The Tachibana clan (立花氏) was a Japanese clan of ''

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 ...

'' (feudal lords) during Japan's Sengoku and

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 ...

s. Originally based in

Tachibana castle was a Japanese castle in Chikuzen Province, in the north of Kyūshū. It was at the peak of Mount Tachibana, extending in part into the Higashi-ku in Fukuoka. The castle is also known as Rikka-jō, Tachibana-jō, or Rikkasan-jō. History The c ...

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 ...

, the family's holdings were moved to the Yanagawa Domain in the far north-east of Honshū in the Edo period. The clan, which bore no direct relation to the Tachibana clan of the

Heian period The is the last division of classical Japanese history, running from 794 to 1185. It followed the Nara period, beginning when the 50th emperor, Emperor Kanmu, moved the capital of Japan to Heian-kyō (modern Kyoto). means "peace" in Japan ...

, originated with Ōtomo Sadatoshi (d. 1336), who took on the name and assigned it to the family of Ōtomo vassals who held Tachibana castle. For a time, the Tachibana served as loyal retainers under the

Ōtomo clan was a Japanese samurai family whose power stretched from the Kamakura period through the Sengoku period, spanning over 400 years. The clan's hereditary lands lay in Kyūshū. Origins The first family head, Ōtomo Yoshinao (1172–1223), took ...

, regularly battling the Shimazu, rivals to the Ōtomo. In the mid-16th century, a conflict between Ōtomo Akitoshi and

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 ...

led to the former splitting from the family, and taking the name Tachibana Dōsetsu. Dōsetsu had no sons, and nominated his daughter,

Tachibana Ginchiyo was head of the Japanese Tachibana clan and onna-musha during the Sengoku period. She was the daughter of Tachibana Dōsetsu, a powerful retainer of the Ōtomo clan (which were rivals of the Shimazu clan at the time). Because Dosetsu had no s ...

, to succeed him. Shortly afterwards, she would marry Takahashi Munetora, a vassal of

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 ...

, who helped defeat the Shimazu in Hideyoshi's

Kyūshū Campaign 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 surrou ...

. Upon inheriting the clan leadership, Takahashi took a new name, and became known as

Tachibana Muneshige The term has at least two different meanings, and has been used in several contexts. People * – a clan of ''kuge'' (court nobles) prominent in the Nara and Heian periods (710–1185) * – a clan of ''daimyō'' (feudal lords) prominent in the Mu ...

. Muneshige then fought for Hideyoshi in the

Japanese invasions of Korea (1592–98) Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspor ...

, and was granted the '' han'' (fief) of

Yanagawa is a city located in Fukuoka Prefecture, Japan. As of April 30, 2011, the city has an estimated population of 71,848, with 24,507 households and a population density of 934.55 persons per km². The total area is 76.88 km². On March 21, ...

(

Chikugo Province is the name of a former province of Japan in the area that is today the southern part of Fukuoka Prefecture on Kyūshū. It was sometimes called or , with Chikuzen Province. Chikugo was bordered by Hizen, Chikuzen, Bungo, and Higo Provin ...

, 132,000 ''

koku The is a Chinese-based Japanese unit of volume. 1 koku is equivalent to 10 or approximately , or about . It converts, in turn, to 100 shō and 1000 gō. One ''gō'' is the volume of the "rice cup", the plastic measuring cup that is supplied ...

''), the land surrounding Tachibana castle. Muneshige and Ginchiyo fought against the Tokugawa, however, during the decisive

Battle of Sekigahara The Battle of Sekigahara (Shinjitai: ; Kyūjitai: , Hepburn romanization: ''Sekigahara no Tatakai'') was a decisive battle on October 21, 1600 ( Keichō 5, 15th day of the 9th month) in what is now Gifu prefecture, Japan, at the end of ...

of 1600, and was dispossessed of his holdings when the

Tokugawa shogunate The Tokugawa shogunate (, Japanese 徳川幕府 ''Tokugawa bakufu''), also known as the , was the military government of Japan during the Edo period from 1603 to 1868. Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005)"''Tokugawa-jidai''"in ''Japan Encyclopedia ...

was established. Ultimately, he proved his loyalty to the shogunate in 1611, and was granted a fief in

Mutsu Province was an old province of Japan in the area of Fukushima, Miyagi, Iwate and Aomori Prefectures and the municipalities of Kazuno and Kosaka in Akita Prefecture. Mutsu Province is also known as or . The term is often used to refer to the co ...

, far from Kyūshū. This fief, the Tanakura Domain, was only worth 20,000 ''koku'', but when the Tanaka family holding Tachibana castle and Yanagawa died out, due to a lack of heirs, the Tachibana were restored to their old territory. Their income remained around 20,000 ''koku'', however. Holding onto this fief continuously through the rest of the Edo period, the Tachibana were granted the title of '' Hakushaku'' (Count) during the

Meiji period The is an era of Japanese history that extended from October 23, 1868 to July 30, 1912. The Meiji era was the first half of the Empire of Japan, when the Japanese people moved from being an isolated feudal society at risk of colonization ...

, when the feudal system and samurai class were abolished. Meanwhile, Muneshige's younger brother, Takahashi Munemasu (1573–1617), fell into much the same situation. His domain was reduced from 18,000 ''koku'' to 5000 as a result of his opposition to the Tokugawa at Sekigahara. He changed his name to Tachibana Naotsugu, and passed on the Miike Domain to his heirs. Tachibana Takachika, one of that line, was awarded the government post of ''

wakadoshiyori The ', or "Junior Elders", were high government officials in the Edo period Japan under the Tokugawa shogunate (1603-1867). The position was established around 1633, but appointments were irregular until 1662. The four to six ''wakadoshiyori'' we ...

'', gaining power and prestige for the clan even though he was soon demoted to ''

hatamoto A was a high ranking samurai in the direct service of the Tokugawa shogunate of feudal Japan. While all three of the shogunates in Japanese history had official retainers, in the two preceding ones, they were referred to as '' gokenin.'' Howev ...

''. This branch of the family was granted the title of Viscount following the

Meiji Restoration The , referred to at the time as the , and also known as the Meiji Renovation, Revolution, Regeneration, Reform, or Renewal, was a political event that restored practical imperial rule to Japan in 1868 under Emperor Meiji. Although there were ...

Significant members of the Tachibana family

* Ōtomo Sadatoshi * Tachibana Shinsei * Tachibana Munekatsu * Tachibana Shinzen * Tachibana Dōsetsu (1513–1585) *

(1569–1602) *

(1567–1642) * Tachibana Naotsugu (1573–1617) * Tachibana Takachika

References

{{Authority control Tachibana