Rebekah Clements will act as discussant on the panel “Military Power, Imperial Authority, and Claims to Overseas Sovereignty in the Toyotomi Regime of Late Sixteenth-century Japan” at the Association for Asian Studies Conference in Vancouver on 15th March 2026.
Panel abstract:
In recent years, scholars of Japanese history have devoted increasing attention to the age of Toyotomi Hideyoshi (1537-1598). Widely recognized as the figure who unified Sengoku Japan, Hideyoshi ruled the country with an authoritarian hand. His ambitions, however, extended beyond Japan’s borders. He mobilized an unprecedent number of daimyo-led troops to launch an invasion of Chosŏn Korea — Japan’s closest neighbor, with whom it had no prior conflict. This miliary campaign contributed to the unraveling of his regime. The Toyotomi regime thus raises important questions about power, legitimacy, and governance from various angles, and remains a dynamic area of historical inquiry.
This panel brings together three presenters who aim to shed new light on the Toyotomi regime by examining its complex interactions with the imperial court, regional daimyo, and foreign states or political entities. At the heart of the discussion lies a central question: why and how did Hideyoshi seek to consolidate and expand his authority excessively? While historians have long engaged with this issue from various perspectives, the presenters suggest that existing interpretations merit revision and that recent findings offer fresh insights into the nature of Hideyoshi’s rule. Their new research is expected to contribute meaningfully to our understanding of power and governance in the Toyotomi regime. A leading scholar in the field will serve as the panel’s discussant, offering commentary on the presentations and stimulating further discussion from the audience.
