Meanwhile, the Chinese under the Wanli Emperor (r. 1572-1620) became engaged in a somewhat costly war defending Korea against Japan. The Japanese regent Toyotomi Hideyoshi (1537-1598) and his predecessor Oda Nobunaga (1534-1582) brought about the prosperous Azuchi-Momoyama period in feudal Japan, putting an end to the turbulent era of the Sengoku period. However, the Japanese staged an enormous invasion of Korea from 1592 to 1598. The aim of the Japanese was to ultimately invade prosperous Ming China, but in order to do so it would need to use the Korean Peninsula as a staging ground. Throughout the war, though, the Ming forces suffered significant casualties, and had spent a great deal of revenue sending troops on land into Korea and bolstering the Korean navy in battles such as the Battle of Noryang Point. The Japanese were finally defeated and withdrew.