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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Araki Murashige
Araki Murashige (1535 – June 20, 1586) was a samurai and retainer of Ikeda Katsumasa, the head of the powerful Settsu-Ikeda clan in Settsu Province. Initially serving under Katsumasa, he aligned himself with Oda Nobunaga after Nobunaga’s successful campaign to establish control over Kyoto.
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Yuki Hideyasu
Yuki Hideyasu (March 1, 1574 – June 2, 1607) was a Japanese samurai who lived during the Azuchi–Momoyama and early Edo periods, serving as the daimyō of Fukui Domain in Echizen Province. Born Tokugawa Ogimaru, he was the second son of Tokugawa Ieyasu and Lady Oman (also known as Lady Kogō), a handmaiden to Ieyasu’s wife, Lady Tsukiyama. Due to Ieyasu’s fears of his wife’s reaction to Oman’s pregnancy, Ogimaru and his twin brother were born in secrecy at the home of Honda Shigetsugu, one of Ieyasu’s retainers. Oman’s other son eventually became a priest, while Ogimaru was raised apart from Ieyasu, whom he only met at the age of three, in a meeting arranged by his older half-brother, Matsudaira Nobuyasu.
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Tsutsui Sadatsugu
Tsutsui Sadatsugu (June 6, 1562 – April 2, 1615) was a prominent figure in the Sengoku and early Edo periods, known as the cousin and adopted heir of Tsutsui Junkei, the feudal lord of Yamato Province. Following Junkei's death in 1584, Toyotomi Hideyoshi relocated Sadatsugu to Iga Province, where he oversaw the construction of Iga Ueno Castle, marking the height of his prominence.
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Matsudaira Kiyoyasu
Matsudaira Kiyoyasu (September 28, 1511 – November 29, 1535) served as the 7th lord of the Matsudaira clan during Japan's tumultuous Sengoku period. Renowned as the paternal grandfather of Tokugawa Ieyasu, one of Japan's "great unifiers," Kiyoyasu expanded his clan’s influence, bringing all of northern Mikawa Province under his control after subduing the Saigo clan. His power was further symbolized by the construction of Okazaki Castle, a testament to the Matsudaira’s growing dominance.
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Matsudaira Hirotada
Matsudaira Hirotada (June 9, 1526 – April 3, 1549) was a daimyo and lord of Okazaki Castle in Mikawa Province during Japan’s turbulent Sengoku Period. He is best known as the father of Tokugawa Ieyasu, the founder of the Tokugawa shogunate.
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Ikeda Tsuneoki
Ikeda Tsuneoki (1536 – May 18, 1584), also known as Ikeda Nobuteru, was a prominent daimyo of the Ikeda clan and a distinguished military commander during Japan's Sengoku and Azuchi-Momoyama periods. He served under the influential warlords Oda Nobunaga and Toyotomi Hideyoshi. Tsuneoki’s connection to Nobunaga began early, as his mother, Yotokuin, was Nobunaga’s wet nurse and later became a concubine to Oda Nobuhide, Nobunaga's father.
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Oda Nobutaka
Oda Nobutaka (1558–1583) was a samurai of the Oda clan, also known as Kanbe Nobutaka after being adopted as the head of the Kanbe clan, which governed the central region of Ise Province. He was the third son of Oda Nobunaga, born to a concubine named Sakashi. Nobutaka was referred to as "San Shichi," possibly because he was born on the seventh day of the third month in the Japanese lunar calendar. However, there is a theory suggesting he was born twenty days earlier than his elder brother, Oda Nobukatsu, but due to delays in reporting and the low status of his mother’s family, he was acknowledged as Nobunaga’s third son.
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Yamauchi Kazutoyo
Yamauchi Kazutoyo (also spelled Yamanouchi; 1545/1546? – November 1, 1605) was a prominent samurai and retainer who served Oda Nobunaga and later Toyotomi Hideyoshi during Japan's Sengoku and Azuchi-Momoyama periods. His father, Yamauchi Moritoyo, was a descendant of Fujiwara no Hidesato and a senior retainer of the Iwakura Oda clan, which opposed Oda Nobunaga. Moritoyo was also the lord of Kuroda Castle in Owari Province. Kazutoyo is especially renowned for his marriage to Yamauchi Chiyo, whose wisdom and resourcefulness played a key role in his rise to prominence.
