Shibukawa Yoshitaka (渋川義陸)
Yoshitaka SHIBUKAWA (渋川 義陸, year of birth unknown - September 23, 1538) was a busho (Japanese military commander) in the Sengoku period (period of warring states). His original family name was Genji (the Minamoto clan). His family lineage was the Shibukawa clan, that was a branch of the Ashikaga clan whose originator was MINAMOTO no Yoshikuni, a son of Chinju-fu shogun (Commander-in-Chief of the Defense of the North) MINAMOTO no Yoshiie, the head of Kawachi-Genji (the Minamoto clan in Kawachi Province), that was one of the family lineages of Seiwa-Genji (the Minamoto clan originated from Emperor Seiwa). In other words, he belonged to Ashikaga Shogun family Goikke (head and branch family of Ashikaga). He was the lord of Shodoyama-jo Castle in Bingo Province. His imina (personal name) was Yoshitaka. This name (義陸) included a Chinese character of Yoshi (義) which was conferred on him by the Shogun family as a henki (a portion of the name of a person in high rank, which is given to a retainer to show the subordination). His official court rank was Uemon no suke (Assistant Captain of the Right Division of Outer Palace Guards) of Jugoinoge (Junior Fifth Rank, Lower Grade). His hogo (posthumous Buddhist name) was Nyudo (lay-monk) Joei. He had some children and his legitimate son among them was Yoshimasa SHIBUKAWA. And his second son was Yorimoto SHIBUKAWA.
The Shibukawa clan was not only a branch of the Ashikaga clan, but also a birthplace of the seishitsu (legal wife) of Yoshiakira ASHIKAGA, the second Shogun of the Muromachi bakufu (Japanese feudal government headed by a shogun), so it was a family of pedigree that was treated as a family member of the Shogun family in the whole of the Ashikaga clan as well as the Kira clan, the Shiba clan and others. Mitsuyuki SHIBUKAWA named himself Mitsugi in his lifetime, so they were sometimes called by the family name Mitsugi. It is said that in addition to the territory of 494 koku (1 koku [石] is approx. 180 liters), 4 to (1 to [斗] is approx. 18 liters), 6 sho (1 sho [升] is approx. 1.8 liters), and 7 go (1 go [合] is approx. 0.18 liters) which they possessed in Mitsugi, Bingo Province, Yoshitaka's legitimate son Yoshimasa SHIBUKAWA owned 37 koku and 6 to in total in Takada, Aki Province and Mitani, Bingo Province.
In 1526, Yoshitaka constructed Shodoyama-jo Castle in the territory of Mitsugi Betsugu, or in the neighborhood of present-day Miu, Obata-cho, Mihara City, and from that time on, he made it the castle of the Bingo Shibukawa clan. In order to attempt to keep his power secure, Yoshitaka SHIBUKAWA deepened friendship with the Kobayakawa clan, a bakufu hokoshu (the shogunal military guard) and powerful kokujin (local lord) who owned territories in two provinces of Aki and Bingo, and in 1507, he transferred a part of the territory in Mitsugi to the family head Sukehira KOBAYAKAWA. Thanks to that, when he had his territory invaded by the Amago clan, he fought them off with the help of the reinforcement of the Kobayakawa clan.
He made his son Yoshimasa SHIBUKAWA take a daughter of Hiromoto MORI, a kokujin in Aki Province, to the seishitsu (legal wife) to try to keep his power. Besides, the Shibukawa clan owned territories scattered in various provinces and also managed the territory of Kyoto Daikomyo-ji Temple for generations, but it is known that they took great pains because they could not manage the territories as they expected.