Born a peasant with no actual family name, Hideyoshi is one of Japan's greatest historical figures. It is only his place between two other great Japanese figures, Oda Nobunaga and Tokugawa Ieyasu, that has subdued Hideyoshi's historical legacy. Hideyoshi's impact on Japanese society lasted until the Meiji Restoration, and his memory is still prominent in Japan today.

Hideyoshi began life as a peasant and one of his early livelhoods was that of a peddler. During the Sengoku Period battles between rival daimyo's grew larger and larger in scale; this led to the practice of recruiting peasants as casual soldiers. Hideyoshi began his rise to power in this manner, his first military experiences were that of an ashigaru (spear or polearm soldier). Initially, ashigaru could earn the rank of samurai through outstanding performance. It was in this manner that Hideyoshi achieved the position of samurai, although later he would be chiefly responsible for the abolition of this practice. As a samurai Hideyoshi served Oda Nobunaga, and in time became his greatest and most successful general. It is also during this period of Hideyoshi's life when he adopted the family name of Toyotomi, meaning "Abundant Provider" and as well as his personal standard, the golden gourd. This standard he took in 1573 when Nobunaga presented Hideyoshi with the fief of Nagahama. His main color was gold, it appears on his standard, great standard, and his chief and secondary messenger's sashimonos.

During the years of Nobunaga's ascent to dominance Hideyoshi remained in a constant state of warfare. During this time he gained a reputation as a very able general; his strategy involved a wide array of tactics, including the use of shinobi (ninjas) in the disruption of camps, the redirection of rivers to flood besieged castles (documented on at least two occasions), and a continuous use of overwhelming force. At the time of Nobunaga's death Hideyoshi was regarded as the most skilled general in Japan and had already been named as the protector of Nobunaga's young son.

Nobunaga's death in 1582, brought about by Akechi Mitsuhide while all of Nobunaga's most powerful allies were away, hurled Hideyoshi onto the final path in his rise to supreme ruler of Japan. Hideyoshi, realizing that Mitsuhide would try to consolidate power behind himself and with time would be able to do so, acted in a rapid manner that remains a model of reaction in Feudal Japan. Force marching his army to Mitsuhide, Hideyoshi was able to secure favorable terrain for the ensuing battle. Hideyoshi crushed Mitsuhide's forces, and Mitsuhide himself only managed to outlive Nobunaga a scant two weeks, being cut down by a group of bandits as he fled Hideyoshi's forces. From this point on Hideyoshi began a series of campaigns to coerce the other daimyos into accepting his rule. Those who refused were crushed by his superior forces. Tokugawa Ieyasu, Nobunaga's most powerful ally and a man who could have been Hideyoshi's greatest threat, agreed to be his ally instead and was given an enormous territory, at one point capable of collecting more taxes than Hideyoshi himself. Where Nobunaga had failed to gain control of entire Japan, Hideyoshi succeeded. Incapable of taking the title of Shogun, due to his humble origin, Hideyoshi instead took the title of kampaku, which had been the Fujiwara term for regent. This occured in 1585, and soon after Hideyoshi began his domestic campaign to consolidate political authority under his person. In 1588 he began the "sword hunt", confiscating the weapons of the peasantry and in effect creating an uncrossable barrier between peasant farm laborers and professional soldiers. This was the exact manner in which he had risen to power, and to prevent anyone from doing the same to him, Hideyoshi created this new system. This division would remain in effect until the destruction of the class system.

Hideyoshi is perhaps equally remembered not only for his consolidation of a unified Japan but also for his two invasions of Korea. In the first attempt, 1592, Hideyoshi sent 160,000 men (he himself did not go, and it should be noted this was a smaller force than he used in his accession to power) to Korea where they quickly overran the country. After crossing into what later would be Manchurian territory, China was moved to aide Korea, and eventually the conflict came to a standstill, with both forces claiming victory. This situation wore on until 1597, when Hideyoshi sent a second force to accomplish what the first had not, but this force too was plagued on the seas by naval attacks. This expedition ended when Hideyoshi died in 1598.

Hideyoshi's other accomplishments included a survery of Japanese agricultural lands and the banishment of Christian missionaries, who he never trusted during his rule. Hideyoshi built his dominance on the foundations laid by Nobunaga, and it is his work which enabled the Tokugawa's to achieve their Shogunate. After his death he gained the posthumous title of "Wealth of the Nation" as well as having a Shinto shrine dedicated to him.