Shimazu Toshihisa (島津歳久)
Toshihisa SHIMAZU (1537- August 25, 1592) was the third son of Takahisa SHIMAZU, and is the younger brother of Yoshihisa SHIMAZU and Yoshihiro SHIMAZU. He was the grandson of Tadayoshi SHIMAZU, Chuko no So (the founder of a renaissance) warlord of the Shimazu clan.
He called himself 'Saemon no kami.'
He is the forefather of the Hioki family.
Brief Personal History
As his grandfather described him as 'the cleverest man at inferring the whole interest in holoscopic view,' he was known as a rare 'resourceful general.'
He was in a key position to determine the policies of Shimazu's army as a general officer responsible for war strategies. He is also known as a warrior who participated in many wars from his first battle with his older brother Yoshihiro and younger brother Iehisa, followed by well-known contributions he made to the Siege of Yokokawa-jo castle attack (called Yokokawa-jo seme or Yokokawa kuzure), Yoshihiro's rescue mission, the Siege of Obama-jo castle in the Osumi Province, the Siege of Ito clan, the Battle of the Mimikawa, the Siege of the second Minamata-jo castle, and vice-shogun in the war force of the Higoguchi side led by Yoshihiro in the Bungo Province.
He also contributed to the government of the area during the defensive war in the Kagoshima region.
As such, Toshihisa made a big contribution to the Shimazu family.
He insisted that the army for the Kyushu Conquest should surrender. After the older brother Yoshihisa surrendered at Taihei-ji Temple, he continued to resist in his shoryo (territory), Kedoin-cho, and cleverly enticed the Hideyoshi army into a rough and dangerous street, then surprised the tenkabito (person becoming the ruler of the country) by shooting six arrows at the palanquin of Hideyoshi, the kanpaku (chief adviser to the Emperor).
Later, at the time of Unekita-ikki, the incident at Taihei-ji Temple was raised as an issue; this led Hideyoshi to issue an order to track down and kill Toshihisa which made him commit suicide by disembowelment (seppuku) at Ryugamizu.
The Kyushu Conquest
At the time of the Kyushu Conquest of Hideyoshi TOYOTOMI, when the all the clan members were getting prepared to fight back in the war, he was the only one among his four brothers who insisted on reconciliation, referring to Hideyoshi as 'an extraordinary person who rose to this status born from a farming family'. However, his proposal for reconciliation was ignored at their meeting, and the Shimazu clan decided to fight against Hideyoshi.
During the war with Hideyoshi, even after his brothers Yoshihisa and Yoshihiro surrendered to Hideyoshi, he put up a strong resistance in the war until the end. When Hideyoshi moved from Taihei-ji Temple in Sendai (Satsumasendai city) to Okuchi city, Toshihisa sent his servants to the western edge of his shoryo (territory), Kedoin-cho, and cleverly enticed the Hideyoshi army into a rough and dangerous street and attempted to shoot six arrows at the palanquin of Hideyoshi. However, it was actually Toshihisa's retainer Gorozaemon who shot arrows. Toshihisa's attempt to shoot Hideyoshi failed as Hideyoshi's palanquin was empty, being prepared for the attacks; however, it is said that no one else but him exhibited rebellious behavior against Hideyoshi. There are several theories which have tried to explain his contradictory attitudes toward Hideyoshi: from the grudge he started to develop due to the loss of his adopted son, Tadachika SHIMAZU, and from the reasoning that he tried to shoulder all the displeasure that the Shimazu family received, etc, however, there is no proven theory and this contradiction has come to be one of the biggest mysteries about Toshihisa in later years. Yoshihisa, the eldest child, seems to have used the vassals who were against Hideyoshi and Toshihisa to obtain advantageous conditions of peace (Shoryo Ando, act of providing authorization for land ownership and guaranteeing feudal tenure, of the three provinces, Satsuma, Osumi and Hyuga) with Kamigata (Kyoto and Osaka area).
The Subjugation of Hideyoshi
He did not participate in Japan's invasion of Korea (the Bunroku-Keicho War) in 1592 due to illness. However, because he continued to be rebellious against Hideyoshi and also because many of his vassals participated in the uprising against Hideyoshi (Unekita-ikki) started by a vassal of the Shimazu clan, Kunikane UMEKITA, Hideyoshi became angry with Toshihisa, and this led Toshihisa to attempt suicide, however, he landed in Ryugamizu as the army of his older brother, Yoshihisa, came surrounding him. Although he tried to commit suicide, he could not do so due to his physical handicap; in addition, the army could not kill him right away, since it was led by his own brother, however, Jinji HARADA finally killed Toshihisa following Toshihisa's remark, "Come here quickly and cut off my head." He was 56 years old.
A will written for Yoshihisa and a death haiku were found by Toshihisa's corpse; the will said 'since I know I was ill and could not serve the Imperial Highness Taiko (retired imperial regent), I have nothing to hide which would make me suffer from a sense of guilt. However, since I was suspected of being rebellious against the Imperial Highness, I have decided I will commit suicide by disembowelment.
Since the vassals do not seem to believe me, I have no choice other than to fight them as the Bushi's duty, however, this does not mean I want to rebel against my older brother.'
The death haiku said '晴蓑めが 玉のありかを 人問わば いざ白雲の 上と答へよ.'
After death
The severed head was stored in Jofuku-ji Temple in Kyoto after being exposed at Ichijo Modori-bashi Bridge in Kyoto, and the dead body was placed in the Chosa of the Sozen-ji Temple; a kuyo (memorial service for the dead) was given at the family temple, Fukusho-ji Temple in Kagoshima city. Furthermore, after the death of Hideyoshi, Shingaku-ji Temple was built to enshrine his soul at the place where Toshihisa died. The present day Hiramatsu-jinja Shrine was built on the site of this shrine. Each year, on July 18 of Japan's old lunisolar calendar, the 'Shingaku-ji Temple visit' is held to commemorate his illustrious history.
It is said that he could not hold a sword and suffered from anguish when he tried to use the stone beside him to kill himself. It is also said that at this time, he said 'Women go through the same pain in child birth.
After death, I wish to save women from these sufferings'; because of this anecdote, he is also worshipped as a 'god for a smooth delivery,' not just as a 'god of war.'
In the former Satsuma Province, his way of life as it was taught in the Goju (education for the samurai in Satsuma Province) received such great respect that Toshihisa was worshipped even more than his older brother Yoshihiro. There is another anecdote which relates that when Takamori SAIGO was in a predicament at the Ansei no Taigoku (suppression of extremists by the Shogunate), he told the story of Toshihisa to the priest Gessho, joined his hands in prayer in the direction of Shingaku-ji Temple and plunged himself into the water.
After his death, a legitimate son of Tadachika, Tsunehisa SHIMAZU, inherited his position.