Miyoshi Nagayasu (三好長逸)
Nagayasu MIYOSHI was a busho (Japanese military commander) in the Sengoku period (period of warring states) (his dates of birth and death are unknown, although he was believed to have died in 1573). He was from the Miyoshi clan. He was a Hyuga no kami (the governor of Hyuga Province). He was known as Magoshiro and may have had another name, Nagayori. He was a member of the Miyoshi sanninshu (three chief retainers of the Miyoshi clan) and played the role of a leader.
He was believed to be from the Miyoshi family and a grandson of Yukinaga MIYOSHI as well as a son of Nagamitsu MIYOSHI (Nagamitsu AKUTAGAWA). He had a son, Hisasuke MIYOSHI (三好久助), who was also known as Hisasuke (久介) and Nagamasa (長将).
His date of birth is unknown, but Yukinaga, who was believed to be his grandfather, and Nagamitsu, who was believed to his father, were killed in war in 1520, so his date of birth would have been earlier than the date of his father's death if he was Nagamitsu's son.
Nagayasu MIYOSHI accepted Shigenori ARIMA's request from the position of a member of the Miyoshi clan who served Nagayoshi MIYOSHI. Nagayasu attacked Harima Province and subdued Harumichi HATANO in Tanba Province (Nagayasu lost the war and Nagayori MATSUNAGA took his place), and also contributed to the expansion of Nagahoshi's sphere of influence. Following Nagayoshi's orders, he also fought against the 13th Shogun Yoshiteru ASHIKAGA, who was defying Nagayoshi. Around 1558, Nagayasu, who was most relied upon by Nagayoshi in the Miyoshi clan, was appointed as the castellan of Ioka Castle in Yamashiro Province to govern the southern half of Yamashiro Province. He was included in the Domei-shu (family of Miyoshi) and promoted to the rank of Jushii (Senior Fourth Rank) sooner than Yoshitaka MIYOSHI and Hidehisa MATSUNAGA, so it is understood that he assumed a very important role in the Miyoshi family.
After Nagayoshi died, he supported the young head of the family, Yoshitsugu MIYOSHI allied with other Miyoshi sanninshu and Hisahide MATSUNAGA, and ultimately assassinated Yoshiteru ASHIKAGA in 1565 (the Eiroku no Hen) (Conspiracy of Eiroku). However, his relations with Yoshitsugu MIYOSHI and Hisahide MATSUNAGA gradually worsened as a result of the leadership struggles in the Miyoshi family, and they went to war in 1566.
During the battle, Todai-ji Temple, which was occupied by the Miyoshi sanninshu's army for use as an outpost, was attacked by Matsunaga's soldiers and burnt down in 1567. Ten days later, Nagayasu's son, Hisasuke was killed in Fugendani, Yamashiro Province by Matsunaga's troops. Although he encountered resistance from the soldiers on the Yoshitsugu and Matsunaga side, the war seemed to go overall favorably for the Miyoshi sanninshu.
In 1568, Nobunaga ODA collected a large army of 60,000 soldiers and travelled to Kyoto, and he declared Yoshiaki ASHIKAGA, whom the Miyoshi army had failed to grab in Eiroku Incident, as a leader. Miyoshi sanninshu took a confrontational stance against these movements together with Yoshitaka ROKKAKU, the Kokujin-shu (local samurais) in Ki Province and Koya-san who had been long-time enemies. Meanwhile, Yoshitsugu MIYOSHI and Hisahide MATSUNAGA were in a worsening situation because of an attack from the Miyoshi sanninshu; thus, they soon capitulated to Nobunaga.
Battles which broke out in the Miyoshi family after Nagayoshi's death seemed to have an adverse effect on the family; after Nobunaga ODA's journey to Kyoto, the Kokujin-shu and the bakufu's hokoshu (a military post in Muromachi Shogunate), who sided with the Miyoshi sannishu, switched to the Nobunaga's side one after another. In the Honkoku-ji no Hen (Conspiracy of Honkoku-ji Temple) in 1569, Nagayasu MIYOSHI ambushed Katsumasa IKEDA, Yusai HOSOKAWA and Yoshitugu MIYOSHI's force of 3,000 soldiers coming from Ikeda, Settsu Province to support the Oda side near the Katsura-gawa River; however, he lost the battle after fierce fighting (the Battle of Katsura-gawa), reducing the Miyoshi sanninshu's sphere of influence up to the home country, Awa Province.
In 1570, however, Nagayasu organized Miyoshi's troops in Shikoku along with Nagafusa SHINOHARA and attempted to fight them back again. In June of the same year he advanced his troops to Settsu Province (the Battle of Noda and Fukushima) at the request of Ikeda Nijuichininshu (Twenty-one elite retainers of Miyoshi), including Murashige ARAKI, who had ousted the castellan of Settsu Ikeda Castle due to a rebellion there. Nagayasu and the Miyoshi army, whose home bases were Noda Castle and Fukushima Castle, fiercely resisted in the continuous battles known as 'Genki Soran,' however, Nobunaga's attacks were so relentless that they triggered a sense of crisis in Ishiyama Hongwan-ji Temple, with their main base in Settsu, which was also opposed Nobunaga; finally they were prompted to join the anti-Nobunaga armies (outbreak of Ishiyama Gassen). Supported by the join of the Kishu force and Ikko-Ikki riot and taking advantage of offensive actions taken by the allied Asai clan and Asakura clan forces which were serving as back forces for the Oda side in Omi Province, the Miyoshi army was successful in temporarily expelling the Oda army from Settu Province and Kawachi Province. But, the Miyoshi army had no additional energies to fight more wars, and the Miyoshi army and other anti-Oda forces reached a reconciliation arrangement with Nobunaga in November of the same year.
That reconciliation arrangement was broken as early as the next year, and Nagayoshi put his base in Settsu and Kawachi and played a role to establish an encirclement against Nobunaga in cooperation with Ishiyama Hongan-ji Temple. In his home country, Awa, the whole Miyoshi family faced conflicts and confusion after the murder of Nagafusa SHINOHARA by Nagaharu MIYOSHI, so the Miyoshi army gradually lost power and strength without being able to take any positive measures.
In 1573, Yoshiaki ASHIKAGA stood against Oda by himself and Yoshitsugu MIYOSHI and Hisahide MATSUNAGA soon followed him, and this marked the first time for the entire Miyoshi clan to come together against Oda. However, because Shingen TAKEDA's death from illness in the same year struck a fatal blow to the side opposed to Oda, all forces opposed to Oda in the Kinai, including the Miyoshi clan, soon fell apart also.
He lost a battle against the forces sent by Nobunaga in Settsu Nakashima Castle, and his escape from the castle marked the last that was ever heard from Nagayasu MIYOSHI. It is also believed that he was killed in that battle, but there are no historical sources to ascertain the truth.
There also exist several stories about his later days where he was said to have retired or been confined; at the same time, there is a case in which Masayasu MIYOSHI disappeared from any historical materials for forty years only to abruptly appear again in the same materials.