Kobayakawa Hideaki

Who was Kobayakawa Hideaki?

Kobayakawa Hideaki was fifth son of Kinoshita Iesada and the nephew of Toyotomi Hideyoshi.

He was adopted by Hideyoshi and called himself Hashiba Hidetoshi and Shusen. He was then again adopted by Kobayakawa Takakage and renamed himself Hideaki. Because he had gained the rank of Saemon no Kami or in China Shikkingo at genpuku and held the title of Chunagon, Hideaki was also called Kingo Chunagon.

During the Battle of Keicho he led reinforcements to rescue Ulsan Castle from the Ming army. Fighting on the front line with a spear, he managed to capture an enemy commander and successfully broke the siege. However, Hideyoshi saw the danger of a reckless charge by the general commanding an army and deprived him of his domain, Chikugo after returning. Kobayakawa, angered by this, believed the lie circulated by Tokugawa Ieyasu that this had been the doing of a jealous Ishida Mitsunari. He never forgot or forgave Mitsunari and worked to undermine his position. Moreover, Kobayakawa was known to attack women and children during the campaign, an act that is despised by many of his fellow commanders.

Before the battle of Sekigahara, Kobayakawa happened to be in Osaka and acted as though he would go along with Mitsunari, even though he had intended to betray him, having secretly communicated with Ieyasu. Knowing Kobayakawa held ill feelings, Mitsunari and Ōtani Yoshitsugu promised him two additional domains around Osaka and the position of kampaku if he helped them to victory.