Warlord Hideyoshi’s 430-year-old letter of thanks found

[yuiyoshida]

By MITSUO UENO/ Staff Writer

NAGAHAMA, Shiga Prefecture--A letter of gratitude sent by 16th-century samurai general Toyotomi Hideyoshi has been found, evidence that his subordinate played a key role in saving the warlord's wife and mother during a coup attempt against his master, Oda Nobunaga.

A descendant of the subordinate, Hirose Hyogonosuke, donated the long-lost original letter to the Nagahama Castle Historical Museum here in September. The document, bearing the signature of Hideyoshi (1536-1598), has been confirmed to be authentic through a museum appraisal.

The letter, measuring 48.6 centimeters wide and 17.1 cm long, reads, “I am glad that you put a lot of efforts (in protecting my family members).”

Tetsuo Owada, professor emeritus at Shizuoka University and expert on feudal history, said, “It has become certain that Hyogonosuke was involved” in protecting Hideyoshi's wife and mother after the 1582 coup, in which feudal lord Nobunaga (1534-1582) was forced to kill himself during an attack by his vassal Akechi Mitsuhide (1528-1582).

http://ajw.asahi.com/article/behind_news/social_affairs/AJ201511030056