Author Description

To the Japanese, Hideyoshi Toyotomi (1536-1598) is one of Japan's greatest figures, so revered that he was made a Shinto deity after his death. Statesman and solider, he was the architect of the New Japan centuries before it came into existence, and his personal qualities and vision imprinted themselves on the national character. Hideyoshi is both a historical figure and a semi-mythic symbol of the nation, and Dening addresses both aspects of his life in this classic study. Following Hideyoshi from humble beginnings to the heights of political power and ending with the conflict that followed his death and led to the seizing of power by Tokugawa Ieyasu, Dening's account reads almost like one of the monogatari of old, and this is its great strength, for while describing Toyotomi's political achievements in great detail, he is above all able to convey the strength and nature of the inspiration the nation continues to draw from him.