was the second son of Shimazu Takahisa and the younger brother of Shimazu Yoshihisa. Traditionally believed to be the 17th head of the Shimazu clan, he was a skilled general during the Sengoku period who greatly contributed to the unification of Kyūshū. Early life He is said to have been born in Izaku Castle in 1535. He was the castle lord in command of Iino Castle. Yoshihiro along with Niiro Tadamoto defeated the Itō clan at the Battle of Kizaki, in 1572, and defeated the Otomo clan with his brothers in the 1578 at Battle of Mimigawa. In 1587, facing Toyotomi Hideyoshi's troops that sought to pacify Kyūshū, Yoshihiro pressed for war even after his brother and the head of clan Yoshihisa surrendered. After Yoshihisa repeatedly asked for the surrender, Yoshihiro finally accepted. After Yoshihisa became a Buddhist monk, it was believed that he became the head of the clan, though the real power remained in Yoshihisa's hands. Service under Hideyoshi He had been a willing and skillful general under Toyotomi Hideyoshi. In both 1592 and 1597 of the Seven-Year War, Yoshihiro set his foot on the Korean peninsula and successfully carried out a series of battles. In 1597, working together with Tōdō Takatora, Katō Yoshiaki and Konishi Yukinaga, Yoshihiro defeated Won Kyun's navy. At the Battle of Sacheon (泗川) in 1598, facing a Ming army counting 37,000, Yoshihiro defeated them with only 7,000 soldiers. Shimazu troops under Yoshihiro were called "Oni-Shimazu" ("Shimazu demons" or "Shimazu ogres)" by the Ming soldiers. On the final battle of the war in 1598, the Battle of Noryang, Yoshihiro's objective was to cross the Noryang Strait, link up with Konishi and retreat to Japan. The Korean admiral Yi Sun-sin who had obstructed Yoshiaki died in this battle. Afterward, Yoshihiro rescued the Japanese commanders and returned to Japan. Battle of Sekigahara After Toyotomi Hideyoshi's death in 1598, the land became split between Toyotomi supporters backing Ishida Mitsunari and those that supported Tokugawa Ieyasu, eventually culminating in the Battle of Sekigahara in 1600. According to novels (Rakusuishū 『落穂集』) of the Edo Period, Yoshihiro was initially supposed to Ieyasu's side. He was crushed by Ishida Mitsunari's army upon his arrival for a rescue Torii Mototada during the siege of Fushimi Castle and, after being humiliated, he took the side of Ishida Mitsunari instead. However, recent research indicated that Yoshihiro had chosen to side with Mitsunari from the