Kyushu

• Japanese: 九州 (Kyuushuu)

Kyushu is the southernmost of Japan's main four islands. Its name means "nine states" and, as might be expected, it was historically divided into nine provinces: Bungo, Buzen, Chikuzen, Hizen, Chikugo, Higo, Hyûga, Ôsumi, and Satsuma.

History

Ancient and Classical Periods

Though far from the major historical political, economic, and cultural centers of Kansai and Kantô, as the part of the archipelago closest to the Asian mainland, Kyushu features prominently throughout history in Japan's interactions with the outside world.

Kyushu is generally said to have been the site of the earliest state formation in the Japanese archipelago. Though the origins and identity of the Yayoi people remain very much subjects of debate, it is widely accepted that prior to the establishment of a proto-Japanese state on the Yamato plain in central Honshu, the Yayoi clans became organized on Kyushu. Small tribal communities formed confederations, and engaged in trade and relations with societies on the Ryukyu Islands, Korean peninsula, and in China. Among the more powerful, or at least more famous today, was a confederation known as Yamatai, ruled for a time by Queen Himiko.

Kyushu remained a site of great political and economic importance into the Yamato period, as the center on Honshu solidified and a unified Yamato state emerged.

The Yamato state engaged in active trade and diplomatic relations with the various kingdoms of the Korean peninsula, primarily through locations on Kyushu, and through the islands of Tsushima and Iki. In the 660s, plans were made to invade the Korean kingdom of Silla, which was hostile to Paekche and the Gaya Confederacy (Mimana), Yamato allies. These plans were scrapped, the invasion never undertaken, but as a result of Yamato fears of Chinese or Korean attacks, a more organized defense was established for Kyushu, centrally managed by an administrative headquarters at Dazaifu, just outside what is today the city of Fukuoka.

Kamakura through Sengoku periods

Dazaifu would remain the central headquarters for the defense and administration of Kyushu for centuries. At the beginning of the Kamakura period (1185-1333), the position of Chinzei bugyô was established. The first Chinzei bugyô was a samurai by the name of Amano Tôkage, appointed in 1186 to oversee the pursuit and elimination of support for the shogun's brother Minamoto no Yoshitsune. However, the position soon came to be that of the chief officer of Dazaifu; all orders from the shogunate in Kamakura regarding Kyushu would pass through this headquarters. It is believed that this system came about in part because the shogunate could not rely upon the local lords of Kyushu to follow orders directly without the intermediation of a more direct local presence and authority, in the form of the Dazaifu government.

The Chinzei bugyô thus oversaw the administration and defense of all of Kyushu, along with Ikishima and Tsushima. Under him were the Daini and Shôni, which Sansom translates as Senior and Junior Assistant. The post of Shôni came to be held hereditarily by members of the Muto branch of the Fujiwara clan, who later came to call themselves the Shôni clan and to wield significant influence in the region.

Around this time, the Dazaifu government, along with a parallel headquarters in Tôhoku (northeastern Honshû), came to reproduce the organizational structure of the shogunate, albeit on a smaller scale. Thus, various offices and structures, such as a samurai-dokoro, a separate office dedicated specifically to military affairs, came to be established.

The Dazaifu headquarters would play a crucial role in the Japanese defense against the Mongol invasions of 1274 and 1281. Envoys of Khubilai Khan delivered a formal message from the Khan to Dazaifu in 1268, commanding Japan to submit or be invaded; the missive was passed on to Kamakura and Kyoto, but was ultimately ignored. Following the reception of another message to the same effect in 1271, the Kamakura shogunate ordered Dazaifu, along with all the shugo and jitô, to begin strengthening defenses. Samurai from Kyushu who were residing in Kamakura were returned to the island, and a number of the shogun's own direct retainers (kenin) began journeying towards Kyushu as well, along with a sizeable army.

A Mongol ambassador arrived in Dazaifu in late 1272, and was rejected and expelled on the orders of the shogunate. The Mongol fleet arrived soon afterwards, seizing Tsushima and Ikishima with little difficulty; a detachment was sent to take the port of Hirado, while the bulk of the fleet landed at Hakata, on the north shore of Kyushu, a short distance from Dazaifu.

• Mongols
• contact with Europe, guns, Christians
• Hideyoshi's Kyushu Campaign
• Korean invasions

Edo period

• Edo period - Satsuma/Ryukyu, Nagasaki

Bakumatsu and Meiji periods

• Bakumatsu/Meiji - Satsuma, Saga Rebellions

References

• Sansom, George (1958). 'A History of Japan to 1334'. Stanford, California: Stanford University Press.
• Sansom, George (1961). "A History of Japan: 1334-1615." Stanford, California: Stanford University Press.
• Sansom, George (1963). "A History of Japan: 1615-1867." Stanford, California: Stanford University Press.