Kimotsuki

Kimotsuki lies on the Ōsumi Peninsula, where rivers descend from wooded hills toward the sea. The Kimotsuki family held Kōyama Castle for generations, using the steep valleys around it as natural defences. They fought the Shimazu repeatedly through the medieval and warring states periods. In the 1570s the Shimazu overcame their rivals, and the Kimotsuki lords eventually left their ancestral stronghold for lands elsewhere in southern Kyushu.