Sengoku Series: Episode 9 - Toyotomi Hideyoshi I: Hideyoshi's Rise to Power

This is the first episode in a series of videos about Toyotomi Hideyoshi. In this video I discuss the legends surrounding his early life, his defeat of Akechi Mitsuhide at Yamazaki in 1582, his subsequent defeat of Shibata Katsuie at Shizugatake in 1583, and finally the Komaki campaign against Tokugawa Ieyasu in 1584.
The best English-language biography of Hideyoshi is Mary Berry's Hideyoshi. Buy it here: astore.amazon.com/samurai-20/d...
SamuraiWiki Links:
Toyotomi Hideyoshi: wiki.samurai-archives.com/inde...
Shivers Katsuie: wiki.samurai-archives.com/inde...
Oda Hidenobu: wiki.samurai-archives.com/inde...
Oda Nobutaka: wiki.samurai-archives.com/inde...
Oda Nobukatsu: wiki.samurai-archives.com/inde...

[@PhantomOfTheSchool]

You forgot to mention that it was Oda Nobukatsu who instigated the Komaki-Nagakute campaign. Hideyoshi struck a deal with Nobukatsu, not Ieyasu. Traditionally they say that Ieyasu also surrendered despite their victory because he was technically fighting for Nobukatsu. With Nobukatsu making peace with Hideyoshi, Ieyasu "has no more reason to fight".

[@postponedlife]

Who is the "they" that says he was only fighting for Nobuo/Nobukatsu? I personally doubt Ieyasu was fighting for anyone other than Ieyasu., and the claim of Nobuo/Nobukatsu to lead the Oda clan was just a flimsy pretext for taking up arms against Hideyoshi. I think Ieyasu was testing the strength of Hideyoshi as well as how the other major daimyo felt about the status quo. The very fact Nobuo/Nobukatsu made a separate peace with Hideyoshi just underlines how much the conflict was driven by Ieyasu rather than Nobuo/Nobukatsu, I think.
I'll definitely talk about this more in my Ieyasu videos, though.

[@PhantomOfTheSchool]

I said "they" simply to indicate that it was the "commonly accepted information". Berry's Hideyoshi book mentioned that Nobukatsu was Ieyasu's "patron" in that battle. George Sansom's "A History of Japan" also mentions that Ieyasu "was pressured by Nobukatsu" into participating. I don't know if you put much stock in Wikipedia, but if you do, that's what it says in Wikipedia as well.
I suppose you can argue that the traditional sources were incorrect. I don't have any direct quotes, but I believe one of the sources is the Bukoyawa. Currently I'm not aware of any sources disputing or disproving the idea that Nobukatsu was the instigator of Komaki-Nagakute, though.
But I look forward to hear your opinion on why you think it was Ieyasu's initiative!

[@postponedlife]

Those are certainly reliable sources, but I do wonder how much of it comes from pro-Tokugawa sources written during the Edo period. Nobuo/Nobukatsu was certainly Ieyasu's patron in the sense he provided Ieyasu with a pretext for the conflict, and the two no doubt saw themselves as using each other. I really doubt Nobuo/Nobukatsu "pressured" Ieyasu; what leverage would he possibly have over Ieyasu, one of the most powerful daimyo in Japan? To me, it seems like vintage Ieyasu: if he had won, he could have cast Nobuo/Nobukatsu aside like Hideyoshi did to Samboshi. If/when he lost, he blamed the conflict on Nobuo/Nobukatsu but, thanks to a demonstration of strength, enjoyed a favorable position in the Hideyoshi order, which is precisely what happened.

[@PhantomOfTheSchool]

Scott Patrick Oh, well, I don't really know any info about why Ieyasu agreed to team up.
In the video it sounded like you said Ieyasu wanted to face off Hideyoshi himself. So I just want to point out that the accepted info at the moment is that Nobukatsu caused the battle. The gist of it is that Nobukatsu got offended about being treated like a vassal by Hideyoshi, and asked Ieyasu for help to challenge Hideyoshi.
If you've never heard of that story, the only non-Wikipedia English source I can think of is Markus Sesko's book about swords, in the story of the sword Okadagiri Yoshifusa.

[@postponedlife]

PhantomOfTheSchool I think you're correct in that Nobukatsu wanted to push his claim and fight Hideyoshi. I also think Ieyasu wanted to fight Hideyoshi to see what the balance of power was like and see how other daimyo would react. In my opinion, what Ieyasu wanted matters way more because Ieyasu actually had the freedom and the strength, whereas Nobukatsu only provided the pretext. I should have made this more clear in the video and I will endeavor to do so in the Ieyasu videos I'm planning. But I appreciate you pointing this out.