Two Days After Sekigahara, Hideyoshi's Widow Fled Barefoot. Why? (Nene, 1598–1624)

Two days after the Battle of Sekigahara in 1600, a woman ran barefoot into the palace of the emperor's mother in Kyoto. She was Nene, the widow of Toyotomi Hideyoshi, the man who unified Japan. Nene is often described as Tokugawa Ieyasu's ally: a rival of Lady Yodo, the mother of Hideyoshi's heir, who gave up Osaka Castle and urged her nephew Kobayakawa Hideaki to switch sides. So why did she flee in panic right after Ieyasu won? This documentary follows the 26 years from Hideyoshi's death in 1598 to Nene's own death in 1624, through the diaries of court nobles and monks, Nene's own letters, recent research and the 2019 excavation of her lost castle in Kyoto. Along the way: prayers for a nephew fighting for the West, a truce at Otsu Castle, the founding of Kodai-ji temple, a quarrel with Ieyasu over her brother's domain, and the letter she wrote after the fall of Osaka: "There are no words." ▼ Chapters 0:00 Opening 1:38 Chapter 1: The Ruler's Wife 3:40 Chapter 2: Leaving Osaka Castle 5:51 Chapter 3: The Summer of Sekigahara 10:32 Chapter 4: Ieyasu and Kodai-in 13:09 Chapter 5: The Nephews' Fates 14:56 Chapter 6: The End of the Toyotomi 17:49 Chapter 7: The Last Letter 19:11 Ending ▼ Notes • Quotations from the sources follow published editions, scholars' transcriptions and museum readings; the English translations are our own. • We keep apart what the sources of the time say and what later traditions, popular stories and historians' interpretations say. If you spot an error, please tell us in the comments. • Years are given in the Western calendar. Ages are by Western count unless noted. • Some portraits are later copies. • Some scenes are illustrative recreations, made to convey the atmosphere of the period. ▼ Main sources • Shiramine Jun, on Sekigahara in the diaries of Kyoto courtiers and monks, parts 1–2 (Beppu University Kiyo 57; Shigaku Ronso 46, 2016) • Kyoto City Archaeological Research Institute, excavation report 2019-11 on the Kyoto Shinjo castle site (2020) and press release (May 12, 2020) • Todaiki (Shiseki Zassan vol. 2, 1911); Dai Nihon Shiryo part 12, vols. 1 and 3; Dai Nihon Komonjo, Date family papers 2; Hotaiko Shinsekishu (National Diet Library Digital Collections) • Chronological sources of Nijo Castle, early modern (Kyoto City) • Osaka Castle Museum, “Kodai-in” special exhibition notes and list (2024), and notes on the Asano–Kuroda joint letter • Owada Tetsuo, Kita no Mandokoro to Yodo-dono (2009) and article on Sekigahara (2026); Tabata Yasuko (2007); Fukuda Chizuru (2007, 2024); Atobe Makoto (2016) • Kuze Nao (2015) on the Toyokuni cult in Kyoto; Iikura Yoichi (2020) on the Ehon Taikoki • W. H. Samonides, “Patronizing Images: Kodai-in and Toyotomi Hideyoshi at Kodai-ji,” Japan Review 7 (1996) • Watanabe Daimon (2023) on Sekigahara; Kodai-ji temple history; Historiographical Institute, University of Tokyo, database ▼ Image credits • Portraits, screens and old photos (public domain): Kodai-in, copy (Historiographical Institute, Univ. of Tokyo; original Kodai-ji); Toyotomi Hideyoshi (Kodai-ji); Lady Yodo, attributed (Nara Prefectural Museum of Art); Tokugawa Ieyasu (Osaka Castle Museum); Tokugawa Hidetada (Tokugawa Memorial Foundation); Kobayakawa Hideaki (Kodai-ji; copy, Historiographical Institute); Kinoshita Katsutoshi, copy (Historiographical Institute); Kinoshita Iesada (Joko-in, Kennin-ji); Kinoshita Toshifusa (Entoku-in); Toyotomi Hideyori (Yogen-in); Ishida Mitsunari (Historiographical Institute); Kyogoku Takatsugu (Tokugen-in); Kyogoku Tatsuko (Seigan-ji); Emperor Go-Yozei (Sennyu-ji); Funaki screen of Kyoto (Tokyo National Museum); Summer Siege of Osaka screen (Osaka Castle Museum); 1615 Osaka broadsheet (National Archives of Japan); Sekigahara screen (Gifu City Museum of History); Jurakudai screen (Mitsui Memorial Museum); Daigo cherry-blossom screen (National Museum of Japanese History); old photo of Osaka Castle (LACMA); Hokoku-byo • Photos (Wikimedia Commons; cropped and zoomed in the video): ttshr1970 (CC BY 3.0); KimonBerlin (CC BY-SA 2.0); Celuici, Corpse Reviver, Soramimi, Daderot, Ryuch, Tachibana Sakon, Phronimoi, by Reggaeman, sailko (CC BY-SA 3.0); 663highland, Suicasmo, Japanese Society of Snow and Ice, Hyppolyte de Saint-Rambert, Jakub Hałun (CC BY-SA 4.0); lumoplank, Saigen Jiro, Balon Greyjoy (CC0 1.0) • Images of printed sources: National Diet Library Digital Collections (out of copyright) • Map: based on Natural Earth (public domain) If you enjoyed this, please like the video and subscribe to Japan Before Now. #JapaneseHistory #Samurai #Hideyoshi