So Yoshitoshi
- Born: 1568
- Died: 1615
- Titles: Tsushima no kami
- Distinction: Lord of Tsushima
- Other Names: 万松院殿 (Banshô-in dono)
- Japanese: 宗 義智 (Sô Yoshitoshi)[1]
Yoshitoshi was the 19th head of the Sô clan and the first Edo period lord of Tsushima han. The fourth son of Sô Masamori, he was a son-in-law of Konishi Yukinaga and succeeded to become head of the Sô house in 1588. Yoshitoshi served in the Korean Invasions under Yukinaga and later sided with Tokugawa Ieyasu during the Sekigahara Campaign (1600), though he took no part in the fighting at Sekigahara.
In 1586, in response to attacks by ships from Iki Island against Yarikawa in Nii district, Yoshitoshi launched retaliatory attacks on Iki and Hirado. The following year, after receiving orders from Toyotomi Hideyoshi related to attacking Korea, Yoshitoshi attempted (along with Sô Yoshishige) to negotiate a diplomatic solution with the Joseon court; ultimately this was unsuccessful, however.
Yoshitoshi later worked with his karô Yanagawa Shigenobu and others to negotiate the restoration of normal relations with Korea. He eventually succeeded, with an official Korean embassy first arriving in 1607, and the Kiyû Treaty being concluded two years later. Following this, the Tokugawa shogunate affirmed the Sô clan's sole (monopoly) rights on Japanese diplomatic and trade relations with Korea.[2]
Upon his death in 1615, his son Sô Yoshinari became daimyô.
A statue of Yoshitoshi was erected on Tsushima in 2016, in connection with the 400th anniversary of his death, celebrating Yoshitoshi as a symbol of friendly relations between Japan and Korea.[2]
| Preceded by: Sô Yoshishige |
Head of the Sô clan 1588-1615 |
Succeeded by: Sô Yoshinari |
| Preceded by: None |
Lord of Tsushima han 1603-1615 |
Succeeded by: Sô Yoshinari |
References
- Initial text from Sengoku Biographical Dictionary (Samurai-Archives.com) FWSeal & CEWest, 2005
- "The Sô clan as Rulers of Tsushima Island," gallery label, Tsushima Museum.[1]