Toyotomi Hideyoshi: From Nakamura to Osaka Castle

Hideyoshi was born in Nakamura, in Owari Province, in 1537 according to tradition. His father Kinoshita Yaemon was an ashigaru, a foot soldier, and the boy had no surname, only the childhood name Hiyoshimaru. Everything that follows, from retainer to ruler of Japan, starts from this unlikely beginning. Today Nakamura is a ward of Nagoya and is still described as the birthplace of Toyotomi Hideyoshi. The pin marks the ward, not a specific house or monument, because the exact birth spot is not known.

Location precision: The birth is traditional and the exact spot is unknown; the pin marks Nakamura Ward in Nagoya.

Legend says Hideyoshi, then a minor retainer of Oda Nobunaga, raised a fort at Sunomata overnight in the mid-16th century. The reality was more modest: a wooden border fort with palisades and dry moats that took several days to finish, though it looked sudden. The feat greatly raised his standing with Nobunaga. Today a faux keep, rebuilt in 1991 and modelled on nearby Ogaki Castle, serves as a local history museum; it is not an accurate copy of the original.

Location precision: The one-night story is a legend and the original fort is gone; the pin marks the reconstructed castle at Sunomata.

Visitor guidance: The reconstructed keep houses a small local history museum.

In 1573 Nobunaga made Hideyoshi lord of three districts in northern Omi. He first used Odani Castle, a mountaintop fortress he found hard to rule from, then moved to the lakeside town of Imahama and renamed it Nagahama. His castle there was built in 1575-1576. Today the site is a park, and a concrete keep from 1983 holds a museum about Nagahama.

Location precision: Only the site and a modern concrete keep remain; the pin marks the park where the castle stood.

Visitor guidance: The castle park and its museum keep are open to visit.

On 21 June 1582 Nobunaga was killed in the Honno-ji incident during the siege of Takamatsu. Eleven days later Hideyoshi met the traitor Akechi Mitsuhide at Yamazaki. He had seen that wooded Mount Tennozan was key to the road to Kyoto and seized it first. On 2 July arquebus fire drove back Mitsuhide's men on the hill, and the battle turned. It is sometimes called the Battle of Mt. Tenno, and it gave Hideyoshi Nobunaga's power.

Location precision: The battlefield covered the Yamazaki area; the pin is not set, and Mount Tennozan is only its best-known landmark.

In 1583 Hideyoshi began building on the site of the Ishiyama Hongan-ji temple. He wanted a castle that mirrored Nobunaga's but surpassed it in every way, with a five-story main tower, three extra stories underground and gold leaf on the sides. Work was completed in 1597, and he died the following year. The stone walls built in the 1620s still stand today.

Visitor guidance: The castle grounds are open to visitors; the main keep is a museum.

Jurakudai was Hideyoshi's palace in Kyoto, begun in 1586 after he became Kampaku and finished in nineteen months. In early 1588 Emperor Go-Yozei stayed for five days, and the assembled daimyo were asked to sign an oath. In 1589 Hideyoshi displayed about 5.5 tonnes of gold and silver on plates in front of his guests. After 1595 the palace was dismantled, and many parts were moved to Fushimi and reassembled.

Location precision: The palace was dismantled; the pin marks the Jurakudai article's site in Kamigyo Ward, not a surviving building.

Hideyoshi built Fushimi Castle from 1592 to 1594 as his retirement residence. It was famous for its Golden Tea Room, with walls and implements covered in gold leaf. An earthquake destroyed it in 1596; it was rebuilt soon afterwards. Its original site was used for the tomb of Emperor Meiji, and a concrete replica from 1964 stands nearby.

Location precision: The original castle is gone; the pin marks the Fushimi Castle area in Kyoto, close to the replica and the site of the tomb.