Horio Yoshiharu

Foot soldier to Military Commander and Daimyo,

Horio Yoshiharu, Daimyo of Matsue, died on this day, July 26, 1611

Horio Yoshiharu was a Sengoku to early Edo period military commander and daimyo, born in Gogusho Village, Oguchi Town, Niwa County in Owari Province, (now part of Toyota City, Aichi Prefecture) in 1542. His father had been a highly ranked vassal of the Iwakura Oda clan, the shugodai or military governors of upper Owari, and rivals of Oda Nobunaga, who later defeated his kinsmen, in turn forcing Yoshiharu’s father to become a ronin, a masterless samurai. In 1559, Yoshiharu made a name for himself by taking the lead in his first battle, the Battle of Iwakura Castle, after which he came into the employ of Nobunaga as he unified Owari, although as a lowly foot soldier attached to the army of Toyotomi Hideyoshi.