Toki Clan

The Toki Clan ( 土岐氏 Toki-shi?) was a powerful clan that ruled from the Kamakura Period to the Edo Period of Japanese history. They descended from Emperor Seiwa through Minamoto no Yorimitsu of the Minamoto Clan (Seiwa Genji).

The clan had its headquarters in Toki City in Mino Prefecture.[1] The family adhered to Zen Buddhist beliefs and founded many temples, including the Shōhō-ji , where the statue of the Great Buddha of Gifu is located, and the Sōfuku-ji , in Gifu City.

Toki Clan History

Minamoto no Mitsunobu , of the fourth generation of Yorimitsu descendants, was the first to settle in Toki City.

It was he who baptized and started the Toki clan. Toki Yorisada , whose maternal grandfather was Hōjō Sadatoki , shikken of the Kamakura Shogunate , fought against the southern dynasty with Ashikaga Takauji .

From the Muromachi Period to the Sengoku Period , the Toki clan ruled Mino Province . Toki Yasuyuki was shugo (governor) of three provinces: Mino, Owari, and Ise. When the Shōgun tried to take Owari, Yasuyuki resisted in a fight that lasted two years (1389-1391).

Toki Shigeyori allied with the Yamana Clan during the War of Ōnin and in 1487 invaded the southern part of Omi Province.

The main branch of the Toki Clan lost its possessions in 1542 during the civil wars that decimated Mino Province, when Toki Yoshiyori (then governor of Mino) was defeated by Saitō Dosan .

Toki Sadamasa (1551-1597) lost his father at the age of two and was taken to Mikawa Province . At the age of 14 he joined Tokugawa Ieyasu's army. In 1590, he was appointed daimyo of Soma ( Shimōsa Province ) and revived the ancient glory of the Toki.

In 1868, at the end of the Tokugawa Period , his descendants were daimyo of Numata ( Kōzuke Province ). The Toki were also famous for their branches: The Asano, Hida, Ikeda, Akechi and Takenaka clans .