Yoshisuke Ito

Japanese: 伊東義祐 - いとう・よしすけ

Year of death: August 5, 1585 (August 29, 1585)
Year of birth: 1512
Sengoku period feudal lord of Hyuga (Miyazaki prefecture). Son of Tadasuke. First named Sukekiyo. Rokurogoro. Shuri-no-tayu, Daizen-tayu. The Ito clan was the local lord of Hyuga Tono-gun (Saitama city), and after his elder brother Sukemitsu died in 1533, he defeated his uncle Suketake with the help of local lords, and by February of the following year had almost taken control of the area. In 1536, his younger brother Yukichi, who was an anti-party leader, died, and he took over the family in both name and reality. He took one character from the name of Shogun Ashikaga Yoshiharu and changed his name to Yoshisuke. In 1547, he began to retake the Obi region (Nichinan city) that had been occupied by the Shimazu clan, and in 1562, he regained Shoga and in 1568, he regained Obi, claiming supremacy over Nichinan. During this time, in Tenbun 15, he made a huge donation of 100 kan to the Imperial Court, and was awarded the rank of Junior Third Rank, an unusual rank for a Kyushu feudal lord, and took the name Sanmi Nyudo. His official title of Shuri-no-tayu was on a par with that of the Shimazu and Otomo clans. However, in 1572, he faced a counterattack from the regained power of Shimazu Yoshihisa, and was defeated in the Battle of Kizakihara, which led to the decline and disintegration of his domain. In 1577, he abandoned his base in the face of the fierce Shimazu army and fled to Bungo, seeking refuge with Otomo Yoshishige (Sourin). The following November, the defeat at Mimikawa made the recovery of his domain seem hopeless, and he was exiled to Iyo with his son Sukebe, and in his later years he wandered from place to place in the western part of Japan, eventually dying on the beach at Izumi Sakai. He can be contrasted with Ouchi Yoshitaka in that he experienced prosperity through his acquisition of official rank, but soon thereafter began to fall into decline.

(Akira Imaya)

Source: Asahi Japanese Historical Biography: Asahi Shimbun Publications Inc. About Asahi Japanese Historical Biography

Japanese:

没年：天正13.8.5(1585.8.29)
生年：永正9(1512)
日向(宮崎県)の戦国大名。尹祐の子。初名祐清。六郎五郎。修理大夫,大膳大夫。伊東氏は日向都於郡(西都市)の在地領主で,天文2(1533)年に兄祐充が死去したのち国人たちの協力で叔父祐武を討ち,翌年2月には同地をほぼ掌握した。同5年反党の弟祐吉が死に,名実ともに家を継いだ。将軍足利義晴の諱の1字を受け義祐と改名。同10年島津氏に占拠されていた飫肥地方(日南市)の奪回に着手し,永禄5(1562)年に諸県を,同11年には飫肥を回復して日南に覇を唱えた。この間天文15年には朝廷に100貫という巨額の献金をなし,九州の大名では異例の従三位に叙され,三位入道と号した。修理大夫という官途も,格は島津・大友両氏に並ぶものである。しかし元亀3(1572)年には勢いを盛り返した島津義久の反攻にあい,木崎原の戦に敗れて領国は衰運,解体に向かう。天正5(1577)年,島津軍の鋭鋒の前に本拠を捨てて豊後に逃亡,大友義鎮(宗麟)を頼った。翌年11月の耳川の敗戦で領国の回復も絶望的となり,子祐兵と共に伊予に流寓,晩年は西国各地をあちこちと漂泊し,最期は和泉堺の浜辺で行き倒れたという。官位獲得による隆盛をみながら,その後まもなく没落への道をたどったという点で,大内義隆と対比されよう。

(今谷明)

出典　朝日日本歴史人物事典：（株）朝日新聞出版朝日日本歴史人物事典について　情報

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