Kimotsuki Kanetsugu

Kimotsuki Kanetsugu was a Sengoku daimyo of Osumi Province and the 16th head of the Kimotsuki clan. He was born in 1511 as the eldest son of Kimotsuki Kaneoki.

Succession and conquest of Osumi

When his father died in 1533, he destroyed his uncle Kanechika and became 16th head. Beginning with the fall of Takaoka Castle in 1538 he set out to pacify Osumi, and took more castles between 1542 and 1546. In 1553 he passed the headship to his heir Yoshikane but kept real power.

Alliance and conflict with the Shimazu

He married Onan, eldest daughter of Shimazu Tadayoshi, and gave his sister to Shimazu Takahisa, forming an alliance. Relations broke down in 1558 and he joined the Ito of Hyuga against the Shimazu. At Takeharayama in 1561 he killed Shimazu Tadamasa, and in 1562 he took Shibushi Castle, giving the clan its largest territory.

Death

On the 14th day of the 11th month of 1566 Takayama Castle fell to Takahisa's counterattack, and on the 15th he is said to have killed himself near Shibushi, aged 56. However, no Kimotsuki-side source explicitly states that he did so, and alternative accounts are also credible. No sword associated with him was found in the sources checked.