Otomo Chikaie

• Birth: 1561
• Death: 1641
• Other name: Tawara Chikaie
• Distinction: Ôtomo retainer
• Japanese: 大友 親家 (Ootomo Chikaie)

Chikaie was the 2nd son of Ôtomo Yoshishige (Sôrin).

He resisted his father's plans to have him become a Buddhist monk, and was then given over to the care and instruction of Padre Francisco Cabral, Superior of the Jesuit mission. In 1575, Chikaie was baptized and given the name Sebastião; he later abandoned Christianity, however, in part on the advice of Sôrin's wife, a woman known only by the Jesuits' epithet for her - Jezebel - and of other elites in his social circles.

In 1579, he was adopted as heir by his uncle Tawara Chikakata ("Jezebel's" brother). Around 1586 he feuded with his brother Ôtomo Yoshimune and was accused of colluding with the Shimazu. After Toyotomi Hideyoshi's armies had driven back the Shimazu, Hideyoshi wanted to execute Chikaie but was convinced by Sôrin to instead deprive him of his domain.

References

• Initial text from Sengoku Biographical Dictionary (Samurai-Archives.com) FWSeal & CEWest, 2005
• Haruko Nawata Ward, Women Religious Leaders in Japan's Christian Century, Ashgate (2009), 115-116, 119.