Amago Haruhisa (March 8, 1514 – January 9, 1561) was a powerful daimyō and warlord in the Chūgoku region of western Japan. Born as the second son of Amago Masahisa, he initially bore the name Akihisa, but in 1541, upon an offer from Ashikaga Yoshiharu, he adopted the name Haruhisa by incorporating a kanji character from Yoshiharu's own name.
Upon the untimely death of his father, Amago Masahisa, in battle, Haruhisa assumed leadership of the Amago clan in 1537, succeeding his grandfather. Eager to expand his territory, he launched a series of invasions, extending his influence as far as Harima. During his youth, he was known by the name Saburōshirō.
The Siege of Koriyama in 1540, pitting Haruhisa against Mōri Motonari, concluded in a humiliating defeat. This led to the defection of many of his retainers, who doubted Haruhisa's prospects for success. The subsequent year saw the passing of his grandfather, Amago Tsunehisa, and Ōuchi Yoshitaka initiated a counteroffensive to crush the Amago clan.
In the 1542–43 Siege of Toda Castle, Haruhisa successfully defended the castle. This victory not only bolstered his standing but also inspired the return of some of his earlier defectors. With sufficient forces gathered, he managed to repel the invasion and gradually solidified control over domains like Izumo, Hōki, Mimasaka, and Oki.
Following the death of Ōuchi Yoshitaka in 1551 due to the rebellion led by Sue Harukata, Haruhisa was offered lordship over eight domains by the Muromachi shogunate in 1552, four of which he already held in his firm grasp.
In his later years, Haruhisa made a sudden decision to eliminate his uncle Amago Kunihisa, along with the retainers under his command, collectively known as Shingūtō. This action, which initially led to a scarcity of experienced leaders, was likely a move by Haruhisa himself to consolidate his rule over the Amago clan, rather than a plot by Mori Motonari as depicted in certain fictional works.
After Sue Harutaka's defeat and death in the Battle of Miyajima, Haruhisa sought to claim Iwami, forming an alliance with the Ogasawara clan of Iwami to seize control of the Omori Silver Mine. This sparked a series of battles with no clear victor. In late 1560, while engaged in battle against Motonari, Haruhisa fell ill at Gassantoda Castle and passed away on January 9, 1561.
Amago Hisayuki, as documented in Unyo Gunjitsuki, remarked that Haruhisa was "Quick to act, yet lacked the strategic discipline of a seasoned general; eager for combat, yet not inclined towards forgiveness."
See also
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Uemura Masakatsu
Masakatsu was a member of the Uemura clan and the son of Uemura Masatada; from an early age he served Tokugawa Ieyasu. During the Ikkō-ikki uprising in Mikawa Province in 1563, having converted from the Jōdo Shinshū Buddhist sect to the Jōdoshū sect, he took part in suppressing the rebels. After these events, Masakatsu was appointed a military governor and was granted land holdings. According to a number of sources, he was one of the so-called “Three Governors of Mikawa” (Mikawa sanbugyō), together with Amano Yasukage (1537–1613) and Koriki Kiyonaga (1530–1608).
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Tomoe Gozen
Gozen is regarded as one of the few historically documented examples of true female warriors of feudal Japan, known as onna-musha or onna-bugeisha. Although Japanese history records countless women who at various times were forced to take up arms—for example, in defense of their castles—Tomoe Gozen was, without any doubt, a genuinely skilled and accomplished fighter. She was the wife of Kiso (Minamoto) Yoshinaka, although The Tale of the Heike describes her more as a female vassal. Yoshinaka rose in rebellion against the Taira clan and, in 1184, captured Kyoto after his victory at the Battle of Kurikawa. After the Taira were driven into the western provinces, Yoshinaka began insistently asserting that he alone was worthy of assuming leadership of the Minamoto clan and taking on the mantle of its head.
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Tachibana Muneshige
Tachibana Muneshige was born the eldest son of Takahashi Shigetane, one of the principal retainers of the Ōtomo clan and commander of Iwaya Castle. In childhood, he bore the name Senkumamaru. His early years coincided with a period of intense military confrontation between the Ōtomo clan and other powerful warrior houses of Kyūshū—namely the Shimazu, Akizuki, and Ryūzōji clans.
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Tachibana Dosetsu
Tachibana Dōsetsu is the name by which Hetsugi Akitsura is more widely known; the name of this lineage is also found read as Hekki or Bekki. For a long period, Akitsura served the Ōtomo clan, the daimyō of Bungo Province, and took part in wars against the Ōuchi family, the principal enemies of the Ōtomo in northwestern Kyushu. In the 1560s, Akitsura seized the castle of the Tachibana clan, which had rebelled against the Ōtomo, and thereafter adopted the surname Tachibana. Around the same time, he took Buddhist vows and assumed the name Dōsetsu, which means “Snowy Road.”
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Taira no Masakado
Taira no Masakado embodied the quintessential samurai of his era—self-assured, harsh, and unyielding. In his youth, he served in the palace guard and repeatedly proved his bravery while suppressing unrest. Thanks to these achievements, Masakado sought the post of chief of the capital’s military-police office (the kebiishi-chō), but he was rejected: by that time, nearly all court positions—now little more than privileged sinecures—were controlled by members of the powerful Fujiwara clan.
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Sakakibara Yasumasa
Yasumasa was the second son of Sakakibara Nagamasa and was born in Ueno in Mikawa Province. From a young age, he began serving Tokugawa Ieyasu and eventually rose to the position of one of his most trusted generals. His wife was the daughter of Osuga Yasutaka. Ieyasu first noticed the young Yasumasa during the suppression of the Ikkō-ikki uprising in Mikawa in 1564. Thanks to his demonstrated abilities, Yasumasa was granted the privilege of using the character “yasu”—the second character of Ieyasu’s own name—in his own. Although he was the second child in his family, he became his father’s heir, though the exact reasons for this remain unknown.
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Sakai Tadatsugu
Tadatsugu was one of the most renowned generals serving Tokugawa Ieyasu. After Ieyasu broke ties with the Imagawa clan, Tadatsugu—an ardent supporter of this decision—was granted command of Yoshida Castle in 1565, which controlled the coastal road from Tōtomi to Mikawa. During the Battle of Mikatagahara in 1573, he held the right flank of the Tokugawa forces even when the troops sent by Oda fled under the assault of the Takeda army. In the Battle of Nagashino in 1575, he personally requested permission to carry out a night attack on the Takeda camp, which he executed brilliantly together with Kanamori Nagachika.
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Ryuzoji Takanobu
Takanobu was the eldest son of Ryūzōji Takaie and the great-grandson of Ryūzōji Iekane. His father was killed by a man named Baba Yoritiku in 1544. At a young age, Takanobu took Buddhist vows and received the monastic name Engetsu. However, around the age of eighteen, he returned to secular life, and in 1548, after the death of Ryūzōji Tanehide, he became the head of both branches of the Ryūzōji family.
