Changes

* ''Sons: [[Tanegashima Hisatoki]]''

* ''Sons: [[Tanegashima Hisatoki]]''

* ''Distinction: [[Shimazu clan|Shimazu]] retainer''

* ''Distinction: [[Shimazu clan|Shimazu]] retainer''

Tokitada was the son of [[Tanegashima Satotoki]]. He was the official head of the [[Tanegashima clan|Tanegashima]] when he received the first Europeans in [[1543]] and arranged for their firearms to be studied and copied (for this reason arquebuses were known for a time as 'Tanegashima'). In fact, Tokitada’s smith was unable to reproduce a working arquebus for almost a year as he couldn’t effectively block up one end of the barrel to contain the force of the explosion of gunpowder. Another Portuguese vessel happened to call on Tanegashima and a blacksmith who was with the crew explained the idea of the stopper screw; until that point the screw was unknown to the Japanese. Like his father, Tokitada assisted [[Shimazu Takahisa]] in his efforts to subdue [[Osumi province|Ôsumi province]]. One of his daughters eventually became [[Shimazu Yoshihisa|Shimazu Yoshihisa’s]] second wife.  

Tokitada was the son of [[Tanegashima Satotoki]]. When a Chinese junk with two or three Portuguese on board came to Tanegashima in 1543 after being blown off-course in a storm, Tokitaka met with the strangers, and secured arrangements for his swordsmith, Yasuita Kinbei Kiyosada (d. [[1570]]), to be instructed in the production of arquebuses. In exchange, Tokitaka gave his daughter to one of the Portuguese as a consort; reportedly, he expected that she would be with the foreigner only temporarily, but instead he took her as his wife. Kiyosada began working to reproduce the weapons, but had difficulties reproducing the spring mechanism, and also in sealing the barrel sufficiently to contain the force of the [[gunpowder]] explosion.

 

Another Portuguese ship (or, perhaps, the same one) came to Tanegashima the following year, however, and a gunsmith on board was able to more properly instruct Kiyosada how to resolve these problems. Kiyosada, along with a merchant from [[Sakai]] named [[Tachibana Iemonzaburo|Tachibana Iemonzaburô]]<ref>Rendered in some texts as Teppô-mata.</ref>, thus became the first two sources of "domestically" Japan-produced arquebuses.

 

Tokitaka also assisted [[Shimazu Takahisa]], as his father had done, in Takahisa's efforts to subdue [[Osumi province|Ôsumi province]]. One of his daughters eventually became [[Shimazu Yoshihisa|Shimazu Yoshihisa’s]] second wife.  

==References==

==References==

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[[Category:Samurai]][[Category:Sengoku Period]]

[[Category:Samurai]][[Category:Sengoku Period]]