Satake Yoshishige (佐 竹 義 重, March 7, 1547 - May 19, 1612 ) - Japanese samurai, was the eldest son of Satake Yoshiaki (1531-1565) and ruled in the castle of Ota of Hitachi province.
Biography
In 1562, his father gave him dominance over the clan, and Yoshishige, a warlike daimyo, united the entire province under the rule of the Satake clan. When he captured Shirakawa Castle, the Hojo clan first became interested in it. In alliance with the Satomi and Utsunomiya clans, Yoshishige defended Hitachi from the attempts to invade the Hojo clan for many years. In one of these clashes, at the Battle of Numaziri, an army of 20,000 led by Yoshishige met with 80,000 Hojo troops. Yoshishige won, partly due to the fact that his army had about 8,600 arquebusiers.
In the mid-1580s, Yoshishige was involved in operations against Date Masamune - since he was in alliance with the Asin and Soma clans - his troops fought the Date forces in the Battle of Hitadori Bridge in 1585.
Yoshishige transferred the official leadership of the Satake clan to his son Yoshinobu in 1589, but for a long time participated in the administration. The Satake clan became vassals of Toyotomi Hideyoshi in 1590, and Yoshishige sent his forces to assist in the Odawara campaign. When, in 1600, a conflict broke out between Tokugawa Ieyasu (from 1590, Satake’s powerful neighbor in Kanto, the former estate of Hojo) and Ishida Mitsunari , Yoshinobu hesitated. At first, he decided to join the Isis coalition, and sent messages to Uesugi Kagekatsu, but, at the last moment, changed his mind and joined Tokugawa. After the Battle of Sekigahara , Yoshishige was able to intercede for Yoshinoba when Tokugawa wanted to punish him for his indecisive behavior. The Satake clan was only sent to Akita province in 1602 - and their income decreased by more than two times (from 545,000 koku to about 200,000 koku). Yoshishige spent the rest of his life at Rokugo Castle.
Personality
Yoshishige was known as a fierce warrior and was given the nickname "Demon Yoshishige" (Ôni Yoshishige). There are many stories from his life. For example, he said that he did not sleep on a futon, but only on one mat. Perhaps he did so because he spent a lot of time hiking and got used to harsh conditions. After he began to live in the castle of Rokugo, his son Yoshinobu, taking care of his health in a cold climate, sent a futon to his father. Out of respect for his son, Yoshishige tried to sleep on the futon, but it was too uncomfortable for him. So he went back to his old mat and slept calmly.