Otani Yoshitsugu: Owner of Tsuruga Catsle

Otani Yoshitsugu

Otani Yoshitsugu was a military commander who fought alongside Toyotomi Hideyoshi during the 16^th Century. He is one of the most popular warlords in Japan, often appearing as the subject of dramas and novels.

Born in 1565, he is said to have grown up competing with his peers under Hideyoshi from his childhood.In the end of 16^th Century Hideyoshi unified the whole Japan, Yoshitsugu supported the Toyotomi government as his excellent practical bureaucrat.

In 1589, Yoshitsugu became the lord of Tsuruga and transformed Ysuruga into a “port city with a castle”. It can be said that the foundation for the prosperity of Tsuruga harbor, as represented by the Kitamae ships of the Edo period, was laid during the reign of Yoshitsugu.

After Hideyoshi’s death, Tokugawa Ieyasu gradually became the center of politics, and Yoshitsugu committed suicide after being defeated in the Battle of Sekigahara in 1600.Tsuruga Castle was also abandoned in 1615 due to the “One Castle, One Country” decree (an order that only one castle should be built in one territory).