How did Toyotomi Hideyoshi end up Nobunaga's sandal bearer? Do we know?

by Shroomsters

Everywhere I read about his origins it says he originally served the Imagawa but left, and then skips directly to him being Nobunaga's sandal bearer. What happened in between? Was he already something like a high-ranking ashigaru? I imagine it requires earning trust and some merit to get to become sandal bearer to a daimyo. Additionally, what would his job entail as a sandal bearer? Was it literally just keeping the daimyo's sandals at his disposal? Would he also act as a bodyguard, or run errands and other similar tasks?

ParallelPain

Yes, a sandal bearer was literally just keeping the lord's sandals at his disposal, a member of the lord's household servant staff.

Sources differ on how he got the job after leaving the Matsushita and when he joined Oda Nobunaga:

  • He got a direct audience with Nobunaga and impressed him (Taikōki)
  • He got Nobunaga's attention by waiting for him on the road he would return from and yelling very loudly that he wants to serve (Toyokan)
  • One of two head servants under Nobunaga is from Hideyoshi's village and got him the job (Taikōsoseki)

I believe there are other stories as well. All of these come from narrative sources in the early Edo period (at the earliest), so we don't know which, if any of them, are correct.