During the years 1592 to 1598, the military leader of Japan--Toyotomi Hideyoshi-- launched two invasions into the Korean peninsula. His objective was not only to keep his rival Daimyo (feudal lords) occupied, but to expand deep into Korea to establish a staging ground for his ultimate goal to invade and conquer Ming China. This campaign would lead to devastating atrocities and bloody battles for both the invading Japanese and the Korean/Chinese defenders. At the end of nearly seven years of conflict, Hideyoshi`s dreams of conquest through Asia would end in a dismal failure. The Japanese forces would never extend beyond Korea and would be steadily pushed back to coastal forts. They could no longer support the invasion, as they were being harassed constantly by Korean guerrillas and waves of Chinese troops pouring into the campaign. Korean Admiral Yi Sun-sin`s brilliant command of the fleet decimated the Japanese support fleets, leaving an undersupplied and tired army. The campaign ended shortly after the death of Hideyoshi, when the Council of Five Elders saw the futility of furthering the campaign and withdrew all the Japanese forces out of Korea by the end of 1598. This paper will examine more closely the two invasions of this time period, and their consequences. In the decades prior to the Japanese invasions of Korea, Hideyoshi had led his forces into destructive civil wars with the desire of victory and a unified Japan. In 1591 they were successful in defeating and subjugating the strong armies of Northern Honshu. After this victory, Hideyoshi completed the unification, becoming the primary military ruler of Japan. With all the Daimyo now under his control and no more internal battles to be fought, Hideyoshi sought conquest elsewhere into foreign lands. Even at an early age, he had ambitions to conquer China and to expand Japan into a major empire spreading throughout Asia. Then in his later years, and after his successful conquests in Japan, Hideyoshi became increasingly irrational and his megalomania grew steadily. The story of his influence as a leader of a great nation, which he helped unify, albeit force and violence, and then led into ambitious and ultimately hugely costly wars, provides interesting perspectives on the power and influence of leaders, for good or evil, and on the shape and character of a nation, throughout history. After consolidating his power and enforcing his control and authority over Japan, Hideyoshi took the first steps to the prelude of war with China. He needed to gain a foothold and staging area from which he could reinforce and begin the invasion. For this he sought the assistance of the Korean King Sonjo. Japanese envoys were sent to King Seonjo and presented the friendly request of re-establishing peaceful relations and trade proposals. King Sonjo had many doubts and concerns over the Japanese proposals, because over the last few decades his country had been constantly bombarded and raided by renegade Japanese pirates known as the Wako. Also, one of the requests presented to him was that Korea allow the Japanese army passage through Korean territory, in the event that Japan should invade China. Since Korea was a vassal state of Great Ming China at this time, it could not under any circumstances agree to the Japanese proposals and risk alienating their close relationship with the Ming emperor. All Japanese proposals were denied and the envoys were sent back to Japan. King Sonjo, however, did not wish to enrage the Japanese, and so sent peace envoys of his own to lessen the blow of his refusal. He also hoped to gain more information on Japanese foreign intentions. King Sonjo dismissed any claims by some of the envoys of an impending Japanese attack and staunchly believed that the Japanese would not attack Korea. Because of this belief, the Korean military, who were already declining in quality, were not mobilized nor were any defenses setup to defend against any sort of invasion. Back in Japan, however, a veteran elite army of 225,000 warriors were amassing for a full-out invasion of Korea, set to commence in the early spring of 1592. Hideyoshi established an incredible force of elite samurai, professional horsemen, and experienced foot soldiers. His army was well-trained, and most importantly, experienced from years of rugged civil war. The force was equipped with the latest technologies and weaponry such as firearms, spears, long swords and devastating cannons, and commanded by battle-seasoned Daimyo now sworn to obey Hideyoshi. In preparation for the massive expedition, staging and massive dock areas needed to be built in order to accommodate and supply thousands of troops. Giant bases were built on the islands closest to Korea-- Nagoya and Kyushu. The Japanese navy was to be the critical key to the invasion, and amassed a fleet of over 700 hundred ships from all over Japan. Most were pirate freighters and cargo ships, but there were also several new man-o