was a
Japanese kin group which traces its origin to
Hizen Province
was an old provinces of Japan, old province of Japan in the area of the Saga Prefecture, Saga and Nagasaki Prefecture, Nagasaki prefectures. It was sometimes called , with Higo Province. Hizen bordered on the provinces of Chikuzen Province, Ch ...
on the island of
Kyushu
is the third-largest island of Japan's Japanese archipelago, four main islands and the most southerly of the four largest islands (i.e. excluding Okinawa Island, Okinawa and the other Ryukyu Islands, Ryukyu (''Nansei'') Ryukyu Islands, Islands ...
.
[ Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005)]
"Hōki"
in ''Japan Encyclopedia'', p. 802.
History
The clan was founded by
Fujiwara no Suekiyo in 1186.
The clan was allied with
Ashikaga Takauji
also known as Minamoto no Takauji was the founder and first ''shōgun'' of the Ashikaga shogunate."Ashikaga Takauji" in ''Encyclopædia Britannica, The New Encyclopædia Britannica''. Chicago: Encyclopædia Britannica Inc., 15th edn., 1992, Vol. ...
in 1336, but they were defeated in fighting with the
Ōtomo clan to the east and
Shimazu clan to the south.
is known for expanding his clan's holdings. He took land from the
Shōni clan.
[ Ryūzōji Masaie (1556–1607) was the son of Takanobu. In 1587, Masaie joined the forces of ]Toyotomi Hideyoshi
, otherwise known as and , was a Japanese samurai and ''daimyō'' (feudal lord) of the late Sengoku period, Sengoku and Azuchi-Momoyama periods and regarded as the second "Great Unifier" of Japan.Richard Holmes, The World Atlas of Warfare: ...
against the Shimazu clan. In the same year, he was confirmed as head of the Saga Domain (350,000 ''koku
The is a Chinese-based Japanese unit of volume. One koku is equivalent to 10 or approximately , or about of rice. It converts, in turn, to 100 shō and 1,000 gō. One ''gō'' is the traditional volume of a single serving of rice (before co ...
''), but control of the domain passed to Nabeshima Naoshige[ Papinot, Jacques Edmond Joseph. (1906). ''Dictionnaire d'histoire et de géographie du Japon''; Papinot, (2003)]
"Ryūzōji", ''Nobiliare du Japon'', p. 50 [PDF 54 of 80
/nowiki>">DF 54 of 80">"Ryūzōji", ''Nobiliare du Japon'', p. 50 [PDF 54 of 80
/nowiki> retrieved 2013-5-2. when Masaie was killed in battle.
Notable clan leaders
* Ryūzōji Chikaie
* Ryūzōji Takanobu
Notable members
* Keigin-ni
Notable retainers
* Nabeshima Naoshige
* Arima Harunobu
* Matsura Takanobu
* Ōmura Sumitada
* Gotō Takaakira
* Miyohime
* Hyakutake Tomonake married to Miyohime
* Kinoshita Masanao
* Narimatsu Nobukatsu
* Enjōji Nobutane
* Eriguchi Nobutsuna
* Harada Nobutane
* Naritomi Shigeyasu
* Ogawa Nobuyasu
References
Bibliography
* 佐賀新聞社 (2006/12).『五州二島の太守龍造寺隆信』.
External links
龍造寺氏 on Harimaya.com
Naritomi Shigeyasu on Samurai-Archives.com
Japanese clans
{{Japan-clan-stub