Inoo Clan (飯尾氏)
Inoo clan, also known as Iio clan
Suruga Inoo clan
Descendants of Tameyasu MIYOSHI
Inoo clan of the Oda clan line
Suruga Inoo clan which served as a private guard of the shogun
The original name was the Miyoshi clan. From the generation of Tomotada MIYOSHI, the family adopted the name Inoo. The family originally served as a private guard of the Muromachi bakufu (Japanese feudal government headed by a shogun) for successive generations, but in the generation of Nagatsura INOO, they went down to Suruga and became a hereditary vassal of the Imagawa clan. During the Warring States period, Katatsura INOO served Ujichika IMAGAWA and became the lord of Hikuma-jo Castle, which was called Hamamatsu-jo Castle later. Noritsura INOO, a son of Katatsura, joined the army of Yoshimoto IMAGAWA in the Battle of Okehazama and died in the battlefield. Tsuratatsu INOO, a son of Noritsura, initially served Ujizane IMAGAWA, who succeeded Yoshimoto IMAGAWA, but communicated secretly with the Tokugawa clan in Mikawa and defected from the Imagawa clan. Later, Ujizane IMAGAWA called back Tsuratatsu on the pretext of reconciliation and killed Tsuratatsu, which was the end of the direct descendant of the Suruga Inoo clan.
Inoo clan of the Oda clan line
This family line began when a grandson of Toshisada ODA from the Oda clan was adopted into the Inoo clan, a powerful local clan in Owari, and changed his name to Sadamune INOO (also pronounced IINOO). Sadamune INOO served Nobunaga ODA and died in the battlefield of Okehazama. Hisakiyo INOO (also pronounced IIO) who succeeded Sadamune became a member of an elite troop of the Oda family called Akahoroshu, and after the Incident at Honnoji, served Nobukatsu ODA and then Hideyoshi TOYOTOMI. As Toshinari, the heir to Hisakiyo, died prior to Hisakiyo, the direct descendant of the Inoo clan of the Oda clan line ended here, but Hisakiyo's younger brother Shigemune's line continued.