The Tachibana clan (立花氏) was a Japanese clan of ''

daimyō were powerful Japanese magnates, feudal lords who, from the 10th century to the early Meiji era, Meiji period in the middle 19th century, ruled most of Japan from their vast hereditary land holdings. They were subordinate to the shogun and no ...

'' (feudal lords) during Japan's Sengoku and

Edo period The , also known as the , is the period between 1600 or 1603 and 1868 in the history of Japan, when the country was under the rule of the Tokugawa shogunate and some 300 regional ''daimyo'', or feudal lords. Emerging from the chaos of the Sengok ...

s. Originally based in Tachibana castle 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 ...

, the family's holdings were moved to the Yanagawa Domain in the far north-east of Honshū in the Edo period. The clan, which bore no direct relation to the Tachibana clan of the

Heian period The is the last division of classical Japanese history, running from 794 to 1185. It followed the Nara period, beginning when the 50th emperor, Emperor Kammu, moved the capital of Japan to Heian-kyō (modern Kyoto). means in Japanese. It is a ...

, originated with Ōtomo Sadatoshi (d. 1336), who took on the name and assigned it to the family of Ōtomo vassals who held Tachibana castle. For a time, the Tachibana served as loyal retainers under the Ōtomo clan, regularly battling the Shimazu, rivals to the Ōtomo. In the mid-16th century, a conflict between Ōtomo Akitoshi and Ōtomo Sōrin led to the former splitting from the family, and taking the name Tachibana Dōsetsu. Dōsetsu had no sons, and nominated his daughter, Tachibana Ginchiyo, to succeed him. Shortly afterwards, she would marry Takahashi Munetora, a vassal of

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: ...

, who helped defeat the Shimazu in Hideyoshi's Kyūshū Campaign. Upon inheriting the clan leadership, Takahashi took a new name, and became 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 ...

. Muneshige then fought for Hideyoshi in the Japanese invasions of Korea (1592–98), and was granted the '' han'' (fief) of

Yanagawa Yanagawa may refer to: * Yanagawa, Fukuoka * Yanagawa, Fukushima * Yanagawa (surname) * Yanagawa (film) {{disambig ...

( Chikugo Province, 132,000 ''

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 ...

''), the land surrounding Tachibana castle. Muneshige and Ginchiyo fought against the Tokugawa, however, during the decisive

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, ...

of 1600, and was dispossessed of his holdings when the

Tokugawa shogunate The Tokugawa shogunate, also known as the was the military government of Japan during the Edo period from 1603 to 1868. The Tokugawa shogunate was established by Tokugawa Ieyasu after victory at the Battle of Sekigahara, ending the civil wars ...

was established. Ultimately, he proved his loyalty to the shogunate in 1611, and was granted a fief in Mutsu Province, far from Kyūshū. This fief, the

Tanakura Domain was a ''fudai'' Han (Japan), feudal domain under the Tokugawa shogunate of Edo period Japan. It is located in southern Mutsu Province, Honshū. The domain was centered at Tanagura Castle, located in what is now part of the town of Tanagura, Fuk ...

, was only worth 20,000 ''koku'', but when the Tanaka family holding Tachibana castle and Yanagawa died out, due to a lack of heirs, the Tachibana were restored to their old territory. Their income remained around 20,000 ''koku'', however. Holding onto this fief continuously through the rest of the Edo period, the Tachibana were granted the title of ''

Hakushaku The was the hereditary peerage of the Empire of Japan The Empire of Japan, also known as the Japanese Empire or Imperial Japan, was the Japanese nation state that existed from the Meiji Restoration on January 3, 1868, until the Const ...

'' (Count) during the

Meiji period The was an era of Japanese history that extended from October 23, 1868, to July 30, 1912. The Meiji era was the first half of the Empire of Japan, when the Japanese people moved from being an isolated feudal society at risk of colonizatio ...

, when the feudal system and samurai class were abolished. Meanwhile, Muneshige's younger brother, Takahashi Munemasu (1573–1617), fell into much the same situation. His domain was reduced from 18,000 ''koku'' to 5000 as a result of his opposition to the Tokugawa at Sekigahara. He changed his name to Tachibana Naotsugu, and passed on the Miike Domain to his heirs. Tachibana Takachika, one of that line, was awarded the government post of '' wakadoshiyori'', gaining power and prestige for the clan even though he was soon demoted to ''

hatamoto A was a high ranking samurai in the direct service of the Tokugawa shogunate of feudal Japan. While all three of the Shōgun, shogunates in History of Japan, Japanese history had official retainers, in the two preceding ones, they were referred ...

''. This branch of the family was granted the title of Viscount following the

Meiji Restoration The , referred to at the time as the , and also known as the Meiji Renovation, Revolution, Regeneration, Reform, or Renewal, was a political event that restored Imperial House of Japan, imperial rule to Japan in 1868 under Emperor Meiji. Althoug ...

Significant members of the Tachibana family

* Ōtomo Sadatoshi * Tachibana Shinsei * Tachibana Munekatsu * Tachibana Shinzen * Tachibana Dōsetsu (1513–1585) * Tachibana Ginchiyo (1569–1602) *

(1567–1642) * Tachibana Naotsugu (1573–1617) * Tachibana Takachika

References

{{Authority control Tachibana