Name: Imjin War - Beginning of the Japanese Invasion of Korea DOCUMENTARY（Imjin War - Beginning of the Japanese Invasion of Korea DOCUMENTARY）
Uploaded: 2022-06-27T06:38:37.000Z
Duration: 16 min
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After the Sengoku Jidai - the all-out war between the Japanese clans - came to the end,

it became clear to the winners that Japan would need to find another target for the

hundreds of thousands of warriors now roving around the shattered country. Toyotomi Hideyoshi

united the country for the first time in over a century. Now that he could harness some

of the most veteran armies in Japanese history, he would launch a devastating invasion of

Korea. Welcome to the new Kings and Generals series on the Imjin War, which our patrons

and youtube members selected to be covered next.

________________________________________ Toyotomi Hideyoshi’s dream to unite Japan

into one nation was almost a reality. He had claimed Honshu in its entirety after succeeding

his betrayed master - Oda Nobunaga - in 1582. Shikoku was subdued in 1585, and Kyushu fell

soon after in 1587. However, like Nobunaga before him, Hideyoshi believed that his power

ought to extend beyond the confines of his small island nation, and was convinced his

The rival daimyo who swore to follow Hideyoshi were allowed to keep their demesnes and were

promised more lands and spoils as the Land of the Rising Sun came ever closer to unification.

This was precisely the problem, as with no more battles to fight or gains to be had,

they would surely begin to plot and scheme against Hideyoshi. Aware of this fact, he

began to make his plans in the late 1580s, hungrily eying Korea as the initial target,

The great unifier’s most recent conquest was the island of Tsushima, located at the

midpoint of the Tsushima Strait. The lords of this clan - the Sō - now became Hideyoshi’s

vassals, and were ordered to deliver a message to the Koreans. It was a threat of invasion

that put the Sō in a difficult spot. Sō’s long relations with the Korean Joseon monarchy

made them ideal diplomats, but the outbreak of hostilities would damage the trade which

Aiming to soften the diplomatic blow as much as he could, Sō Yoshishige altered Hideyoshi’s

message to the Korean court. It now demanded that a simple tribute mission be sent to Japan

in order to confirm Korea’s respect. In a lethal blunder, the Sō clan leader sent

a rough, hardened subordinate known as Yutani Yasuhiro to deliver the message, instead of

going himself. Yasuhiro offended his Korean hosts by insulting the size of their spears

compared to the Japanese and mocking their lifestyle. Not content with that, the brash

envoy warned: “Your country will not last long! Having already lost the sense of order

and discipline, how can you expect to survive?”.

The uncouth nature of the envoy’s conduct, in addition to the unacceptable terms of Hideyoshi’s

edited letter, led to the Koreans’ refusal. Naturally, Hideyoshi was furious at the failure

and ordered that Yasuhiro and his entire family be killed. Sō Yoshishige was punished less

severely, being deposed as daimyo of Tsushima by his adopted son Yoshitoshi, who Hideyoshi

Over the next few years, more embassies were sent from Japan to Korea and vice versa. In

a crucial visit to Kyoto during 1590, Korean courtiers failed to gather intelligence on

just how powerful Hideyoshi’s military was, leading their government to underestimate

the imminent danger. Furthermore, the issue divided the Korean court factions, named for

the location of their respective headquarters in Seoul. Members of the ‘Westerner’ faction

gradually came to realise the very real peril Japan posed, but any attempt to prepare for

the invasion was actively opposed by the ‘Easterner’ group.

In Japan, a colossal war machine was gearing up in the summer of 1591, beginning with Hideyoshi’s

establishment of a massively fortified headquarters complex on the island of Kyushu. From there,

he oversaw the levying of a massive army comprising 335,000 total troops, 158,000 of which would

cross to Korea itself. The levies were raised by the individual daimyo, who were obliged

to supply a predetermined number of men according to the size and wealth of their fiefdom in

a system known as gun’yaku. However, it is notable that other political factors could

influence a daimyo’s required contribution, such as their standing with Hideyoshi.

The 158,000 strong invasion force consisted of 82,200 men from Kyushu, which was closest

to Korea, 57,000 from Honshu, and 19,600 from Shikoku. How this giant force was equipped

must be discussed for a moment, as it is often common to envision Japanese armies as something

different to reality. Rather than an army of samurai wielding katanas, the majority

of Hideyoshi’s invading troops were instead the humble ashigaru, peasant foot soldiers

armed with swords, spears and bows . As the high-tech spearhead, Hideyoshi used a considerable

number of lightweight arquebuses, but the exact number of troops who possessed one is

not known, perhaps one third. The plan itself was to be a domino rolling through Asia. When

the Koreans were conquered, they were to supply manpower and material for the push into China.

When the area around Beijing was conquered, that area would supply manpower for a push

further into the Middle Kingdom, and so on.

The invading force would be ferried to Korea by 700 assorted ships which, along with their

crews, were requisitioned from the various daimyo of the coastal provinces. These were

mostly repurposed merchant or civilian vessels. Though Hideyoshi had a massive army at his

disposal, in addition to high-quality military technology on land, naval power would prove

a problem for him throughout the coming conflict. The Koreans had just two advantages over the

Japanese: their superior shipbuilding and cannon technology. In addition to their relative

lack of knowledge of European-style firearms that the enemy possessed, corruption in Korea

was rampant, leaving military units neglected, untrained and lazy. The kingdom was not ready

for the storm that was coming, but one appointment was made which would prove decisive.

A forty-six-year-old career soldier Yi Sun-shin was promoted to command the navy of Cholla

province. After being assigned to Cholla in late 1590, Yi immediately understood that

his province could serve as a possible invasion route. Determined to be as prepared as he

could, he spent a year diligently studying naval command, whipping his men into shape,

After being delayed multiple times, three contingents of the first wave were ready to

sail by May 22nd. On the 23rd, 18,700 troops under the command of Konishi Yukinaga and

Sō Yoshitoshi set out for Busan. The warships earmarked to guard the troop transports had

not arrived, and so this fleet was completely vulnerable.

Though initially believing the ships on the horizon were part of an abnormally large trade

mission, the Korean commanders in the Busan region gradually came to realise that the

invasion had begun. They could have used the superior warships under their command to assault

the undefended Japanese fleet, but they failed to do so. By nightfall on May 23rd, around

400 transports crowded the waters off Busan. The fleet rested that night in the harbour,

completely unopposed. After a final demand for an unopposed Japanese crossing to China

At 4am on May 24th 1592, 5,000 men under Yoshitoshi disembarked onto the land, followed by another

7,000 under Yukinaga. Eventually, the entire first contingent was on land and a Japanese

army had landed on Korean soil without a single shot being fired. After two brief sieges,

the main fortresses at Busan and its harbour fell, triggering panic among military leaders

in surrounding provinces. Instead of acting decisively, incompetent Korean naval commanders

scuttled their sizeable provincial fleets and destroyed their weaponry and provisions,

retreating north as quickly as they could.

With Busan secured, proud Yukinaga would not wait for reinforcements as instructed. Instead,

he immediately pushed north along the middle of the peninsula on May 26th, marching at

a blistering pace. This daimyo either wished to monopolise the glory of seizing the capital

for himself, or may have been anxious to break out of his beachhead before the counterattack.

This invading force first came to the deserted town of Yangsan, then went onto Miryang and