Hirai clan ( Japanese: 平井氏, ''Hirai-shi'') was a Japanese samurai family descending from the Fujiwara clan. They were a branch of the Shōni clan, the prominent family ('' meizoku'') that ruled the Dazaifu government in northern

Kyushu is the third-largest island of Japan's five main islands and the most southerly of the four largest islands ( i.e. excluding Okinawa). In the past, it has been known as , and . The historical regional name referred to Kyushu and its surroun ...

. They were one of the three most powerful families of governors ('' shugo'') in Kyushu alongside the Ōtomo clan and Shimazu clan.

History

In the mid-15th century, the Hirai clan ruled from

Suko Castle is the site of a castle structure in Shiroishi, Saga Prefecture, Japan. Its ruins have been protected as a Prefectural Historic Site. History In the Muromachi period, Suko Castle was the home castle of the Hirai clan. The lords of the castl ...

in present-day Saga Prefecture and boasted a military power of ten thousand cavalrymen. The clan was set to rule the area after they became a retainer to the Chiba clan and defended it against the Arima clan. In 1525, Hirai Tsunenori, who was in Kishima turned to the Arima clan after a political marriage. This caused the Hirai clan to confront the Chiba clan as well as their parent family, the Shōni clan. During the Battle of Suko Castle, consisting of four separate attacks between 1563 and 1574, their castle was finally destroyed in 1574 by the Ryūzōji clan, who later became the dominant clan in northern Kyushu. According to ''Hiyō Gunki'', the lord of the castle, Hirai Tsuneharu, committed ritual suicide (''

seppuku , sometimes referred to as hara-kiri (, , a native Japanese kun reading), is a form of Japanese ritual suicide by disembowelment. It was originally reserved for samurai in their code of honour but was also practised by other Japanese people ...

''), but the details are unknown. According to ''Naoshige Kōfu'', his orphaned children were taken into the Nabeshima clan by Nabeshima Naoshige, and their descendants served the Saga Domain for generations. Later, Suko Castle belonged to the Ryūzōji clan, and when Ryūzōji Takanobu retired, he moved to the castle and made it his residence. In 1584, Ryūzōji Takanobu was killed in a battle against the allied forces of the Arima and Shimazu clans. Suko Castle became the residence of Takanobu's younger brother, Ryūzōji Nobukane, who founded the Nabeshima clan. Today, there are five '' hōkyōintō'' pagodas, which are believed to be the graves of the Hirai clan on the northern side of the Nabeshima clan mausoleum at Yōkō-ji Temple in Shiroishi, Kishima, Saga Prefecture.{{Cite web , title=Hirai Tsuneharu 白石町ホームページ｜平井経治（ひらいつねはる） , url=https://www.town.shiroishi.lg.jp/jyuumin/manabu/yukari/_1154.html , access-date=2022-03-08 , website=Shiroishi Town , language=ja

Clan heads

# Hirai Tsuneuji # Hirai Tsunetaka # Hirai Hisatsune # Hirai Morihide # Hirai Tsunehide # Hirai Tsunesada # Hirai Yorikane # Hirai Tsunenori # Hirai Tsuneharu # Hirai Naohide # Hirai Tsunefusa # Hirai Tsunekiyo # Hirai Momo

References

Japanese clans

History

Clan heads

See also

References