Sagara Yorifusa (相良頼房)
Yorifusa SAGARA was busho (Japanese military commander) and daimyo (Japanese feudal lord) from the Azuchi Momoyama Period to the early Edo period. He was the family head of the Sagara clan who was daimyo of Higo Province in the Sengoku period and the first lord of the Hitoyoshi domain of Higo Province.
He was the second son of Yoshihi SAGARA. He was the family head of the Sagara clan. He was the first lord of the Hitoyoshi domain.
He was also called Nagatsune. His official rank was Jugoinoge (Junior Fifth Rank, Lower Grade), and his government post was Sahyoe no suke (Assistant Captain of the Left Division of Middle Palace Guards). His father Yoshihi's original name was Yorifusa.
Succession to the family
He was born as the second son of Yoshihi SAGARA on June 3, 1574. When his father Yoshihi was killed in battle in 1581, his brother Tadafusa SAGARA succeeded to the position of the family head of the Sagara clan, and Yorifusa was sent to Satsuma as a hostage of the Shimazu clan. However, he succeeded to the position of the family head at the age of 12 in 1585 due to Tadafusa's sudden death. Afterward, he followed the Shimazu clan and joined the army to attack the Otomo clan and so on.
The period of the Toyotomi clan
Yorifusa surrendered to the invasion army of Kyushu by Hideyoshi TOYOTOMI; however he obtained Shoryo Ando (act of providing authorization for land ownership and guaranteeing feudal tenure) through negotiations by the vassal Nagatomo FUKAMI, so that he managed to exist as a feudal lord. He joined the Bunroku Campaign in 1592 and Keicho Campaign in 1597. He achieved success as a troop under Kiyomasa KATO and was awarded a citation from Hideyoshi for the success.
From Sekigahara to Edo period
In the Battle of Sekigahara in 1600, Yorifusa was first on the side of West squad and rustled in Siege of Fushimi Castle. However, when the West squad was razed in the final battle on October 21, Yorifusa secretly held a meeting of betrayal with the East squad led by Ieyasu TOKUGAWA in Ogaki-jo Castle according to advice from the vassal Yorimori INDO. He killed Iezumi KAKIMI, a busho of the West squad, and others and surrendered to the East squad; he was allowed to survive by Ieyasy while obtaining Shoryo Ando to be the first lord of the Hitoyoshi clan with 20,000 koku (approximately 3.6 million liters of crop yield).
After that, Yorimori came to have the actual power in domain duties, and Yorifusa was frequently faced with conflicts among vassals, but he continued to dedicate himself to maintaining domain laws and duties. He died on July 15, 1636. He was 63 years old. His successor was his eldest son Yorihiro.