Oshima Mitsuyoshi (大島光義)
Mitsuyoshi OSHIMA (大島 光義: 1508 - September 16, 1604) was a busho (Japanese military commander), who lived during the Sengoku Period (period of warring states). He was a Daimyo (feudal lord) in the Edo period and the lord of Seki Domain in Mino Province. His children were Mitsunari OSHIMA, Mitsumasa OSHIMA, Mitsutoshi OSHIMA, Mitsutomo OSHIMA, Hirosada MAKITA's wife, and others. He also called himself Mitsuyoshi (光吉), Shinhachiro (新八郎), and Kumohachi (雲八).
His name was also written as 大嶋光義
He was from Seki in Mino Province (in other theory, from Ogaki-Oshima). He became an orphan in his infancy, and his life as military people began at the age of 13, when he distinguished himself by shooting an arrow to kill the enemy on the battlefield. It seems that at first he served the Saito clan in Mino Province, but after the fall of the Saito clan, he served Nobunaga ODA.
On February 12, 1582 (表記の変更) he was awarded a stipend of 100-koku (18.039 cubic meters) crop yields in Omi Province by Nobunaga for 'the merits he achieved by his Shagei (performance of shooting arrows) in several battles.'
Afterwards, he served Nagahide NIWA. He was said to take part in various important battles such as the Battle of Anegawa, Battle of Nagashino, Battle of Shizugatake, and during his life he was present in 53 battles in total and received 41 letters of commendation for taking part in the battle. After the death of Nagahide, he became a retainer of Hideyoshi TOYOTOMI, and took charge of the Yumi-gashira (Yumi-daisho) (a commander of foot soldiers who are shooting arrows). He also participated in the Siege of Odawara in 1590, and set up a camp at Nagoya-jo Castle in Hizen Province during the dispatch of troops to Korea which started in 1592. In 1598, he was given a territory producing a stipend of 11,200-koku (2,020.368 cubic meters) crop yields in total in Settsu, Owari and Mino Provinces, and he was granted a title of Daimyo (feudal lord).
During the Battle of Sekigahara in 1600, he stood by the side of the East squad and he firstly took a part in the troop heading toward Aizu as the East squad (Tokugawa side). (Although, there is a theory that he did not went to the front, as he was considerably old at that time). Later, his second son Mitsumasa and the third son Mitsutoshi changed sides to the West squad. Therefore, his wife and children were taken as hostages by Mitsunari ISHIDA and others of the West squad. As Mitsuyoshi's army achieved distinguished services, standing by the East squad, his stipend was increased to 18,000-koku (3,247.02 cubic meters) crop yields after the Battle.
It is said that one year after the Battle of Sekigahara, he was invited by Ieyasu TOKUGAWA together with Yoshiharu HORIO (堀尾可晴), Kazutoki INOKO,Kagenao FUNAKOSHI and others, to talk about the past.
He enjoyed a long life and died on September 16, 1604 at the age of 97. After his death, although his first son Mitsunari, who also standing by the East squad with him, succeeded to the family head, his territories were segmented among the four children, and as a result, they were degraded to hatamoto (direct retainers of the bakufu [Japanese feudal government headed by a shogun) of less than 10,000-koku (a stipend of 1,803.9 cubic meters crop yields) class, and hereto, the Seki Domain was abolished.
At present, to the west of Keihan Sumizome Station, there is an area called Fukakusa Oshima Yashiki-cho, and this name derived from the fact that once there was Mitsuyoshi OSHIMA's Fushimi Yashiki (residence), there. The place name 'Oshima' in Toyonaka City also comes from his former territory that existed there.