Changes

By [[1586]] the fortunes of the Otomo had reached their nadir. Ryûzoji Takanobu had been killed fighting the Shimazu, allowing Yoshihisa to return his attentions to Bungo. In May Sorin left Usuki, his place of retirement, and traveled to Osaka to see [[Toyotomi Hideyoshi]], from whom he pleaded assistance against Shimazu. Hideyoshi had no doubt planned to march on Kyushu any way, but Sorin provided a convenient excuse made all the more substantial when the Shimazu refused to agree to a Toyotomi-brokered peace deal. In December 1586 the first Toyotomi troops landed on Kyushu and while these men joined [[Otomo Yoshimune]] in a defeat at the [[Battle of the Hetsugigawa]], the massive army that followed swept the Shimazu all the way back to Satsuma.

By [[1586]] the fortunes of the Otomo had reached their nadir. Ryûzoji Takanobu had been killed fighting the Shimazu, allowing Yoshihisa to return his attentions to Bungo. In May Sorin left Usuki, his place of retirement, and traveled to Osaka to see [[Toyotomi Hideyoshi]], from whom he pleaded assistance against Shimazu. Hideyoshi had no doubt planned to march on Kyushu any way, but Sorin provided a convenient excuse made all the more substantial when the Shimazu refused to agree to a Toyotomi-brokered peace deal. In December 1586 the first Toyotomi troops landed on Kyushu and while these men joined [[Otomo Yoshimune]] in a defeat at the [[Battle of the Hetsugigawa]], the massive army that followed swept the Shimazu all the way back to Satsuma.

Sorin passed away later that year, his family seemingly secure in their hereditary fiefdom of Bungo if no longer independent. Unfortunately, Otomo Yoshimune had one further mistake to make. Tasked with leading 6,000 men to Korea as part of Hideyoshi’s invasion in [[1592]], Yoshimune displayed cowardice during fighting with Chinese troops near Pyongyang. Learning of a sizable Chinese force moving into the area, Yoshimune abandoned an important fort, an action that caused him to be sent home in disgrace and then stripped of his lands. He sided with [[Ishida Mitsunari]] during the [[Sekigahara Campaign]] and was exiled afterwards. He died in [[1605]], the last head of the Otomo family.

Sorin passed away later that year, his family seemingly secure in their hereditary fiefdom of Bungo if no longer independent. Unfortunately, Otomo Yoshimune had one further mistake to make. Tasked with leading 6,000 men to Korea as part of Hideyoshi’s [[Korean Invasions|invasion]] in [[1592]], Yoshimune displayed cowardice during fighting with Chinese troops near Pyongyang. Learning of a sizable Chinese force moving into the area, Yoshimune abandoned an important fort, an action that caused him to be sent home in disgrace and then stripped of his lands. He sided with [[Ishida Mitsunari]] during the [[Sekigahara Campaign]] and was exiled afterwards. He died in [[1605]], the last head of the Otomo family.

Yoshimune’s father Sorin was in many ways an enigma, a figure that defies easy explanation. Was Sorin, the most important Japanese ever to be baptized, sincere in his new faith and a crusader of the Christian cause? Or was he merely pragmatic, an opportunist who saw something to be gained by paying lip service to the foreigners and their religious ideas? Little studied in the west, Otomo Sorin and his clan stand, if nothing else, as an interesting chapter in the Sengoku period.

Yoshimune’s father Sorin was in many ways an enigma, a figure that defies easy explanation. Was Sorin, the most important Japanese ever to be baptized, sincere in his new faith and a crusader of the Christian cause? Or was he merely pragmatic, an opportunist who saw something to be gained by paying lip service to the foreigners and their religious ideas? Little studied in the west, Otomo Sorin and his clan stand, if nothing else, as an interesting chapter in the Sengoku period.