Imagawa Sadayo was one of the most outstanding figures of his era. Alongside Kusunoki Masashige and Kitabatake Chikafusa, he was considered one of the greatest generals and strategists of his time. In addition to his military talents, Sadayo was also a poet and historian, and his literary abilities earned him a prominent place at court and in scholarly circles.
The Imagawa family belonged to a junior branch of the Ashikaga clan. The name “Imagawa” was taken from their estate in Mikawa Province. Sadayo’s father supported Shogun Ashikaga Takauji and was rewarded with the position of governor in Suruga Province. The family settled there and eventually intermarried with members of the court nobility.
Sadayo’s military career began during the conflict between the Northern and Southern Courts. He supported the Northern Court and, in 1361, defeated Hosokawa Kiyouji in the Battle of Yoshino. After returning to Kyoto, Sadayo became a Buddhist monk, taking the name Ryoshun and dedicating himself to religion.
By 1370, the bakufu had lost control over most of Kyushu Island and sent Ryoshun there as a military governor. His mission was to pacify the rebellious territories, a task to which he devoted the next ten years of his life. Despite his military duties, Ryoshun continued to write and maintained correspondence with his teacher, Nijō Yoshimoto.
In 1395, Shogun Ashikaga Yoshimitsu was informed that Ryoshun had gained too much influence and might be plotting a rebellion. As a result, he was recalled from Kyushu and took up the hereditary position of governor in Suruga, where he spent the rest of his years devoted to poetry and literature.
Ryoshun authored several works and documents, including Michiyukiburi, a travel diary with poems; the historical chronicle Nan Taiheiki; and The Precepts (Imagawa Letters on the Wall), written in 1412 for his younger brother Tadaaki. The Precepts, also known as The Imagawa Wall Inscriptions, were revered and studied as a moral code up until World War II. During the Edo period, this text was taught in all temple schools.
Written in the kanbun style, The Precepts established the classical ideal of the warrior — one who unites martial spirit with scholarly learning. Losing one inevitably means losing both. As a devoted Buddhist, Ryoshun condemned meaningless self-sacrifice, yet as a member of the warrior class, he held deep respect for the way of the warrior. As a Confucian, he quoted Chinese classics, emphasized filial piety, and underscored loyalty and duty to one’s lord. In Ryoshun, the warrior ideal was perhaps realized in its perfect balance.
See also
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Kawakubo (Takeda) Nobuzane
Nobuzane was the seventh son of Takeda Nobutora and the half-brother of the famous Takeda Shingen. The identity of his mother is unknown, as is the exact year of his birth. It is believed that he was born sometime in the 1530s. When Nobuzane reached adulthood, he was sent to the village of Kawakubo, located in the northern part of Kai Province near the border with the Saku region. His duty was to guard the road leading north. In that village, he built a residence and changed his family name to Kawakubo.
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Ikeda Motosuke
Motosuke was the son of Ikeda Tsunooki and the older brother of the famous military commander Ikeda Terumasa. Sources differ on his year of birth—it was either 1559 or 1564. Motosuke was married to the sister of Oda Nobutada, the eldest son of Oda Nobunaga. Thus, Nobutada's son, Oda Hidenobu, was his nephew.
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Watanabe (Hanzo) Moritsuna
Moritsuna was the son of Watanabe Takatsuna, a vassal of the Matsudaira clan. He was the same age as Tokugawa Ieyasu and was held hostage with him by the Imagawa clan. In 1557, Moritsuna joined Ieyasu.
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Ban Naoyuki
He was also known as Ban Danemon. In the early stages of his military career, he served under Kato Yoshiaki, one of the so-called “Seven Spears of Shizugatake,” who later became the ruler of the Aizu region in Mutsu Province. Naoyuki held the position of commander of the arquebusiers (teppo taishō).
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Asakura Toshikage
The Asakura family, who claimed kinship with several emperors, lived in the province of Echizen. Its representatives were considered hereditary vassals of the Shiba clan. From the mid-15th century until their defeat by Oda Nobunaga's army in 1573, which resulted in the final destruction of the Asakura clan, they were a significant military and economic force.
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Asakura Yoshikage
Yoshikage was the eldest son of Asakura Takakage. He began ruling in 1548 at the age of fifteen, and during his reign he twice defeated the Ikko-ikki forces, in 1555 and 1564. Yoshikage supported the Saito family in their struggle against Oda Nobunaga in 1561–1567. When Ashikaga Yoshiaki fled Kyoto in 1565 after the assassination of his older brother, Shogun Ashikaga Yoshiteru, Yoshikage gave him refuge. However, he was unable to provide sufficient support for Yoshiaki's claim to the title of shogun, and Yoshiaki had to seek help from Oda Nobunaga.
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Asakura Norikage
Norikage came from the ancient samurai clan of Asakura, whose members considered themselves descendants of Prince Kusakabe, son of Emperor Tenmu (631–686). He was the eighth son of daimyo Asakura Takakage and was named Kotaro in childhood. Over time, Asakura Norikage became the pillar of the Asakura clan and was undoubtedly its most talented commander during that difficult period when the clan was experiencing internal difficulties, uprisings by the Ikko-ikki sect, and instability in the lands surrounding the capital. Although Norikage himself was never a daimyo, he served as an advisor to three generations of Asakura clan leaders. He spent his entire life on military campaigns. After his father's death in 1481, Norikage entered the service of his brother, Asakura Ujikage.
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Asai (Azai) Nagamasa
Asai Nagamasa inherited power from his father, Asai Hisamasa, when he was only fifteen years old. Both brave and impulsive, he proved himself a capable commander, managing to regain lands from the Rokkaku clan that had previously been lost by his father. After a territorial dispute with Oda Nobunaga over the province of Mino, Nagamasa formed an alliance with Nobunaga and married his sister Oichi, who was famous for her beauty. In 1570, when Oda Nobunaga declared war on the Asakura family, Nagamasa sided with the Asakura because he had long-standing ties with them. This unexpected move threatened Nobunaga's invasion of the Asakura lands by threatening him from the rear. Oda managed to save his army, not without the help of Tokugawa Ieyasu, but relations between Nobunaga and Asai were permanently damaged.
