Shimazu Hisatsune (島津久経)

Hisatsune SHIMAZU (1225 – May 7, 1284) was a busho (Japanese military commander) in the middle Kamakura period. He was the 3rd family head of the Shimazu clan. He was a legitimate son of the 2nd family head, Tadatoki SHIMAZU. His official court rank was Shimotsuke no kuni no kami (the governer of Shimotsuke Province). He was in the rank of Shuri no suke (assistant officer of the Office of Palace Repairs). Besides the legitimate son, Tamamune SHIMAZE, his children were Hisanaga SHIMAZU, who became the founder of the Isaku family.

His original name was Hisatoki SHIMAZU. In 1265, when his father transferred responsibility for the family to him, he proceeded to Kamakura and was appointed to a Hirubanshu as one of the dominant gokenins (immediate vassals of the shogunate in the Kamakura and Muromachi through Edo periods). In 1275, he was ordered to return to Kyushu and to protect Chikuzen Province because of the Mongol invasion of Japan. He took part in the Koan War in 1281 commanding Shimazu's army, and performing well on the battlefield he distinguished himself in the war. In 1284, he built Jokomyo-ji Temple (Kamakura City) in Kagoshima. On April 21 in the same year, he died at Hakozaki Yakusho Office in Chikuzen Province. He died at the age of 60. His cemetery is in Honryu-ji Temple in Kagoshima City. Or it is in Kanno-ji Temple in Noda-cho Town (in Izumi City, Kagoshima Prefecture). Thereafter, his child, Tadamune SHIMAZU took over him.

His actions in the Koan War are described in Moko Shurai Ekotoba (picture scrolls of Mongol invasion attempts against Japan).

[Original Japanese]