was a Japanese ''

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 nominall ...

'' of the early

Edo period The or is the period between 1603 and 1867 in the history of Japan, when Japan was under the rule of the Tokugawa shogunate and the country's 300 regional '' daimyo''. Emerging from the chaos of the Sengoku period, the Edo period was character ...

. His court title was '' Musashi no Kami''. Terumasa was also known by the nickname ''saigoku no shōgun'', or, "The ''Shōgun'' of Western Japan". Terumasa fought in many of the battles of the late Azuchi–Momoyama period, and due to his service at the

Battle of Sekigahara The Battle of Sekigahara (Shinjitai: ; Kyūjitai: , Hepburn romanization: ''Sekigahara no Tatakai'') was a decisive battle on October 21, 1600 ( Keichō 5, 15th day of the 9th month) in what is now Gifu prefecture, Japan, at the end of ...

, received a fief at Himeji. His childhood name was Araokojimaru (荒尾古新丸). He was the son of

Ikeda Tsuneoki , also known as Ikeda Nobuteru (池田信輝), was an Ikeda clan ''daimyō'' and military commander under Oda Nobunaga during the Sengoku period and Azuchi–Momoyama periods of 16th-century Japan. He was a retainer of the famous warlords Oda N ...

and brother of

Ikeda Sen Ikeda Sen (池田せん) or Annyo-in (若御前) was a late-Sengoku period onna-musha. She was the daughter of Ikeda Tsuneoki and the older sister of Ikeda Terumasa. Mori Nagayoshi (older brother of Mori Ranmaru) was her first husband. She was a wo ...

Biography

Terumasa was the 2nd son and heir of Ikeda Nobuteru, Terumasa held Ikejiri Castle (

Mino Province was a province of Japan in the area of Japan that is today southern Gifu Prefecture. Mino was bordered by Ōmi to the west, Echizen and Hida to the north, and Shinano to the east, and Ise, Mikawa, and Owari to the south. Its abbreviat ...

) and joined his father in fighting for Hideyoshi in the Battle of Komaki and Nagakute 1584, he led troops at Nagakute, the battle in which his father was killed. In 1590, following the transfer 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 ...

to the Kanto, Terumasa was established at Yoshida in Mikawa, a 152,000-''koku'' fief. In 1594 Terumasa married one of Tokugawa's daughters, and after Hideyoshi's death in 1598, the Ikeda drifted into Ieyasu's camp. When the

Sekigahara Campaign The Sekigahara Campaign was a series of battles in Japan fought between the Eastern Army aligned with Tokugawa Ieyasu and the Western Army loyal to Ishida Mitsunari, culminating in the decisive Battle of Sekigahara. The conflict was sparked ...

began in the fall of 1600, Terumasa immediately sided with his father-in-law, Tokugawa. On 28 September he competed with Fukushima Masanori to be the first to attack Gifu Castle, held by Oda Hidenobu. At the

, Ikeda commanded 4,560 troops in the rear guard and saw some desultory fighting with Chosokabe Morichika's contingent as the battle wound down. Following the Tokugawa victory, Terumasa was given a 520,000-''

koku The is a Chinese-based Japanese unit of volume. 1 koku is equivalent to 10 or approximately , or about . It converts, in turn, to 100 shō and 1000 gō. One ''gō'' is the volume of the "rice cup", the plastic measuring cup that is supplied ...

'' fief and the province of Harima. He expanded the

Himeji Castle is a hilltop Japanese castle complex situated in the city of Himeji which is located in the Hyōgo Prefecture of Japan. The castle is regarded as the finest surviving example of prototypical Japanese castle architecture, comprising a network o ...

, which he completed in 1609. In 1603 Bizen was added to Terumasa's territory, and this he assigned to his eldest son, Toshitaka (1584–1616).

Death

By the time of Terumasa's death in 1613, the Ikeda had grown to rule over Harima, Bizen, Inaba, and Awaji, with a combined income of around 1,000,000-''koku''. Following the death of Toshitaka, the Tokugawa Bakufu took steps to reduce the alarming power of the Ikeda and eventually reduced the family to Tottori (Inaba) and Okayama (Bizen).

Ōkanehira sword

Ōkanehira or Great Kanehira, refers to the extraordinary size of the

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 ...

's blade. Work of Kanehira from Bizen Province, owned by Ikeda Terumasa and passed down in the

Ikeda clan was a Japanese clan that claimed descent from Minamoto no Yorimitsu (948-1021) of the Seiwa Genji. Minamoto no Yasumasa, the fourth generation descending from Yorimitsu, and younger brother of Minamoto no Yorimasa (1104-1180), was the first to ...

Family

* Father:

* Mother: Zen'ōin *Sister:

* Wives: ** Itohime, daughter of Nakagawa Kiyohide ** Tokuhime (Tokugawa) * Concubines: ** Manganin ** Daughter of Ando clan * Children: ** Ikeda Toshitaka (1584–1616) by Itohime ** Ikeda Tadatsugu (1599–1615) by Tokuhime (Tokugawa) ** Ikeda Teruzumi (1604–1662) by Tokuhime (Tokugawa) ** Ikeda Masatsuna (1605–1631) by Tokuhime (Tokugawa) ** Ikeda Tadakatsu (1602–1632) by Tokuhime (Tokugawa) ** Ikeda Teruoki (1611–1647) by Tokuhime (Tokugawa) ** Chacha-hime married Kyogoku Takahiro by Tokuhime (Tokugawa) ** Furihime (1607–1659) married Date Tadamune by Tokuhime (Tokugawa) ** Ikeda Masatora (1590–1635) by Manganin ** Ikeda Toshimasa (1594–1639) by daughter of Ando clan ** Ikeda Terutaka

References

* Japanese Wikipedia article on Terumasa (23 October 2007)

Biography

Death

Ōkanehira sword

Family

References

Further reading