* Image is for illustrative purposes only.Ōtomo Chikasada
大友親貞
Ōtomo kinsman; commander at Imayama
Description
Overview
Ōtomo Chikasada was a Sengoku-period warrior and a kinsman of the Ōtomo, the daimyō house of Bungo Province. In 1570 he commanded the Ōtomo army sent against Ryūzōji Takanobu of Hizen and was killed in a night attack at the Battle of Imayama.
Disputed Parentage
The sources disagree about Chikasada's descent. He is variously recorded as the heir of Kikuchi Yoshitake — younger brother of Ōtomo Yoshiaki and thus uncle to Ōtomo Sōrin — as Yoshitake's son, or as a son of Ōtomo Yoshiaki himself; he is described in different accounts as Sōrin's cousin or as his younger brother. Under any reading he was treated as a member of the main house and trusted with command of a major army.
The Battle of Imayama
In 1570 Ōtomo Sōrin resolved to destroy Ryūzōji Takanobu, whose power in Hizen was growing, and sent Chikasada as commander-in-chief. Chikasada invaded Hizen with an army reported at sixty thousand and besieged Saga Castle, the Ryūzōji stronghold. The disparity in numbers was overwhelming, and the defenders were forced into a siege.
Death and Consequences
On the twentieth day of the eighth month, Nabeshima Naoshige and other Ryūzōji commanders exploited the cover of night to storm Imayama, where the Ōtomo headquarters was pitched. The unprepared Ōtomo force fell into confusion, and Chikasada was cut down by the Ryūzōji warrior Narimatsu Nobukatsu; tradition holds that six men were needed to bring him down. Deprived of its commander, the Ōtomo army withdrew. The defeat damaged Ōtomo prestige in Kyūshū while marking the point at which Ryūzōji Takanobu secured hegemony over Hizen, sharpening the three-way contest between the Ōtomo, Ryūzōji and Shimazu.