Akizuki Tanezane
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was a
samurai The samurai () were members of the warrior class in Japan. They were originally provincial warriors who came from wealthy landowning families who could afford to train their men to be mounted archers. In the 8th century AD, the imperial court d ...
warrior and
daimyo were powerful Japanese magnates, feudal lords who, from the 10th century to the early Meiji period in the middle 19th century, ruled most of Japan from their vast hereditary land holdings. They were subordinate to the shogun and nominally to ...
in 16th century Japan. He was a member of the
Akizuki clan 230px, Akizuki Tanehide, 29th chieftain of the Akizuki clan, in 1913 The was a Japanese samurai clan who ruled Takanabe Domain of what is now part of Miyazaki Prefecture in Kyushu Japan under the Edo period Tokugawa shogunate. In the Meiji pe ...
from
Chikuzen Province was a province of Japan in the area of northern Kyūshū, corresponding to part of north and western Fukuoka Prefecture. Chikuzen bordered on Hizen to the east, and Buzen east, and Bungo to the southeast. Its abbreviated form name was (a ...
, son of Akizuki Fumitane; his father was defeated by the
Ōtomo clan The was a Japanese samurai family whose power stretched from the Kamakura period through the Sengoku period, spanning over 400 years. The clan's hereditary lands lay in Kyūshū. Origins The first family head, Ōtomo Yoshinao (1172–1223), ...
. in 1564.


Biography

Following his father death by Otomo, Akizuki Tanezane sought assistance from the
Mōri clan The was a Japanese clan, Japanese samurai clan descended from Ōe no Hiromoto. Ōe no Hiromoto was descended from the Fujiwara clan. The family's most illustrious member, Mōri Motonari, greatly expanded the clan's power in Aki Province. Durin ...
. Following the defeat of the Mōri in northern Kyushu at the hands of the Ōtomo, the Akizuki turned to the
Shimazu clan The were the ''daimyō'' of the Satsuma han, which spread over Satsuma, Ōsumi and Hyūga provinces in Japan. The Shimazu were identified as one of the '' tozama'' or outsider ''daimyō'' familiesAppert, Georges ''et al.'' (1888). in contr ...
for assistance. In 1567, Tanezane, has manage to recapture the castle of Mount Kosho from the Ōtomo clan and made his intention clear to fight against them. In response, Sorin sent Tachibana Dōsetsu, Usuki Akisumi, and Yoshihiro Akimasa with 20,000 soldiers on August 14 to punish Tanezane. The Ōtomo army first engaged the Akizuki clan forces at the Battle of Amamizu and Haseyama (also known as the Battle of Uryuno) on August 14, and on the 15th, and captured Ojo, a branch castle of Yasumimatsu Castle, causing the commander of the castle, Moromasa Sakata, to commit suicide. Dōsetsu then stationed his army around Yasumomatsu castle, in preparation to capture Mount Kosho Castle. However, the castle was defended firmly and the siege dragged on. Subsequently, rumors circulated that a huge Mōri clan army in Chugoku region planned to invade Ojo, which prompted the Ōtomo forces to withdraw from the siege of Mount Kosho. Later, the Ōtomo army abandonned Yasumimatsu castle and began retreating in the morning of September 3. In response, Tanezane decided to sally out to give chase against the withdrawing Ōtomo army by dividing his 12,000 troops into four groups under the command of Kankage Intosho, Sanehisa Uchida Zenbei, over 3,000 cavalry, and Ayabe Suruga no Kami, over 5,000 cavalry. Dōsetsu already anticipated this movement by leading a rearguard with 3,000 soldiers with the assistance of his lieutenants, Bekki Shigetsura, Ono Shizuyuki, and Korenobu Yufu, with each of them leading 500 to 600 cavalry. During this attack, at first the assault forces of Tanezane manage to inflict losses as they killed one of Dōsetsu's most trusted generals, Koretada Totoki. However, the rearguard detachment of Dōsetsu managed to reverse the situation and inflicted heavy losses upon Tanezane troops, forcing them to retreat. Later at night, Tanezane once again launched an assault this time with 4,000 soldiers in a night raid. The unexpected night attack by the Akizuki forces threw the Ōtomo army into chaos, and they suffered heavy losses with the total number of casualties being over 400, throwing the latter's force into panic. Dōsetsu managed to return order onto his troops and organize a retreat, however, Tanezane order his troops to pursue the fleeing Dōsetsu further, as they continued to pursue them as far as Chikugo Yamakuma Castle, forcing the Ōtomo army to suffer even more casualties. Many of Dōsetsu's clansmen were killed in this battle, such as Bekki Akitaka, Bekki Chikashige, Bekki Chikamune. In 1569 Dōsetsu captured the Yamakuma Castle from Tanezane during autumn. In 1578 on December 11–13, Tanezane worked together with Tsukushi Hirokado and
Ryūzōji Takanobu was a Japanese ''daimyō'' in Hizen Province during the Sengoku period. Takanobu was the head of the Ryūzōji clan. Biography Takanobu was the grandson of Ryūzōji Iekane (1454-1546). His father was Ryûzôji Chikaie and his mother was Ke ...
to invade Chikuzen, while Dōsetsu and his army worked hard to defend those territories. In 1579 of mid January, Dōsetsu participated in the second Ōtomo invasion of Tsukushi province and Dazaifu town against the Akizuki clan, forcing Akizuki Tanezane to abandon his siege of Takatoriyama Castle. After that, Dōsetsu besieged the Iwaya castle for the second time. In March, Dōsetsu besieged the Iwaya castle for the third time subsequently with some clashes against the forces of Akizuki Tanezane.『井樓纂聞 梅岳公遺事』
p.85
吉永正春『筑前戦国史』 p.109~110
/ref>『筑後将士軍談』 卷之第十二 豊後勢與秋月筑紫挑戦之事 P.317
/ref> Following that, Dōsetsu engaged against Akizuki clan forces in the battle of Yatake, Chikuzen province. In July 27, Dōsetsu repulsed a joint attack from Tanezane and Harada Nobutane. In 1580, from November 3 until December, Dōsetsu fought against the forces of Akizuki Tanezane and Munakata Ujisada respectively.龍ヶ城夜襲之事「岩屋城結束強化の契機となった。北原鎮久の誅殺」
/ref> In 1581, Dōsetsu participated in the several engagements across against Akizuki Tanezane. First, Dōsetsu fought against Tanezane and Ujisada in the battle of Koganebara, which was recorded in history as the largest military engagement ever happened in Kurate until at that time. In this battle, Dōsetsu has inflicted a crushing defeat on his enemies, which left the territories under the control of Ujisada vulnerable to further incursions by Dōsetsu's army. Later, Dōsetsu fought against Tanezane again in Shimizuhara, and Takatori castle. In July 27, Dōsetsu and Shigetane Shigetane fought against Tsukushi Hirokado and Akizuki Tanezane in the second battle of Dazaifu Kanzeon-ji. It is in this battle that, Takahashi Munetora, who will be known as
Tachibana Muneshige , was a Japanese ''samurai'', known in his youth as Senkumamaru (千熊丸) and alternatively called Tachibana Munetora (立花宗虎 or 立花統虎), during the Azuchi–Momoyama period and an Edo-period ''daimyō''. He was the eldest biol ...
, saw his first notable action. On April 16, 1582, during the Battle of Iwato against the combined forces of 2,000 from the Akizuki, Harada, and Munakata clans, Dōsetsu led a 500-strong ambush force and surrounded his 1,000-strong main force. 300 of Muneshige's troops launched a surprise attack from the side with guns, while the remaining 200 soldiers were led by Komono Masutoki, who set up a false flag to make it look like reinforcements from the Otomo clan were coming, and finally managed to lift the siege. Muneshige then led 1,000 cavalry including Komono Masutoki, Korenobu Yufu, and Shigeyuki Ono, eliminating 300 of the Harada general's troops, Kasa Okinaga, who had built a fort at Iwatosho Kubeno, killing 150 of them, and pursuing them west to Sawara County, where he burned down Harada Chikahide's Sawara Castle. On November 6, Dōsetsu marched to Kama and Honami along with Muneshige and, and Shigetane. While on their way to the rescue of Kutami Akiyasu, the Tachibana and Takahashi forces received information that Akiyasu had safely retreated after fighting Akizuki Tanezane and Monjūjo Munekage (the great-uncle of Munekage) in the Battle of Haratsuru, so they retreated. However, Tanezane forces turns out still pursuing them. Both fierce battles resulted in over 1,000 casualties, including over 300 casualties from Tachibana and Takahashi, and 760 for the Akizuki clan. In 1585, Tanezane supported the Shimazu in an offensive against the Ōtomo at the Siege of Iwaya Castle. Later, Tanezane participated in anti-Ōtomo alliance invasion led by Ryūzōji Ieharu. With a total army of 30,000, the alliance attacked Kurume. The Ōtomo forces led by Tachibana Dōsetsu and Takahashi Shigetane manage to score a series of victories over the numerically superior allied focers with a combination of brilliant maneuvers and tactics in three separate battles: in the end, the alliance siege against the town failed. In 1586, he and
Shimazu Yoshihisa was a powerful ''daimyō'' and the 16th Chief of Shimazu clan of Satsuma Province, the eldest son of Shimazu Takahisa. He was renowned as a great general, who managed to subjugate Kyushu through the deft maneuvering of his three brothers. Eventu ...
marched to attack Otomo's
Tachibana castle was a Japanese castle in Chikuzen Province, in the north of Kyūshū. It was at the peak of Mount Tachibana, extending in part into the Higashi-ku in Fukuoka. The castle is also known as Rikka-jō, Tachibana-jō, or Rikkasan-jō. History The ...
. In 1587, he fought with Shimazu against
Toyotomi Hideyoshi , otherwise known as and , was a Japanese samurai and ''daimyō'' (feudal lord) of the late Sengoku period, Sengoku and Azuchi-Momoyama periods and regarded as the second "Great Unifier" of Japan.Richard Holmes, The World Atlas of Warfare: ...
in
Kyūshū is the third-largest island of Japan's four main islands and the most southerly of the four largest islands (i.e. excluding Okinawa and the other Ryukyu (''Nansei'') Islands). In the past, it has been known as , and . The historical regio ...
, an island of Japan.•?‰Æ‰Æ“` Q?Hœžž
/ref> In 1596, Tanezane was succeeded by his son Tanenaga. After the
Battle of Sekigahara The Battle of Sekigahara (Shinjitai: ; Kyūjitai: , Hepburn romanization: ''Sekigahara no Tatakai'') was an important battle in Japan which occurred on October 21, 1600 (Keichō 5, 15th day of the 9th month) in what is now Gifu Prefecture, ...
, Tanenaga was transferred to Takanabe han (in Hyuga, 20,000
koku The is a Chinese-based Japanese unit of volume. One koku is equivalent to 10 or approximately , or about of rice. It converts, in turn, to 100 shō and 1,000 gō. One ''gō'' is the traditional volume of a single serving of rice (before co ...
).


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* * * * * * * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Akizuki, Tanezane 1548 births 1596 deaths Daimyo Samurai