* Image is for illustrative purposes only.Kyōgoku Takatsugu
京極高次
First daimyo of Wakasa Obama domain, whose defense of Ōtsu Castle helped shape the outcome of Sekigahara
Description
Origins
Kyōgoku Takatsugu (1563-1609) was head of the Kyōgoku, a distinguished house descended from the Ōmi-Genji Sasaki line, and was born the eldest son of Kyōgoku Takayoshi. The Kyōgoku had once been counted among the four houses eligible for the post of military commissioner (shishoku) under the Muromachi shogunate, but their power had declined amid succession disputes after the Ōnin War and the rise of the Azai. Takatsugu, together with his younger brother Takatomo, restored the family's standing by serving Oda Nobunaga, Toyotomi Hideyoshi and Tokugawa Ieyasu in turn.
Position under the Toyotomi Regime
Takatsugu was the elder brother of Kyōgoku Tatsuko (Matsu-no-maru-dono), a consort of Toyotomi Hideyoshi, and through this connection was favored by Hideyoshi, receiving a holding of 60,000 koku at Ōtsu in Ōmi Province. Because of this, he was seen as having advanced through marriage ties rather than his own merit, and is said to have been derided as the "Firefly Daimyo" — shining, it was implied, only by his sister's light. He nonetheless carried out real duties as a commander, including service in the Korean campaigns.
The Siege of Ōtsu Castle and the Outcome at Sekigahara
At the time of the Battle of Sekigahara in 1600, Takatsugu initially aligned with the Western army but then turned to the Eastern side and held out in his own Ōtsu Castle. A large Western force said to have numbered some 15,000, with Mōri Motoyasu and Tachibana Muneshige at its core, laid siege to the castle. Takatsugu held out with a much smaller garrison before finally surrendering, but the siege had the effect of tying down a substantial Western force away from the main battlefield at Sekigahara. For this service he was granted the whole of Wakasa Province, worth 85,000 koku (later increased), and became the first daimyo of Wakasa Obama domain.
Legacy
His reputation as the "Firefly Daimyo" is said to have been overturned by his service at the siege of Ōtsu, and he is now generally regarded as one of the figures whose actions helped determine the outcome at Sekigahara. His descendants continued as lords of Wakasa Obama domain, and the Kyōgoku retained standing as an early-modern daimyo house.