* Image is for illustrative purposes only.Amago Katsuhisa
尼子勝久
Supreme Commander of the Amago Restoration Army
Description
Life and Origins
Amago Katsuhisa (1553–1578) was a Sengoku period warrior, born as the fifth son of Amago Yoshihisa and a great-grandson of the powerful Amago Tsunehisa who had dominated the San'in region. When his father and grandfather were purged by Amago Haruhisa in 1554, the infant Katsuhisa was rescued and sent to Tofuku-ji temple in Kyoto, where he became a monk.
The Amago Restoration
After the fall of the Amago clan in 1566, the legendary retainer Yamanaka Shikanosuke (Yukimori) found Katsuhisa at Tofuku-ji and persuaded him to leave the monastery and lead a restoration army. Their forces swelled to some 6,700 warriors and briefly threatened to recapture the old Amago domains in Izumo Province before being crushed at the Battle of Fubeyama in 1570.
Final Stand at Kozuki Castle
Allying with Oda Nobunaga and Hashiba Hideyoshi, Katsuhisa launched a second campaign in 1576 and was entrusted with the defense of Kozuki Castle in Harima. In 1578, when the castle was besieged by combined Mori-Ukita forces and Hideyoshi withdrew to deal with other threats, Katsuhisa refused to retreat. The castle fell in June 1578; Katsuhisa committed suicide at age 26. Yamanaka Shikanosuke was killed in captivity shortly after, ending the Amago restoration dream.
Notable Swords
- Izumo-tradition tachi (San'in region, tamahagane from Yasugi)