was a Japanese

samurai were the hereditary military nobility and officer caste of History of Japan#Medieval Japan (1185–1573/1600), medieval and Edo period, early-modern Japan from the late 12th century until their abolition in 1876. They were the well-paid retai ...

family whose power stretched from the

Kamakura period The is a period of Japanese history that marks the governance by the Kamakura shogunate, officially established in 1192 in Kamakura by the first '' shōgun'' Minamoto no Yoritomo after the conclusion of the Genpei War, which saw the struggle bet ...

through the

Sengoku period The was a period in Japanese history of near-constant civil war and social upheaval from 1467 to 1615. The Sengoku period was initiated by the Ōnin War in 1467 which collapsed the feudal system of Japan under the Ashikaga shogunate. Variou ...

, spanning over 400 years. The clan's hereditary lands lay in Kyūshū.

Origins

The first family head, Ōtomo Yoshinao (1172–1223), took the name from the Ōtomo territory in

Sagami Province was a province of Japan located in what is today the central and western Kanagawa Prefecture. Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005). "''Kanagawa''" at . Sagami Province bordered the provinces of Izu, Musashi, and Suruga. It had access to the Pac ...

. The clan claims descent from

Emperor Seiwa was the 56th emperor of Japan,Imperial Household Agency (''Kunaichō'') 清和天皇 (56)/ref> according to the traditional order of succession. Seiwa's reign spanned the years from 858 through 876.He was also the predecessor of Takeda ryu. T ...

(850-881) through the

Seiwa Genji The is a line of the Japanese Minamoto clan that is descended from Emperor Seiwa, which is the most successful and powerful line of the clan. Many of the most famous Minamoto warriors, including Minamoto no Yoshiie, Minamoto no Yoritomo, the f ...

lineage of the

Minamoto clan was one of the surnames bestowed by the Emperors of Japan upon members of the imperial family who were excluded from the line of succession and demoted into the ranks of the nobility from 1192 to 1333. The practice was most prevalent during th ...

. Although the clan genealogy claims Yoshinao to be an illegitimate son of

Minamoto no Yoritomo was the founder and the first shogun of the Kamakura shogunate of Japan, ruling from 1192 until 1199.Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005). "Minamoto no Yoriie" in . He was the husband of Hōjō Masako who acted as regent ('' shikken'') after h ...

, it has been concluded that he was in fact a descendant of the

Fujiwara clan was a powerful family of imperial regents in Japan, descending from the Nakatomi clan and, as legend held, through them their ancestral god Ame-no-Koyane. The Fujiwara prospered since the ancient times and dominated the imperial court until ...

History

Following the establishment of the

Kamakura shogunate The was the feudal military government of Japan during the Kamakura period from 1185 to 1333. Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005)"''Kamakura-jidai''"in ''Japan Encyclopedia'', p. 459. The Kamakura shogunate was established by Minamoto no Yo ...

in 1185, Yoshinao were granted the post of Constable (''

Shugo , commonly translated as “(military) governor,” “protector,” or “constable,” was a title given to certain officials in feudal Japan. They were each appointed by the ''shōgun'' to oversee one or more of the provinces of Japan. The po ...

'') of Bungo and

Buzen Province was an old province of Japan in northern Kyūshū in the area of Fukuoka Prefecture and Ōita Prefecture. It was sometimes called , with Bungo Province. Buzen bordered on Bungo and Chikuzen Provinces. History The ruins of the ancient capital ...

s in Kyūshū. As the Ōtomo were one of the major clans of Kyūshū, along with the Shōni and the

Shimazu Shimazu is a Japanese surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Esther Shimazu (born 1957), American/Hawaiian sculptor * Saeko Shimazu (born 1959), Japanese voice actress * Shimazu clan, ''daimyō'' of the Satsuma han * Shimazu Hisami ...

, they had a central role in organizing efforts against the

Mongol invasions of Japan Major military efforts were taken by Kublai Khan of the Yuan dynasty in 1274 and 1281 to conquer the Japanese archipelago after the submission of the Korean kingdom of Goryeo to vassaldom. Ultimately a failure, the invasion attempts are of mac ...

in 1274 and 1281. They also played an important role in the establishment of the

Ashikaga shogunate The , also known as the , was the feudal military government of Japan during the Muromachi period from 1336 to 1573.Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005)"''Muromachi-jidai''"in ''Japan Encyclopedia'', p. 669. The Ashikaga shogunate was establis ...

, in the 1330s. Ōtomo warriors fought alongside those of

Ashikaga Takauji was the founder and first ''shōgun'' of the Ashikaga shogunate."Ashikaga Takauji" in '' The New Encyclopædia Britannica''. Chicago: Encyclopædia Britannica Inc., 15th edn., 1992, Vol. 1, p. 625. His rule began in 1338, beginning the Muromac ...

and enabled him to win a number of key battles, including the battle of Sanoyama; this helped to ensure them powerful government positions in the new shogunate. A powerful clan throughout the Sengoku period (1467–1573), the Ōtomo are especially notable as one of the first clans to make contact with Europeans, and to establish a trade relationship with them. In or around 1542, three Portuguese ships were carried by a typhoon to the island of

Tanegashima is one of the Ōsumi Islands belonging to Kagoshima Prefecture, Japan. The island, 444.99 km2 in area, is the second largest of the Ōsumi Islands, and has a population of 33,000 people. Access to the island is by ferry, or by air to New ...

, just off the coast of Kyūshū. Within ten years, trade with the Portuguese was fairly regular and common in Kyūshū. The Jesuit missionary

Francis Xavier Francis Xavier (born Francisco de Jasso y Azpilicueta; Latin: ''Franciscus Xaverius''; Basque: ''Frantzisko Xabierkoa''; French: ''François Xavier''; Spanish: ''Francisco Javier''; Portuguese: ''Francisco Xavier''; 7 April 15063 December ...

arrived in Japan in 1549, and soon afterwards met with

Ōtomo Sōrin , also known as Fujiwara no Yoshishige (藤原義鎮) and Ōtomo Yoshishige (大友義鎮), was a Japanese feudal lord (''daimyō'') of the Ōtomo clan, one of the few to have converted to Roman Catholicism (Christianity). The eldest son of , he ...

, ''shugo'' of Bungo and Buzen provinces, who would later be described by Xavier as a "king" and convert to

Roman Catholicism The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

in 1578. Ōtomo was eager to secure for his clan further trade and contact with the Portuguese, seeing the technological and, more importantly perhaps, economic benefits that could be derived. In 1552, emissaries from the Ōtomo clan traveled to Goa with Xavier, to meet with the Portuguese Governor of

India India, officially the Republic of India ( Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the ...

. Xavier and other Jesuit missionaries would return to Kyūshū, traveling and proselytizing; the Ōtomo were always well-disposed towards them, and they saw some success in Bungo as a result, converting many Japanese to Christianity. Towards the end of the 16th century, the Ōtomo fought both the Shimazu and Mōri clans, the latter of whom were expert sailors. Though they did not play a major role in the campaigns of

Tokugawa Ieyasu was the founder and first ''shōgun'' of the Tokugawa Shogunate of Japan, which ruled Japan from 1603 until the Meiji Restoration in 1868. He was one of the three "Great Unifiers" of Japan, along with his former lord Oda Nobunaga and fel ...

which ended the Sengoku period, they did retain their domains into the

Edo period The or is the period between 1603 and 1867 in the history of Japan, when Japan was under the rule of the Tokugawa shogunate and the country's 300 regional ''daimyo''. Emerging from the chaos of the Sengoku period, the Edo period was character ...

Clan Heads

# Ōtomo Yoshinao= (大友能直, 1172–1223) # Ōtomo Chikahide (大友親秀, 1195–1248) # Ōtomo Yoriyasu (大友頼泰, 1222–1300) # Ōtomo Chikatoki (大友親時, 1236–1295) # Ōtomo Sadachika (大友貞親, 1246–1311) # Ōtomo Sadamune (大友貞宗, ? –1334) # Ōtomo Ujiyasu (大友氏泰, 1321–1362) # Ōtomo Ujitoki (大友氏時, ? –1368) # Ōtomo Ujitsugu (大友氏継, ? –1401) # Ōtomo Chikayo (大友親世, ? –1418) # Ōtomo Chikaaki (大友親著, ? –1426), also called "Chikatsugu". # Ōtomo Mochinao (大友持直, ? –1445) # Ōtomo Chikatsuna (大友親綱, ? –1459) # Ōtomo Chikataka (大友親隆, ? –1470) # Ōtomo Chikashige (大友親繁, 1411–1493) # Ōtomo Masachika (大友政親, 1444–1496) # Ōtomo Yoshisuke (大友義右, 1459–1496) # Ōtomo Chikaharu (大友親治, 1461–1524) # Ōtomo Yoshinaga (大友義長, 1478–1518) # Ōtomo Yoshiaki (大友義鑑, 1502–1550) #

(大友宗麟, 1530–1587), originally Ōtomo Yoshishige (大友義鎮) # Ōtomo Yoshimune (大友義統, 1558–1610) # Ōtomo Yoshinori (大友義乗, 1577–1612) # Ōtomo Yoshichika (大友義親, 1597–1619)

Notable Members

* Ōtomo-Nata Jezebel (died 1587) – High priestess of Usa Jingū, wife of Ōtomo Sōrin and mother of Ōtomo Yoshimune *

Myorin Myōrin (妙林) or Yoshioka Myorin-ni (吉岡妙林尼) was a late-Sengoku period female warlord onna-musha. She was the wife of Yoshioka Akioki a samurai warlord, and served Otomo clan in Bungo. She was the heroic woman who defended the Otomo c ...

– Lady of Tsurusaki Castle *

(1530–1587),

Constable A constable is a person holding a particular office, most commonly in criminal law enforcement. The office of constable can vary significantly in different jurisdictions. A constable is commonly the rank of an officer within the police. Other peop ...

of Bungo and

s * Ōtomo Yoshimune (1558–1610), heir of Otomo Sorin. *

Ōuchi Yoshinaga , formerly Ōtomo Haruhide (大友晴英), was a 16th-century Kyushu warrior who was invited by Sue Harukata, who had just taken control of the Ōuchi clan, to serve as the official head of the Ōuchi while Sue pulled the strings from behind. Yos ...

(1532 – May 1, 1557), the younger brother of Ōtomo Yoshishige.

Notable retainers

Tachibana Dōsetsu Painting of Tachibana Dōsetsu , born , also as Bekki Akitsura, and Bekki Dōsetsu, was a Japanese samurai of the Sengoku period who served the Ōtomo clan. He was the father of Tachibana Ginchiyo and adopted father of Tachibana Muneshige. D� ...

* Tachibana Muneshige * Takahashi Shigetane *

Yoshihiro Akimasa Yoshihiro is a Japanese masculine given name, and less commonly, a surname. There are dozens of different ways to write the name in kanji. Some examples of possible writings *義弘, "justice, vast" *義広, "justice, wide" *義寛, "justice, ...

* Usuki Akisumi *

Shiga Chikamori is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located in the Kansai region of Honshu. Shiga Prefecture has a population of 1,412,916 (1 October 2015) and has a geographic area of . Shiga Prefecture borders Fukui Prefecture to the north, Gifu Pr ...

Popular culture

Otomo is a playable nation in the

grand strategy game A grand strategy wargame or simply grand strategy game (GSG) is a wargame that places focus on grand strategy: military strategy at the level of movement and use of a nation state or empire's resources. It is a genre that has considerable overlap ...

s '' Europa Universalis IV'', ''

Sengoku The was a period in Japanese history of near-constant civil war and social upheaval from 1467 to 1615. The Sengoku period was initiated by the Ōnin War in 1467 which collapsed the feudal system of Japan under the Ashikaga shogunate. Variou ...

'' as well as in ''

Shogun 2 ''Total War: Shogun 2'' is a strategy video game developed by Creative Assembly and published by Sega in 2011. It is part of the ''Total War'' series and returns to the 16th-century Japan setting of the first '' Total War'' game, '' Shogun: Tot ...

''.

References

*Turnbull, Stephen (1998). ''The Samurai Sourcebook''. London: Cassell & Co. {{DEFAULTSORT:Otomo clan Japanese clans