Tsutsui Junkei (March 31, 1549 – September 15, 1584), the son of Tsutsui Junsho, was a daimyo who ruled over Yamato Province. In 1571, through the mediation of Akechi Mitsuhide, Junkei pledged his service to Oda Nobunaga.
Earlier in his career, in 1565, he was defeated by Matsunaga Hisahide, a powerful local warlord, who seized Tsutsui Castle. However, in 1566, Junkei successfully reclaimed the castle after a battle with Hisahide, though he was soon forced to abandon it by order of Nobunaga.
In 1575, Junkei participated in Nobunaga's campaign against the Echizen Ikko-ikki, serving alongside other forces from Yamato under Harada Naomasa. Two years later, in 1577, he joined Oda Nobutada, Akechi Mitsuhide, and Hosokawa Fujitaka in the Siege of Shigisan, where they defeated Hisahide at Mount Shigi.
By 1578, Junkei had been appointed as the daimyo of Yamato and was permitted to construct Koriyama Castle, located in present-day Yamatokoriyama, Nara. He continued to serve in Nobunaga's campaigns, including the Siege of Itami in 1579 against Araki Murashige and the Tensho Iga War in 1581 during the Siege of Hijiyama, against the Iga Sokoku Ikki.
During the Battle of Yamazaki in 1582, Junkei remained neutral, choosing not to align with either side. He famously waited for the outcome at "Hora ga toge," a decision that led to the expression "to sit on Hora ga toge," meaning to remain undecided.
In 1584, during the Komaki Campaign against Tokugawa Ieyasu, Junkei fought on the side of Toyotomi Hideyoshi, who later confirmed his rule over Yamato. However, Junkei died of illness on September 15, 1584. After his death, his cousin and adopted son, Tsutsui Sadatsugu, succeeded him, but the Tsutsui clan soon lost control of Yamato to Toyotomi Hidenaga, Hideyoshi's half-brother. Sadatsugu was later relocated to Iga Province by Hideyoshi's orders.
See also
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Imabari Castle
Tōdō Takatora (1556–1630) served at different times as a vassal of several famous clans—Azai, Oda, Toyotomi, and Tokugawa. He took part in the Battle of Anegawa (1570), the Battle of Shizugatake (1583), the invasions of Kyushu and Korea, the Sekigahara campaign (1600), and the Siege of Osaka (1614–1615).
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Iwakuni Castle
Kikkawa Hiroie (1561–1625) was the grandson of the famous daimyo Mori Motonari and a vassal of the Mori clan. Under Mori Terumoto, he fought in both Korean campaigns and took part in the defense of Ulsan Castle. During the Battle of Sekigahara, Hiroie stood with his 3,000-man force on the side of the Western Coalition; however, even before the battle began, he sent Tokugawa Ieyasu a secret message stating that he did not intend to fight Tokugawa’s troops. As a result of his inaction, 15,000 soldiers under Mori Hidemoto were also unable to enter the battle, since Hiroie blocked their path.
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Gujo Hachiman Castle
Gujo Hachiman Castle is located on 350-meter Mount Hachiman, near the confluence of the Yoshidagawa and Kodaragava rivers, and not far from the Nagaragawa River. During the Sengoku period, this area was of great strategic importance: it stood at a key crossroads of routes connecting Mino Province in the south with the Sea of Japan in the north, and Hida Province in the east with Echizen Province in the west.
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Amagasaki Castle
The founding year of Amagasaki Castle is traditionally considered to be 1617, when Toda Ujikané built his castle here, making it the administrative center of the Amagasaki Domain. However, as early as the Sengoku period, a fortress built by the Hosokawa clan already stood on this site. After the fall of Itami Castle in 1579, Araki Murashige—formerly a vassal of Oda Nobunaga who had rebelled against him—fled to this earlier castle.
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Hiroshima Castle
Mōri Terumoto (1553–1625) was the grandson and rightful heir of the renowned Mōri Motonari. When Terumoto became the head of the Mōri clan in 1571, he inherited vast territories covering a large part of the San’in and San’yō regions in western Honshū. In addition, the Mōri clan possessed the largest and most technologically advanced naval fleet of its time.
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Fukuyama Castle
After the defeat of Toyotomi Hideyori’s supporters in the Osaka Campaigns of 1614–1615, many clans in Japan still remained not fully loyal to the Tokugawa shogunate, especially in the western Chūgoku region. Mizuno Katsunari (1564–1651), a cousin of Tokugawa Ieyasu, became the first of the Tokugawa house’s close retainers, the so-called fudai daimyō, to be relocated to this strategically important area.
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Tiba Castle
The founder of the Chiba clan is considered to be Chiba Tsunesige (1083–1180), who in 1126 moved his residence to the Inohana area and built a strongly fortified stronghold there. Although Tsunesige himself came from the Taira clan, the Chiba clan later supported Minamoto no Yoritomo, the future founder of the first shogunate.
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Sunomata Castle
Oda Nobunaga, as part of his “final solution” to the conflict with the Saitō clan, conceived the construction of a fort in the Sunomata area, which was intended to serve as a forward base for an attack on Inabayama Castle (later renamed Gifu). Sunomata was a swampy area located between Ogaki Castle, a stronghold of the Oda clan, and Inabayama, the main fortress of the Saitō clan. Earlier attempts to build fortifications in this area, carried out by Oda generals Sakuma Nobumori and Shibata Katsuie, had all ended in failure. After that, the task was entrusted to the young vassal Kinoshita Tokichirō, who later became known as Toyotomi Hideyoshi.
