Imagawa Yoshimoto

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Imagawa Yoshimoto (今川義元, 1519-1560) was one of the leading daimyo (feudal lords) in Suruga Province along the Tōkaidō road, Japan. He first left home as a young boy. Unrest broke out when his older brother Ujiteru was killed. Yoshimoto spent some contemplative time as a monk, but returned to secular life, whereupon he slew his mother and brother-in-law. His relations with the Hōjō clan worsened when he married Takeda Nobutora’s daughter. He repelled the Hōjō, and wrested control of a wide area including Suruga, Totomi, and Mikawa. Later, Imagawa established a three-way alliance with Takeda and Hōjō, and set out toward the capital with Matsudaira Motoyasu of Mikawa. However, Yoshimoto was killed by a surprise attack by Oda Nobunaga at the Battle of Okehazama. Afterward, the Matsudaira declared independence from the Imagawa clan and allied with Nobunaga.

Yoshimoto’s Officers:

Matsudaira Motoyasu
Okabe Motonobu
Abe Motozane
Matsui Munenobu
Udono Nagateru
Asahina Yasutomo
Ichinomiya Munekore
Ii Naochika
Ii Naomori
Iio Tsuratatsu
Iio Noritsura
Itami Yasunao
Katsurayama Ujimoto
Yamaguchi Noritsugu
Yamaguchi Noriyoshi
Yokoe Magohachi
Taigen Sessai
Miura Yoshinari

[edit] Appearances in popular fiction

Yoshimoto Imagawa is a playable character in the Koei action game Samurai Warriors: Xtreme Legends. He also appeared early on in the company's action-strategy game Kessen III. Both games depict Imagawa as a childish dandy, although Samurai Warriors takes this to an extreme by giving him a kemari (a Japanese kickball), which he uses as a weapon (though he used a sword in the original Samurai Warriors game). In his story mode ending, Yoshimoto miraculously manages to defeat both Shingen Takeda and Nobunaga Oda in Kyoto, and then plays kemari to his heart's content in front of the other warlords who look on in bemusement and disgust.

Yoshimoto is also featured as an unplayable character in the Japanese action game Sengoku Basara (as well as the sequel). The game was heavily retooled for the western market and renamed Devil Kings, eliminating all references to Japanese history. Yoshimoto's character thus became Muri.