Imagawa Yoshimoto, a formidable daimyo of Suruga (modern-day Shizuoka Prefecture), held a prominent position among the three influential warlords in the central Japan region, known as Tokai. His lineage was believed to trace back to a branch of the noble Minamoto clan, and Yoshimoto, displaying a nobler image than a typical warrior, blackened his teeth, shaved his eyebrows, and was carried in an ornate palanquin.
Born as the third son of Imagawa Ujichika, the 10th head of the Imagawa clan, Yoshimoto was initially sent to a temple to become a monk. Following his father's demise in 1526 and the sudden death of his elder brother Ujiteru a decade later, the Imagawa clan faced internal divisions. Factions supporting Yoshimoto engaged in war against those backing an elder half-brother, resulting in Yoshimoto's triumph in June 1536.
Upon assuming leadership of the Imagawa clan, Yoshimoto strategically married the sister of rival warlord Takeda Shingen, solidifying an alliance that kept Shingen from encroaching on Imagawa territories. In 1552, the alliance was further strengthened when Shingen's son Yoshinobu married Yoshimoto's daughter. Additionally, a political marriage was arranged between Yoshimoto's son and heir, Ujizane, and the daughter of rival warlord Hojo Ujitsuna in 1554.
In 1542, Yoshimoto set his sights on the prosperous Mikawa region controlled by the Matsudaira, later to become the Tokugawa clan. The Imagawa territories expanded over the years to include Suruga, Totomi (now Shizuoka Prefecture), and Mikawa (eastern Aichi Prefecture). Thereafter, Yoshimoto aimed for Kyoto, necessitating the conquest of Owari Province (western Aichi Prefecture), held by Oda Nobunaga.
In 1560, Yoshimoto, with a claimed force of 40,000 (an exaggeration), led 25,000 troops into Owari. The vanguard included a 19-year-old samurai named Matsudaira Motoyasu, who later became Tokugawa Ieyasu. The young Ieyasu, a political hostage of the Imagawa since age nine, had been sent ahead to deliver supplies to Odaka Castle.
The unexpected assault by Oda during the battle of Okehazama troops caught Imagawa and his men off guard. Initially thinking it was a drunken brawl, Yoshimoto investigated and was stunned to find Oda forces approaching. Despite resisting an attack by Mori Shinsuke, Yoshimoto was eventually tackled by Hattori Koheita, an Oda samurai, who took the daimyo's head. Yoshimoto Yoshimoto succumbed to the attack at the age of 41.
While there are several gravesites associated with Imagawa Yoshimoto, his remains are said to be interred at Daisei-ji Temple in Toyokawa, Aichi Prefecture.
See also
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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.
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Ouchi Yoshihiro
Ōuchi Yoshihiro was the second son of Ōuchi Hiroyo, who headed the Ōuchi clan in the western part of Honshu. In 1363, Shogun Ashikaga Yoshimitsu confirmed the Ōuchi family in the position of shugo of Suō and Nagato Provinces. In his youth, Yoshihiro assisted his father in strengthening the influence of the Northern Court on the island of Kyushu — they served under Imagawa Ryōsun, who had been tasked with subjugating the nine provinces of Kyushu.
