Ikoma Chikamasa

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Ikoma Chikamasa (1526–1603) was a Japanese daimyo who ruled Takamatsu Castle in Sanuki Province. He was the son of Ikoma Chikashige and became a retainer of Oda Nobunaga, then served Toyotomi Hideyoshi. He was named one of the san-chūrō, the three arbiters, by Hideyoshi.

Chikamasa fought in many major battles, including Nagashino (1575), the Ishiyama Hongan-ji War, and clashes with the Saika faction in Kii (1577). He later fought at Yamazaki (1582), Shizugatake (1583), the Odawara siege (1590), and the Bunroku campaigns (1592). For his service he was rewarded with lands in Sanuki worth about 171,800 koku.

In Hideyoshi’s later years he served as chūrō, along with two others. In the 1600 Battle of Sekigahara, Chikamasa supported Ishida Mitsunari, while his son Ikoma Kazumasa fought with Tokugawa Ieyasu. Chikamasa stayed in Sanuki and sent his forces elsewhere to protect the clan. After Sekigahara, Ieyasu allowed him to keep his domain, but he gave up the headship of the family to Kazumasa. He became a monk at Mount Kōya and later returned to Sanuki. He died in 1603 at Takamatsu Castle.