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The was a Japanese samurai clan of the
Sengoku period The was a period in Japanese history of near-constant civil war and social upheaval from 1467 to 1615. The Sengoku period was initiated by the Ōnin War in 1467 which collapsed the feudal system of Japan under the Ashikaga shogunate. Variou ...
(1467–1573) and early
Edo period The or is the period between 1603 and 1867 in the history of Japan, when Japan was under the rule of the Tokugawa shogunate and the country's 300 regional ''daimyo''. Emerging from the chaos of the Sengoku period, the Edo period was character ...
(1603–1868). The clan ruled Awa Province as a ''Sengoku daimyō'' and was a major military power in the Kantō region during the wars of the
Nanboku-chō period The Nanboku-chō period (南北朝時代, ''Nanboku-chō jidai'', "North and South court period", also known as the Northern and Southern Courts period), spanning from 1336 to 1392, was a period that occurred during the formative years of the Mur ...
. Although confirmed as ''daimyō'' of Tateyama Domain by the
Tokugawa shogunate The Tokugawa shogunate (, Japanese 徳川幕府 ''Tokugawa bakufu''), also known as the , was the military government of Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in ...
.


Origins

The Satomi claimed descent from the
Seiwa Genji The is a line of the Japanese Minamoto clan that is descended from Emperor Seiwa, which is the most successful and powerful line of the clan. Many of the most famous Minamoto warriors, including Minamoto no Yoshiie, Minamoto no Yoritomo, the f ...
clan via Nitta Yoshishige (d. 1202), whose son Yoshitoshi took "Satomi" as his surname.


Awa Satomi clan

After the fall of the
Kamakura shogunate The was the feudal military government of Japan during the Kamakura period from 1185 to 1333. Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005)"''Kamakura-jidai''"in ''Japan Encyclopedia'', p. 459. The Kamakura shogunate was established by Minamoto no Yo ...
in 1333, the Kantō region was high unstable due to incessant conflict between the ''
Kantō kubō (also called , , or ) was a title equivalent to ''shōgun'' assumed by Ashikaga Motouji after his nomination to ''Kantō kanrei'', or deputy shōgun for the Kamakura-fu, in 1349. Kokushi Daijiten (1983:542) Motouji transferred his original titl ...
'' under
Ashikaga Shigeuji ( – 1497) was a Muromachi period warrior and the Kamakura-fu's fifth and last '' Kantō kubō'' (''Shōgun'' Deputy). Fourth son of fourth ''Kubō'' Ashikaga Mochiuji, he succeeded his father only in 1449, a full decade after his death by '' ...
based in Kamakura and the
Ashikaga shogunate The , also known as the , was the feudal military government of Japan during the Muromachi period from 1336 to 1573.Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005)"''Muromachi-jidai''"in ''Japan Encyclopedia'', p. 669. The Ashikaga shogunate was establis ...
, represented by the '' Kantō Kanrei'' under Uesugi Noritada. The minor lords of Awa Province (present-day southern
Chiba Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located in the Kantō region of Honshu. Chiba Prefecture has a population of 6,278,060 (1 June 2019) and has a geographic area of . Chiba Prefecture borders Ibaraki Prefecture to the north, Saitama Prefecture to the n ...
) were loyal to the ''Kanrei'', but geographically, the province was very near Kamakura, separated only by the narrow Uraga Channel. To seize Awa Province, the ''Kantō kubō'' sent the Satomi clan under Satomi Yoshizane (1412-1488), who landed at Shirahama from which he gradually expanded to conquer the province. Satomi Yoshizane claimed to be the chieftain of the Satomi clan, but his ancestry is somewhat uncertain. His descendants are known as at the "Awa Satomi clan", and cadet branches of the clan existed in Dewa, Echigo, and
Mino Province was a province of Japan in the area of Japan that is today southern Gifu Prefecture. Mino was bordered by Ōmi to the west, Echizen and Hida to the north, and Shinano to the east, and Ise, Mikawa, and Owari to the south. Its abbrevia ...
. In 1516,
Odawara is a city in Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 188,482 and a population density of 1,700 persons per km2. The total area of the city is . Geography Odawara lies in the Ashigara Plains, in the far western po ...
-based
Hōjō clan The was a Japanese samurai family who controlled the hereditary title of ''shikken'' (regent) of the Kamakura shogunate between 1203 and 1333. Despite the title, in practice the family wielded actual political power in Japan during this period ...
defeated the
Miura clan Miura may refer to: Places * Miura, Kanagawa *Miurakaigan Station * Miura District, Kanagawa *Miura Peninsula * Ganadería Miura, the home of the Miura fighting bull line People * Miura (surname) * Miura clan, Japanese descended clan of the Ta ...
and seized
Miura Peninsula is a peninsula located in Kanagawa, Japan. It lies south of Yokohama and Tokyo and divides Tokyo Bay, to the east, from Sagami Bay, to the west. Cities and towns on the Miura Peninsula include Yokosuka, Miura, Hayama, Zushi, and Kama ...
, opposite of Uraga Channel from Awa Province. Furthermore, the Hōjō expanded northward along
Tokyo Bay is a bay located in the southern Kantō region of Japan, and spans the coasts of Tokyo, Kanagawa Prefecture, and Chiba Prefecture. Tokyo Bay is connected to the Pacific Ocean by the Uraga Channel. The Tokyo Bay region is both the most populous ...
, capturing Edo Castle by 1524. This threatened the Satomi clan from west and north. In response,
Satomi Yoshitoyo is a feminine Japanese given name which is also used as a surname. Possible writings Satomi can be written using different kanji characters and can mean: *里美, "hometown, beauty" *怜美, "wise, beauty" *聡美, "wise, beauty" *智美, "wisd ...
launched an
amphibious invasion Amphibious warfare is a type of offensive military operation that today uses naval ships to project ground and air power onto a hostile or potentially hostile shore at a designated landing beach. Through history the operations were conducted u ...
of
Kamakura is a city in Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan. Kamakura has an estimated population of 172,929 (1 September 2020) and a population density of 4,359 persons per km² over the total area of . Kamakura was designated as a city on 3 November 1939. Kama ...
, in the process of which his forces burned down the famed
Shinto shrine A is a structure whose main purpose is to house ("enshrine") one or more '' kami'', the deities of the Shinto religion. Overview Structurally, a Shinto shrine typically comprises several buildings. The '' honden''Also called (本殿, mean ...
of Tsurugaoka Hachiman-gu. This was a massive loss of prestige for Yoshitoyo, and led to an internal conflict within the Satomi clan. Satomi Sanetaka, head of a cadet branch of the clan attempted a coup d'etat with Hōjō assistance in 1533, but the attempt failed and he was killed. Yoshitoyo then attacked Sanetaka's son, Satomi Yoshitaka, but Yoshitaka escaped and together with the Hōjō and a strong navy, he managed to drive out Yoshitoyo and seize power the following year. He then broke his alliance with the Hōjō and revived the ancient feud between the clans. Soon afterwards, Satomi Yoshitaka seized
Kazusa Province was a province of Japan in the area of modern Chiba Prefecture. The province was located in the middle of the Bōsō Peninsula, whose name takes its first ''kanji'' from the name of Awa Province and its second from Kazusa and Shimōsa provinc ...
and from his base at
Kururi Castle is a Japanese castle located in Kimitsu, southern Chiba Prefecture, Japan. At the end of the Edo period, Kururi Castle was home to a branch of the Kuroda clan, '' daimyō'' of Kururi Domain. The castle was also known as , after a legend that ...
turned his attention to
Shimōsa Province was a province of Japan in the area modern Chiba Prefecture, and Ibaraki Prefecture. Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005). "''Shimōsa''" in . It lies to the north of the Bōsō Peninsula (房総半島), whose name takes its first ''kanji'' from ...
. Meanwhile, the Hōjō has taken control of
Musashi Province was a province of Japan, which today comprises Tokyo Metropolis, most of Saitama Prefecture and part of Kanagawa Prefecture. It was sometimes called . The province encompassed Kawasaki and Yokohama. Musashi bordered on Kai, Kōzuke, Sagami ...
to the north of Shimōsa. The Hōjō were far stronger, and their armies broke the Satomi forces and even attacked Kururi Castle, but Yoshitaka turned to
Uesugi Kenshin , later known as was a Japanese ''daimyō''. He was born in Nagao clan, and after adoption into the Uesugi clan, ruled Echigo Province in the Sengoku period of Japan. He was one of the most powerful ''daimyō'' of the Sengoku period. Know ...
for assistance and kept his independence. After his death in 1574, Uesugi Kenshin lost all of his territories in the Kantō region and could no longer assist the Satomi. Yoshitaka's son, Satomi Yoshihiro (1530-1578) pledged fealty to
Hōjō Ujitsuna was the son of Hōjō Sōun, founder of the Go-Hōjō clan. He continued his father's quest to gain control of the Kantō (the central area, today dominated by Tokyo, of Japan's main island). Biography In 1524, Ujitsuna took Edo Castle, wh ...
in 1539 and surrendered the northern half of Kazusa Province. The Satomi were involved in the First Battle of Kōnodai (1538) and the Second Battle of Kōnodai (1564). After his death to illness in 1578, a conflict arose between his son,
Satomi Yoshishige is a feminine Japanese given name which is also used as a surname. Possible writings Satomi can be written using different kanji characters and can mean: *里美, "hometown, beauty" *怜美, "wise, beauty" *聡美, "wise, beauty" *智美, "wis ...
and his younger brother,
Satomi Yoshiyori is a feminine Japanese given name which is also used as a surname. Possible writings Satomi can be written using different kanji characters and can mean: *里美, "hometown, beauty" *怜美, "wise, beauty" *聡美, "wise, beauty" *智美, "wisd ...
. Yoshiyori had the support of the Hōjō and defeated Yoshishige, but the clan was severely weakened. In order to better control commerce and to make better use of their maritime power, he relocated his seat from Kururi to Okamoto Castle. By 1580, as the situation for clan improved, he built Tateyama Castle. In 1590,
Toyotomi Hideyoshi , otherwise known as and , was a Japanese samurai and '' daimyō'' ( feudal lord) of the late Sengoku period regarded as the second "Great Unifier" of Japan.Richard Holmes, The World Atlas of Warfare: Military Innovations that Changed the C ...
launched a campaign to destroy the Hōjō. Satomi Yoshiyasu quickly attacked the Hōjō strongholds in Kazusa in an arbitrary attempt to recover his former territories. However, as these attacks took place without Hideyoshi's permission or coordination with Toyotomi generals, Hideyoshi was angered, and he subsequently reduced the Satomi clan's holding to only Awa Province. Yoshiyasu relocated his seat from Okamoto to Tateyama Castle. At the beginning of the Edo period the clan was named the ''
daimyō 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 nominall ...
'' of Awa Province with a ''
kokudaka refers to a system for determining land value for taxation purposes under the Tokugawa shogunate of Edo-period Japan, and expressing this value in terms of '' koku'' of rice. Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005)"Koku"in ''Japan Encyclopedia'', p. ...
'' of 120,000 '' koku'' under the
Tokugawa shogunate The Tokugawa shogunate (, Japanese 徳川幕府 ''Tokugawa bakufu''), also known as the , was the military government of Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in ...
. However, the clan was implicated in the Ōkubo Nagayasu Incident of 1614, and Satomi Tadayoshi (1594–1622) was banished to
Hōki Province was an old province of Japan in the area that is today the western part of Tottori Prefecture. It was sometimes called . Hōki bordered on Inaba, Mimasaka, Bitchū, Bingo, and Izumo Provinces. The ancient capital was in the area that i ...
(present-day
Tottori Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located in the Chūgoku region of Honshu. Tottori Prefecture is the least populous prefecture of Japan at 570,569 (2016) and has a geographic area of . Tottori Prefecture borders Shimane Prefecture to the west, Hir ...
), and had his holdings reduced to 30,000 '' koku''. Tadayoshi had no heir, and the clan died out with his death.


Satomi clan castle ruins

In 2012, the ruins of two early castles in southern
Bōsō Peninsula The is a peninsula that encompasses the entirety of Chiba Prefecture on Honshu, the largest island of Japan. It is part of the Greater Tokyo Area. It forms the eastern edge of Tokyo Bay, separating it from the Pacific Ocean. The peninsula cover ...
,
Inamura Castle was a Muromachi period Japanese castle located in what is now the city of Tateyama, Chiba Prefecture, Japan. The ruins have been protected as a National Historic Site since 2012 together with Okamoto Castle as the . Overview Inamura Castle w ...
and Okamoto Castle were collectively designated a National Historic Site under the name . The original Tateyama Castle was allowed to fall into ruins upon the
attainder In English criminal law, attainder or attinctura was the metaphorical "stain" or "corruption of blood" which arose from being condemned for a serious capital crime (felony or treason). It entailed losing not only one's life, property and heredit ...
of Tateyama Domain in the death of Satomi Tadayoshi in 1622. Although the domain was restored in 1781 under Inaba Masaaki, he was not permitted to rebuild the castle, but only to construct a '' jinya'' fortified residence. The current ''
tenshu is an architectural typology found in Japanese castle complexes. They are easily identifiable as the highest tower within the castle. Common translations of ''tenshu'' include keep, main keep, or ''donjon''. ''Tenshu'' are characterized as ty ...
'' is a 1982 reconstruction intended to boost local tourism and to function as an annex to the local Tateyama City Museum.


Notable members of the Satomi clan

* Satomi Sanetaka *
Satomi Yoshitoyo is a feminine Japanese given name which is also used as a surname. Possible writings Satomi can be written using different kanji characters and can mean: *里美, "hometown, beauty" *怜美, "wise, beauty" *聡美, "wise, beauty" *智美, "wisd ...
* Satomi Yoshitaka * Satomi Yoshihiro *
Satomi Yoshiyori is a feminine Japanese given name which is also used as a surname. Possible writings Satomi can be written using different kanji characters and can mean: *里美, "hometown, beauty" *怜美, "wise, beauty" *聡美, "wise, beauty" *智美, "wisd ...
* Satomi Yoshiyasu * Satomi Tadayoshi


References


Further reading

*Sansom, George (1961). "A History of Japan: 1334–1615". Stanford, California: Stanford University Press. Japanese clans Nitta clan {{Japan-clan-stub