Tachibana Muneshige

• Born: 1567
• Died: 1642
• Titles: Hida no kami
• Distinction: Ôtomo retainer, Chikugo warlord
• Japanese: 立花宗茂 (Tachibana Muneshige)

Muneshige's kamon.

Muneshige was the son of Takahashi Shigetane and was adopted by Tachibana Dosetsu. He defended Tachibana castle against the Shimazu in 1586 and readily sided with Toyotomi Hideyoshi in 1587 to help defeat them. He was afterwards given Yanagawa castle in Chikugo province (worth some 120,000 koku) and led 2,500 men in Kobayakawa Takakage's command in the First Korean Campaign. In the Second Korean Campaign he was involved in the Siege of Ulsan, where he distinguished himself for bravery. He decided to support Ishida Mitsunari against Tokugawa Ieyasu in 1600 and took 1,000 men to assist in the Siege of Ôtsu castle (Ômi province). Though Ôtsu fell, Muneshige was unable to fight at the Battle of Sekigahara as a result of the siege's duration. Nonetheless, he was deprived of his domains in the aftermath of Mitsunari's defeat. In 1611 he was given a 20,000 koku fief at Tanakura (Mutsu province) and was present at the quelling of the Shimabara Rebellion.

References

• Initial text from Sengoku Biographical Dictionary (Samurai-Archives.com) FWSeal & CEWest, 2005