Kurushima Michifusa

Who They Were

Kurushima Michifusa (来島 通総, 1562 – October 26, 1597) was a samurai of the late Sengoku period and a daimyo. He was the fourth son of Murakami Michiyasu (村上 通康), a leader of one of the three Murakami suigun, the Murakami navies that dominated the seas of the Seto Inland Sea in the 16th century. Michifusa was the younger brother of Kurushima Michiyuki, who preceded him as head of the family.

His birth fell in the fifth year of the Eiroku era (永禄), a period name used from 1558 to 1570, during the Muromachi period (1336 – 1573). He belonged to a naval lineage that controlled shipping lanes and coastal territories in the Inland Sea, a strategic asset in the wars of unification under Oda Nobunaga and Toyotomi Hideyoshi.

Life and Career

Michifusa inherited the Kurushima name and domain after his elder brother Michiyuki. The family held territory on Kurushima Island and the surrounding coast of Iyo Province, in what is now Ehime Prefecture. As a daimyo, he commanded both land forces and a fleet of warships, a rare combination among the lords of the period.

When Toyotomi Hideyoshi launched the Seven-Year War, his invasion of Korea that began in 1592, Michifusa served in the army corps of Fukushima Masanori. The Murakami naval tradition made him a valuable asset in the amphibious operations along the Korean coast. He crossed to the peninsula with the Japanese expeditionary forces and took part in the early campaigns.

On July 10, his brother Michiyuki was killed at the Battle of Dangpo, a naval engagement fought off the southern Korean coast. The battle was one of a series of clashes between the Japanese fleet and the Korean navy under Admiral Yi Sun-sin. Michifusa survived that day but continued to serve in the war.

Several months later, on October 26, 1597, Michifusa was killed at the Battle of Myeongnyang. In that engagement, Yi Sun-sin led a small Korean fleet through the narrow Myeongnyang Strait and defeated a much larger Japanese force. Michifusa died in the fighting, making him the only daimyo killed in action during the entire Seven-Year War.

Why They Matter

Michifusa’s death at Myeongnyang marks a turning point in the naval war. The battle broke Japanese control of the sea lanes to Korea and cut off supply lines to the land armies. His loss removed one of the few commanders who combined daimyo authority with naval expertise, a role that the Murakami family had held for generations.

His career also illustrates the reach of the Murakami suigun. Originally pirates and coastal lords of the Inland Sea, they were absorbed into Hideyoshi’s unified command and sent to fight overseas. Michifusa’s service shows how local maritime power was converted into national military force during the late Sengoku period.

His status as the only daimyo killed in action in the war gives him a specific place in the conflict’s casualty lists. Other lords died of disease or in siege operations, but Michifusa fell in open naval combat, a distinction that reflects both his family’s naval identity and the intensity of the Myeongnyang battle.

The Name in Japanese

The name is written 来島通総.

• Kana reading: くるしま みちふさ
• Romaji: Kurushima Michifusa

Character by character:

• 来 (くる, kuru): "to come" or "to arrive." In this name it functions as the first element of the family name, though the compound 来島 (くるしま, kurushima) is read as a single unit meaning "Kurushima," the island name. The character itself carries the sense of coming or approaching.
• 島 (しま, shima): "island." This is the second element of the family name, completing 来島 (Kurushima). The island in question is Kurushima, located in the Seto Inland Sea between the islands of Shikoku and Honshu.
• 通 (みち, michi): "to pass through," "to commute," or "to be well-versed in." In the given name 通総, this character is read as michi and contributes the sense of passage or thorough knowledge. It is a common element in samurai given names, often implying mastery or a path.
• 総 (ふさ, fusa): "general," "total," or "to govern." In this name it is read as fusa, an unusual reading. The character carries the meaning of overall command or comprehensive control, fitting for a daimyo who led both ships and men.

The full name, then, reads as "Kurushima Michifusa," with the family name tied to the island domain and the given name suggesting a commander with mastery over his realm.

Legacy

Michifusa’s death at Myeongnyang ended the Kurushima line of the Murakami suigun as an active naval force in the war. The family’s territories in Iyo Province passed to other lords after his death, and the Murakami naval tradition faded as the Tokugawa shogunate consolidated power in the early 17th century.

His name survives in the records of the Seven-Year War primarily through the circumstances of his death. The Battle of Myeongnyang is remembered in both Korean and Japanese military history, and Michifusa is cited as the highest-ranking Japanese casualty of that engagement. His fall is often noted in accounts of Yi Sun-sin’s victory, serving as a marker of the battle’s scale.

In the context of the Murakami suigun, Michifusa represents the final generation of independent naval lords. His father had led one of the three Murakami fleets; Michifusa and his brother carried that inheritance into the national wars of unification. With their deaths, the suigun lost its daimyo leadership, and the family’s maritime power was absorbed into the larger structures of the Toyotomi and then Tokugawa regimes.