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Hidetsugu in exile

Toyotomi Hidetsugu (1568-1595) was adopted by his uncle, Hideyoshi, in 1591.  After the birth of Hideyoshi's son in 1593, however, he fell into disfavor.  He was exiled to Mt. Koya, a wilderness area, and forced to commit suicide.  In this illustration, the imprisoned Hidetsugu composes a poem as he meditates on his hopeless situation, “ Did I ever imagine that as the clouds of the high autumn sky cleared, I would view the moon through a bamboo lattice window?”