Shimazu Yoshihiro
There are three theories about how "Sakurajima Komikan" were first cultivated. The first is that Shimazu Yoshihiro, the second son of Shimazu Takahisa, the "daimyō" of Satsuma Province, took the oranges back to Satsuma from the Korean Peninsula after the two Japanese invasions of Korea in 1592 and 1598. Second, that he might have brought them from Kii Province after the Battle of Sekigahara on October 21, 1600. The third theory is that he brought back "Takada mikan" oranges from Yatsushiro in Higo Province (present-day Kumamoto). This opinion is the most popular. The fruit has become a specialty of Satsuma because Naotomo Yamaguchi, Tokugawa Ieyasu's retainer, admired its great flavour. In 1603, it was presented to Tokugawa Ieyasu by Shimazu Tadatsune, "tozama daimyō" of Satsuma. In ancient times, it was referred to as "Mukoujima Mikan" or "Aka Mikan" but it started to be called "Sakurajima Mikan" around 1658.