Age of Samurai: Battle for Japan (2021–…): Season 1, Episode 5 - Catastrophe and Annihilation - full transcript
[dramatic music playing]
[opening theme plays]
[dramatic music playing]
[narrator] After more than a century
of civil war,
Toyotomi Hideyoshi has united Japan.
His rivals have
either sworn their allegiance,
or they have been destroyed.
Despite this fledgling peace,
Hideyoshi now dreams
of a bold and outlandish plan
to make himself
the most powerful man in Asia.
[Michael Auslin]
Japan had been at war for so long.
By this time,
we're talking about several generations
that only knew warfare.
The rivers of Japan ran red with blood.
Fields were covered in lakes of blood.
And Hideyoshi was the one
who ended this nightmare for Japan.
He'd unified the country,
he had ended the civil war,
he had created what seemed
to be a stable political equilibrium,
but you have a society
filled with samurai
and filled with daimyo,
who know nothing but war.
[Spafford] The question was, "What do I do
with this enormous military machine
now that it has nothing to do?"
And, so, this concern, I think,
feeds into an increasingly runaway ego.
I mean, again, this is a man
who came up from nothing
and got to the pinnacle
of power in Japan…
and he, I think,
thinks he can do no wrong.
[dramatic music playing]
And so he conceives
of a proposition of conquering China.
[Auslin] China was, for the Japanese,
sort of the touchstone of civilization.
It represented the center of the world,
and had traditionally always looked down
on the Japanese,
so if you conquered China,
you'd be the greatest warlord in history.
[in Japanese] Prepare the men.
[Meyer] I think, in a lot of ways,
actually, his invasion of China
is the ultimate act of self-regard,
in the same way we sometimes
think of Napoleon Bonaparte
or Alexander the Great,
building empires out of a desire to
etch their name in the records of history.
This is his chance to be the man
who not only reunified Japan,
but who carries his battle standard
all the way across the sea.
Quite a lot of people were opposed
to Hideyoshi's plans to invade China.
And one of those was his wife, Nene.
She was extremely intelligent,
very insightful,
pretty strong-minded,
and she was the most important
person in Hideyoshi's life.
He involved Nene
in every single decision he was making.
[Meyer] She pushes back
against this idea of an invasion.
"It's too difficult.
It's too likely that, if it fails,
everything we've built in Japan
will come crashing down."
[Kitagawa] Nene foresaw the catastrophe
to come because of this invasion.
She was alarmed and she tried
her hardest to stop Hideyoshi.
[dramatic music playing]
[Downer] No matter what Nene said,
Hideyoshi was absolutely determined
to go ahead with his plans.
No one was able to stop Hideyoshi.
[Auslin] Hideyoshi realizes
that in order to get to China,
he's gonna have to march through Korea.
It's an enormous logistical nightmare
for Japan
to get these men over there, to feed them,
to arm them, to maintain them,
to set up the headquarters to begin
this march up the Korean peninsula
in order, ultimately, to defeat China.
So he writes to Korea
and asks for passage
through their country.
[Nathan Ledbetter] The lead negotiator
on the Japanese side is Konishi Yukinaga.
He is authorized by Hideyoshi
to present Hideyoshi's demands.
[Auslin] For centuries, Korea and Japan
had had terrible relations.
The Japanese had actually invaded Korea
hundreds of years before.
This is not forgotten.
[suspenseful music playing]
[in Japanese] They dare defy me!
The Koreans won't allow Hideyoshi
to walk through their country to China.
In part, this was because of
the close ties Korea had had with China,
and they were a buffer state
between Japan and China.
[in Japanese] This is not acceptable.
Get out!
[yells]
[Spafford] In Hideyoshi's mind,
this meant he had
to first subjugate the Koreans
and punish them for their hubris
in responding to him that way…
…and then, move on to taking China.
[in Japanese] Enough! Get out!
[Auslin] Undertaking the invasion of Korea
was the most technically complex
military operation in history
up until that time.
Hideyoshi is going to rely
on the daimyo in the west
because they're closest to Korea,
so they can mass their troops
and they can get over there more quickly.
The daimyo of the west are warriors.
They're men of battle,
and the idea of conquering
a hated traditional enemy,
of extending their influence
in the continent,
of getting their hands on foreign trade,
is, for the daimyo,
as irresistible as it is for Hideyoshi.
So, he orders, in 1592,
one of the largest invasions
ever seen in the world
up until that point in time…
of about 200,000 men.
It's done on a scale that the world
doesn't witness again
until the D-Day invasion.
But Hideyoshi
has completely underestimated
how difficult this campaign will be.
[narrator] April 13th, 1592,
Toyotomi Hideyoshi's first invasion force
sets sail from the island of Tsushima,
across the Korea Strait.
They land at the southern port of Busan,
overwhelming Korean defenses
with sheer numbers.
The Japanese forces then march inland,
quickly taking the key cities
of Seoul and Pyongyang,
before moving towards
the border with China.
- [woman whimpering]
- [people wailing]
[woman whimpers]
[Spafford] Remember,
the Japanese were coming off 150 years
of continuous warfare.
Really, war is what they did.
[man groaning]
- [women crying]
- [man groans]
[woman panting]
- [grunts]
- [woman groans]
[Meyer] Hideyoshi's forces
unleash really tremendous violence
on the peninsula.
[whimpers]
When they take garrisons,
they will often massacre
defending troops who surrendered.
They'll attack civilians,
pretty much without regard for any
distinction between civilian and soldier.
[gasping]
[groans]
The Korean campaign so far had been one
of almost unprecedented cruelty.
[sobbing]
[Turnbull] The Japanese carried out
terrible atrocities in terms of rape,
slaughter, pillage and slave-taking.
[protesting]
[screams]
[Turnbull] Against this sickening tide
of violence,
rebellions began in almost every province
when loyal Koreans rose up to try
and drive back these cruel invaders.
[thunder rumbling, wind whistling]
Regular Koreans, farmers, monks,
regular people,
organized into what became
known as Righteous Armies.
Essentially,
these are small guerrilla forces.
[Turnbull] The most famous
Korean guerrilla leader
was a general called Gwak Jae-u.
Soon after the Japanese
had landed in Busan,
Gwak raised his first army.
He was a very rich man and is known
to have sold many of his possessions
in order to buy arms
for his Righteous Warriors.
He has become
a considerably legendary figure in Korea.
Supposedly, his red coat was dyed
in the menstrual blood of virgins,
so that it provided magical
protection against enemies.
[speaks in Korean]
[bird squawking]
Gwak's main objective was to attack
and break the Japanese supply lines.
The supply lines were a major element
of weakness for the Japanese,
because they had to be
reinforced from Japan itself,
and then any supplies
transported the length of Korea,
where they were vulnerable
to guerrilla attack.
[army marching]
One of the first major guerrilla attacks
was against a Japanese emplacement
near the Nam River.
Spies had spotted that the Japanese
had placed wooden stakes in the river
so that their men knew
where it was safe to cross.
It was a wonderful opportunity
for a surprise attack.
When the Japanese began
to ford the river,
their heavy armor weighed them down.
[Meyer] Normally, the Koreans would be
at a large disadvantage.
The Japanese troops are experienced,
most of them have some kind of armor,
better-made weapons,
but none of that matters
if you're trying to fight in the water.
And it's that moment that
the Righteous Armies spring the trap.
[shouts orders in Korean]
[men shouting]
- [groans]
- [arquebuses firing]
[Turnbull] The Koreans launched volleys
of bullets
and hails of arrows against the Japanese.
[dramatic music playing]
The Japanese were totally helpless.
[men shouting]
[yells]
[groans]
[groans]
[screams]
[Turnbull] It was then
a complete massacre…
[screams]
[ominous music playing]
…as the dead Japanese
were washed downstream.
The battle across the Nam River
was the first Korean victory
on land of the war.
It's a crushing victory
for the Righteous Armies.
And it proves, crucially,
the Japanese can lose on land.
[Turnbull] It gave them huge confidence
that they would be able to resist
the Japanese invaders and drive them back.
[thunder rumbling]
Inspired by the Righteous Armies,
ordinary people in their farm houses
rose up against the occupying Japanese.
This was full-scale guerrilla conflict.
- [people shouting]
- Night attacks, arson attacks on camps,
everything they could lay their hands on
in terms of military ingenuity.
- [arquebus fires]
- [groans]
[groans]
They harass, and then retreat.
They try and make
the Japanese advance hell.
Make it as hard as possible
for the Japanese to take more territory
and hold on to what they already have.
Before long, Japanese supply lines,
river boats, were under constant attack.
Communication between the armies,
movement of supplies was hindered,
and the scale, the relentless nature
of these attacks by the Righteous Armies,
began to decimate the morale
of Hideyoshi's invasion force
- and badly hinder their progress.
- [screams]
You know, the western daimyos
have been bled dry by the war in Korea.
They're down to 50,000.
So, they've lost two-thirds
of their fighting force.
[narrator] As the war progresses,
China's Ming Dynasty sends 50,000 troops
to Korea to thwart the Japanese advance.
Despite a number of epic battles,
this only creates a stalemate
as all sides battle for ground.
[arquebuses fire]
In Japan,
Hideyoshi issues erratic orders
to push forward into China,
but his commanders
in Korea cannot advance…
yet they dare not defy their master.
[suspenseful music playing]
[Turnbull] When reporting back to Japan,
Hideyoshi's generals always
tried to place a positive spin
on what was happening in Korea.
[inaudible]
[Horikoshi speaking Japanese]
Hideyoshi was a total dictator,
so making him angry
could have meant your life was at risk.
Therefore his vassals
didn't report bad news,
but reported only good news,
so Hideyoshi became out of touch
with the war situation in Korea.
[Auslin] Any reports of bad news
or of desire to withdraw,
Hideyoshi really just rejects,
which means that he is not
really well attuned to what is going on.
He's really not understanding
the scale of this disaster.
In fact, there's actually evidence
to suggest that Hideyoshi thought
he was winning in Korea.
Just as his attention is required
to deal with the Korean campaign,
Hideyoshi is becoming
increasingly distracted
and obsessed with another problem.
The fact that Hideyoshi does not have
an heir weighs very heavily on his mind.
His wife's childless,
and he had great dreams of forming,
essentially, a new dynasty in Japan,
one that would be the Toyotomi family
carrying on through the generations.
[Spafford] Hideyoshi had succeeded
at inventing a past for himself,
but there was just no amount of invention
that would get around the problem
that he didn't have successors.
And without successors, in a sense,
all of his legacy would come undone,
and he was aware of the fact
that it would come undone.
[Kitagawa] At this point, Nene was too old
to give birth to any children.
At the same time, Hideyoshi had, like,
hundreds of concubines in Osaka.
One of them
could give birth to his children.
And, then, that person, a son,
could be a successor of Hideyoshi.
[wind whistling]
[Downer] Concubines tended to be
from very high-level families.
They were all daughters of daimyo,
they were of noble blood.
I think the key difference between
a concubine and a wife would be that
you could probably, to some extent,
choose your concubines.
You probably wouldn't choose your wife.
It would be an arranged marriage.
Lady Chacha was
Hideyoshi's favorite concubine.
She was actually
the niece of Oda Nobunaga.
She was very famously beautiful.
She was also a bit of a prima donna.
She was a very proud woman.
She was very imperious,
so she was quite a contrast to Nene,
who was a down-to-earth,
rather common-sense woman.
[Auslin] After so many years
of not being able to produce a child,
Chacha gives birth to a son, Tsurumatsu,
and Hideyoshi is thrilled.
He wants to control Asia,
and he needs a son
to continue the Toyotomi line.
[weeping softly]
[Downer] Hideyoshi's son Tsurumatsu died.
He was crushed with grief.
[Auslin] Suddenly,
the future of the family
is once again thrown into doubt.
[sobbing]
[Auslin] This clearly has an effect
on Hideyoshi's mental status…
because one of his favorite daughters
has also recently died,
and then his mother.
[Spafford] And this contributed
to generating a sense of crisis
for Hideyoshi,
a sense that all of his most important
efforts were failing
at the moment of greatest need.
And it is possible that this also
contributed to what people saw as
a progressive loss of his mental acuity.
[Ashmore] With each and every day…
Hideyoshi's actions became more erratic
and more disturbing.
[Kitagawa] Everybody was able to see
the changes
and he, himself,
could not put himself together.
Rumor had it that Hideyoshi
also contracted syphilis
from one of his concubines,
and then that made his behavior
even more irrational.
[grunts]
Hideyoshi literally became mad.
[screams]
[Hideyoshi chuckles]
[woman gasps]
[Auslin] He increasingly sees himself
as isolated
and fears that he's going to be a failure,
that his family
will disappear when he dies.
After his infant son died,
Hideyoshi was left without an heir.
While the Korean war
- was still continuing…
- [belches]
Hideyoshi made a dramatic decision.
He named his nephew,
Hidetsugu, as his successor.
[dramatic music playing]
[Auslin] Hidetsugu was
a very unsavory character.
He was addicted to pleasures of the flesh.
- He was brutal and violent.
- [crying]
[arquebus fires]
- [woman groans]
- Sometimes just shoot peasants at will.
He was seen as an unworthy successor,
but Hideyoshi had no choice.
Hidetsugu was the only legitimate heir
within his own family.
[Turnbull] But a surprise was in store
for Hideyoshi.
[baby crying]
[Turnbull] Only about six months later,
Hideyoshi's favorite concubine,
Lady Chacha,
then gave birth to a son,
a boy called Hideyori.
Hideyoshi now had
a major succession dispute
between the unstable Hidetsugu,
whom he had named,
and the infant son,
whom he really now wanted to be his heir.
- [dramatic music plays]
- [bird shrieks]
This was a very dangerous situation,
so Hideyoshi determined
to get rid of Hidetsugu
by sending him into exile on Koyasan.
That could have done the trick,
but rumors grew that Hidetsugu
was planning a return,
and indeed was considering a military coup
against Hideyoshi.
That couldn't be allowed to happen.
[dramatic music playing]
[Ashmore] To secure the rights
of his second son…
Hidetsugu had to die.
[blade slashes]
[dramatic music playing]
[sobbing]
Hideyoshi then rounds up
31 women and children,
mainly Hidetsugu's closest family,
marches them through Kyoto,
and has them executed.
- [groans]
- [bones break]
[Auslin] It's so extreme
that no one can believe
it represents anything other than
Hideyoshi beginning
to lose his grip on reality.
[Meyer] One of the people implicated
in the supposed plot of Hidetsugu
to launch a coup
and install himself in power
was the One-Eyed Dragon himself.
Date Masamune and Hidetsugu
were friendly.
They actually went hunting together
somewhat regularly,
and, as a result, Masamune
is seen as a friend to Hidetsugu.
Hideyoshi is infuriated.
Masamune is a deeply ambitious man.
It's not beyond reason
that he would've been willing
to go behind Hideyoshi's back.
[suspenseful music playing]
As a result,
Masamune is brought before Hideyoshi
and made to answer
for his association with Hidetsugu.
[suspenseful music playing]
The only thing that saves him
is the intercession of a cooler head,
one of the few people
Hideyoshi still listens to.
Tokugawa Ieyasu speaks up,
saying that there's no reason
to doubt Masamune,
that his loyalty is impeccable,
and that, therefore,
punishment is unnecessary.
"We should trust this man and his word."
As a result, Masamune will feel himself
profoundly indebted to Tokugawa Ieyasu…
a debt that Ieyasu will call in later on.
[Auslin] Though Hideyoshi is paranoid,
he agrees to spare Masamune
on one condition.
Masamune must gather his forces
and join the invasion of Korea,
even if they're all destroyed.
[narrator] Despite having
great misgivings,
Date Masamune, like other daimyo,
does not dare defy Hideyoshi's orders
to join the fight in Korea.
Doing so would bring
certain death and shame.
Although reinforcements have been sent,
Japanese forces are bogged down
fighting an unwinnable war,
lacking food and supplies
and racked with illness and disease.
[arquebus fires]
Unaware of the true nature
of events on the ground,
Hideyoshi continues to issue orders
for his forces to advance.
[men talking indistinctly]
[Auslin] The war in Korea was devastating.
It had cost tens of thousands
of Japanese lives
and untold hundreds of thousands
of Korean lives.
As the disaster in Korea is unfolding,
and they're receiving
these increasingly bizarre orders
back from Japan,
it's clear that Hideyoshi is becoming
more and more unstable,
that he's unable to make
clear, strategic decisions,
that he believes he's winning
when he's not.
And that, of course,
is paralyzing for his generals,
who don't have clear direction.
It makes a lot of his top commanders
wonder about his mental stability
and whether they'll ever
return home alive.
[Ledbetter] There's a very desperate
situation on the ground,
and the commanders recognize this,
and they recognize the need
to begin opening up negotiations
to try to reach a resolution.
For a long time during negotiations,
Hideyoshi was not aware that the terms
being put forth by the Chinese
were not the ones that he wanted to hear.
[Turnbull] Because of his
deteriorating mind
and the false reports
that the generals had sent to him,
Hideyoshi believed that he had won
his campaign in Korea,
and he now sought recognition
for his triumph at the very highest level.
In other words,
from the Ming Emperor of China.
[Meyer] At minimum, what Hideyoshi wants
is a division of Korea.
He suggests Korea be divided
into two spheres of influence,
a southern sphere dominated by Japan
and a northern one
dominated by the Chinese.
This is the minimum
he is willing to accept.
In addition,
Hideyoshi wants the Emperor of China
to dispatch one of his own daughters
to Japan,
to be taken as a concubine.
[Turnbull] Konishi Yukinaga knew
that this was mission impossible.
There was no way that the Ming emperor
was going to give Hideyoshi
the recognition
that he thought he deserved.
[Meyer] What Hideyoshi wants
is frankly insulting to the Chinese.
They refuse categorically
to deal on these terms.
[Turnbull] After all,
he hadn't won a victory in Korea.
It had been an ignominious defeat.
Instead, they offer
Augustin Konishi a different deal,
one that he ultimately accepts.
When the Chinese envoys arrived in Kyoto,
accompanied by Konishi and the other
negotiators coming from Korea,
they presented Hideyoshi
with Chinese robes,
and Hideyoshi was very pleased,
because he thought this meant that
they were offering their submission
to him.
However, very quickly
there's complete confusion.
First, these ambassadors refuse,
because they're the ambassadors
of the Emperor of China,
to bow to Hideyoshi.
They expect him to bow to them.
He, of course,
is not going to bow to anybody,
and so there's a standoff
between the two sides.
[suspenseful music playing]
When they actually bring out the letter
from the Emperor of China
announcing these terms,
"Hideyoshi, you are King of Japan.
I recognize you as such.
As my vassal..."
[in Japanese] What is the meaning of this?
- What is the meaning of this, you idiot!
- Calm down, my dear!
[Hideyoshi groans]
[Meyer] He realizes these crown and robes,
they're not gifts.
They're markers of his submission,
being given by the Emperor of China,
to show "You are mine now."
[in Japanese] How can I wear this?
Get out!
Get out of here!
Get out!
Hideyoshi is so humiliated and so angry,
he orders a second invasion of Korea…
[in Japanese] Out!
…but this time his objectives
are more limited.
It was instead a simple act of revenge.
[dramatic music playing]
[narrator] Hideyoshi forces
over 100,000 more samurai
to invade Korea in a punishing
assault of death and destruction.
However, within months,
Korean and Chinese soldiers once again
halt the advance
and drive Japanese forces
back to their coastal garrisons.
[Meyer] At this point,
many daimyo are up in arms.
They've lost huge amounts
of men and treasure
with nothing to show for it.
[Benesch] In the Sengoku period,
it was always important for a ruler
to reward his followers
with lands and treasure,
but the course of the war meant that
there were actually no new lands in Korea
or anything to be given
to these daimyo for the long term.
So, there was
a great deal of dissatisfaction
among those daimyo
who had gone to Korea.
[suspenseful music playing]
So much so that quiet whispers in court
began to circulate
amongst powerful figures
as to what should be done,
what steps should be taken,
and how he should disappear.
People began to talk openly of rebellion.
[Meyer] Hideyoshi is in
an increasingly difficult position.
Physically, of course,
he's more and more unwell.
It's getting harder and harder for him
to leave his castle at Fushimi.
Before he dies… he knows he's dying.
Hideyori. [sighs]
[Auslin] He has to make sure Hideyori
won't be deposed or murdered,
as had happened for decades
during the civil war.
[in Japanese] Please take care of him.
He makes an incredibly important
strategic decision.
He decides to appoint a Council of Elders
and have them swear to protect
and watch over Hideyori
until he becomes an adult
and can take over his position
as the leader of Japan.
The men he picks for this are the five
most powerful leaders across Japan.
Some of them are people
he has had a long relationship with,
people he trusts.
Others are chosen
primarily because of their power,
not necessarily because
Hideyoshi trusts or likes them.
But it's a gamble that in many ways
I think he had to make.
Of the five regents,
or the five councilors,
the two most important
are Tokugawa Ieyasu
and Maeda Toshiie.
[Meyer] Maeda Toshiie will be stationed
in Osaka Castle
and will be the one responsible
for raising young Hideyori,
for managing his education,
preparing him for the rigors
of leading the country.
[Auslin] Tokugawa Ieyasu is,
by this point,
the most powerful daimyo in Japan,
other than Hideyoshi,
and so he's really given
sort of ultimate authority.
He's basically put in charge
of the entire government.
[Eason] One might expect that a council
would be brought together
of individuals able to cooperate
and effectively run a government.
However, it seems that this
may not have been Hideyoshi's intent
in this particular case.
He seems to have
quite consciously selected daimyo
who had competing interests
with one another.
Therefore, perhaps ensuring
that the members of the council
could be counted upon
to watch one another closely
and make sure that
no one did anything rash.
Trying to make sure that no member
of the council became
more powerful than the other four.
[squawking]
[Auslin] September 1598,
after a lifetime of war,
one of Japan's great unifiers,
Toyotomi Hideyoshi, dies.
I think for few individuals
can we really ever say,
"This individual changed
the course of history."
And Hideyoshi is most definitely someone
for whom that can be said.
[Auslin] His achievements were immense,
probably the greatest ever
by any Japanese leader in history.
[Spafford] He was the rare leader
who was actually able to imagine
something that was entirely unheard of.
He brought peace in a way that perhaps
Nobunaga never dreamed of doing.
[Auslin] He had unified the country.
He had ended the civil war.
He had created what seemed to be
a stable political equilibrium
among the great daimyo.
But even more than that,
his rise is an astonishing triumph
over one's humble origins.
From a peasant
and the lowest level of the samurai,
to the undisputed leader of Japan.
[Meyer] When Hideyoshi dies,
the Council of Five Elders does not
initially make the announcement
that the great lord,
the great regent has passed.
Instead,
they issue cease-fire orders
in Hideyoshi's name
and finish recalling
Japan's forces from Korea.
[Spafford] In many ways,
when Hideyoshi died,
I suspect the daimyo
breathed a sigh of relief.
The adventure in Korea
had proven disastrous.
That being said,
there was certainly enormous anxiety
in the wake of his passing
because he did not leave an adult heir,
who could take over
his mantle uncontested.
[Meyer] As Hideyoshi wished,
the council officially declares
young Hideyori the ruler of Japan,
though, as a young child,
he exercises no actual power.
In practice, power is now divided
in a careful arrangement
among the five elders.
This produces
an enormously dangerous situation.
[suspenseful music playing]
We have this delicate arrangement
of power between five regents.
One that could,
with any change in that balance,
fall apart completely and create
this deadly vacuum at the center.
No doubt most daimyo,
the moment Hideyoshi died,
started preparing for war.
After decades on the sidelines,
Tokugawa Ieyasu is now ready
to make his move.
[horse neighs]
The wheels are now set in motion
for a cataclysmic struggle for power.
[horse neighs]
[closing theme plays]
[opening theme plays]
[dramatic music playing]
[narrator] After more than a century
of civil war,
Toyotomi Hideyoshi has united Japan.
His rivals have
either sworn their allegiance,
or they have been destroyed.
Despite this fledgling peace,
Hideyoshi now dreams
of a bold and outlandish plan
to make himself
the most powerful man in Asia.
[Michael Auslin]
Japan had been at war for so long.
By this time,
we're talking about several generations
that only knew warfare.
The rivers of Japan ran red with blood.
Fields were covered in lakes of blood.
And Hideyoshi was the one
who ended this nightmare for Japan.
He'd unified the country,
he had ended the civil war,
he had created what seemed
to be a stable political equilibrium,
but you have a society
filled with samurai
and filled with daimyo,
who know nothing but war.
[Spafford] The question was, "What do I do
with this enormous military machine
now that it has nothing to do?"
And, so, this concern, I think,
feeds into an increasingly runaway ego.
I mean, again, this is a man
who came up from nothing
and got to the pinnacle
of power in Japan…
and he, I think,
thinks he can do no wrong.
[dramatic music playing]
And so he conceives
of a proposition of conquering China.
[Auslin] China was, for the Japanese,
sort of the touchstone of civilization.
It represented the center of the world,
and had traditionally always looked down
on the Japanese,
so if you conquered China,
you'd be the greatest warlord in history.
[in Japanese] Prepare the men.
[Meyer] I think, in a lot of ways,
actually, his invasion of China
is the ultimate act of self-regard,
in the same way we sometimes
think of Napoleon Bonaparte
or Alexander the Great,
building empires out of a desire to
etch their name in the records of history.
This is his chance to be the man
who not only reunified Japan,
but who carries his battle standard
all the way across the sea.
Quite a lot of people were opposed
to Hideyoshi's plans to invade China.
And one of those was his wife, Nene.
She was extremely intelligent,
very insightful,
pretty strong-minded,
and she was the most important
person in Hideyoshi's life.
He involved Nene
in every single decision he was making.
[Meyer] She pushes back
against this idea of an invasion.
"It's too difficult.
It's too likely that, if it fails,
everything we've built in Japan
will come crashing down."
[Kitagawa] Nene foresaw the catastrophe
to come because of this invasion.
She was alarmed and she tried
her hardest to stop Hideyoshi.
[dramatic music playing]
[Downer] No matter what Nene said,
Hideyoshi was absolutely determined
to go ahead with his plans.
No one was able to stop Hideyoshi.
[Auslin] Hideyoshi realizes
that in order to get to China,
he's gonna have to march through Korea.
It's an enormous logistical nightmare
for Japan
to get these men over there, to feed them,
to arm them, to maintain them,
to set up the headquarters to begin
this march up the Korean peninsula
in order, ultimately, to defeat China.
So he writes to Korea
and asks for passage
through their country.
[Nathan Ledbetter] The lead negotiator
on the Japanese side is Konishi Yukinaga.
He is authorized by Hideyoshi
to present Hideyoshi's demands.
[Auslin] For centuries, Korea and Japan
had had terrible relations.
The Japanese had actually invaded Korea
hundreds of years before.
This is not forgotten.
[suspenseful music playing]
[in Japanese] They dare defy me!
The Koreans won't allow Hideyoshi
to walk through their country to China.
In part, this was because of
the close ties Korea had had with China,
and they were a buffer state
between Japan and China.
[in Japanese] This is not acceptable.
Get out!
[yells]
[Spafford] In Hideyoshi's mind,
this meant he had
to first subjugate the Koreans
and punish them for their hubris
in responding to him that way…
…and then, move on to taking China.
[in Japanese] Enough! Get out!
[Auslin] Undertaking the invasion of Korea
was the most technically complex
military operation in history
up until that time.
Hideyoshi is going to rely
on the daimyo in the west
because they're closest to Korea,
so they can mass their troops
and they can get over there more quickly.
The daimyo of the west are warriors.
They're men of battle,
and the idea of conquering
a hated traditional enemy,
of extending their influence
in the continent,
of getting their hands on foreign trade,
is, for the daimyo,
as irresistible as it is for Hideyoshi.
So, he orders, in 1592,
one of the largest invasions
ever seen in the world
up until that point in time…
of about 200,000 men.
It's done on a scale that the world
doesn't witness again
until the D-Day invasion.
But Hideyoshi
has completely underestimated
how difficult this campaign will be.
[narrator] April 13th, 1592,
Toyotomi Hideyoshi's first invasion force
sets sail from the island of Tsushima,
across the Korea Strait.
They land at the southern port of Busan,
overwhelming Korean defenses
with sheer numbers.
The Japanese forces then march inland,
quickly taking the key cities
of Seoul and Pyongyang,
before moving towards
the border with China.
- [woman whimpering]
- [people wailing]
[woman whimpers]
[Spafford] Remember,
the Japanese were coming off 150 years
of continuous warfare.
Really, war is what they did.
[man groaning]
- [women crying]
- [man groans]
[woman panting]
- [grunts]
- [woman groans]
[Meyer] Hideyoshi's forces
unleash really tremendous violence
on the peninsula.
[whimpers]
When they take garrisons,
they will often massacre
defending troops who surrendered.
They'll attack civilians,
pretty much without regard for any
distinction between civilian and soldier.
[gasping]
[groans]
The Korean campaign so far had been one
of almost unprecedented cruelty.
[sobbing]
[Turnbull] The Japanese carried out
terrible atrocities in terms of rape,
slaughter, pillage and slave-taking.
[protesting]
[screams]
[Turnbull] Against this sickening tide
of violence,
rebellions began in almost every province
when loyal Koreans rose up to try
and drive back these cruel invaders.
[thunder rumbling, wind whistling]
Regular Koreans, farmers, monks,
regular people,
organized into what became
known as Righteous Armies.
Essentially,
these are small guerrilla forces.
[Turnbull] The most famous
Korean guerrilla leader
was a general called Gwak Jae-u.
Soon after the Japanese
had landed in Busan,
Gwak raised his first army.
He was a very rich man and is known
to have sold many of his possessions
in order to buy arms
for his Righteous Warriors.
He has become
a considerably legendary figure in Korea.
Supposedly, his red coat was dyed
in the menstrual blood of virgins,
so that it provided magical
protection against enemies.
[speaks in Korean]
[bird squawking]
Gwak's main objective was to attack
and break the Japanese supply lines.
The supply lines were a major element
of weakness for the Japanese,
because they had to be
reinforced from Japan itself,
and then any supplies
transported the length of Korea,
where they were vulnerable
to guerrilla attack.
[army marching]
One of the first major guerrilla attacks
was against a Japanese emplacement
near the Nam River.
Spies had spotted that the Japanese
had placed wooden stakes in the river
so that their men knew
where it was safe to cross.
It was a wonderful opportunity
for a surprise attack.
When the Japanese began
to ford the river,
their heavy armor weighed them down.
[Meyer] Normally, the Koreans would be
at a large disadvantage.
The Japanese troops are experienced,
most of them have some kind of armor,
better-made weapons,
but none of that matters
if you're trying to fight in the water.
And it's that moment that
the Righteous Armies spring the trap.
[shouts orders in Korean]
[men shouting]
- [groans]
- [arquebuses firing]
[Turnbull] The Koreans launched volleys
of bullets
and hails of arrows against the Japanese.
[dramatic music playing]
The Japanese were totally helpless.
[men shouting]
[yells]
[groans]
[groans]
[screams]
[Turnbull] It was then
a complete massacre…
[screams]
[ominous music playing]
…as the dead Japanese
were washed downstream.
The battle across the Nam River
was the first Korean victory
on land of the war.
It's a crushing victory
for the Righteous Armies.
And it proves, crucially,
the Japanese can lose on land.
[Turnbull] It gave them huge confidence
that they would be able to resist
the Japanese invaders and drive them back.
[thunder rumbling]
Inspired by the Righteous Armies,
ordinary people in their farm houses
rose up against the occupying Japanese.
This was full-scale guerrilla conflict.
- [people shouting]
- Night attacks, arson attacks on camps,
everything they could lay their hands on
in terms of military ingenuity.
- [arquebus fires]
- [groans]
[groans]
They harass, and then retreat.
They try and make
the Japanese advance hell.
Make it as hard as possible
for the Japanese to take more territory
and hold on to what they already have.
Before long, Japanese supply lines,
river boats, were under constant attack.
Communication between the armies,
movement of supplies was hindered,
and the scale, the relentless nature
of these attacks by the Righteous Armies,
began to decimate the morale
of Hideyoshi's invasion force
- and badly hinder their progress.
- [screams]
You know, the western daimyos
have been bled dry by the war in Korea.
They're down to 50,000.
So, they've lost two-thirds
of their fighting force.
[narrator] As the war progresses,
China's Ming Dynasty sends 50,000 troops
to Korea to thwart the Japanese advance.
Despite a number of epic battles,
this only creates a stalemate
as all sides battle for ground.
[arquebuses fire]
In Japan,
Hideyoshi issues erratic orders
to push forward into China,
but his commanders
in Korea cannot advance…
yet they dare not defy their master.
[suspenseful music playing]
[Turnbull] When reporting back to Japan,
Hideyoshi's generals always
tried to place a positive spin
on what was happening in Korea.
[inaudible]
[Horikoshi speaking Japanese]
Hideyoshi was a total dictator,
so making him angry
could have meant your life was at risk.
Therefore his vassals
didn't report bad news,
but reported only good news,
so Hideyoshi became out of touch
with the war situation in Korea.
[Auslin] Any reports of bad news
or of desire to withdraw,
Hideyoshi really just rejects,
which means that he is not
really well attuned to what is going on.
He's really not understanding
the scale of this disaster.
In fact, there's actually evidence
to suggest that Hideyoshi thought
he was winning in Korea.
Just as his attention is required
to deal with the Korean campaign,
Hideyoshi is becoming
increasingly distracted
and obsessed with another problem.
The fact that Hideyoshi does not have
an heir weighs very heavily on his mind.
His wife's childless,
and he had great dreams of forming,
essentially, a new dynasty in Japan,
one that would be the Toyotomi family
carrying on through the generations.
[Spafford] Hideyoshi had succeeded
at inventing a past for himself,
but there was just no amount of invention
that would get around the problem
that he didn't have successors.
And without successors, in a sense,
all of his legacy would come undone,
and he was aware of the fact
that it would come undone.
[Kitagawa] At this point, Nene was too old
to give birth to any children.
At the same time, Hideyoshi had, like,
hundreds of concubines in Osaka.
One of them
could give birth to his children.
And, then, that person, a son,
could be a successor of Hideyoshi.
[wind whistling]
[Downer] Concubines tended to be
from very high-level families.
They were all daughters of daimyo,
they were of noble blood.
I think the key difference between
a concubine and a wife would be that
you could probably, to some extent,
choose your concubines.
You probably wouldn't choose your wife.
It would be an arranged marriage.
Lady Chacha was
Hideyoshi's favorite concubine.
She was actually
the niece of Oda Nobunaga.
She was very famously beautiful.
She was also a bit of a prima donna.
She was a very proud woman.
She was very imperious,
so she was quite a contrast to Nene,
who was a down-to-earth,
rather common-sense woman.
[Auslin] After so many years
of not being able to produce a child,
Chacha gives birth to a son, Tsurumatsu,
and Hideyoshi is thrilled.
He wants to control Asia,
and he needs a son
to continue the Toyotomi line.
[weeping softly]
[Downer] Hideyoshi's son Tsurumatsu died.
He was crushed with grief.
[Auslin] Suddenly,
the future of the family
is once again thrown into doubt.
[sobbing]
[Auslin] This clearly has an effect
on Hideyoshi's mental status…
because one of his favorite daughters
has also recently died,
and then his mother.
[Spafford] And this contributed
to generating a sense of crisis
for Hideyoshi,
a sense that all of his most important
efforts were failing
at the moment of greatest need.
And it is possible that this also
contributed to what people saw as
a progressive loss of his mental acuity.
[Ashmore] With each and every day…
Hideyoshi's actions became more erratic
and more disturbing.
[Kitagawa] Everybody was able to see
the changes
and he, himself,
could not put himself together.
Rumor had it that Hideyoshi
also contracted syphilis
from one of his concubines,
and then that made his behavior
even more irrational.
[grunts]
Hideyoshi literally became mad.
[screams]
[Hideyoshi chuckles]
[woman gasps]
[Auslin] He increasingly sees himself
as isolated
and fears that he's going to be a failure,
that his family
will disappear when he dies.
After his infant son died,
Hideyoshi was left without an heir.
While the Korean war
- was still continuing…
- [belches]
Hideyoshi made a dramatic decision.
He named his nephew,
Hidetsugu, as his successor.
[dramatic music playing]
[Auslin] Hidetsugu was
a very unsavory character.
He was addicted to pleasures of the flesh.
- He was brutal and violent.
- [crying]
[arquebus fires]
- [woman groans]
- Sometimes just shoot peasants at will.
He was seen as an unworthy successor,
but Hideyoshi had no choice.
Hidetsugu was the only legitimate heir
within his own family.
[Turnbull] But a surprise was in store
for Hideyoshi.
[baby crying]
[Turnbull] Only about six months later,
Hideyoshi's favorite concubine,
Lady Chacha,
then gave birth to a son,
a boy called Hideyori.
Hideyoshi now had
a major succession dispute
between the unstable Hidetsugu,
whom he had named,
and the infant son,
whom he really now wanted to be his heir.
- [dramatic music plays]
- [bird shrieks]
This was a very dangerous situation,
so Hideyoshi determined
to get rid of Hidetsugu
by sending him into exile on Koyasan.
That could have done the trick,
but rumors grew that Hidetsugu
was planning a return,
and indeed was considering a military coup
against Hideyoshi.
That couldn't be allowed to happen.
[dramatic music playing]
[Ashmore] To secure the rights
of his second son…
Hidetsugu had to die.
[blade slashes]
[dramatic music playing]
[sobbing]
Hideyoshi then rounds up
31 women and children,
mainly Hidetsugu's closest family,
marches them through Kyoto,
and has them executed.
- [groans]
- [bones break]
[Auslin] It's so extreme
that no one can believe
it represents anything other than
Hideyoshi beginning
to lose his grip on reality.
[Meyer] One of the people implicated
in the supposed plot of Hidetsugu
to launch a coup
and install himself in power
was the One-Eyed Dragon himself.
Date Masamune and Hidetsugu
were friendly.
They actually went hunting together
somewhat regularly,
and, as a result, Masamune
is seen as a friend to Hidetsugu.
Hideyoshi is infuriated.
Masamune is a deeply ambitious man.
It's not beyond reason
that he would've been willing
to go behind Hideyoshi's back.
[suspenseful music playing]
As a result,
Masamune is brought before Hideyoshi
and made to answer
for his association with Hidetsugu.
[suspenseful music playing]
The only thing that saves him
is the intercession of a cooler head,
one of the few people
Hideyoshi still listens to.
Tokugawa Ieyasu speaks up,
saying that there's no reason
to doubt Masamune,
that his loyalty is impeccable,
and that, therefore,
punishment is unnecessary.
"We should trust this man and his word."
As a result, Masamune will feel himself
profoundly indebted to Tokugawa Ieyasu…
a debt that Ieyasu will call in later on.
[Auslin] Though Hideyoshi is paranoid,
he agrees to spare Masamune
on one condition.
Masamune must gather his forces
and join the invasion of Korea,
even if they're all destroyed.
[narrator] Despite having
great misgivings,
Date Masamune, like other daimyo,
does not dare defy Hideyoshi's orders
to join the fight in Korea.
Doing so would bring
certain death and shame.
Although reinforcements have been sent,
Japanese forces are bogged down
fighting an unwinnable war,
lacking food and supplies
and racked with illness and disease.
[arquebus fires]
Unaware of the true nature
of events on the ground,
Hideyoshi continues to issue orders
for his forces to advance.
[men talking indistinctly]
[Auslin] The war in Korea was devastating.
It had cost tens of thousands
of Japanese lives
and untold hundreds of thousands
of Korean lives.
As the disaster in Korea is unfolding,
and they're receiving
these increasingly bizarre orders
back from Japan,
it's clear that Hideyoshi is becoming
more and more unstable,
that he's unable to make
clear, strategic decisions,
that he believes he's winning
when he's not.
And that, of course,
is paralyzing for his generals,
who don't have clear direction.
It makes a lot of his top commanders
wonder about his mental stability
and whether they'll ever
return home alive.
[Ledbetter] There's a very desperate
situation on the ground,
and the commanders recognize this,
and they recognize the need
to begin opening up negotiations
to try to reach a resolution.
For a long time during negotiations,
Hideyoshi was not aware that the terms
being put forth by the Chinese
were not the ones that he wanted to hear.
[Turnbull] Because of his
deteriorating mind
and the false reports
that the generals had sent to him,
Hideyoshi believed that he had won
his campaign in Korea,
and he now sought recognition
for his triumph at the very highest level.
In other words,
from the Ming Emperor of China.
[Meyer] At minimum, what Hideyoshi wants
is a division of Korea.
He suggests Korea be divided
into two spheres of influence,
a southern sphere dominated by Japan
and a northern one
dominated by the Chinese.
This is the minimum
he is willing to accept.
In addition,
Hideyoshi wants the Emperor of China
to dispatch one of his own daughters
to Japan,
to be taken as a concubine.
[Turnbull] Konishi Yukinaga knew
that this was mission impossible.
There was no way that the Ming emperor
was going to give Hideyoshi
the recognition
that he thought he deserved.
[Meyer] What Hideyoshi wants
is frankly insulting to the Chinese.
They refuse categorically
to deal on these terms.
[Turnbull] After all,
he hadn't won a victory in Korea.
It had been an ignominious defeat.
Instead, they offer
Augustin Konishi a different deal,
one that he ultimately accepts.
When the Chinese envoys arrived in Kyoto,
accompanied by Konishi and the other
negotiators coming from Korea,
they presented Hideyoshi
with Chinese robes,
and Hideyoshi was very pleased,
because he thought this meant that
they were offering their submission
to him.
However, very quickly
there's complete confusion.
First, these ambassadors refuse,
because they're the ambassadors
of the Emperor of China,
to bow to Hideyoshi.
They expect him to bow to them.
He, of course,
is not going to bow to anybody,
and so there's a standoff
between the two sides.
[suspenseful music playing]
When they actually bring out the letter
from the Emperor of China
announcing these terms,
"Hideyoshi, you are King of Japan.
I recognize you as such.
As my vassal..."
[in Japanese] What is the meaning of this?
- What is the meaning of this, you idiot!
- Calm down, my dear!
[Hideyoshi groans]
[Meyer] He realizes these crown and robes,
they're not gifts.
They're markers of his submission,
being given by the Emperor of China,
to show "You are mine now."
[in Japanese] How can I wear this?
Get out!
Get out of here!
Get out!
Hideyoshi is so humiliated and so angry,
he orders a second invasion of Korea…
[in Japanese] Out!
…but this time his objectives
are more limited.
It was instead a simple act of revenge.
[dramatic music playing]
[narrator] Hideyoshi forces
over 100,000 more samurai
to invade Korea in a punishing
assault of death and destruction.
However, within months,
Korean and Chinese soldiers once again
halt the advance
and drive Japanese forces
back to their coastal garrisons.
[Meyer] At this point,
many daimyo are up in arms.
They've lost huge amounts
of men and treasure
with nothing to show for it.
[Benesch] In the Sengoku period,
it was always important for a ruler
to reward his followers
with lands and treasure,
but the course of the war meant that
there were actually no new lands in Korea
or anything to be given
to these daimyo for the long term.
So, there was
a great deal of dissatisfaction
among those daimyo
who had gone to Korea.
[suspenseful music playing]
So much so that quiet whispers in court
began to circulate
amongst powerful figures
as to what should be done,
what steps should be taken,
and how he should disappear.
People began to talk openly of rebellion.
[Meyer] Hideyoshi is in
an increasingly difficult position.
Physically, of course,
he's more and more unwell.
It's getting harder and harder for him
to leave his castle at Fushimi.
Before he dies… he knows he's dying.
Hideyori. [sighs]
[Auslin] He has to make sure Hideyori
won't be deposed or murdered,
as had happened for decades
during the civil war.
[in Japanese] Please take care of him.
He makes an incredibly important
strategic decision.
He decides to appoint a Council of Elders
and have them swear to protect
and watch over Hideyori
until he becomes an adult
and can take over his position
as the leader of Japan.
The men he picks for this are the five
most powerful leaders across Japan.
Some of them are people
he has had a long relationship with,
people he trusts.
Others are chosen
primarily because of their power,
not necessarily because
Hideyoshi trusts or likes them.
But it's a gamble that in many ways
I think he had to make.
Of the five regents,
or the five councilors,
the two most important
are Tokugawa Ieyasu
and Maeda Toshiie.
[Meyer] Maeda Toshiie will be stationed
in Osaka Castle
and will be the one responsible
for raising young Hideyori,
for managing his education,
preparing him for the rigors
of leading the country.
[Auslin] Tokugawa Ieyasu is,
by this point,
the most powerful daimyo in Japan,
other than Hideyoshi,
and so he's really given
sort of ultimate authority.
He's basically put in charge
of the entire government.
[Eason] One might expect that a council
would be brought together
of individuals able to cooperate
and effectively run a government.
However, it seems that this
may not have been Hideyoshi's intent
in this particular case.
He seems to have
quite consciously selected daimyo
who had competing interests
with one another.
Therefore, perhaps ensuring
that the members of the council
could be counted upon
to watch one another closely
and make sure that
no one did anything rash.
Trying to make sure that no member
of the council became
more powerful than the other four.
[squawking]
[Auslin] September 1598,
after a lifetime of war,
one of Japan's great unifiers,
Toyotomi Hideyoshi, dies.
I think for few individuals
can we really ever say,
"This individual changed
the course of history."
And Hideyoshi is most definitely someone
for whom that can be said.
[Auslin] His achievements were immense,
probably the greatest ever
by any Japanese leader in history.
[Spafford] He was the rare leader
who was actually able to imagine
something that was entirely unheard of.
He brought peace in a way that perhaps
Nobunaga never dreamed of doing.
[Auslin] He had unified the country.
He had ended the civil war.
He had created what seemed to be
a stable political equilibrium
among the great daimyo.
But even more than that,
his rise is an astonishing triumph
over one's humble origins.
From a peasant
and the lowest level of the samurai,
to the undisputed leader of Japan.
[Meyer] When Hideyoshi dies,
the Council of Five Elders does not
initially make the announcement
that the great lord,
the great regent has passed.
Instead,
they issue cease-fire orders
in Hideyoshi's name
and finish recalling
Japan's forces from Korea.
[Spafford] In many ways,
when Hideyoshi died,
I suspect the daimyo
breathed a sigh of relief.
The adventure in Korea
had proven disastrous.
That being said,
there was certainly enormous anxiety
in the wake of his passing
because he did not leave an adult heir,
who could take over
his mantle uncontested.
[Meyer] As Hideyoshi wished,
the council officially declares
young Hideyori the ruler of Japan,
though, as a young child,
he exercises no actual power.
In practice, power is now divided
in a careful arrangement
among the five elders.
This produces
an enormously dangerous situation.
[suspenseful music playing]
We have this delicate arrangement
of power between five regents.
One that could,
with any change in that balance,
fall apart completely and create
this deadly vacuum at the center.
No doubt most daimyo,
the moment Hideyoshi died,
started preparing for war.
After decades on the sidelines,
Tokugawa Ieyasu is now ready
to make his move.
[horse neighs]
The wheels are now set in motion
for a cataclysmic struggle for power.
[horse neighs]
[closing theme plays]