Sō clan

Sō clan (宗氏, Sō-shi) were a Japanese clan claiming descent from Taira no Tomomori. The clan governed and held Tsushima Island from the 13th through the late 19th century, from the Kamakura period until the end of the Edo period and the Meiji Restoration.

In 1587, Toyotomi Hideyoshi confirmed the clan's possession of Tsushima. In the struggles which followed Hideyoshi's death, the clan sided with the Tokugawa; however, they did not participate in the decisive battles which preceded the establishment of the Tokugawa shogunate. The descendants of tozama Sō Yoshitoshi (1568–1615) remained at Tsushima-Fuchū Domain (100,000 koku) in Tsushima Province until the abolition of the han system. The head of this clan line was ennobled as count in 1884.