Iwaki clan

The Iwaki clan (Japanese: 岩城氏, Hepburn: Iwaki shi) was a Japanese samurai clan that claimed descent from the Hitachi-Heishi, a cadet branch of the Taira clan. However, this connection is tenuous and not backed by documentary evidence, suggesting that the Iwaki were instead descendants of the local Kuni no miyatsuko, and adopted the legend of Taira descent for greater prestige.

Early history

During the Heian period, they controlled territory in what is now the city of Iwaki, Fukushima and had close ties with the Northern Fujiwara of Hiraizumi. The Shiramizu Amidadō in Iwaki was built in 1160 by Princess Tokuhime, daughter of Fujiwara no Kiyohira of the Hiraizumi Fujiwara clan, as a memorial temple for her husband, Iwaki Norimichi.

The Iwaki maintained their territories under the Kamakura shogunate but were often in conflict with the Iga clan. In the Muromachi period, they were sometimes allied with the more powerful Satake clan or Yuki clan, or were sometimes opposed. Into the Sengoku period, then situation became ever more complex, as the powerful Sōma clan, Tamura clan, Date clan and Ashina clan to the north all joined the ranks of sometime allies and sometime enemies. The 15th hereditary chieftain, Iwaki Shigetaka was pressured by Sōma Akitani into giving his daughter, Kubo-hime, as wife to Date Harumune and accepting the son of this union as his heir. The effectively placed the Iwaki under Date hegemony, and Iwaki Tsunetaka accompanied Date Masamune to Odawara to pledge fealty to Toyotomi Hideyoshi in 1590. Iwaki Tsunetaka died shortly afterwards, and as his son was still an infant, the clan adopted the son of Satake Yoshishige, Sadataka as heir.