Munakata Saikaku
Munakata Saikaku | |
---|---|
宗像 才鶴 | |
Munakata Shrine Shimmon Gate | |
Munakata clan head | |
In office 1586–Unknown | |
Personal | |
Born | 16th-century |
Died | Unknown |
Nationality | Japan |
Spouse | Munakata Ujisada |
Occupation | Onna-musha Military commander |
Military career | |
Allegiance | Toyotomi clan |
Unit | Munakata clan |
Battles/wars | Kyūshū Campaign |
Munakata Saikaku (宗像 才鶴) was a Japanese female samurai warlord, aristocrat and onna-musha of the Sengoku period. She was the wife of Munakata Ujisada, the last Munakata clan daiguji of Munakata Shrine in Chikuzen province of the Kyushu island. After her husband's death in 1586, she was appointed leader of the Munataka clan by Japan's most powerful man at the time, Toyotomi Hideyoshi. She played a crucial role in the Kyushu campaign, her achievements in battles were noted and she became a female lord.[1]
Toyotomi Hideyoshi, one of the three ''Japan's Great unifier'', sent letters to Munakata Saikaku of the Munakata clan, famed for producing successive generations of "daiguji," the highest-ranking priest of Munakata Taisha shrine. Saikaku was the wife of Ujisada, the last daiguji of the Shinto shrine, which is a part of a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
The letter sent by Hideyoshi, congratulated her on her military achievements during her fight against the Shimazu clan in the Kyushu Campaign. Because of her conquests in battle, Hideyoshi appointed her as the head of the Munakata clan.
Hideyoshi's letter
The letter was discovered on September 18, 2019, attracting the attention of several people because of a peculiar fact in Japanese history: A woman being appointed as head of a clan by a powerful feudal lord. The two rare letters, one a "hanmotsu" official document signed with Hideyoshi's "kao" stylized signature, and a "shuinjo" letter with a red seal, were handed down through successive generations of the Munakata clan, which served the ruling Hosokawa clan of the Higo Domain.
Munakata Ujisada died suddenly in 1586, a year before Hideyoshi conquered the Kyushu region. Hideyoshi praises the Munakata clan for preventing the Shimazu clan, which was in southern Kyushu, from going north. In gratitude, he issued "hanmotsu" that same year, ensuring that the clan can maintain its territories.[citation needed]
In the "shuinjo", the warlord instructs the Munakata clan to consult with his vassal, Asano Nagamasa, before sending troops to Kyoto. Both letters were addressed to Saikaku, showing that Hideyoshi acknowledged her as head of the Munakata clan. Although Saikaku is mentioned as the female lord of the Munakata clan in letters passed down to other samurai families, little had been known about her life and fate.[2]
See also
References
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- Amago Tsunehisa
- Amago Haruhisa
- Asakura Yoshikage
- Ashina Moriuji
- Akechi Mitsuhide
- Azai Nagamasa
- Chōsokabe Motochika
- Date Terumune
- Date Masamune
- Hatakeyama Yoshitaka
- Honda Tadakatsu
- Hōjō Sōun
- Hōjō Ujimasa
- Hōjō Ujiyasu
- Ii Naomasa
- Imagawa Yoshimoto
- Imagawa Ujizane
- Isshiki Yoshimichi
- Itō Yoshisuke
- Kitabatake Tomonori
- Kuroda Nagamasa
- Matsunaga Hisahide
- Miyoshi Nagayoshi
- Mogami Yoshiaki
- Mōri Motonari
- Ōuchi Yoshitaka
- Ōuchi Yoshinaga
- Ōtomo Sōrin
- Rokkaku Yoshikata
- Ryūzōji Takanobu
- Saitō Dōsan
- Saitō Yoshitatsu
- Sakai Tadatsugu
- Sakakibara Yasumasa
- Satomi Yoshitaka
- Sanada Yukitaka
- Sanada Masayuki
- Sanada Nobuyuki
- Satake Yoshishige
- Sagara Yoshihi
- Shimazu Yoshihisa
- Shimazu Yoshihiro
- Tachibana Dōsetsu
- Takeda Nobutora
- Takeda Shingen
- Tōdō Takatora
- Uesugi Kagekatsu
- Uesugi Kenshin
- Uesugi Norimasa
- Ukita Naoie
- Uragami Munekage
- Yamana Toyokuni
- Yamana Suketoyo
- Kobayakawa Takakage
- Kuroda Yoshitaka
- Naoe Kanetsugu
- Takenaka Shigeharu
- Usami Sadamitsu
- Yamamoto Kansuke
mercenaries
religious figures
- Akai Teruko
- Ashikaga Ujihime
- Chacha
- Jukei-ni
- Miyohime
- Munakata Saikaku
- Nene
- Onamihime
- Otazu no Kata
- Otsuya no Kata
- Seishin-ni
- Tachibana Ginchiyo
- Tōshōin
- Lady Acha
- Akohime
- Asahihime
- Lady Chaa
- Chikurin-in
- Gōhime
- Lady Goryū
- Dota Gozen
- Gotokuhime
- Tsumaki Hiroko
- Lady Hayakawa
- Hosokawa Gracia
- Irohahime
- Izumo no Okuni
- Shimazu Kameju
- Lady Kasuga
- Keigin-ni
- Kitsuno
- Konoe Sakiko
- Kōzōsu
- Kyōgoku Maria
- Kyōgoku Tatsuko
- Kyōun'in
- Matsuhime
- Megohime
- Lady Myōkyū
- Naitō Julia
- Nōhime
- Odai no Kata
- Oeyo
- Oichi
- Oinu
- Ohatsu
- Lady Ōkurakyo
- Ōmandokoro
- Ono Otsū
- Ōtomo-Nata Jezebel
- Rikei
- Lady Saigō
- Lady Sanjō
- Seien-in
- Seikōin
- Senhime
- Sentōin
- Tobai-in
- Toyotomi Sadako
- Tomo
- Lady Toida
- Tokuhime
- Lady Tsukiyama
- Yamauchi Chiyo
- Yoshihime
- Yoshihiro Kikuhime
- Alessandro Valignano
- Francis Xavier
- Gaspar Coelho
- Jacob Quaeckernaeck
- Jan Joosten van Lodensteijn
- Julia Ota
- Luís Fróis
- Soga Seikan
- Wakita Naokata
- Wang Zhi
- William Adams
- Yasuke
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