Shimazu clan

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  • Japanese: 島津(Shimazu-ke)

The Shimazu, who may have been descended from the Koremune clan, were founded by Shimazu Tadahisa (d.1227), who was appointed as military commander of southern Kyushu by Minamoto Yoritomo in 1187. The Shimazu were splintered into two contending factions following the death of Shimazu Sadahisa (1265-1351) and remained fractured into the Sengoku Period. Building on the efforts of his father Shimazu Takahisa, Shimazu Yoshihisa managed to take much of Kyushu by 1587 but was forced back by Toyotomi Hideyoshi. Though they supported Ishida Mitsunari in 1600, the Shimazu remained a powerful house until the end of the Edo Period. It was once believed that Shimazu Tadahisa was an illegitimate child of Minamoto no Yoritomo, a story that has largely been abandoned since the end of the Edo Period.

Prominent Members of the Shimazu clan

References

  • Initial text from Sengoku Biographical Dictionary (Samurai-Archives.com) FWSeal & CEWest, 2005
  • Kaiyô kokka Satsuma 海洋国家薩摩, Kagoshima: Shôkoshûseikan (2010), 58-59.
  1. The Sôshû family was considered one of the chief branch families of the Shimazu lords of Satsuma
  2. 相州家, not to be confused with the Shimazu Sôshû family (総州家) mentioned above.