Military leader of Shimazu clan, general of the Korean campaign

Shimazu Yoshihiro

島津義弘

1535 – 1619

Shimazu Yoshihiro was the second son of Shimazu Takahisa who, assisting his elder brother Yoshihisa, participated in the unification of three provinces (Satsuma, Ōsumi, and Hyūga) and the conquest of Kyushu. After Toyotomi Hideyoshi's 1587 unification of Kyushu, Yoshihiro took charge of Shimazu military affairs. During the Korean campaign, at the 1598 Battle of Sacheon, he repelled a large Ming and Korean force with a small contingent, but suffered heavy losses including the death of his eldest son Hisayasu. At the 1600 Battle of Sekigahara, he sided with the western forces and, following the defeat, executed a breakthrough directly in front of Tokugawa Ieyasu's headquarters to retreat toward Ise, eventually reaching Sakai and returning to Satsuma by sea (known as the "Shimazu Retreat"). In his later years, he retired to Kajiki (present-day Aira, Kagoshima Prefecture) and, while assisting his son Tadatsune who became daimyo, devoted himself to regional development until his death in 1619.

Sources　尚古集成館、姶良市公式「島津義弘公没後400年」