Imagawa Yoshimoto

Imagawa Yoshimoto was a Japanese daimyō and one of the three feared warlords of the Tōkaidō region. He was the eleventh head of the Imagawa clan, which claimed descent from the Minamoto clan and the Ashikaga clan. He was known as the number one daimyō in the Tōkaidō and a masterful strategist and governor. He was also related to Shingen Takeda and Ujiyasu Hōjō, two of his allies and rivals. He was ambitious and aimed to become the shogun of Japan by marching to Kyoto. However, he was killed in 1560 at the Battle of Okehazama, when his army was ambushed by Oda Nobunaga, a young and rising daimyō from Owari Province. His death marked the end of the Imagawa clan's prominence and the rise of Nobunaga's power. Yoshimoto was also a patron of arts and culture, and he enjoyed poetry and tea ceremony. He was a devout follower of Nichiren Buddhism and he built many temples and pagodas in his domains. He was also a lover of the game of Go and he was said to be playing it when Nobunaga attacked him. He was buried at Ryūsen-ji, a temple in Shizuoka Prefecture, where his grave still stands today.