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Following the establishment of Nata Shrine by [[Usa Kimimoto]] in [[729]] as a branch shrine of Usa Hachiman, the Nata became the designated house of the high priests of Usa Hachiman for the succeeding nearly nine centuries.

Following the establishment of Nata Shrine by [[Usa Kimimoto]] in [[729]] as a branch shrine of Usa Hachiman, the Nata became the designated house of the high priests of Usa Hachiman for the succeeding nearly nine centuries.

One notable member of the Nata family was a daughter of [[Nata Akimoto]] known only as "[[Otomo Nata Jezebel|Jezebel]]" (d. [[1587]]), an epithet given to her by the [[Jesuits]] for her active opposition to the spread of [[Christianity]].

In the [[Sengoku period]], the family expanded its shrine lands (''shinryô'', lit. "[[kami]] territories"), maintained a band of warriors known as ''shinpei'' ("soldiers of the ''kami''" or "divine soldiers"), and built at least one notable fortification. They further secured their power through strategic marriages with the [[Otomo clan|Ôtomo clan]]. One such marriage was between the powerful [[Christianity|Christian]] ''daimyô'' [[Otomo Sorin|Ôtomo Sôrin]] and a daughter of [[Nata Akimoto]], known to us today only as "[[Otomo Nata Jezebel|Jezebel]]" (d. [[1587]]), an epithet given to her by the [[Jesuits]] for her active opposition to the spread of Christianity. Several members of the family at that time (including Akimoto's son [[Tawara Chikakata|Chikakata]]) were adopted into the [[Tawara clan|Tawara family]], another vassal family of the Ôtomo.

 

In the early-to-mid-16th century, members of both the Nata and Tawara families held high positions in the Ôtomo household government, including as ministers of religion, and generals in the Ôtomo armies. However, by the 1560s, pro-Jesuit ''daimyô'' Ôtomo Sôrin began to see the power of the Nata as a threat, and this ultimately led to their fall. Sôrin placed the Nata's lands and armies under his direct supervision, through his brother-in-law Tawara (Nata) Chikakata, and had his own forces attack and burn Usa Hachiman repeatedly between [[1561]] and [[1583]]. The family declined even further after "Jezebel's" death in [[1587]].

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==References==

==References==

*Haruko Nawata Ward, ''Women Religious Leaders in Japan's Christian Century'', Ashgate (2009), 120.

*Haruko Nawata Ward, ''Women Religious Leaders in Japan's Christian Century'', Ashgate (2009), 120, 123-124.

[[Category:Clans]]

[[Category:Clans]]

[[Category:Sengoku Period]]

[[Category:Sengoku Period]]