Anegakoji Yoritsuna (姉小路頼綱)
Yoritsuna ANEGAKOJI (1540 – 1587) was a Japanese military commander and feudal lord who lived from the Sengoku period (period of Warring States [in Japan]) to the Azuchi Momoyama period. He was the first son of Yoshiyori ANEGAKOJI. His wife was a daughter of Dosan SAITO. Another name of his was Koretsuna MITSUGI. Also: Mitsuyori and Koreyori. He was the family head of the Anegakoji clan in Hida Province. He held positions such as Saemon no suke (assistant captain of the Left Division of Outer Palace Guards), Jiju (chamberlain), Dazai daini (senior assistant governor-general of Government Headquarters in Kyushu), Sakyo no daibu (master of the Eastern Capital Offices), Yamato no kami (the governor of Yamato Province) and Dainagon (chief councilor of state) (self-designation).
Summary
In 1559, Yoritsuna was handed the reins of the Anegakoji family by his father, starting to serve as provincial governor. In 1572, he departed for battle to Ecchu Province in compliance with Kenshin UESUGI, but in its aftermath, he inherited the reins of the family because of his father Yoshiyori's death.
In 1578, when Kenshin died, Yoritsuna joined with Nobunaga ODA and moved his headquarters to Matsukura-jo Castle in Hida. Many powerful local lords under his umbrella opposed him, switching their allegiance from the Uesugi clan to the Oda clan, but Yoritsuna managed to attack and destroy every one of them. Because of that, the more territories the head family of the Anegakoji clan took over, the lesser their support, and the Anegakoji clan's power weakened as a result. Also, in 1579, Yoritsuna began to suspect that his first son, Nobutsuna Anegakoji, would launch a rebellion, and so killed him (some people say it happened in 1583). Under ODA's umbrella, he cooperated with Narimasa SASSA in his Ecchu invasion.
In 1582, when Nobunaga died at the Honnoji Incident, he attacked his enemies Terumori EMA and the Kojima clan, as well as his real younger brother Akitsuna NABEYAMA, conquering Hida thoroughly. After that, he came into conflict with Hideyoshi TOYOTOMI, taking sides with Katsuie SHIBATA and Narimasa SASSA. A consequence of this was that he provoked an invasion by Nagachika KANAMORI, under the order from Hideyoshi; Takado-jo Castle in Hida, in which he had taken refuge, was attacked, and he surrendered (the Battle of Toyama). As a result, the Anegakoji clan as a Japanese territorial lord in the Sengoku period went to ruin thoroughly. Many of his family including his son, Hidetsuna ANEGAKOJI, killed themselves, but Yoritsuna survived, was confined in Kyoto, and died there in 1587.
Apparently his last son, Chikatsuna MITSUGI, became hatamoto (direct retainer of the bakufu, which is a form of Japanese feudal government headed by a shogun) of the Tokugawa clan.