was a pre-eminent ''

daimyō were powerful Japanese magnates, feudal lords who, from the 10th century to the early Meiji period in the middle 19th century, ruled most of Japan from their vast, hereditary land holdings. They were subordinate to the shogun and nominal ...

'' (feudal lord) in the

Sengoku period The was a period in History of Japan, Japanese history of near-constant civil war and social upheaval from 1467 to 1615. The Sengoku period was initiated by the Ōnin War in 1467 which collapsed the Feudalism, feudal system of Japan under the ...

Japan. Based in Suruga Province, he was known as . he was one of the three ''daimyōs'' that dominated the Tōkaidō region. He died in 1560 while marching to Kyoto to become Shōgun. He was killed in the village of Dengakuhazama in Okehazama by Oda Nobunaga.

Early life and succession

Yoshimoto was born in 1519, the third son of

Imagawa Ujichika was a Japanese ''daimyō'' of the Sengoku period. He was the 10th head of the Imagawa clan of Suruga Province. Ujichika was the son of Imagawa Yoshitada. He was the husband of Jukei-ni. Biography In 1476, Ujichika father, Yoshitada, invaded ...

of the

Imagawa clan was a Japanese samurai clan that claimed descent from the Seiwa Genji by way of the Kawachi Genji. It was a branch of the Minamoto clan by the Ashikaga clan. Origins Ashikaga Kuniuji, grandson of Ashikaga Yoshiuji, established himself in ...

-which claimed descent from

Emperor Seiwa was the 56th emperor of Japan,Imperial Household Agency (''Kunaichō'') 清和天皇 (56)/ref> according to the traditional order of succession. Seiwa's reign spanned the years from 858 through 876.He was also the predecessor of Takeda ryu. T ...

(850–880). His childhood name was Yosakimaru (芳菊丸). His family branched from

Minamoto clan was one of the surnames bestowed by the Emperors of Japan upon members of the imperial family who were excluded from the line of succession and demoted into the ranks of the nobility from 1192 to 1333. The practice was most prevalent during th ...

by the

Ashikaga clan The was a prominent Japanese samurai clan which established the Muromachi shogunate and ruled Japan from roughly 1333 to 1573. The Ashikaga were descended from a branch of the Minamoto clan, deriving originally from the town of Ashikaga ...

. As he was not the eldest son, he was not an heir to his father's lordship. As a result, the young boy was sent to a temple where his name was changed to or . In 1536, his older brother Ujiteru died suddenly, unleashing successional disputes. His elder half-brother, , tried to seize the lordship, but the clan split into two factions. Yoshimoto's faction argued he was the rightful heir because Yoshimoto's mother (

Jukei-ni Jukei-ni (寿桂尼, d. April 11, 1568) was a Japanese noble lady who acted as the power behind the throne or ''de facto'' daimyo of the Imagawa clan during the Sengoku period. She was born in the aristocrat Nakamikado Family of Kyoto. Jukei-ni was ...

) was the consort of Ujichika. Genkō Etan's faction disputed this based on Genkō's seniority, and that his mother was a member of the Kushima family. However, the Genkō faction was eliminated in the ."Suruga Imagawa-shi" on Harimaya.com
(12 July 2008) Baigaku Shōhō changed his name to Yoshimoto at this point and succeeded the clan.

Imagawa Campaigns

After Yoshimoto succeeded to family headship, he married the sister of

Takeda Shingen , of Kai Province, was a pre-eminent ''daimyō'' in feudal Japan. Known as the "Tiger of Kai", he was one of the most powerful daimyō with exceptional military prestige in the late stage of the Sengoku period. Shingen was a warlord of great ...

of Kai. This allowed Yoshimoto to cement an alliance with the Takeda when he helped Shingen imprison his father,

Takeda Nobutora was a Japanese ''daimyō'' (feudal lord) who controlled the Province of Kai, and fought in a number of battles of the Sengoku period. He was the father of the famous Takeda Shingen. Biography Nobutora’s son was Harunobu, later known as Tak ...

, in 1540. Soon after,

Later Hōjō clan The was one of the most powerful samurai families in Japan in the Sengoku period and held domains primarily in the Kantō region. Their last name was simply Hōjō (北条) but in order to differentiate between the earlier Hōjō clan with the s ...

invaded into the Suruga province but Yoshimoto defeated Later Hōjō's force. In 1542, Yoshimoto began his advance into

Mikawa Province was an old province in the area that today forms the eastern half of Aichi Prefecture. Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005). "''Mikawa''" in . Its abbreviated form name was . Mikawa bordered on Owari, Mino, Shinano, and Tōtōmi Provinces. Mi ...

, in an effort to fight the growing influence of

Oda Nobuhide was a Japanese ''daimyō'' and magistrate of the Sengoku period known as "Tiger of Owari" and also the father of Oda Nobunaga the first "Great Unifier" of Japan. Nobuhide was a deputy ''shugo'' (Shugodai) of lower Owari Province and head of the ...

in that region, but was defeated in the

Battle of Azukizaka (1542) In the First Oda Nobuhide defeated Imagawa Yoshimoto, setting the stage for his son, Oda Nobunaga, to become one of Japan's greatest warlords. Despite the defeat, later in 1548, Imagawa defeated Nobuhide in the Second Battle of Azukizaka and c ...

. Later in 1548, Yoshimoto defeated Nobuhide in the Second Battle of Azukizaka and continued to expand his territory until 1560. In campaigns over the course of the ensuing decades, Yoshimoto wrested control over the Suruga, Totomi, and Mikawa provinces. In 1552, Shingen's son,

Takeda Yoshinobu was a Japanese ''daimyō'' of the Sengoku period. Born Takeda Tarō (武田太郎), he was the son of Takeda Shingen, by Shingen's wife, . He came of age in 1550, and took the formal name of Yoshinobu, receiving the "yoshi" from the 13th Ashikag ...

, married Yoshimoto's daughter. Yoshimoto and the Hōjō clan reached a peace agreement in 1554 with the marriage of Yoshimoto's son, Ujizane, to the daughter of

Hōjō Ujiyasu was a ''daimyō'' (warlord) and third head of the Odawara Hōjō clan. Known as the "Lion of Sagami", he was revered as a fearsome warrior and a cunning man. He is famous for his strategies of breaking the siege from Takeda Shingen and Uesugi K ...

Lady Hayakawa Lady Hayakawa (早川殿, ''Hayakawa-Dono'', died April 4, 1613) was a Japanese woman and aristocrat of the Sengoku period. Hayakawa is a common nickname for one of ''Daimyō'' Hōjō Ujiyasu's daughters, who lived in the Sengoku through early ...

. In 1554, the Imagawa clan came to the west and built the Muraki Castle in the southeast of Owari, besieging

Mizuno Nobumoto was a daimyō of Japan's Sengoku period. He was a son of Mizuno Tadamasa, and brother of Mizuno Tadashige. He is Tokugawa Ieyasu's uncle through Matsudaira Hirotada's marriage to his sister, Odai no Kata. In 1542, Nobumoto sided with Oda Nobuhid ...

(uncle of

Tokugawa Ieyasu was the founder and first ''shōgun'' of the Tokugawa Shogunate of Japan, which ruled Japan from 1603 until the Meiji Restoration in 1868. He was one of the three "Great Unifiers" of Japan, along with his former lord Oda Nobunaga and fello ...

) in his castle of Ogawa, who defected from the Imagawa in favor of an alliance with Oda Nobunaga. In 1558, Yoshimoto send

Matsudaira Motoyasu was the founder and first ''shōgun'' of the Tokugawa Shogunate of Japan, which ruled Japan from 1603 until the Meiji Restoration in 1868. He was one of the three "Great Unifiers" of Japan, along with his former lord Oda Nobunaga and fellow ...

to attack Terabe Castle, but were driven off by reinforcements sent by Oda Nobunaga. Later, Yoshimoto left the clan's political affairs in

Imagawa Ujizane was a Japanese ''daimyō'' who lived in the Sengoku through early Edo periods. He was the tenth head of the Imagawa clan, and was a son of Imagawa Yoshimoto and the father of Imagawa Norimochi and Shinagawa Takahisa. Biography Ujizane was ...

's hands, in order to focus on dealing with the advance westward into Mikawa and Owari.

Death

Battle of Okehazama

The grave of Yoshimoto Imagawa in Okehazama

In the summer of 1560, after forming a three-way alliance with the Takeda and the Hōjō, Yoshimoto headed out to the capital with

(later known as 'Tokugawa Ieyasu') of Mikawa in the vanguard.Naramoto, p. 254. Despite having a strong force of 25,000, Yoshimoto deliberately announced that he had 40,000 troops. While this statement put fear in many factions, Oda Nobunaga of Owari Province saw through it. (Some historical sources support the claim of 40,000.) After capturing several castles from the Oda clan, Yoshimoto's army let its guard down, celebrating with song and

sake Sake, also spelled saké ( ; also referred to as Japanese rice wine), is an alcoholic beverage of Japanese origin made by fermenting rice that has been polished to remove the bran. Despite the name ''Japanese rice wine'', sake, and indee ...

. However, a surprise attack by the Oda Nobunaga army of 3,000 following a downpour left Yoshimoto's army in complete disorder. Two Oda samurai (Mōri Shinsuke and Hattori Koheita) ambushed the Imagawa army and killed Yoshimoto in the village of Dengakuhazama.

succeeded to family headship after Yoshimoto's death,Naramoto, p. 259. but the Imagawa clan fell from power. Ujizane was later summoned by

and became a '' kōke'' in the administration of the

Tokugawa clan The is a Japanese dynasty that was formerly a powerful ''daimyō'' family. They nominally descended from Emperor Seiwa (850–880) and were a branch of the Minamoto clan (Seiwa Genji) through the Matsudaira clan. The early history of this clan r ...

. Yoshimoto's niece was Lady Tsukiyama, the wife of

. Yoshimoto has several graves; his body itself is buried at Daisei-ji, a temple in the city of

Toyokawa is a city in the eastern part of Aichi Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 183,930 in 72,949 households, and a population density of 1,141 persons per km2. The total area of the city is . Toyokawa, famous for its Toyoka ...

in modern

Aichi Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located in the Chūbu region of Honshū. Aichi Prefecture has a population of 7,552,873 () and a geographic area of with a population density of . Aichi Prefecture borders Mie Prefecture to the west, Gifu Prefectur ...

Family

* Father:

* Mother:

(d. 1568). * Wife: Jōkei-in (1519–1550) * Concubine:

Ii Naohira II is the Roman numeral for 2. II may also refer to: Biology and medicine * Image intensifier, medical imaging equipment * Invariant chain, a polypeptide involved in the formation and transport of MHC class II protein *Optic nerve, the second ...

's daughter * Children: **

by Jōkei-in ** Chotoku Ichigetsu (d. 1625) by Jōkei-in ** Reishō-in (d. 1612) married

by Jōkei-in ** Daughter (隆福院) ** daughter married Mure Katsushige

Appearances in popular fiction

''See People of the Sengoku period in popular culture.'' He is a playable character in '' Pokémon Conquest'' (Pokémon + Nobunaga's Ambition in Japan), with his partner Pokémon being Pineco and Forretress. In the ''

Samurai Warriors is the first title in the series of hack and slash video games created by Koei's Omega Force team based closely around the Sengoku ("Warring States") period of Japanese history and it is a sister series of the ''Dynasty Warriors'' series, relea ...

'' series, Yoshimoto is represented as a foolish old-fashioned nobleman. His weapon is a

kemari is an athletic game that was popular in Japan during the Heian (794–1185) and Kamakura period (1185–1333). It resembles a game of football or hacky sack. The game was popular in Kyoto, the capital, and the surrounding Kinki ( Kansai ...

which is inspired by his son, Ujizane's historical obsession towards kemari. In ''

Samurai Warriors 5 ''Samurai Warriors 5'', known in Japan as , is a hack and slash game by Koei Tecmo, and a reboot of the ''Samurai Warriors'' series, part of the long-running '' Warriors'' series of hack and slash games published by Koei Tecmo. Announced during a ...

'', however, where he fights with a

warhammer Warhammer may refer to: * War hammer, a medieval weapon Warhammer media franchise *''Warhammer'', a series of games and related media: ** ''Warhammer'' (game), a table-top fantasy miniature wargame, and origin of the franchise ** ''Warhammer Fan ...

and his ancestral

katana A is a Japanese sword characterized by a curved, single-edged blade with a circular or squared guard and long grip to accommodate two hands. Developed later than the '' tachi'', it was used by samurai in feudal Japan and worn with the edge f ...

Samonji, he is instead portrayed as an arrogant but effective leader who is a persistent threat to the young Oda Nobunaga, even defeating him in combat in one battle and forcing the Oda army to withdraw, before his eventual defeat at Okehazama. A female version of Yoshimoto appears in anime

The Ambition of Oda Nobuna is a Japanese light novel series written by Mikage Kasuga and illustrated by Miyama-Zero. It was adapted into an anime television series animated by Madhouse and Studio Gokumi that aired from July to September 2012. Sentai Filmworks licen ...

. In this version, instead of dying Yoshimoto is spared and later installed as a figurehead Shōgun to legitimize Nobuna's claim to Kyoto. In

Sengoku Basara is a series of video games developed and published by Capcom, and a bigger media franchise based on it, including four anime shows, an anime movie, a live action show, a magazine series, a trading card game, and numerous drama CDs, light nov ...

game and anime series, he was shown to be a weak leader, using his vassals as decoys while trying to retreat. In anime version, he was killed by Oda Nobunaga.

References

External links

*
"Suruga Imagawa-shi" on Harimaya.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Imagawa, Yoshimoto 1519 births 1560 deaths Daimyo Rinzai Buddhists Japanese warriors killed in battle Imagawa clan Japanese Buddhist clergy