Imagawa Yoshimoto | 徳

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Imagawa Yoshimoto

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Imagawa Yoshimoto

Ruler of the Tokaido, Guardian of Suruga

1519-1560 · 享年 41歳

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Three Surprising Facts

其一

The Battle of Okehazama — Imagawa Yoshimoto's Final Moments and Nobunaga's Miraculous Victory

Imagawa Yoshimoto, called 'the foremost archer of the Tokaido highway,' was the hegemon of the Tokaido and in 1560 led a great army of about 25,000 toward Kyoto. However, at Okehazama (present-day Aichi Prefecture) in heavy rain, he was ambushed by Oda Nobunaga's mere 2-3,000 troops, his main camp was penetrated, and he was killed. This 'Miracle of Okehazama' made Nobunaga's name known throughout the land and greatly redrew the Sengoku power map. Yoshimoto's death caused the rapid decline of the Imagawa clan.

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生

Full Biography

From birth to death

Born the fifth son of Imagawa Ujichika, guardian of Suruga Province, he was raised for the priesthood but became head of the Imagawa clan after his brother's sudden death. With excellent administrative skill he promulgated the Imagawa Kana Mokuroku law code and organized domain governance, growing into one of the preeminent daimyo of the warring states period, controlling Suruga, Totomi, and Mikawa provinces. He concluded the Tripartite Alliance with Takeda Shingen and Hojo Ujiyasu to secure his rear, and watched for the right moment to march on Kyoto. Highly cultured, he loved renga poetry and kemari football and transplanted Kyoto court culture to Sunpu. In 1560 he led an army of 25,000 into Owari aiming for the capital, but in the narrow terrain of Okehazama, amid a heavy rainstorm, he was struck by a surprise attack by Oda Nobunaga — bypassing the forward lines of Matsudaira Motoyasu (later Ieyasu) — and killed near Kutsukake at Dengakuhazama. He was 42.

人

Personality

A cultivated and refined figure who valued strategy and culture over martial valor. He favored courtly dress and make-up and held a strong admiration for Kyoto culture. As an administrator he was also a rational ruler who established strict legal institutions. Militarily he was cautious by nature; while some say complacency cost him at Okehazama, the prevailing modern view is that his overwhelming numerical superiority bred overconfidence.

義

Historical Significance

The Imagawa Kana Mokuroku is highly regarded as a pioneer among the regional law codes of the warring states period and influenced the legal systems of later daimyo such as the Takeda and Hojo. His death triggered the rise of Oda Nobunaga and a turning point in the Sengoku era, and also provided the opportunity for his retainer Matsudaira Motoyasu to gain independence and eventually found the Edo Shogunate. In recent years his traditional image as an effete aristocratic imitation has been reconsidered, and he is being reassessed as an outstanding administrator and man of culture.

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Jokein

Takeda Nobutora's daughter

Yoshimoto

Greatest Archer of Tokaido

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Ujizane

Kemari master, Fall of Imagawa

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事

Related Historical Events

1560

Battle of Okehazama

On the 19th day of the 5th month of 1560, at Okehazama in Owari Province (present-day Nagoya and Toyoake, Aichi), Oda Nobunaga crushed Imagawa Yoshimoto — lord of Suruga, Tōtōmi, and Mikawa — in one of the most famous surprise attacks in Japanese military history. Yoshimoto, bent on marching to Kyoto, had invaded Owari with about 25,000 troops, with Matsudaira Motoyasu (the future Tokugawa Ieyasu) as his vanguard storming the Narumi and Ōdaka castle area. Nobunaga mustered only some 3,000 men, but when scouts reported that Yoshimoto's main force was resting in the Okehazama basin, he rushed out from Kiyosu Castle and, under cover of a torrential downpour, fell upon the Imagawa camp and killed Yoshimoto — reportedly by the hand of Mōri Shinsuke. In only a few hours of fighting, the mighty Imagawa clan was broken, and Motoyasu, stranded in Mikawa, broke free from Imagawa and allied with Nobunaga (the Kiyosu Alliance). From this battle, the minor daimyo Oda Nobunaga began his march toward national unification, transforming the map of Sengoku Japan.

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