was a daimyō during the Sengoku period of Japan. He was the nephew and retainer of Toyotomi Hideyoshi, the unifier and ruler of Japan from 1590 to 1598. Despite being Hideyoshi's closest adult, male relative, Hidetsugu was accused of atrocities and attempting to stage a coup after the birth of Hideyoshi's son, and he was ordered to commit suicide. Hidetsugu's entire family, including children, were also executed on Hideyoshi's orders. His death and that of his family contributed to the quick dissolution of Toyotomi authority after Hideyoshi's death three years later. Biography Hidetsugu was born to Tomo (Hideyoshi's elder sister) with Miyoshi Kazumichi and later adopted by Miyoshi Yoshifusa, his name was Miyoshi Nobuyoshi. He later renamed himself Hashiba Hidetsugu, in honor of his famous uncle: "Hashiba" was the Hideyoshi's family name, and "Hidetsugu" can be translated as "next Hide". After the Incident at Honnō-ji in 1582, Hidetsugu was given a 400 thousand koku fiefdom in Ōmi Province because he was one of Hideyoshi's few relatives. In his subsequent career as a general, during Battle of Shizugatake 1583, he held Oiwayama-fort (Oiwayama-toride, 大岩山砦) with Takayama Ukon and Nakagawa Kiyohide and he sustained heavy losses in the Battle of Nagakute 1584 against Tokugawa Ieyasu. He proved himself in Hideyoshi's Invasion of Shikoku and Siege of Odawara. He also proved a competent manager of the castle town of Ōmihachiman. A practitioner of the shudō tradition, Hidetsugu had a number of wakashū. Among these were Yamamoto Tonoma, Yamada Sanjuro, and his most beloved, Fuwa Bansaku (also Mansaku), who gained lasting renown for his beauty of body and spirit. In 1590, (Tenshō 18), he was appointed castellan of Kiyosu Castle in Owari Province, where Oda Nobukatsu had once ruled. The following year, Hideyoshi lost his legitimate heir Tsurumatsu (who died before adulthood) and so gave Hidetsugu the position of Imperial Regent. This meant Hidetsugu had to move to Jurakudai in Kyoto, and resulted in a so-called "dual system of government" (二元政治) run by Hideyoshi and Hidetsugu, with the assumption that latter would succeed the former after his death. As Hideyoshi was busy handling the invasion of Korea, Hidetsugu acted in his place to handle domestic affairs. However, in 1593, Hideyoshi's concubine, Yodo-dono, gave a birth to a new heir, Hideyori, and the relationship between Hidetsugu and Hideyoshi began to deteriorate. Rumours spread of Hidetsugu committing repeated and unjust murder, earning him the nickname "life-killing