Hideyoshi's war depended on Japanese domestic politics

The Japanese fleet is presented primarily as a logistics instrument supporting an army abroad, not as a purpose-built battle fleet. Keeping that army in Korea reduced the risk that competing forces would resume conflict inside Japan. Hideyoshi's destruction of his nephew and former heir fractured the Toyotomi political base, while his own death gave the Council of Five Elders reason to recall and demobilize the troops before they could return as an uncontrolled army. Later mythology, including strategy-game treatments, can amplify battlefield heroics while obscuring this domestic political logic. This context helps explain both the persistence and the ending of the war.