Kikkawa Hiroie

Who was Kikkawa Hiroie?

Kikkawa Hiroie was a Japanese daimyo of the Azuchi-Momoyama period through early Edo period.

Hiroie's father was Kikkawa Motoharu and his mother was a daughter of Kumagai Nobunao. He initially was named Tsunenobu and made his debut on the battlefield on 1570 against Amago Katsuhisa with his father. On 1583, he was sent to then the de facto ruler Hashiba Hideyoshi as a hostage.

From 1586 to 1587, his father and his elder brother Kikkawa Motonaga both died and he became the head of Kikkawa clan. Around this time, he changed his name to Hiroie. Unlike his father and his elder brother who was known for the battlefield bravery, Hiroie preferred strategy and diplomacy to win on a battlefield and was highly praised by Hideyoshi for holding Mori clan together after the death of Kobayakawa Takakage. During the Seven-Year Korean War, he is noted for the defeat of a much larger Ming army at the battle of Ulsan castle.

In the Battle of Sekigahara on 1600, Hiroie judged that the Tokugawa side would win. However, as one of the five leading elders of the Toyotomi government, Mōri Terumoto and several of the Mori clan's retainers was supportive of the pro-Toyotomi forces led by Ishida Mitsunari. In order to ensure the survival of the clan, Hiroie made a secret pact with the Tokugawa side through Kuroda Nagamasa, promising to Mori neutrality during the battle in exchange for guarantees of the existing Mori domains.