, the son of Shimazu Tadayoshi, was a ''

daimyō were powerful Japanese magnates, feudal lords who, from the 10th century to the early Meiji period in the middle 19th century, ruled most of Japan from their vast, hereditary land holdings. They were subordinate to the shogun and nominall ...

'' during Japan's

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 ...

. He was the fifteenth head of the

Shimazu clan The were the '' daimyō'' of the Satsuma han, which spread over Satsuma, Ōsumi and Hyūga provinces in Japan. The Shimazu were identified as one of the '' tozama'' or outsider ''daimyō'' familiesAppert, Georges ''et al.'' (1888). in cont ...

Biography

In 1514, he is said to have been born in

Izaku Castle was a castle structure in Hioki, Kagoshima Prefecture, Japan. The date of the castle's construction is unknown, but it is believed that the castle was built by Shimazu Hisanaga in the thirteenth century. It was the original seat of power for th ...

. On 1526, Takahisa was adopted as the successor to Shimazu Katsuhisa and became head of the clan. He launched a series of campaigns to reclaim three provinces: Satsuma, Osumi, and Hyūga. While he made some progress, it would be up to the next generation in the Shimazu family to successfully reclaim them. He nurtured such future leaders like Shimazu Yoshihisa and his brothers Yoshihiro, Toshihisa and Iehisa who would, for a short time, see the

take over the entire island of

Kyūshū 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 surround ...

; he is also said to have a daughter of unknown name. Takahisa actively promoted relationships with foreign people and countries. He was the first daimyo to bring Western firearms into Japan, following the shipwreck of a number of Portuguese on Tanegashima in 1543. In 1549, he welcomed St. Francis Xavier and met Xavier in Ijyuin Castle. He granted the Jesuit protection to spread

Christianity Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth. It is the world's largest and most widespread religion with roughly 2.38 billion followers representing one-third of the global popula ...

in his domain, but later retracted his support of Christianity under pressure from local Buddhist monks.Miki, Tamon: "The Influence of Western Culture on Japanese Art"; ''Monumenta Nipponica'' (19, 3/4) 1964 p. 380–401 Takahisa also held a diplomatic relationship with the

Ryūkyū Kingdom The Ryukyu Kingdom, Middle Chinese: , , Classical Chinese: (), Historical English names: ''Lew Chew'', ''Lewchew'', ''Luchu'', and ''Loochoo'', Historical French name: ''Liou-tchou'', Historical Dutch name: ''Lioe-kioe'' was a kingdom in t ...

. In 1549, he used "Portuguese-derived" firearms to take Kajiki castle. In 1554, Shimazu Takahisa had to take action against his rebellious kokujin vassals, Ito clan and Kimotsuki clan, at Siege of Iwatsurugi Castle. In 1570, he relinquished the family head position to Shimazu Yoshihisa. He died in 1571.

Notable retainers

* Ijuin Tadaaki * Tanegashima Tokitaka *

Niiro Tadamoto was a retainer of Satsuma ''daimyō'' Shimazu Yoshihisa. He is also known as Jiroshirō. He served under Shimazu Takahisa and then under Yoshihisa. Tadamoto was a skilled samurai called ''Oni Musashi''. Tadamoto had an active role at the B ...

References

*Frédéric, Louis (2002). ''Japan Encyclopedia''. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press. {{DEFAULTSORT:Shimazu, Takahisa 1514 births 1571 deaths Daimyo Shimazu clan People from Kagoshima Prefecture