Misplaced Pages

#856143

79-502: Kobayakawa (written: 小早川 ) is a Japanese surname. Notable people with the surname include: Kobayakawa Hideaki ( 小早川 秀秋 , 1577–1602) , Japanese daimyō Kobayakawa Hidekane ( 小早川 秀包 , 1566–1601) , Japanese samurai Takehiko Kobayakawa ( 小早川 毅彦 , born 1961) , Japanese baseball player Kobayakawa Takakage ( 小早川 隆景 , 1533–1597) , Japanese samurai and daimyō Fictional characters [ edit ] An Kobayakawa ( 小早川 杏 ) ,

158-431: A "sinister grin" attached to the outside. Overall, 158,800 soldiers, laborers, and transport troops (of whom a quarter had firearms) were prepared to take part in the invasion, with roughly a third of the force being armed fighting units (samurai, their attendants, and ashigaru conscripts), while the other two thirds filled a support ion (doctors, priests, secretaries, boatmen, and labourers). The following table shows

237-584: A Japanese samurai clan [REDACTED] Surname list This page lists people with the surname Kobayakawa . If an internal link intending to refer to a specific person led you to this page, you may wish to change that link by adding the person's given name (s) to the link. Retrieved from " https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Kobayakawa&oldid=961944852 " Categories : Surnames Japanese-language surnames Hidden categories: Articles containing Japanese-language text Articles with short description Short description

316-487: A certain amount of wealth to take the qualification exam. Instead of being treated as a bureaucrat of a certain class and receiving a salary from the state, the military, horses, and servants' food expenses were all on their own. For this reason, the Joseon government, which had to save the budget, tried to increase the number of Gapsa by increasing the lower ranks. As a result, the number of Gapsa increases to 14000 by 1475, but

395-452: A character in the manga series World Trigger Miyuki Kobayakawa ( 小早川 美幸 ) , protagonist of the manga series You're Under Arrest Saccho Kobayakawa ( サッチョウ コバヤカワ ) , a character in the manga series Hunter × Hunter Sena Kobayakawa ( 小早川 瀬那 ) , protagonist of the manga series Eyeshield 21 Yutaka Kobayakawa ( 小早川 ゆたか ) , a character in the manga series Lucky Star See also [ edit ] Kobayakawa clan ,

474-417: A position in the imperial tributary system as of 1404. This relationship ended in 1408 when Japan, unlike Korea, chose to end its recognition of China's regional hegemony and cancel any further tribute missions. Membership in the tributary system was a prerequisite for any economic exchange with China. In exiting the system, Japan relinquished its trade relationship with China. One thousand years earlier,

553-461: A samurai to pull his opponent from his horse. If samurai wished to cut his opponent rather than stab, the weapons were the ōdachi , an extremely long sword with a huge handle, or the naginata , a polearm with very sharp curved blade. The most famous of all the samurai weapons was the katana , a sword described by the British military historian Stephen Turnbull as "...the finest edged weapon in

632-511: A special trading position as the single checkpoint to Korea for all Japanese ships and had permission from Korea to trade with as many as 50 of its own vessels, the Sō family had a vested interest in preventing conflict with Korea, and delayed the talks for nearly two years. Even when Hideyoshi renewed his order, Sō Yoshitoshi reduced the visit to the Korean court to a campaign to better relations between

711-594: A tactical sense, therefore, Hideyoshi cannot be considered as one of the commanders, but, as his will drove the whole project along until he died, his political influence cannot be underestimated". The Ming Chinese army was the largest in Asia, with a total of around 845,000 troops. However, in 1592 the Imperial Army was engaged in wars with the Mongols and in crushing a rebellion in the northwest . The Ming army

790-609: A ten-month-long military stalemate. With Toyotomi Hideyoshi's death in 1598, limited progress on land, and continued disruption of supply lines by the Joseon Navy, the Japanese forces in Korea were ordered to withdraw back to Japan by the new governing Council of Five Elders . Final peace negotiations between the parties followed, and continued for several years, ultimately resulting in the normalization of relations. In Korean ,

869-473: A war against China. Upon the ambassadors' return, the Joseon court held serious discussions concerning Japan's invitation, while Hwang Yun-gil reported conflicting estimates of Japanese military strength and intentions. They nonetheless pressed that a war was imminent. Kim Saung-il claimed that Hideyoshi's letter was nothing but a bluff. Moreover, the court, aware only that Japan was in turmoil with various clan armies fighting each other, substantially underrated

SECTION 10

#1732772719857

948-489: A withdrawal of Japanese forces towards the coastal regions of the peninsula. The pursuing Ming and Joseon forces, however, failed to dislodge the Japanese from their fortresses and entrenched positions in the southern coastal areas where both sides became locked in a ten-month-long military stalemate. With Toyotomi Hideyoshi's death in September 1598, limited progress on land, and continued disruption of supply lines along

1027-484: Is different from Wikidata All set index articles Kobayakawa Hideaki He was adopted by Hideyoshi and called himself Hashiba Hidetoshi (羽柴 秀俊). He was then again adopted by Kobayakawa Takakage , becoming Kobayakawa Hidetoshi (小早川 秀俊). He then renamed himself Hideaki (秀秋) after Takakage's death. Shortly after the Battle of Sekigahara , he renamed one last time to Kobayakawa Hideaki (小早川 秀詮). During

1106-541: The Battle of Shizugatake in 1583, where samurai had fought one another mano a mano , and where Katō demonstrated his skills with a cross-bladed spear with great effect by cutting so many men, whose severed and salted heads were thereafter tied to a stalk of green bamboo and carried by one of Katō's attendants into battle. Katō was a devoted follower of Nichiren Buddhism , a type of Buddhism closely associated with militarism and ultra-nationalism in Japan, and his relations with

1185-618: The Catholic Konishi were extremely unfriendly, to the extent that the two men almost never met during the campaign in Korea. Katō's battle standard was a white pennant which carried a message alleged to have been written by Nichiren himself reading Namu Myōhō Renge Kyō ("Hail to the Lotus of the Divine Law"). The naval commander was Wakisaka Yasuharu , another of the "Seven Spears of Shizugatake", who had been named daimyō of

1264-548: The Chūgoku region , informed Terumoto of Nobunaga's plan to invade China. In 1585, Hideyoshi told the Portuguese Jesuit Father Gaspar Coelho of his wish to conquer all of East Asia. Hideyoshi asked Coelho to send a message to his master, King Philip II of Spain , who was also King Philip I of Portugal, asking that he make his navy available to help Japan (Ming China, Spain, and Portugal were

1343-598: The Gambeson , or by wearing Scale armour . Pengbaesu ( 팽배수 ; 彭排手 ), heavy infantry specializing in hand-to-hand combat, were the mainstay of early Joseon infantry, wearing Chain mail or Mail and plate armour and armed with a round shield and sword. They responded to nomadic raids with shields and knives in mountain warfare, and in the plains, they built a shield wall to deter the cavalry's attacks. The elite troops and officers, made up of noblemen's sons called Gapsa ( 갑사 ; 甲士 ), They had to have more than

1422-563: The Imjin War , involved two separate yet linked invasions: an initial invasion in 1592 ( Korean :  임진왜란 ; Hanja :  壬辰倭亂 ), a brief truce in 1596, and a second invasion in 1597 ( 정유재란 ; 丁酉再亂 ). The conflict ended in 1598 with the withdrawal of Japanese forces from the Korean Peninsula after a military stalemate in Korea's southern provinces. The invasions were launched by Toyotomi Hideyoshi with

1501-453: The Siege of Fushimi . He acted as though he would go along with Mitsunari, even though he intended to betray him, having secretly communicated with Ieyasu. Knowing Kobayakawa held ill feelings, Mitsunari and Ōtani Yoshitsugu promised him two additional domains around Osaka and the position of kampaku (until Toyotomi Hideyori grew old enough to rule) if he helped them to victory. Even after

1580-3517: The Siege of Sawayama . Once the dust had settled, Kobayakawa was given the defeated Ukita clan's former fiefdoms of Bizen and Mimasaka , for a total of 550,000 koku . However, Kobayakawa drank himself to death two years later after supposedly going mad, and with no one to succeed him, the Kobayakawa clan disbanded, and his fiefdoms were absorbed by the neighboring Ikeda clan . [REDACTED] Media related to Kobayakawa Hideaki at Wikimedia Commons Japanese invasions of Korea (1592-1598) Joseon Political leaders [REDACTED] King Seonjo [REDACTED] Prince Gwanghae [REDACTED] Ryu Seong-ryong Yun Du-su Military commanders [REDACTED] Yi Sun-sin   † [REDACTED] Yi Eokgi   † [REDACTED] Won Gyun   † [REDACTED] Gwon Yul [REDACTED] Sin Rip   † [REDACTED] Gim Si-min   † Song Sang-hyeon   † Go Gyeong-myeong   † Gim Cheon-il   † Jo Heon   † Yi Il Gwak Jae-u Jeong Gi-ryong Kim Deok-ryeong Yujeong Hyujeong Jeong Mun-bu Gim Chung-seon Ming Political leaders [REDACTED] Wanli Emperor Zhao Zhigao Wang Xijue Inspectors, generals, field commanders Li Rusong Chen Lin Song Yingchang Ma Gui (pr.) Yang Hao Li Shizhen Wu Weizhong Deng Zilong   † Toyotomi regime Political leaders [REDACTED] Emperor Go-Yōzei [REDACTED] Toyotomi Hideyoshi [REDACTED] Toyotomi Hidetsugu Military commanders [REDACTED] Ukita Hideie [REDACTED] Kobayakawa Hideaki [REDACTED] Kobayakawa Takakage [REDACTED] Kobayakawa Hidekane [REDACTED] Ishida Mitsunari [REDACTED] Katō Kiyomasa [REDACTED] Konishi Yukinaga [REDACTED] Mōri Terumoto [REDACTED] Mōri Hidemoto [REDACTED] Mōri Yoshimasa [REDACTED] Nabeshima Naoshige [REDACTED] Hosokawa Tadaoki [REDACTED] Katō Yoshiaki [REDACTED] Shimazu Yoshihiro [REDACTED] Shimazu Toyohisa [REDACTED] Shimazu Tadatsune [REDACTED] Hachisuka Iemasa [REDACTED] Ōtomo Yoshimune [REDACTED] Tachibana Muneshige [REDACTED] Tsukushi Hirokado [REDACTED] Ankokuji Ekei [REDACTED] Ikoma Chikamasa [REDACTED] Ikoma Kazumasa [REDACTED] Kuroda Nagamasa [REDACTED] Fukushima Masanori [REDACTED] Sō Yoshitoshi [REDACTED] Kurushima Michifusa   † [REDACTED] Chōsokabe Motochika [REDACTED] Tōdō Takatora [REDACTED] Arima Harunobu [REDACTED] Akizuki Tanenaga [REDACTED] Itō Suketaka [REDACTED] Kuki Yoshitaka [REDACTED] Wakisaka Yasuharu [REDACTED] Ōmura Yoshiaki [REDACTED] Ōtani Yoshitsugu [REDACTED] Hasegawa Hidekazu [REDACTED] Gamō Ujisato [REDACTED] Ōyano Tanemoto   † [REDACTED] Asano Nagamasa Joseon: 84,500+ –192,000 (including sailors and insurgent fighters) 300 ships (200 scuttled in

1659-557: The Siege of Ulsan he led reinforcements to rescue Ulsan Castle from Joseon-Ming allied forces that were besieging the castle. Fighting on the front line with a spear , he managed to capture an enemy commander and broke the siege. However, Hideyoshi chastised him for making a dangerous and reckless charge (as he was overall commander, an adverse outcome could have had severe consequences) and deprived him of his domain Chikugo when he returned to Japan. Kobayakawa, angered by this, he believed

SECTION 20

#1732772719857

1738-535: The Sui and Tang dynasties of China had complicated political and trading relations with the Three Kingdoms of Korea . Ming China, on the other hand, had close trading and diplomatic relations with the Joseon, which remained integrated in the imperial tributary system, but also received tribute and trade from Sō clan of Tsushima , Japan. Ming China and Joseon Korea shared much in common. Both emerged during

1817-422: The daimyōs from acting on any ambitions against his rule. Fighting a war away from Japanese territory would also prevent territorial destruction, and maintain the infrastructure of the state. Such considerations would be consistent with the fact that Hideyoshi was not shōgun and had no links with the imperial bloodline. Stephen Turnbull also suggests personal ambition and megalomania of Hideyoshi as reasons for

1896-669: The tributary states , which also included countries such as the Ryukyu Kingdom , Lan Xang , Đại Việt , and the Ayutthaya Kingdom , in return for accepting the subservient tributary role of a "younger brother". In 1402, the Japanese shogun Ashikaga Yoshimitsu (despite not being the Emperor of Japan ) was conferred the title of "King of Japan" by the Chinese emperor and through this title had similarly accepted

1975-410: The wakō had staged a series of samurai raids into Korea, some of which were so large as to be "mini-invasions". Hideyoshi mistakenly thought his enemies were weak. Hideyoshi planned for a possible war with Korea long before he had completed the unification of Japan. He made preparations on many fronts. As early as 1578, Hideyoshi, then fighting under Oda Nobunaga against Mōri Terumoto for control of

2054-489: The "great general gun" and the folang zhi ( 佛朗支 ), the latter being breech-loaded artillery guns. One of the Chinese commanders was Li Rusong , a man who has been traditionally disparaged in Japanese accounts. In Turnbull's estimate, he was "one of Ming China's most accomplished generals". Although Li was defeated at the Battle of Pyokjeyek, his defeat was temporary. He was an able strategist who achieved his goal of forcing

2133-552: The "story about Ieyasu ordering ‘probing shots’ to be fired into his ranks is therefore a complete myth." Historian Junji Mitsunari viewed the defection of Hideaki during the battle was not solely his decision, but it is also a collective intention of the entire Kobayakawa clan , as his vassals also urged Hideaki to change side to the Eastern Army. Kobayakawa also experienced success in the mopping up operations that followed, defeating Mitsunari's father, Ishida Masatsugu in

2212-467: The 14th century after the end of the Yuan dynasty , embraced Confucian ideals in society, and faced similar threats ( Jurchen raiders and wokou ). Both had competing internal political factions, which would influence decisions made prior to and during the war. Because of close trade and common enemies, Joseon and Ming had a friendly alliance. By the last decade of the 16th century, Toyotomi Hideyoshi ,

2291-402: The Chinese infantry were the crossbow and the arquebus, while the cavalry were usually mounted archers. Chinese infantry wore conical iron helmets and suits of armor made from leather or iron. According to Turnbull, "Chinese field artillery and siege cannon were the finest in the region". Chinese artillery was made from cast iron, and were divided into several types, the most important being

2370-411: The Chinese tributary system. Hideyoshi replied with another letter, but since it was not presented by a diplomat in person as expected by custom, the court ignored it. After this denial of his second request, Hideyoshi proceeded to launch his armies against Korea in 1592. At the core of the Japanese military were the samurai , the military caste of Japan who dominated Japanese society. Japanese society

2449-466: The Japanese fighting troops sent into Korea were ashigaru (light infantry), who were usually conscripted peasants armed with spears, tanegashima (Japanese arquebuses), or yumi (Japanese bows). Unlike the samurai with their expensive suits of armor, the ashigaru wore cheap suits of iron armour around their chests. The ashigaru armed with arquebuses were trained to fight in the European style, with

Kobayakawa - Misplaced Pages Continue

2528-424: The Japanese forces in the south, which weakened the Japanese hold in the cities they occupied. Afterwards, with supply difficulties hampering both sides, neither the Japanese nor the combined Ming and Joseon forces were able to mount a successful offensive or gain any additional territory, resulting in a military stalemate in the areas between Hanseong and Kaesong . The war continued in this manner for five years, and

2607-539: The Japanese forces saw overwhelming success on land, capturing both Hanseong , the capital of Korea, and Pyongyang , and completing the occupation of large portions of the Korean Peninsula in three months. The Japanese forces, well-trained, confident, and experienced after the numerous battles and conflicts of the Sengoku period , typically held the field in most land engagements. This success on land, however,

2686-541: The Japanese out of Korea, and Japanese accounts focusing on his defeat at Pyokjeyek served to distract from his achievements. Another Chinese naval commander was Chen Lin , a native of Guangdong who proved pivotal in defeating Japan and defending Korea. After helping win the war, Chen was celebrated as a hero in Korea and China. Chen subsequently became the founder of the Gwangdong Jin clan of Korea, and today, his descendants are spread across China and Korea. Chen

2765-537: The Kobayakawa troops to force them into action. Kobayakawa then ordered an attack on the Otani troops, and while this attack was beaten back temporarily, his action forced the other armies who had pledged betrayal to also turn. However, more recently, some historians have argued that "the earliest accounts of Sekigahara show that Hideaki's so-called treachery happened when the battle began, not halfway through", and that

2844-406: The Korean military, Hideyoshi sent an assault force of 26 ships to the southern coast of Korea in 1587. On the diplomatic front, Hideyoshi began to establish friendly relations with China long before he had completed the unification of Japan. He also helped to police the trade routes against the wokou. In 1587, Hideyoshi sent his first envoy, Yutani Yasuhiro ( 柚谷康広 ) , to Korea, which was during

2923-514: The Koreans had come to pay a tributary homage to Japan. For this reason, the ambassadors were not given the formal treatment that was due to diplomatic representatives. In the end, the Korean ambassadors asked for Hideyoshi to write a reply to the Korean king, for which they waited 20 days at the port of Sakai . The letter, redrafted as requested by the ambassadors on the ground that it was too discourteous, invited Korea to submit to Japan and join in

3002-559: The Koreans to resist. Konishi had converted to Catholicism in 1583, and was known to the Spanish and Portuguese as Dom Agostinho. Katō Kiyomasa , who led the Second Division into Korea, was known in Japan as Toranosuke ("the young tiger") and to the Koreans as the "devil general", on account of his ferocity. Katō was one of the " Seven Spears of Shizugatake ", a group of seven samurai who distinguished themselves in combat at

3081-574: The Ming court in response to raids by Sino-Japanese pirates known as the wakō . By seeking to invade China, Hideyoshi was in effect claiming for Japan the role traditionally played by China in East Asia as the center of the East Asian international order. He rallied support in Japan as a man of relatively humble origins who owed his position to his military might. Finally, during the 1540s–1550s,

3160-475: The Ming. In 1597, Japan renewed its offensive by invading Korea a second time. The pattern of the second invasion largely mirrored that of the first. The Japanese had initial successes on land, capturing several cities and fortresses, only to be halted and forced to withdraw to the southern coastal regions of the peninsula. However, the pursuing Ming and Joseon forces were unable to dislodge the Japanese from these positions, where both sides again became locked in

3239-413: The battle began, Kobayakawa kept his intentions hidden. Ieyasu's force (east) was not faring well against Mitsunari's force (west); Ukita Hideie was winning against Fukushima Masanori and Ōtani Yoshitsugu was also winning against Tōdō Takatora . Kobayakawa was hesitant to participate with either side. According to some later historial accounts of the battle, Ieyasu ordered troops to fire blanks against

Kobayakawa - Misplaced Pages Continue

3318-583: The center for the mobilization of the invasion forces. In 1592, Hideyoshi sent a letter to the Philippines demanding tribute from the Spanish governor general and stating that Japan had already received tribute from Korea (which was a misunderstanding) and the Ryukyus. As for the military preparations, the construction of as many as 2,000 ships may have begun as early as 1586. To estimate the strength of

3397-403: The combined strength and abilities of many Japanese armies at the time. Some, including King Seonjo, argued that Ming should be informed about the dealings with Japan, as failure to do so could make Ming suspect Korea's allegiance, but the court finally concluded to wait further until the appropriate course of action became definite. In the end, Hideyoshi's diplomatic negotiations did not produce

3476-541: The crown as Taejo of Joseon, thus establishing a new dynasty. In search of a justification for its rule given the lack of a royal bloodline, the new regime received recognition from China and integration into the Imperial Chinese tributary system within the context of the Mandate of Heaven . Within this tributary system, China assumed the role of a "big brother", with Korea maintaining the highest position among

3555-445: The desired result with Korea. The Joseon Court approached Japan as a country inferior to Korea, and saw itself as superior according to its favored position within the Chinese tributary system. It mistakenly evaluated Hideyoshi's threats of invasions to be no better than the common wokou Japanese pirate raids. The Korean court handed to Shigenobu and Genso, Hideyoshi's third embassy, King Seonjo's letter rebuking Hideyoshi for challenging

3634-511: The dreams of his late lord, Oda Nobunaga , and to mitigate the possible threat of civil disorder or rebellion posed by the large number of now-idle samurai and soldiers in unified Japan. It is also possible that Hideyoshi might have set a more realistic goal of subjugating the smaller neighbouring states (the Ryukyu Islands , Taiwan , and Korea) and treating the larger or more distant countries as trading partners, because throughout

3713-407: The emperors of China as their overlords and paid tribute in exchange for being allowed to trade with China. Japan had usually resisted the demand to pay tribute to China, but shōgun Ashikaga Yoshimitsu had acknowledged the emperor of China as his overlord in return for access to the huge Chinese market. Japan's right to pay tribute and, with it, the right to trade with China was ended in the 1540s by

3792-491: The first invasion (1592–1593) is called the "Japanese Disturbance of Imjin" ( 倭亂 ), where 1592 is an imjin year in the sexagenary cycle . The second invasion (1597–1598) is called the "Second War of Jeong-yu" ( 丁酉 ). Collectively, the invasions are referred to as the "Imjin War". In Chinese , the wars are referred to as the " Wanli Korean Campaign", after the reigning Chinese emperor . In Japanese ,

3871-507: The forces of Gotō Sumiharu, who held the fief of Fukue (assessed at 140,000 koku ) on the Gotō archipelago . Family records show he led a force of 705, with 27 horses, 220 of which were fighting men, while 485 filled a support role. The breakdown of the fighting contingent was the following: Another daimyō whose military service quota has been preserved in a written record is Shimazu Yoshihiro , whose contribution consisted of: The majority of

3950-548: The height of its power. Under the rule of the Wanli Emperor , Ming China quickly interpreted the Japanese invasions as a challenge and threat to the Imperial Chinese tributary system . The Ming's interest was also to keep the war confined to the Korean peninsula and out of its own territory. They entered into the conflict by dispatching reinforcements to attack from the north. In the engagements that followed,

4029-405: The history of warfare". Samurai never carried shields, with the katana being used to deflect blows. By 1592, the armor of the samurai was lamellae made from iron or leather scales tied together which had been modified to include solid plate to help protect the samurai from bullets. Samurai engaged in psychological warfare by wearing an iron mask into battle with a mustache made of horsehair and

SECTION 50

#1732772719857

4108-399: The initial phase of the war) Ming: 1st. (1592–93) 48,000 Japan 1st. (1592) 158,800 (including labourers and sailors) 700 transport ships 300 warships 2nd. (1597–98) 141,900 Joseon: 1,000,000+ civilian and military deaths (including 260,000+ troops killed or wounded) 50,000–60,000 captives The Japanese invasions of Korea , commonly known as

4187-556: The intent of conquering the Korean Peninsula and China proper , which were ruled by the Joseon and Ming dynasties, respectively. Japan quickly succeeded in occupying large portions of the Korean Peninsula, but the contribution of reinforcements by the Ming, as well as the disruption of Japanese supply fleets along the western and southern coasts by the Joseon Navy , forced the Japanese forces to withdraw from Pyongyang and

4266-431: The invasion of Korea, Hideyoshi sought for legal tally trade with China. Hideyoshi's need for military supremacy as a justification for his rule, which lacked shōgunal background, could have, on an international level, been eventually transformed into an order with Japan's neighboring countries below Japan. Hideyoshi did not take the title of Shōgun on the grounds that he lacked the necessary Minamoto descent, but since it

4345-483: The invasion. Hideyoshi had, in a series of wars, conquered Japan and now wanted to turn to bigger things, noting that he spoke not only of his desire to "slash his way" into Korea to invade China, but also the Philippines , and India . Furthermore, for thousands of years, China had been the intellectual, economic, military, and political center of East Asia, and traditionally, the states of East Asia had acknowledged

4424-561: The island of Awaji in the Seto Inland Sea in 1585, where he learned much about seafaring as the island is located close to whirlpools which are notoriously dangerous for sailors. Toyotomi Hideyoshi never left Japan, remaining near Kyoto; however, the idea of conquering China was his obsession, and throughout the war, he refused to accept defeat, treating the war as simply a question of willpower, believing if only his samurai fought hard enough, he could take China. Turnbull writes: "In

4503-756: The main naval powers of the time). However, Philip refused Hideyoshi, preferring not to upset China. The defeat of the Odawara -based Hōjō clan in 1590 finally brought about the second unification of Japan, and Hideyoshi began preparing for the next war. Beginning in March 1591, the Kyūshū daimyōs and their labor forces constructed Nagoya Castle in Nagoya, Saga (modern-day Karatsu, Saga , not to be confused with present-day Nagoya city in Aichi Prefecture ), as

4582-429: The majority of the Joseon army was focused on defending the northern provinces from Japanese offensives, while also supporting Ming army campaigns to recapture territory occupied by the Japanese. Consequently, it was the combination of these Ming-led land campaigns and Joseon-led naval warfare that eventually forced the Japanese army to withdraw from Pyongyang to the south, where the Japanese continued to occupy Hanseong and

4661-633: The men trained to fire their guns in formation to create a volley of fire, then to go down on their knees to reload, while the men behind them fired, and the cycle repeated over and over again. The commander of the Japanese First Division and overall commander of the invasion force was Konishi Yukinaga , a daimyō of Uto from Higo Province in Kyushu , chosen as commander of the invasion force more because of his diplomatic skills than military skills, as Toyotomi Hideyoshi did not expect

4740-458: The most preeminent daimyō , had unified all of Japan in a brief period of peace. Since he came to hold power in the absence of a legitimate successor of the Minamoto lineage necessary for the imperial shōgun commission, he sought military power to legitimize his rule and to decrease his dependence on the imperial family. It is also suggested that Hideyoshi planned an invasion of China to fulfill

4819-464: The north. During the reign of King Jeongjong in 1400, the private army system was overthrown, and during the reign of King Sejo in 1457, a unit called Five Guards ( 오위 ; 五衛 ; Owi ) was formed, which continued until the Imjin War. In the early days of the war, Joseon had a conscripted light infantry, standing army, and an elite cavalry-oriented organization, especially Horse Archer. It

SECTION 60

#1732772719857

4898-465: The northern provinces. Afterwards, with righteous armies (Joseon civilian militias) conducting guerrilla warfare against the occupying Japanese forces and supply difficulties hampering both sides, neither force was able to mount a successful offensive or gain any additional territory, resulting in a military stalemate. The first phase of the invasion ended in 1596, and was followed afterwards by ultimately unsuccessful peace negotiations between Japan and

4977-488: The power of the arquebus greatly contributed to the failures of the Korean army early in the war. In April 1590, the Korean ambassadors, including Hwang Yun-gil and Kim Saung-il, left for Kyoto , where they waited for two months while Hideyoshi was finishing his campaign against the Hojo clan . Upon his return, they exchanged ceremonial gifts and delivered King Seonjo's letter to Hideyoshi. Hideyoshi mistakenly assumed that

5056-499: The promise of a Korean embassy to Japan in exchange for a group of Korean rebels which had taken refuge in Japan. In 1587, Hideyoshi had ordered the adopted father of Yoshitoshi and the daimyō of Tsushima Island , Sō Yoshishige ( 宗義調 ) , to offer the Joseon Dynasty an ultimatum of submitting to Japan and participating in the conquest of China, or facing the prospect of open war with Japan. However, as Tsushima Island enjoyed

5135-593: The rule of King Seonjo , to re-establish diplomatic relations between Korea and Japan (broken since the wokou raid in 1555). Hideyoshi hoped to use this as a foundation to induce the Korean court to join Japan in a war against China. Yasuhiro, with his warrior background and an attitude disdainful of the Korean officials and their customs, failed to receive the promise of future ambassadorial missions from Korea. Around May 1589, Hideyoshi's second embassy, consisting of Sō Yoshitoshi , Yanagawa Shigenobu ( 柳川調信 ) , and Buddhist monk Genso ( 玄蘇 ) , reached Korea and secured

5214-478: The rumor circulated by Tokugawa Ieyasu that this had been the doing of a jealous Ishida Mitsunari . He never forgot nor forgave Mitsunari and worked to undermine his position. Kobayakawa was known to attack women and children during the campaigns in Korea , an act that was despised by many of his fellow commanders. Before the battle of Sekigahara , Kobayakawa happened to be in Osaka and gave aid to Mitsunari in

5293-495: The southern regions with the exception of the southwestern Jeolla Province . The pursuing Ming and Joseon armies attempted to advance further into the south, but were halted by the Japanese army at the Battle of Byeokjegwan . Subsequently, the Japanese armies launched a counterattack in an attempt to reoccupy the northern provinces but were repelled by the defending Joseon army at Haengju fortress . Additionally, Joseon's civilian-led armies actively waged guerrilla warfare against

5372-426: The two countries. Near the end of the ambassadorial mission, Yoshitoshi presented King Seonjo a brace of peafowl and matchlock guns—the first advanced firearms to come to Korea. Ryu Seong-ryong , a high-ranking scholar official, suggested that the military put the arquebus (a matchlock firearm) into production and use, but the Korean court failed to appreciate its merits. This lack of interest and underestimation of

5451-543: The war is called Bunroku no eki ( 文禄の役 ) . Bunroku referring to the Japanese era name spanning the period from 1592 to 1596. The second invasion (1597–1598) is called Keichō no eki ( 慶長の役 ) . During the Edo period (17–19th centuries), the war was also called Kara iri ( 唐入り ) ("entry into China" or, more accurately, "entry into Tang ", the dynasty whose name is synonymous with China ). Japan's ultimate purpose

5530-478: The western and southern coasts by the Joseon navy, the remaining Japanese forces in Korea were ordered to withdraw back to Japan by the new governing Council of Five Elders . Final peace negotiations between the parties followed afterwards and continued for several years, ultimately resulting in the normalization of relations. In 1392, General Yi Seonggye led a successful coup to take political power in Korea from U of Goryeo . Seonggye's followers forced him to take

5609-466: Was capable of considerable feats of organization, for example bringing 400 artillery guns across 480 km of harsh landscape to provide firepower against the Mongols. The core of the Ming army was the infantry, divided into five sections; those armed with guns, swords, archers with fire arrows , archers with ordinary arrows, and spearmen, backed up by the cavalry and artillery. The basic weapons for

5688-463: Was constrained by the naval campaigns of the Korean navy which would continue to raid Japanese supply fleets in its coastal waters, hampering the Japanese advances as supply lines were disrupted along the Western Korean coast and Japanese naval reinforcements were repelled. These trends, with some exceptions on both sides, held true throughout much of the conflict. In 1592, Ming China was at

5767-421: Was divided into four castes : samurai, peasants, artisans, and merchants, in that order. The samurai caste owned most of the land in Japan, had the sole right to carry swords and to execute on the spot any commoner who was insufficiently deferential, and were allowed to own horses and ride into battle. The standard samurai weapon by 1592 was the yari , a spear meant to stab, often with a cross-blade that allowed

5846-444: Was followed by a brief interlude between 1596 and 1597 during which Japan and the Ming engaged in ultimately unsuccessful peace talks. In 1597, Japan renewed its offensive by invading Korea a second time. The pattern of the second invasion largely mirrored that of the first. The Japanese had initial successes on land, but the contribution of the Ming forces, as well as the Joseon navy's disruption of Japanese supply fleets, resulted in

5925-492: Was given the nickname Guangdong Master for his naval and military accomplishments. Officers in the Joseon Army and Navy came exclusively from the aristocracy, but unlike the high militarist Japanese aristocracy trained to be soldiers from their youth onward, for the Joseon aristocracy, scholarship was valued and war was disparaged as something unworthy of a Confucian gentleman-scholar. The quality of Korean generalship

6004-523: Was specialized in dealing with nomadic looters. However, as the Joseon army was easily defeated in the early days of the Imjin War, the Joseon government felt limited in the Five Guard system and switched to the Five Army Camps system. Light infantry protected their chests by wearing eomsimgap ( 엄심갑 ; 掩心甲 ), which was made of leather over a cloth robe that served a similar function to

6083-470: Was the invasion of Ming China. However, during the war, as the reality that the conflict was largely confined to the Korean Peninsula seeped in, Toyotomi Hideyoshi would soon alter his original objectives. In 1592, with an army of more than 160,000 soldiers and approximately 700 ships, Toyotomi Hideyoshi launched what would end up being the first of two invasions of Korea , with the intent of conquering Joseon Korea and eventually, Ming China . Initially,

6162-409: Was very common in 16th-century Japan for genealogists to "discover" that someone had illustrious ancestry for the right price, that suggests that Hideyoshi was planning on creating a new office for himself to replace the bakufu . Hideyoshi was also tempted by an external conflict to prevent internal rebellion within Japan, which would keep his newly formed state united against a common enemy, and prevent

6241-514: Was very variable, with some Korean officers being able and others being men who had not devoted much time to the study of war, preferring archery, writing, practicing their calligraphy, and reading Confucian classics. At the end of the period of chaos after the collapse of the Yuan Dynasty, Joseon was mainly focused on dealing with the looting of the Jurchen people and Japanese pirates in

#856143