Imagawa Yoshimoto

Imagawa Yoshimoto
Imagawa Yoshimoto
9th head of Suruga-Imagawa family
In office 1536–1560
Preceded by	Imagawa Ujiteru
Succeeded by	Imagawa Ujizane
Personal details
Born	1519 Sunpu, Suruga Province, Japan
Died	June 12, 1560 (aged 41) Okehazama, Owari Province, Japan
Nationality	Japanese

Imagawa Yoshimoto (今川 義元^?, 1519 – June 12, 1560) was a leading daimyō (feudal lord) in the Sengoku period Japan. Based in Suruga Province, he was one of the three daimyōs that dominated the Tōkaidō region. He was one of the dominant daimyōs in Japan until 1560 where he met his Demise in Okehazama against Nobunaga Oda.

Yoshimoto was born in 1519, the third son of Imagawa Ujichika of the Imagawa clan-which claimed descent from Emperor Seiwa (850–880). {It was a branch of the Minamoto clan by the Ashikaga clan. As he was not the eldest son, he was ineligible to inherit the family headship directly from his father. As a result, the young boy was sent to a temple where his name was changed to Baigaku Shōhō (梅岳承芳^?) or Sengaku Shōhō (栴岳承芳^?). Unrest broke out when his older brother Ujiteru died suddenly in 1536. His elder half-brother, Genkō Etan (玄広恵探^?), tried to seize the heirship but the clan split into two factions. Yoshimoto's faction demanded that since Yoshimoto's mother was the consort of Ujichika, he was the rightful heir. Genkō Etan's faction demanded that since he was older, he was the rightful heir. Genkō Etan's mother was a concubine and a member of the Kushima family, but they were defeated and killed in the Hanagura Disturbance (花倉の乱, Hanagura-no-ran^?). Baigaku Shōhō changed his name to Yoshimoto at this point and succeeded the clan.