Perhaps just the Japanese (and among them only the most avid fans of its history) will find it worth their trouble to climb the dozen or so steps to the small clearing where the gravestones of the Toyotomi family are located. Those who do will find 11 modestly sized gorintō behind a wooden fence.

The central and largest of these monuments is inscribed with the words “The grave of the retired regent Toyotomi Hideyoshi.” However, this monument to the most important Toyotomi is a new addition to the family plot. It was erected in 1940 as a replacement for the original gravestone which is presumed to have once stood here but can no longer be identified. The stone is spiritually linked to Hideyoshi in the most tenuous fashion, having been erected on dirt that had been transplanted from Hideyoshi’s primary mausoleum in Kyoto.

The other gravestones in the array were erected over a twenty year period beginning in 1587. Of these only six can be identified with certainty. They include monuments to Hideyoshi’s mother Ōmandokoro (d. 1598), his half-brother Hidenaga)1540-1591) and Hidenaga’s wife, Hideyoshi’s son Tsurumatsu (1589-1591), and his second wife, Yododono (1569-1615). The grave of Hideyoshi’s principal wife, Nene (d. 1624), cannot be identified, no doubt to the great disappointment of her many admirers.

Toyotomi Hideyoshi’s (1537-1598) relationship to Mt. Kōya is as complex and perplexing as his family plot. As one of the first warlords to bring all of Japan under his authority, Hideyoshi was wary of the wealthy and powerful temple complexes in the Kii Province (present-day Wakayama Prefecture). In the third month of 1585, his forces destroyed Negoro-dera Temple, and a siege of Mt. Kōya ensued. Thanks to concessions made by the monastery, Hideyoshi was placated. No longer a threat to the monastery, he soon became one of its most generous benefactors, contributing funds for the reconstruction of the Kondō and the establishment of Seiganji Temple (as a memorial for his mother).