also acquainted himself with the powerful Christian presence on the island and made the first step in quelling what he saw as a dangerous destabilizing influence. On 24 July he issued the first Christian Expulsion Edict, declaring that all Christian missionaries were to depart Japan within 20 days. At the same time, this edict and a Limitation on the Propagation of Christianity (issued the day before) were worded somewhat ambiguously. The Limitation order actually allowed landholders to become Christian, but with certain stipulations and only with permission, although forced conversion was outlawed. There seemed to be some room for maneuver here (from the Christian stand-point) and Hideyoshi was clearly not prepared or interested at the moment in pressing the matter any further.  

Hideyoshi dallied in Kyushu for a time, making land grants to his loyal generals, with the largest tracts going to [[Konishi Yukinaga]] (Higo), [[Kato Kiyomasa]] (Higo), Kuroda Kanbei (Buzen), and Kobayakawa Takakage (Chikuzen). These men and the native Kyushu warriors would provide the vanguard for Hideyoshi's greatest endeavor-the Invasion of Korea in the 1590's. While in Kyushu Hideyoshi also acquainted himself with the powerful Christian presence on the island and made the first step in quelling what he saw as a dangerous destabilizing influence. On 24 July he issued the first Christian Expulsion Edict, declaring that all Christian missionaries were to depart Japan within 20 days. At the same time, this edict and a Limitation on the Propagation of Christianity (issued the day before) were worded somewhat ambiguously. The Limitation order actually allowed landholders to become Christian, but with certain stipulations and only with permission, although forced conversion was outlawed. There seemed to be some room for maneuver here (from the Christian stand-point) and Hideyoshi was clearly not prepared or interested at the moment in pressing the matter any further. Though Hideyoshi persecuted Christians for their religious beliefs, however, he continued to support trade with them, and is said to have been rather fond of ''[[Nanban]]'' (i.e. European) fashions.<ref>Ronald Toby ロナルド・トビ, ''"Sakoku" toiu gaikô'' 「鎖国」という外交, Tokyo: Shogakukan (2008), 199.</ref>

Hideyoshi now controlled a vast domain that stretched from Kagoshima Bay in Satsuma to the Hakone Mountains and eastern borders of Echigo. The Hojo and a myriad number of northern warlords (most notable among them being [[Date Masamune]], [[Mogami Yoshiakira]], and [[Nambu Nobunao]]) remained outside Hideyoshi's influence but of these, only the Hojo constituted a real threat - in the sense that if he failed to take Odawara, the political ramifications could be damaging. He was in no hurry, and for the time being contented himself with summoning the Hojo to Kyoto, a request, unsurprisingly, [[Hojo Ujimasa]] ignored. While preparing for the final act of in the unification of Japan, Hideyoshi spent much of his time in Kyoto, throwing himself into the role of 'Bountiful Minister' and further obscuring his humble roots with a study of the tea ceremony and poetry. During the 1590's, he would even delve into no, going so far as to have a number of plays written about his own life in 1594, which he then starred in for a select audience of nobles and daimyo in Osaka. He regularly preformed at his Nagoya headquarters during the [[Korean Invasion]] of 1592-93 and prompted his men to join in, including Tokugawa Ieyasu. As for how well Hideyoshi mastered his new hobby, we have only the somewhat laconic and amusing remark by [[Konoe Sakihisa]], writing after a performance in Kyoto before the Emperor: "The Taiko's performance conveys the impression of enormous development."<ref>Berry. ''Hideyoshi.'' pg. 231</ref>

Hideyoshi now controlled a vast domain that stretched from Kagoshima Bay in Satsuma to the Hakone Mountains and eastern borders of Echigo. The Hojo and a myriad number of northern warlords (most notable among them being [[Date Masamune]], [[Mogami Yoshiakira]], and [[Nambu Nobunao]]) remained outside Hideyoshi's influence but of these, only the Hojo constituted a real threat - in the sense that if he failed to take Odawara, the political ramifications could be damaging. He was in no hurry, and for the time being contented himself with summoning the Hojo to Kyoto, a request, unsurprisingly, [[Hojo Ujimasa]] ignored. While preparing for the final act of in the unification of Japan, Hideyoshi spent much of his time in Kyoto, throwing himself into the role of 'Bountiful Minister' and further obscuring his humble roots with a study of the tea ceremony and poetry. During the 1590's, he would even delve into no, going so far as to have a number of plays written about his own life in 1594, which he then starred in for a select audience of nobles and daimyo in Osaka. He regularly preformed at his Nagoya headquarters during the [[Korean Invasion]] of 1592-93 and prompted his men to join in, including Tokugawa Ieyasu. As for how well Hideyoshi mastered his new hobby, we have only the somewhat laconic and amusing remark by [[Konoe Sakihisa]], writing after a performance in Kyoto before the Emperor: "The Taiko's performance conveys the impression of enormous development."<ref>Berry. ''Hideyoshi.'' pg. 231</ref>