Terazawa Hirotaka

Terazawa Hirotaka (寺沢広高) (1563 – May 18, 1633) was a Japanese daimyō of the early Edo period. Hirotaka was the builder of Karatsu Castle. He is a retainer of Toyotomi Hideyoshi, became lord of Karatsu in 1595. In the Battle of Sekigahara in 1600, he joined the forces of Tokugawa Ieyasu. He was rewarded with greater lands around Karatsu, forming a dominion of 123,000 koku. In 1598, he abandoned his original castle of Nagoya Castle, and started work on a new castle at Karatsu, using many materials from the old one, from 1602-1608. The Tokugawa shogunate ordered neighboring tozama domains to contribute to its construction, and they did so primarily by excavating its network of moats. In 1637, in part due to his failure, to suppress the Shimabara rebellion, his lands were confiscated by the Shogunate. He was responsible for part of the overtaxation and mismanagement of local government which instigated the Shimabara Rebellion shortly after his death.

Hirotaka is a playable character from the Eastern Army in the original Kessen.