Yusa Naganori (遊佐 長教, 1491 – 1554) was a pre-eminent daimyō of Sengoku Period Japan. Head of the Yusa Clan, Naganori was a prominent vassal to Hatakeyama Yoshikuni. Naganori served Yoshikuni as a minor Kokujin ryoshu in southern Kawachi Province. Although the Yusa were not at first considered a major vassal of the Hatakeyama, through Naganori's shrewd leadership and administration they came to be acknowledged as a powerful jizamurai clan. However, despite Yoshikuni's trust in Naganori's capability within Kawachi, Naganori had remained somewhat of an outsider in the Hatakeyama court, and was distrusted and ignored by other Hatakeyama retainers. As a result, when Yoshikuni elected to campaign south into Yamato Province at the expense of the Tsutsui, Naganori was not amongst those who accompanied him.
Following his liege lord’s defeat at the battle of Uchimi, and realising his political estrangement, Naganori rapidly rose through the ranks via use of political trickery and military actions against disloyal Hatakeyama retainers. By attacking his rival, Hosokawa Ujitsuna at the battle of Ikoma in 1549, Naganori started the Hatakeyama-Miyoshi War which would ultimately leave both clans exhausted. Hatakeyama Yoshikuni would name him as chief strategist for the clan and Naganori would manage to maintain Hatakeyama holdings despite facing a war on three fronts.
It was during this period that Naganori steadily worked towards usurping Yoshikuni by bribing, assassinating or exiling Hatakeyama loyalists and thus making himself one of the most powerful daimyō in Kansai. Nicknamed the “Snake of Kawachi”, Naganori was infamous for his use of deception and trickery, both politically and militarily. Despite his devious tactics, which lead him to be equally feared and despised by more "honourable" samurai at the time, he was nonetheless praised for his ingenuity and strategic mind. He was even considered a strategic equal to Kitabatake Harumoto, who he would engage at the indecisive battle of Kitano-Kiriyama in 1551.
Naganori would die of a fever in 1554, however, leaving the clan under the control of his son, Nobumori.
Biography[]
The Yusa Clan[]
Although it is not definitively known as to where Naganori was born, nor what his birthname was, it is assumed that as his father, Yusa Junmori was lord of Wakae Castle this was the place of his birth. Junmori was a member of the Chokyo branch of the Yusa Clan, said to have been founded by his great-grandfather, Nagago during the Nanboku-cho Period. This branch served as one of the Kokujin ryoshu of Kawachi Province, a vassal of the prominent Hatakeyama Clan. During the lead up to the Onin War, the Hatakeyama in Kansai were divided into two prominent branches. One, led by Hatakeyama Yoshinari, was supported by Yamana Sōzen whilst the other, led by Hatakeyama Masanaga, was supported by Hosokawa Katsumoto.
Sōzen assisted in having Masanaga deposed as Kanrei, emerging victorious at the battle of Goryō and installing Yoshinari in his stead. As such, Masanaga fled to Kii Province, hoping to regather their forces and counter-attack. Amongst Masanaga's supporters was Yusa Naganao, who was likely the adoptive father of Junmori, whose real father is said to have been Yusa Kunisuke. Hisanobu, Masanaga's son, would attempt to regain control of the clan after Yoshinari's death, supported by Ashikaga Yoshitane. Whilst at first he was prevented from doing so by Hosokawa Masamoto, he would eventually gain a foothold in Kawachi following Masamoto's assassination in 1507. After a series of victories, assisted by Naganao, he would regain full control of the Hatakeyama Clan and installed the Yusa as Kokujin with their seat at Wakae Castle.
The turmoil in the region did not subside, however, with rivalries between Hosokawa Takakuni and Hosokawa Harumoto over the position of Kanrei. Takakuni was initially supported by the Hatakeyama and therefore the Yusa, but he was eventually pushed to the side in lieu of Harumoto. Harumoto's forces were further bolstered by the support of the Miyoshi Clan, whilst Takakuni attempted to strengthen his position via the adoption of Hosokawa Ujitsuna, the son of his father's cousin. This proved fruitless, however, and Takakuni was expelled from Kyoto in 1527. However, by relying on the Miyoshi, Harumoto had inadvertently invited his own doom as Miyoshi Nagayoshi essentially vassalised the Hosokawa, who had become increasingly dependent on the Shikoku-based clan.
Meanwhile, the Yusa had been serving loyally as vassals to the Hatakeyama, mostly as a "border clan" against the Hosokawa, then mostly positioned to the south of Kyoto. Their loyalty and support throughout the Hatakeyama's intrigue against the Hoskawa had steadily raised their position in the Hatakeyama court. Following Junmori's death 1511, Naganori took over as clan head.
Early life[]
Naganori's early life was seemingly mostly spent under the tutelage of his father's vassal, Takatsuji Norikiyo. His first military action seems to have been at a minor skirmish within Kyoto against the Hosokawa, although when this occurred is unclear. Naganori is said to have been keen on observing lower-ranking samurai and retainers on campaign, and took special interest in ashigaru units due to their often more violent and pragmatic approach to combat. In his diary, he records a brief friendship with a group of ashigaru (two of which he names) and makes observations upon their attitudes. "These ashigaru do not make themselves like flowers, as the samurai do. Flowers bloom brightly, but they are easy to cut and prune. But these farmers are like vines, ugly, seemingly ignorant and parasitic. Of course, you need to check them. However, they can cover the garden quickly and efficiently."[1] Even in these early musings it was clear that Naganori had a keen mind for strategy as he also made notes and observations on logistics, with a special focus on a campaign in which Norikiyo destroyed a town in order to prevent the Hosokawa from obtaining supplies.
Norikiyo would pass away, however, in 1507. Junmori, although a competent leader and commander, seemed either unwilling or incapable of teaching his son. As such, Naganori began to wander beyond the confines of Wakae Castle. It was during this time that he befriended the samurai Tsukamoto Eiji , who became a kind of secondary tutor for the young boy. Eiji was from a minor samurai clan and thus did not enjoy the privileges of higher ranking samurai, Naganori sometimes referred to him by the term Nakakosho (meaning a groom or stable attendant). Indeed, it is unknown whether at that time he was even in the employ of a daimyō, perhaps instead being a Rōnin. In a similar way to Naganori's fascination with ashigaru, Eiji's position as a lower-ranking samurai allowed the young Naganori to learn about this aspect of Japanese military hierarchy and the valuable service that individuals such as Eiji provided. Despite being so instrumental in Naganori's early life, Eiji seems to disappear around the 1520s. Whether he died, migrated to a different province or simply retired from military life is not known, but in one of Naganori's later works "Sensō no michi"[2] or "The Way of War", he refers to one of his teachers as "the warrior of the peaceful hills" which appears to reference Eiji's name (Tsukamoto translating as "by the hill" and Eiji translating as "eternal peace").
Clan Head[]
The early years of his reign, however, are somewhat shrouded in mystery but a few events are recorded. Naganori supported his liege lord, Hatakeyama Tanenaga, in his assault upon the Hosokawa in Kyoto in 1518. He would also be noted as present at a grand assembly within the capital, alongside numerous other figures in order to negotiate peace between the Hosokawa family in 1524. However, when this peace fell through, Tanenaga would refuse to assist Takakuni any longer due to the interference of the Miyoshi. Naganori was sent to help Nagayoshi with expelling Takakuni from the capital but by the time of his arrival, Takakuni had already fled Kyoto.
References[]
- ↑ Korera no ashigaru wa bushi no yōna hananoyōni wa miemasen. Hana wa azayaka ni sakimasuga, kiritori ya sentei ga kantandesu. Shikashi, korera no nōmin wa budō no ki no yō de, minikuku, ikken muchi de kisei-tekidesu. Mochiron, sorera o chekku suru hitsuyō ga arimasu. Shikashi, karera wa niwa o subayaku kōritsu-teki ni ōu koto ga dekimasu
- ↑ 戦争の道