Rokkaku Yoshiharu



Rokkaku Yoshiharu (六角 義治) the eldest son of Rokkaku Yoshikata. During the year 1559, Yoshiharu became the official head of the Rokkaku clan, though he and his father ruled jointly. Both were at the Battle of Norada in 1560, where they were defeated by Azai Nagamasa. Yoshiharu along with his father abandoned Kannōnji Castle as Oda Nobunaga marched through the Rokkaku domain in 1568. They moved their headquarters to Namazue Castle from whence they continued to fight. In the end, Yoshiharu had no choice but to ally with the Azai clan, but left it after it was destroyed in 1573.

During the year before the fall of the Azai, Yoshiharu had corresponded with members of the Takeda clan, and joined them after the Azai were destroyed. When the Takeda clan was annihilated, Yoshiharu took refuge at a Buddhist temple called Erin-ji in Kai Province. Afterwards, Yoshiharu joined Toyotomi Hideyoshi, and became a retainer of Toyotomi Hidetsugu. The last thing that Yoshiharu did in history was to become an instructor of archery for Toyotomi Hideyori at Osaka Castle.