Kiso Yoshimasa

Kiso Yoshimasa (木曾義昌, 1540 - April 26, 1595) was a retainer beneath the Takeda clan of Kai Province during the latter Sengoku period of Feudal Japan. Son to Kiso Yoshiyasu--a former warlord over Shinano Province who initially failed in an attempt to prevent Takeda Shingen from expanding into his province--Yoshimasa was allowed control over his father's Fukushima Castle, which was within the Kiso region of Shinano. Serving as a respective retainer under the Takeda clan following the point at which he and his father had submitted to the Shingen, the former gave Yoshimasa one of his daughters, who the latter would thus marry, ensuring that the two families were thus politically connected. However, by the year of 1582 Shingen had already been long dead, and the new heir over Takeda--Katsuyori--was on the verge of destruction; so Yoshimasa, knowing that it would be of greater advantage to join the ranks of the influential and power Oda Nobunaga as opposed to remaining as a vassal beneath a clan that already lost half of its retainers, gave back his wife to the Takeda and abandoned his domain in favor of the Oda. Even though Katsuyori initially sent an order to submit Yoshimasa from his intentions, by means of sending a small army Yoshimasa evaded this attempt, supporting the Oda/Tokugawa alliance as they desolated the Takeda's holdings following his defection -- much to Nobunaga's satisfaction. After Nobunaga's death Yoshimasa then served Toyotomi Hideyoshi, who transferred the former's holdings to Shimōsa-Ajie in 1590. Yoshimasa died there in 1595, and was succeeded by his son Yoshitoshi.

References

1. Kiso Yoshimasa - SamuraiWiki. (Samurai Archives) FWSeal & CEWest, 2005