Sō Haruyasu
Sanuki no Kami ( Lord of Sanuki)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Sō Haruyasu was a Shugo-Daimyo, later a Daima of the Sengoku Period, who ruled the Tsushima Province. He served as the sixteenth leader of the Sō Clan and was the son of Sō Moritoshi, his successor was his son Sō Yoshitsune. Additionally, Sō Haruyasu's nom de plume was Nishidono and his court title was Sanuki no Kami, or Governor of Sanuki.
| Sō Haruyasu | |
|---|---|
| Sanuki no Kami ( Lord of Sanuki) | |
Portrait of Sō Haruyasu owned by Yogyokuin Temple | |
| Reign | 1539–1552 |
| Born | Tsushima Province February 1475 |
| Died | 12 March 1563 (aged 88) Ashikaga shogunate |
| Issue | Sō Yoshishige |
| Dynasty |  Sō clan |
History
Born in 1475 as the son of Sōitoshi, a vassal of the Mune clan, he initially became a Buddhist monk under the name Kensoin Sōshun before later returning to secular life. After his nephew Sō Masamori, the fifteenth head of the Sō clan, was exiled in 1539, clan retainers supported him as Masamori’s successor; upon reentering lay society he adopted the names Sada Nao and Sadayasu, and in January 1542 received a new name from Ashikaga Yoshiharu, the twelfth shōgun of the Muromachi shogunate, thereafter being known as Harushige and later Haruyasu. During his tenure, the Sō clan on Tsushima was divided among numerous branch families, prompting him in 1546 to restrict the use of the Sō surname to the main line in order to consolidate authority and reunify the clan’s lands, effectively establishing it as a Sengoku-period daimyō house. He stepped down as head of the clan in 1552 in favor of his son Yoshichika (later Yoshitsune) and died in 1563 at the age of 88.[1][2]