Just before the Kyushu campaign, Shimazu Yoshihiro and his brother Yoshihisa had subdued nearly the entire island and had cornered the Otomo clan of Bungo. However, in 1587, when Yoshihisa surrendered to Toyotomi Hideyoshi's army of 200,000, Yoshihiro was also compelled to submit. This subjugation led Yoshihiro to serve under Hideyoshi and be mobilized for the Korean campaigns, setting the stage for his celebrated exploits in the Bunroku-Keichou no Eki.

In 1587, Toyotomi Hideyoshi led an army said to number 200,000 into Kyushu, forcing daimyo Shimazu Yoshihisa to surrender and completing the pacification of Kyushu. Yoshihisa was allowed to keep only Satsuma, Osumi, and Hyuga provinces and submitted to Hideyoshi, a major step toward his unification of Japan.