Shiga Yoshisato (志賀能郷) was a Japanese

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 ...

lord of the

Kamakura period The is a period of History of Japan, Japanese history that marks the governance by the Kamakura shogunate, officially established in 1192 in Kamakura, Kanagawa, Kamakura by the first ''shōgun'' Minamoto no Yoritomo after the conclusion of the G ...

. He was the founder of the Shiga clan, a branch of 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), ...

. He was also known as Buzen Hachirō.

Life

Shiga Yoshisato was born as the eighth son of

Ōtomo Yoshinao Ōtomo Yoshinao (大友能直, January 29, 1172 - December 20, 1223) was a Japanese samurai lord and ''gokenin'' of the early Kamakura period. He was a close retainer of shogun Minamoto no Yoritomo, even called his "matchless favorite", and serve ...

and Shinmyō. Yoshinao was a ''

gokenin A was initially a vassal of the shogunate of the Kamakura and the Muromachi periods.Iwanami Kōjien, "Gokenin" In exchange for protection and the right to become '' jitō'' (manor's lord), a ''gokenin'' had in times of peace the duty to protect ...

'' of

shogun , officially , was the title of the military aristocracy, rulers of Japan during most of the period spanning from 1185 to 1868. Nominally appointed by the Emperor of Japan, Emperor, shoguns were usually the de facto rulers of the country, exc ...

Minamoto no Yoritomo was the founder and the first shogun of the Kamakura shogunate, ruling from 1192 until 1199, also the first ruling shogun in the history of Japan.Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005). "Minamoto no Yoriie" in . He was the husband of Hōjō Masako ...

and the founder of the

, and served as Governor of Buzen and

Bungo Province was a province of Japan in the area of eastern Kyūshū, corresponding to most of modern Ōita Prefecture, except what is now the cities of Nakatsu and Usa. Bungo bordered on Hyūga to the south, Higo and Chikugo to the west, and Chikuze ...

s, Defense Commissioner of the West and Lieutenant of the Left Division of Inner Palace Guards (''Sakon no shōgen'') under 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 Yori ...

. Shimyō was the daughter of Hatakeyama Shigeyoshi, lord of Hatakeyama Manor. In 1223, his father Yoshinao died at the age of 51 and handed him over the position of governor (''

jitō were medieval territory stewards in Japan, especially in the Kamakura and Muromachi shogunates. Appointed by the shōgun, ''jitō'' managed manors, including national holdings governed by the '' kokushi'' or provincial governor. There were als ...

''), and the territory, of Kachigazuru, Buzen Province. In 1240, Yoshisato founded the Shiga clan after Shimyō handed him over the position of ''

'' of Shiga, Ōno Manor, Bungo Province. At the time of his Buddhist refuge, he received the

Buddhist name A Dharma name is a new name acquired during both lay and monastic Buddhist initiation rituals in Mahayana Buddhism and monastic ordination in Theravada Buddhism (where it is more proper to call it Dhamma or Sangha name). The name is tradition ...

Shinjyaku.

Genealogy

After Shiga Yoshisato, the Shiga clan, along with the Ōtomo clan, returned to Bungo Province during the

Mongol invasion The Mongol invasions and conquests took place during the 13th and 14th centuries, creating history's largest contiguous empire, the Mongol Empire (1206–1368), which by 1260 covered large parts of Eurasia. Historians regard the Mongol devastati ...

in 1274, and both expanded their power in

Kyushu is the third-largest island of Japan's Japanese archipelago, four main islands and the most southerly of the four largest islands (i.e. excluding Okinawa Island, Okinawa and the other Ryukyu Islands, Ryukyu (''Nansei'') Ryukyu Islands, Islands ...

. The Ōtomo clan became an influential Shugo Daimyo family in northern Kyushu, further becoming Sengoku Daimyo during the

Sengoku period The was the period in History of Japan, Japanese history in which civil wars and social upheavals took place almost continuously in the 15th and 16th centuries. The Kyōtoku incident (1454), Ōnin War (1467), or (1493) are generally chosen as th ...

. At its zenith, the Ōtomo clan ruled Buzen, Bungo, Chikugo, Hizen, Higo, and

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 ...

s, as well as half of Hyūga and

Iyo Province was a Provinces of Japan, province of Japan in the area of northwestern Shikoku.Louis-Frédéric, Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005). "''Tosa''" in . Iyo bordered on Sanuki Province to the northeast, Awa Province (Tokushima), Awa to the east ...

References

{{Reflist People of the Kamakura period 13th-century Japanese people