Suetsugu

The Suetsugu were an Izumo kokujin house of the Uda Genji, branching from the Tomita line of the Sasaki clan. Their founder Tanekiyo held the Suetsugu lands from the mid-thirteenth century and took his surname from them; the place-name came from the ancient Sue-tsuku shrine on Kamedayama.

Tanekiyo's sons marched to Kyushu for coastal defence during the Mongol invasion of 1281. In 1333 the clansman Sataka helped Emperor Go-Daigo return from exile, while Takamune fought for the Northern Court under Ashikaga Takauji.

Around 1478 Suetsugu Castle passed to Amago Tsunehisa and the Suetsugu became Amago retainers. Sadataka fell in 1570 trying to restore the Amago; the Mōri took the castle in 1571. In 1607 Horio Yoshiharu built Matsue Castle on the site; surviving Suetsugu lost their surname, later settling at Yonago and recovering it.