Product Code Database
The were the daimyō of the Satsuma Domain Han system, which spread over Satsuma Province, Ōsumi and Hyūga provinces in Japan.
The Shimazu were identified as one of the tozama or outsider daimyō familiesAppert, Georges et al. (1888). in contrast with the fudai or insider clans which were hereditary vassals or allies of the Tokugawa clan.
The founder, Shimazu Tadahisa (d. 1227), was a son of Shōgun Minamoto no Yoritomo (1147–1199) with the sister of Hiki Yoshikazu. Tadahisa's wife was a daughter of Koremune Hironobu, a descendant of the Hata clan, whose name Tadahisa took at first. He received the domain of Shioda in Shinano Province in 1186 and was then named shugo of Satsuma Province. He sent Honda Sadachika to take possession of the province in his name and accompanied Yoritomo in his expedition to Mutsu Province in 1189. He went to Satsuma in 1196, subdued the Hyūga and Ōsumi provinces, and built a castle in the Hyūga Province as part of the Shimazu Estate, whose name he also adopted.
Shimazu Yoshihisa (1533–1611) was the 16th Head of Shimazu family and the eldest son of Shimazu Takahisa. In 1586, he succeeded in unifying and controlling the entire Kyushu. He retired in 1587 after Toyotomi Hideyoshi's Kyushu Campaign.
The 17th head, Yoshihiro (1535–1619), was the daimyō at the time of the Battle of Sekigahara, the establishment of the Tokugawa Shogunate, and the Siege of Osaka.Nussbaum, Louis Frédéric et al. (2005). "Shimazu Yoshihiro" in ; n.b., Louis-Frédéric is pseudonym of Louis-Frédéric Nussbaum, see Deutsche Nationalbibliothek Authority File . His nephew and successor was Tadatsune.Nussbaum, "Shimazu Tadatsune" at He held significant power during the first two decades of the 17th century, and organized the Shimazu invasion of the Ryūkyū Kingdom (modern-day Okinawa Prefecture) in 1609. The Shōgun allowed this because he wished to appease the Shimazu and prevent potential uprisings after their loss at Sekigahara.Kerr, George H. (2000). The trade benefits thus acquired, and the political prestige of being the only daimyō family to control an entire foreign country secured the Shimazu's position as one of the most powerful daimyō families in Japan at the time. The Shimazu clan was renowned for the loyalty of its retainers and officers, especially during the Sengoku period. Some retainer families, such as the Ijuin clan and Shirakwa clan, were determined to defeat any opposition to help expand the power of the Shimazu clan. The Shimazu are also famous for being the first to use teppo (firearms, specifically matchlock ) on the battlefield in Japan, and began domestic production of the weapons as well. Shimazu battle tactics are known to have been very successful in defeating larger enemy armies, particularly during their campaign to conquer Kyūshū in the 1580s. Their tactics included the luring of the opposition into an ambush on both sides by arquebus troops, creating panic and disorder. Central forces would then be deployed to rout the enemy. In this way, the Shimazu were able to defeat much larger clans such as the Itō, Ryūzōji and Ōtomo. Overall, the Shimazu was a very large and powerful clan due to their strong economy both from domestic production through trade, good organization of government and troops, strong loyalty of retainers and isolation from Honshū.
In 1789, Shigehide (1745–1833)'s daughter became the wife of the 11th shogun, Tokugawa Ienari. In 1856, Nariakira (1809–1858)'s adopted daughter (Tenshō-in) became the wife of the 13th shogun, Tokugawa Iesada.
Hisamitsu (1817–1887), regent of Tadayoshi, was the daimyō of Satsuma at the time of the Boshin War and the Meiji Restoration, in which Satsuma played a major role.Nussbaum, "Shimazu Hisamitsu" at
However, Tadahisa's ambiguous genealogy has caused scrutiny among Japanese historians on whether his lineage was truly Genji, since older sources record him under "Koremune", the same clan as his wife. It is believed that after serving as the head steward of the Konoe family, Tadahisa became a retainer to the Minamoto clan where he adopted the clan name and self-proclaimed to be of Seiwa Genji descent. The general consensus is that Tadahisa was of Koremune descent like his wife, and not Seiwa Genji.
However, due to the fact that the clan's mon was used much earlier than the introduction of Christianity to Japan, and no other genealogical evidence supporting the theory, it is not considered historically or scientifically accurate. A similar claim and fringe theory was given to the Shimazu clan's ancestor family known as the Hata clan, where Pseudohistory tried connecting the Hata with the Ten Lost Tribes of Israel. The Hata clan, an immigrant clan from Korea, had a convoluted origin with many claims pointing to different civilizations, one of which was Israel under the Japanese-Jewish common ancestry theory also known as " Nichiyu dōsoron". However, much like its descendant clan, the theory is ignored by most modern historians.
|
|
