Shimazu Yoshihiro He was a skilled general and the victory against Ito clan at the battle of Kizaki on 1572 is counted as one of his many victories . He contributed greatly to the unification of Kyūshū . On 1587 , facing Toyotomi Hideyoshi ' s troops that sought to pacify Kyūshū , Yoshihiro pressed for a war even after his brother and the head of clan Yoshihisa surrendered . After Yoshihisa repeatedly asked for the surrender , Yoshihiro finally did surrender . After Yoshihisa became a Buddhist monk , it had been believed that he became the head of the clan but the real power remained in Yoshihisa ' s hands . He had been a willing and a skillful general for Hideyoshi . On 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 . On 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 Ming army counting 37 , 000 , Yoshihiro defeated them with only 7 , 000 soldiers . Shimazu troops under Yoshihiro were called " Oni - Shimazu ( literal translation - Shimazu demons or Shimazu ogres ) " by Ming . On the final battle of the war , 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 Soon Shin that had obstructed Yoshiaki died in this battle . Afterwards , Yoshihiro rescued the Japanese commanders and returned to Japan . For the Battle of Sekigahara on 1600 , Yoshihiro was supposed to take the side of Tokugawa Ieyasu , but he was crushed by Torii Mototada on arriving for a rescue at Fushimi Castle and after being humiliated , took the side of Ishida Mitsunari instead . Yet Yoshihiro could not get along with Mitsunari as well , who did not listen to any of Yoshihiro ' s plan including surprise night attack on the day before the actual battle . On the day of the battle , Yoshihiro and his troop of 1500 simply held ground and did not fight at all . After the rest of Mitsunari ' s side was wiped out , Yoshihiro was stranded in at least 30 , 000 of Ieyasu ' s troop . Vastly outnumbered , Yoshihiro tried to make a charge against Ieyasu himself but after Shimazu Toyohisa demanded that he not kill himself over a meaningless battle , Yoshihiro instead chose to charge straight through Ieyasu ' s troop to make an exit at the other side . By having his troop make a fighting retreat called " Sutegamari " ( 捨て奸 ) where until certain number of men died holding a position and repelling an attack , the main body of army fought as well . Toyohisa and the bulk of troop died , but the charge and the retreat was a success and fatally wounded Ii Naomasa . After beating back the chase , he picked up his wife at Sumiyoshi of Settsu Province and returned to Satsuma Province by ships . After recognizing why and how Yoshihiro behaved on the battle field , Ieyasu had Shimazu clan retain its domain and let Yoshihiro ' s son Shimazu Tadatsune succeed him . Yoshihiro retired to Sakurajima and took up teaching younger generations . He died in 1619 and several of his retainers who had fought alongside him followed him by committing suicide . Yoshihiro was essential to the Shimazu clan and both Ieyasu and Hideyoshi tried to divide the clan by treating Yoshihiro well , but treating the elder brother Yoshihisa badly , which did not succeed . He was a devoted Buddhist , and built a monument for enemy troops during the Seven - Year War . Yoshihiro in Popular Culture . He is a playable character in Pokémon Conquest ( Pokémon + Nobunaga ' s Ambition in Japan ) , with his partner Pokémon being Gurdurr and Conkeldurr . See People of the Sengoku period in popular culture .