Hideyori Toyotomi (8 September 1593-June 1615) was the second and last Shogun of the Toyotomi Shogunate from 1598 to 1600, succeeding Hideyoshi Toyotomi and preceding Ieyasu Tokugawa.
Biography[]
Hideyori on his horse
Hideyori was born on 8 September 1593 to Hideyoshi Toyotomi, and he was only five years old when his father died. Hideyori became shogun at this young age, so the Council of Five Elders was appointed to support him. However, the ambitious warlord Ieyasu Tokugawa, supported by the "Eastern Army" of Tokugawa allies, declared war on the Toyotomi loyalists, who formed the "Western Army". At the Battle of Sekigahara in 1600, the Western Army was defeated and its leader Mitsunari Ishida captured and executed along with many of the generals, and Ieyasu became the shogun. The young Hideyori was still a threat to him, so Masanobu Honda and Kojiro Sasaki were dispatched to kill him at Nisho Castle in 1614. He was defended by Musashi Miyamoto, who prevented the Tokugawa from assassinating him. That year, Hideyori gathered the last of the Toyotomi loyalists and rebelled in Osaka, so Ieyasu and 150,000 Tokugawa troops besieged his 60,000 Toyotomi troops.
Hideyori was a feeble commander, relying on the strength and resolve of the greatest Toyotomi warriors such as Yukimura Sanada, Concubine Kai, and Kunoichi to defend the castle from the Tokugawa army. He tried to defend Osaka Castle from the larger Tokugawa, and the Toyotomi had some success, repelling several attacks. However, the Tokugawa had cannon, ninjas, and siege engineers, the latter of which set off a fire attack on the outer ward of the castle. The Tokugawa army assaulted the castle, and Hideyori was wounded by Hanzo Hattori, a Tokugawa ninja. Miyagawa Takanori, a Tokugawa spearman, unhorsed Hideyori, who committed seppuku as Tokugawa cannon bombarded his keep.