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Born in 1537 in Nakamura, Owari Province, as the son of a low-ranking warrior (some accounts say peasant), he was known in childhood as Hiyoshimaru. Despite his humble origins, he entered Oda Nobunaga's service young and swiftly rose through intelligence, eloquence, and drive. Legendary exploits such as building a castle overnight at Sunomata won him promotion to lord of Nagahama Castle. When Nobunaga was killed in the Honnoji Incident of 1582, Hideyoshi was in the middle of negotiations with the Mori clan in western Japan. On hearing the news he conducted the celebrated "Great Return from Chugoku" at astonishing speed, defeated Akechi Mitsuhide at Yamazaki, and established himself as Nobunaga's heir. He subdued Shibata Katsuie, Tokugawa Ieyasu, and other Nobunaga retainers one by one, becoming Kanpaku (regent) in 1585, receiving the surname Toyotomi, and rising to Daijo-daijin in 1586. The fall of the Hojo at Odawara in 1590 and the settlement of Oshu completed national unification in both name and substance. The Taiko land survey and the sword hunt advanced the separation of warriors and farmers, laying the foundations of early modern society. In his final years he expended much of Japan's national strength on the invasions of Korea (Bunroku-Keicho campaigns). He died at Fushimi Castle in 1598 at age 62.

Irrepressibly cheerful and magnetically charismatic, he became the symbol of rags-to-riches success in Japan. Quick-witted and a skilled negotiator, he preferred to win over enemies through political maneuver rather than force. Yet in his later years power-obsession and paranoia intensified, and he showed a cruel side in incidents such as the Hidetsugu affair.

Completed national unification and laid the administrative foundations of early modern Japan. The Taiko Land Survey established a unified national register of land and productivity, pioneering a modern land system. The Sword Hunt accelerated the separation of warriors and farmers, stabilizing social order through peasant disarmament. He championed lavish cultural projects such as the Daigo cherry-blossom viewing, embodying the splendor of Azuchi-Momoyama culture.