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The Kūki family was originally from Muro district of Kii province, and had been settled
in Shima province by Kūki Takayoshi. The clan became powerful in the Ago district of Shima and developed a reputation as pirates.
Yoshitaka, the eldest son of Kūki Sadataka (a warlord with a reputation for being a pirate), gave his allegiance to
Oda Nobunaga when the latter invaded neighboring Ise province in 1569, and
commanded a fleet of ships during the Nagashima Campaign (which culminated in the 1574 isolation and annihilation of the Nagashima
Ikko-ikki stronghold). Two years later Nobunaga tasked the Kūki with blockading the Ishiyama-Honganji fortress by sea,
an operation that resulted in the 1st Battle of Kizugawaguchi. In that naval contest, the Mōri navy, commanded by Murakami
Takeyoshi, overwhelmed and defeated Kūki's outclassed fleet and thereby keeping the supply lines to the Honganji open. Nobunaga
ordered Yoshitaka to develop some way to counter the Mōri naval superiority; his answer was to design a class of enormous,
heavily armed warships. These ships, six of which were built, sailed from ports on Shima in 1578 and engaged the Mōri navy
in the 2nd Battle of Kizugawaguchi. This time, Yoshitaka was victorious, and the Honganji was successfully blockaded. Following
Nobunaga's death in 1582, Kūki served Toyotomi Hideyoshi and was given Toba
Castle in Ise. Kūki fought in the Komaki Campaign (1584), assisting Takigawa Kazumasu with the capture of Kanie, one
of Oda Nobuo's castles in Ise. Kūki led ships during the Invasion of Kyushu (1587), and in 1590 joined the campaign to subdue
the Hojo and teamed with Chosokabe Motochika, Wakizaka Yasuharu, and Kato
Yoshiaki in naval maneuvers along the Izu and Sagami coast, including the siege of Shimoda. Kūki went on to command ships
during the Invasions of Korea (1592-93, 97-98) and was defeated along with Kato Yoshiaki by the Korean admiral Yi Sun Shin
at Angolpo (June 1592). In 1600 Yoshitaka decided to side with Ishida Mitsunari against Tokugawa Ieyasu, and when Ishida
was defeated, Yoshitaka committed suicide. His son Moritaka, however, had pragmatically gone off to join Ieyasu, and
as the result the Kūki were confirmed in Shima and had their income set at 46,000 koku.
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