ABSTRACT
ONE of the most famous sights in the beautiful Japanese city of Kyoto is a conical mound which is known as the “Ear Hill.” Until about twenty-five years ago it was pointed out to tourists by every Japanese guide, who told the story of how Hideyoshi, the great national hero of Japan, conquered Korea after a war which lasted seven years. At the conclusion of the war thousands of ears and noses of the vanquished foe were sent back, pickled in wine, to be entombed here as visual evidence of Japanese might. According to Japanese history, they were cut from the bodies of 38,000 Chinese and Korean soldiers who had been slaughtered in the last week of the war. This conflict had lasted much longer than the Japanese anticipated and the noses and ears were intended to show the desperation of the struggle. The inscription on the mound records this great battle as having taken place in October 1598.1
The great Hideyoshi, who has been the outstanding national hero of Japan for more than three hundred years was, by his invasion of Korea, attempting to achieve the great Japanese ambition to place the emperor on the throne of the world.
