was a ruling head of the clan of Ōmura throughout the latter

Sengoku period The was a period in History of Japan, 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 Feudalism, feudal system of Japan under the ...

Feudal Japan The first human inhabitants of the Japanese archipelago have been traced to Japanese Paleolithic, prehistoric times around 30,000 BC. The Jōmon period, named after its cord-marked pottery, was followed by the Yayoi period in the first millenni ...

. As Yoshiaki was the respective son of

Ōmura Sumitada Ōmura Sumitada (大村純忠, 1533 – June 23, 1587) was a Japanese ''daimyō'' lord of the Sengoku period. He achieved fame throughout the country for being the first of the daimyo to convert to Christianity following the arrival of the ...

, he followed his father in succession at some variable time, at which relations with the

Jesuits The Society of Jesus ( la, Societas Iesu; abbreviation: SJ), also known as the Jesuits (; la, Iesuitæ), is a religious order (Catholic), religious order of clerics regular of pontifical right for men in the Catholic Church headquartered in Rom ...

and trade with the

Portuguese Portuguese may refer to: * anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Portugal ** Portuguese cuisine, traditional foods ** Portuguese language, a Romance language *** Portuguese dialects, variants of the Portuguese language ** Portu ...

had been already firmly developed. Following

Ryūzōji Takanobu was a Japanese ''daimyō'' in Hizen Province during the Sengoku period. Takanobu was the head of the Ryūzōji clan. Biography Takanobu was the grandson of Ryūzōji Iekane (1454-1546). Ryūzōji Takanobu is known for expanding his clan's ho ...

's suppression of the Omura in the year of 1580, it can be surmised that Yoshiaki then followed with support beneath the former, at which he would retain the lowly position of vassal up until the Toyotomis' rise to prominence after 1584. Supporting

Toyotomi Hideyoshi , otherwise known as and , was a Japanese samurai and ''daimyō'' (feudal lord) of the late Sengoku period regarded as the second "Great Unifier" of Japan.Richard Holmes, The World Atlas of Warfare: Military Innovations that Changed the Cour ...

initially during the

Korean campaign Korean may refer to: People and culture * Koreans, ethnic group originating in the Korean Peninsula * Korean cuisine * Korean culture * Korean language **Korean alphabet, known as Hangul or Chosŏn'gŭl **Korean dialects and the Jeju language ** ...

of 1592, Yoshiaki's mutual support following this scenario is relatively unknown, but it is recorded that he at least chose to remain as a neutral power by the year 1600, when he declined the proposal to attend the

Sekigahara Campaign The Sekigahara Campaign was a series of battles in Japan fought between the Eastern Army aligned with Tokugawa Ieyasu and the Western Army loyal to Ishida Mitsunari, culminating in the decisive Battle of Sekigahara. The conflict was sparke ...

. Though Yoshiaki was subsequently forced to stand down in favor of his son, Sumitada, as a consequence of his failure to support the Tokugawa's Western army in Sekigahara, Yoshiaki still entered 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 characteriz ...

with a level of authority over the Omura, which he justified by means of expelling the Jesuits from his domain after a show of defiance at Nagasaki port. Initially following this, Yoshiaki forced Christianity from his clan and enforced

Buddhism Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religion or philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. It originated in northern India as a -movement in the 5th century BCE, and gra ...

, possibly to appear favorably to

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 fellow ...

and potentially redeem rank that could benefit his social position. As his Christian name "Dom Sancho" was additionally discarded, Yoshiaki's life following this period in time is unknown. He died by the year 1615. Yoshiaki was the son of

References

* http://wiki.samurai-archives.com/index.php?title=Omura_Yoshiaki Omura Yoshiaki - SamuraiWiki]. (Samurai Archives) FWSeal & CEWest, 2005 *Hall, John Whitney. ''The Cambridge History of Japan'' Samurai Daimyo Japanese Roman Catholics Converts to Buddhism from Roman Catholicism People of the Japanese invasions of Korea (1592–1598) 1568 births 1615 deaths Place of birth unknown Date of death missing Place of death missing Date of birth unknown {{daimyo-stub