Kimotsuki

The Kimotsuki were a warrior house of Osumi Province in southern Kyushu, descended from the Tomo lineage. In the Heian period Tomo no Kaneyuki went to Satsuma as an official; his descendants held office in Kimotsuki district, whose name Kanetoshi adopted as his surname.

The Kimotsuki fought for the Southern Court and later served the Shimazu. In the Sengoku period, the head Kanetsugu allied with the Ito, defeated the Shimazu at Takeharayama and seized Shibushi, but a counter-offensive drove him to suicide in 1566.

His successor Kanesuke was deposed in 1573 by pro-Shimazu retainers and his stepmother Onan. Kanemori was installed in his place and submitted to the Shimazu in 1574; the family's lands were confiscated in 1581, and it continued as Shimazu retainers. Kanemori died at Sekigahara in 1600, while a junior line held Kiire through the Edo period and produced Komatsu Tatewaki.