Shimabara Rebellion
Encyclopedia
The was an uprising
largely involving Japan
ese peasants, most of them Catholic Christians
, in 1637–1638 during the Edo period
.
It was one of only a handful of instances of serious unrest during the relatively peaceful period of the Tokugawa shogunate
's rule. In the wake of the Matsukura
clan's construction of a new castle at Shimabara
, taxes were drastically raised, which provoked anger from local peasants and lordless samurai. In addition, religious persecution against the local Christians exacerbated the discontent, which turned into open revolt in 1637. The Tokugawa Shogunate sent a force of over 125,000 troops to suppress the rebellion, and after a lengthy siege against the rebels at Hara Castle
, defeated them.
In the wake of the rebellion, the rebel leader Amakusa Shiro
was beheaded, and persecution of Christianity became strictly enforced. Japan's national seclusion
policy was tightened, and formal persecution of Christianity continued until the 1850s.
and the Amakusa Islands, dissatisfied with overtaxation and suffering from the effects of famine, revolted against their lords. This was specifically in territory ruled by two lords: Matsukura Katsuie of the Shimabara Domain
, and Terasawa Katataka of the Karatsu Domain
. Though the rebellion is cast by many historians as a religious uprising, this does not address the issues of the discontent from the famine and overtaxation. Those affected also included fishermen, craftsmen and merchants. As the rebellion spread, it was joined by masterless samurai
who once had served families such as the Amakusa and Shiki who had once lived in the area, as well as former Arima and Konishi retainers. As such, the image of a fully "peasant" uprising is also not entirely accurate.
Shimabara was once the domain of the Arima lordly family, which had been Christian; as a result, many locals were also Christian. The Arima were moved out in 1614 and replaced by the Matsukura. The new lord, Matsukura Shigemasa, hoped to advance in the shogunate hierarchy, and so he was involved with various construction projects, including the building and expansion of Edo Castle
, as well as a planned invasion of Luzon
. He also built a new castle at Shimabara. As a result, he placed a greatly disproportionate tax burden on the people of his new domain, and further angered them by strictly persecuting Christianity. Even the Dutch, who had a trading post nearby and were anti-Catholic, were startled at the excessive degree of repression. These policies were continued by Shigemasa's heir, Katsuie.
The inhabitants of the Amakusa Islands, which had been part of the fief of Konishi Yukinaga
, suffered the same sort of persecution at the hands the Terasawa family, which, like the Matsukura, had been moved there. Other masterless samurai in the region included former retainers of Katō Tadahiro and Sassa Narimasa
, both of whom had once ruled parts of Higo Province
.
The discontented, masterless samurai of the region, as well as the peasants, began to meet in secret and plot an uprising; this broke out in the autumn of 1637, when the local daikan (tax official) Hayashi Hyōzaemon was assassinated. At the same time, others rebelled in the Amakusa Islands. The rebels quickly increased their ranks by forcing all in the areas they took to join in the uprising. A charismatic 16 year-old youth, Amakusa Shirō
, was soon chosen as the rebellion's leader.
The rebels laid siege to the Terasawa clan's Tomioka and Hondo castles, but just before the castles were about to fall, armies from the neighboring domains in Kyūshū
arrived, and forced them to retreat. The rebels then crossed the Ariake Sea
and briefly besieged Matsukura Katsuie's Shimabara Castle
, but were again repelled. At this point they gathered on the site of Hara Castle
, which had been the castle of the Arima clan before their move to the Nobeoka Domain, but was dismantled. They built up palisades using the wood from the boats they had crossed the water with, and were greatly aided in their preparations by the weapons, ammunition, and provisions they had plundered from the Matsukura clan's storehouses.
as commander-in-chief, then began their siege of Hara Castle. The swordsman Miyamoto Musashi
was present in the besieging army, in an advisory role to Hosokawa Tadatoshi
.
The shogunate troops then requested aid from the Dutch
, who first gave them gunpowder, and then cannons. Nicolaes Couckebacker
, Opperhoofd
of the Dutch factory (trading post)
on Hirado, provided the gunpowder and cannons, and when the shogunate forces requested that he send a vessel, he personally accompanied the vessel de Ryp to a position offshore, near Hara Castle. The cannons sent previously were mounted in a battery
, and an all-out bombardment of the fortress commenced, both from the shore guns as well as from the 20 guns of the de Ryp. These guns fired approximately 426 rounds in the space of 15 days, without great result, and two Dutch lookouts were shot by the rebels. The ship withdrew at the request of the Japanese, following contemptuous messages sent by the rebels to the besieging troops:
, Itakura's replacement, soon arrived. However, the rebels at Hara Castle resisted the siege for months and caused the shogunate heavy losses. Both sides had a hard time fighting in winter conditions. On February 3, 1638, a rebel raid killed 2,000 warriors from the Hizen Domain. However, despite this minor victory, the rebels slowly ran out of food, ammunition and other provisions.
By April of 1638, there were over 27,000 rebels facing about 125,000 shogunate soldiers. Desperate rebels mounted an assault against them on April 4 and were forced to withdraw. Captured survivors and the fortress's rumored sole traitor, Yamada Uemonsaku, revealed the fortress was out of food and gunpowder
.
On April 12, 1638, troops under the command of the Kuroda clan of Hizen stormed the fortress and captured the outer defenses. The rebels continued to hold out and caused heavy casualties until they were routed on April 15.
The Shimabara rebellion was the first massive military effort since the Siege of Osaka
where the shogunate had to supervise an allied army made up of troops from various domains. The first overall commander, Itakura Shigemasa
, had 800 men under his direct command; his replacement, Matsudaira Nobutsuna
, had 1,500. Vice-commander Toda Ujikane had 2,500 of his own troops. 2,500 samurai of the Shimabara Domain
were also present. The bulk of the shogunate's army was drawn from Shimabara's neighboring domains. The largest component, numbering over 35,000 men, came from the Saga Domain
, and was under the command of Nabeshima Katsushige
. Second in numbers were the forces of the Kumamoto and Fukuoka domains; 23,500 men under Hosokawa Tadatoshi
and 18,000 men under Kuroda Tadayuki, respectively. From the Kurume Domain
came 8,300 men under Arima Toyouji; from the Yanagawa Domain
5,500 men under Tachibana Muneshige; from the Karatsu Domain
, 7570 under Terasawa Katataka; from Nobeoka, 3,300 under Arima Naozumi
; from Kokura
, 6,000 under Ogasawara Tadazane
and his senior retainer Takada Matabei; from Nakatsu
, 2,500 under Ogasawara Nagatsugu; from Bungo-Takada, 1,500 under Matsudaira Shigenao, and from Kagoshima, 1,000 under Yamada Arinaga
, a senior retainer of the Shimazu clan
. The only non-Kyushu forces, apart from the commanders' personal troops, were 5,600 men from the Fukuyama Domain
, under the command of Mizuno Katsunari, Katsutoshi, and Katsusada. There was also a small number of troops from various other locations amounting to 800 men. In total, the shogunate's army comprised over 125,800 men. Conversely, the strength of the rebel forces is not precisely known. Combatants are estimated to have numbered over 14,000, noncombatants who sheltered in the castle during the siege were over 13,000. One source estimates the total size of the rebel force as somewhere between 27,000 and 37,000, a fraction of the size of the force sent by the shogunate.
After the castle fell, the shogunate forces beheaded an estimated 37,000 rebels and sympathizers. Amakusa Shirō's severed head was taken to Nagasaki for public display, and the entire complex at Hara Castle
was burned to the ground and buried together with the bodies of all the dead.
The shogunate suspected that Western
Catholics
had been involved in spreading the rebellion and Portuguese
traders were driven out of the country. The policy of national seclusion
was made more strict by 1639. An already existing ban on the Christian religion was then enforced stringently, and Christianity in Japan survived only by going underground
.
Another part of the shogunate's actions after the rebellion was to excuse the clans which had aided its efforts militarily, from the building contributions which it routinely required from various domains. Matsukura Katsuie committed suicide, and his domain was given to another lord, Kōriki Tadafusa. The Terazawa clan survived, but died out almost 10 years later, due to Katataka's lack of a successor.
On the Shimabara peninsula, most towns experienced a severe to total loss of population as a result of the rebellion. In order to maintain the rice fields and other crops, immigrants were brought from other areas across Japan to resettle the land. All inhabitants were registered with local temples, whose priests were required to vouch for their members' religious affiliation. Following the rebellion, Buddhism was strongly promoted in the area. Certain customs were introduced which remain unique to the area today. Towns on the Shimabara peninsula also continue to have a varied mix of dialects due to the mass immigration from other parts of Japan.
With the exception of periodic, localized peasant uprisings, the Shimabara Rebellion was the last large-scale armed clash in Japan until the 1860s.
Rebellion
Rebellion, uprising or insurrection, is a refusal of obedience or order. It may, therefore, be seen as encompassing a range of behaviors aimed at destroying or replacing an established authority such as a government or a head of state...
largely involving Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
ese peasants, most of them Catholic Christians
Christianity
Christianity is a monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus as presented in canonical gospels and other New Testament writings...
, in 1637–1638 during the Edo period
Edo period
The , or , is a division of Japanese history which was ruled by the shoguns of the Tokugawa family, running from 1603 to 1868. The political entity of this period was the Tokugawa shogunate....
.
It was one of only a handful of instances of serious unrest during the relatively peaceful period of the Tokugawa shogunate
Tokugawa shogunate
The Tokugawa shogunate, also known as the and the , was a feudal regime of Japan established by Tokugawa Ieyasu and ruled by the shoguns of the Tokugawa family. This period is known as the Edo period and gets its name from the capital city, Edo, which is now called Tokyo, after the name was...
's rule. In the wake of the Matsukura
Matsukura Shigemasa
was a Japanese feudal lord of the late Sengoku and early Edo periods. He held the title of Bingo no Kami and the Imperial court rank of junior 5th, lower grade . Though he began as a retainer of Tsutsui Sadatsugu of Yamato Province, he became a lord in his own right, acquiring the 60,000 koku...
clan's construction of a new castle at Shimabara
Shimabara
Shimabara can refer to any of the following:* Shimabara, Nagasaki, a city in Nagasaki Prefecture, Japan* Shimabara Peninsula, the geographic feature that hosts Shimabara, Nagasaki* Shimabara Castle, in Shimabara, Nagasaki...
, taxes were drastically raised, which provoked anger from local peasants and lordless samurai. In addition, religious persecution against the local Christians exacerbated the discontent, which turned into open revolt in 1637. The Tokugawa Shogunate sent a force of over 125,000 troops to suppress the rebellion, and after a lengthy siege against the rebels at Hara Castle
Hara Castle
is a castle in Hizen Province. During the Shimabara Rebellion , the rebellious peasants were besieged there.As a result of the Shimabara Rebellion in 1637, the Shogunate decided to expel the Portuguese from Japan...
, defeated them.
In the wake of the rebellion, the rebel leader Amakusa Shiro
Amakusa Shiro
also known as was the teenage leader of the Shimabara Rebellion.- Biography :The son of former Konishi clan retainer , Shirō was born in modern-day Kami-Amakusa, Kumamoto in a Catholic family...
was beheaded, and persecution of Christianity became strictly enforced. Japan's national seclusion
Sakoku
was the foreign relations policy of Japan under which no foreigner could enter nor could any Japanese leave the country on penalty of death. The policy was enacted by the Tokugawa shogunate under Tokugawa Iemitsu through a number of edicts and policies from 1633–39 and remained in effect until...
policy was tightened, and formal persecution of Christianity continued until the 1850s.
Leadup and outbreak
In the mid-1630s, the peasants of the Shimabara PeninsulaShimabara Peninsula
Shimabara Peninsula is east of Nagasaki City, Nagasaki Prefecture, Kyūshū, Japan. On its north-eastern tip stands Shimabara City. It was also the site of the Shimabara Rebellion, a 1637-1638 peasant revolt led by Christians. This further reinforced distrust of Christians and foreigners by Shogun...
and the Amakusa Islands, dissatisfied with overtaxation and suffering from the effects of famine, revolted against their lords. This was specifically in territory ruled by two lords: Matsukura Katsuie of the Shimabara Domain
Shimabara Domain
The ' was a feudal domain of Edo period Japan, located in Hizen Province, Kyūshū, occupying most of Shimabara Peninsula.-History:The Arima clan, who were Kirishitan daimyō, ruled over Shimabara Domain in the late Muromachi period from Hinoe Castle and Hara Castle...
, and Terasawa Katataka of the Karatsu Domain
Karatsu Domain
' was a Japanese domain of the Edo period, located in Hizen Province, in Kyūshū. Its seat of government was in Karatsu Castle, in modern-day Karatsu, Saga.-History:...
. Though the rebellion is cast by many historians as a religious uprising, this does not address the issues of the discontent from the famine and overtaxation. Those affected also included fishermen, craftsmen and merchants. As the rebellion spread, it was joined by masterless samurai
Samurai
is the term for the military nobility of pre-industrial Japan. According to translator William Scott Wilson: "In Chinese, the character 侍 was originally a verb meaning to wait upon or accompany a person in the upper ranks of society, and this is also true of the original term in Japanese, saburau...
who once had served families such as the Amakusa and Shiki who had once lived in the area, as well as former Arima and Konishi retainers. As such, the image of a fully "peasant" uprising is also not entirely accurate.
Shimabara was once the domain of the Arima lordly family, which had been Christian; as a result, many locals were also Christian. The Arima were moved out in 1614 and replaced by the Matsukura. The new lord, Matsukura Shigemasa, hoped to advance in the shogunate hierarchy, and so he was involved with various construction projects, including the building and expansion of Edo Castle
Edo Castle
, also known as , is a flatland castle that was built in 1457 by Ōta Dōkan. It is located in Chiyoda in Tokyo, then known as Edo, Toshima District, Musashi Province. Tokugawa Ieyasu established the Tokugawa shogunate here. It was the residence of the shogun and location of the shogunate, and also...
, as well as a planned invasion of Luzon
Luzon
Luzon is the largest island in the Philippines. It is located in the northernmost region of the archipelago, and is also the name for one of the three primary island groups in the country centered on the Island of Luzon...
. He also built a new castle at Shimabara. As a result, he placed a greatly disproportionate tax burden on the people of his new domain, and further angered them by strictly persecuting Christianity. Even the Dutch, who had a trading post nearby and were anti-Catholic, were startled at the excessive degree of repression. These policies were continued by Shigemasa's heir, Katsuie.
The inhabitants of the Amakusa Islands, which had been part of the fief of Konishi Yukinaga
Konishi Yukinaga
Konishi Yukinaga was a Kirishitan daimyō under Toyotomi Hideyoshi. He was the son of a wealthy Sakai merchant, Konishi Ryūsa...
, suffered the same sort of persecution at the hands the Terasawa family, which, like the Matsukura, had been moved there. Other masterless samurai in the region included former retainers of Katō Tadahiro and Sassa Narimasa
Sassa Narimasa
, also known as Kura-no-suke , was a Japanese samurai of the Sengoku through Azuchi-Momoyama period. He became a retainer of Oda Nobunaga in 1550 and was granted Etchū Province as a reward for helping Shibata Katsuie fight the Uesugi clan. After Nobunaga's death, in 1584 he joined Tokugawa Ieyasu...
, both of whom had once ruled parts of Higo Province
Higo Province
Higo Province was an old province of Japan in the area that is today Kumamoto Prefecture on the island of Kyūshū. It was sometimes called , with Hizen Province. Higo bordered on Chikugo, Bungo, Hyūga, Ōsumi, and Satsuma Provinces....
.
Start
Amakusa Shiro
also known as was the teenage leader of the Shimabara Rebellion.- Biography :The son of former Konishi clan retainer , Shirō was born in modern-day Kami-Amakusa, Kumamoto in a Catholic family...
, was soon chosen as the rebellion's leader.
The rebels laid siege to the Terasawa clan's Tomioka and Hondo castles, but just before the castles were about to fall, armies from the neighboring domains in Kyūshū
Kyushu
is the third largest island of Japan and most southwesterly of its four main islands. Its alternate ancient names include , , and . The historical regional name is referred to Kyushu and its surrounding islands....
arrived, and forced them to retreat. The rebels then crossed the Ariake Sea
Ariake Sea
The is a body of salt water surrounded by Fukuoka, Saga, Nagasaki, and Kumamoto Prefectures, all of which lie on the island of Kyūshū in Japan. It is the largest bay in Kyūshū. Its deepest point is only about 50 m deep, and extreme tides exceed 4 m. It is used for aquaculture, with nori...
and briefly besieged Matsukura Katsuie's Shimabara Castle
Shimabara Castle
, also known as and , is a Japanese castle located in Shimabara, Hizen Province , also known as and , is a Japanese castle located in Shimabara, Hizen Province , also known as and , is a Japanese castle located in Shimabara, Hizen Province (present day Nagasaki prefecture. This five-story white...
, but were again repelled. At this point they gathered on the site of Hara Castle
Hara Castle
is a castle in Hizen Province. During the Shimabara Rebellion , the rebellious peasants were besieged there.As a result of the Shimabara Rebellion in 1637, the Shogunate decided to expel the Portuguese from Japan...
, which had been the castle of the Arima clan before their move to the Nobeoka Domain, but was dismantled. They built up palisades using the wood from the boats they had crossed the water with, and were greatly aided in their preparations by the weapons, ammunition, and provisions they had plundered from the Matsukura clan's storehouses.
Siege at Hara Castle
The allied armies of the local domains, under the command of the Tokugawa shogunate with Itakura ShigemasaItakura Shigemasa
was a Japanese daimyo of the early Edo period. The lord of Fukōzu han in Mikawa Province, he was a personal aide to Tokugawa Ieyasu. Son of the Kyoto Shoshidai Itakura Katsushige, and younger brother of Itakura Shigemune ....
as commander-in-chief, then began their siege of Hara Castle. The swordsman Miyamoto Musashi
Miyamoto Musashi
, also known as Shinmen Takezō, Miyamoto Bennosuke or, by his Buddhist name, Niten Dōraku, was a Japanese swordsman and rōnin. Musashi, as he was often simply known, became renowned through stories of his excellent swordsmanship in numerous duels, even from a very young age...
was present in the besieging army, in an advisory role to Hosokawa Tadatoshi
Hosokawa Tadatoshi
was a Japanese daimyo of the early Edo period, who ruled the Kumamoto Domain. He was a patron of the martial artist Miyamoto Musashi.Tadatoshi's grave is in Kumamoto. His Grandfather was Hosokawa Fujitaka-Gallery:...
.
The shogunate troops then requested aid from the Dutch
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
, who first gave them gunpowder, and then cannons. Nicolaes Couckebacker
Nicolaes Couckebacker
Nicolaes Coeckebacker or Couckebacker was twice Chief of the Dutch trading factory at Hirado, the Japanese trading post of the Dutch East India Company. He arrived in 1633 and stayed till fall 1635...
, Opperhoofd
Opperhoofd
Opperhoofd is a Dutch word which literally means 'supreme head'.The Danish equivalent Overhoved, which is derived from a Danish pronunciation of the Dutch word, is also treated here....
of the Dutch factory (trading post)
Factory (trading post)
Factory was the English term for the trading posts system originally established by Europeans in foreign territories, first within different states of medieval Europe, and later in their colonial possessions...
on Hirado, provided the gunpowder and cannons, and when the shogunate forces requested that he send a vessel, he personally accompanied the vessel de Ryp to a position offshore, near Hara Castle. The cannons sent previously were mounted in a battery
Artillery battery
In military organizations, an artillery battery is a unit of guns, mortars, rockets or missiles so grouped in order to facilitate better battlefield communication and command and control, as well as to provide dispersion for its constituent gunnery crews and their systems...
, and an all-out bombardment of the fortress commenced, both from the shore guns as well as from the 20 guns of the de Ryp. These guns fired approximately 426 rounds in the space of 15 days, without great result, and two Dutch lookouts were shot by the rebels. The ship withdrew at the request of the Japanese, following contemptuous messages sent by the rebels to the besieging troops:
Final push and fall
In an attempt to take the castle, Itakura Shigemasa was killed. More shogunate troops under Matsudaira NobutsunaMatsudaira Nobutsuna
was a Japanese daimyo of the early Edo period, who ruled the Kawagoe Domain. First serving Tokugawa Iemitsu as a page, Nobutsuna was renowned for his sagacity. He was named a rōjū in 1633. Nobutsuna led the shogunal forces to their final victory over the rebellion at Shimabara...
, Itakura's replacement, soon arrived. However, the rebels at Hara Castle resisted the siege for months and caused the shogunate heavy losses. Both sides had a hard time fighting in winter conditions. On February 3, 1638, a rebel raid killed 2,000 warriors from the Hizen Domain. However, despite this minor victory, the rebels slowly ran out of food, ammunition and other provisions.
By April of 1638, there were over 27,000 rebels facing about 125,000 shogunate soldiers. Desperate rebels mounted an assault against them on April 4 and were forced to withdraw. Captured survivors and the fortress's rumored sole traitor, Yamada Uemonsaku, revealed the fortress was out of food and gunpowder
Gunpowder
Gunpowder, also known since in the late 19th century as black powder, was the first chemical explosive and the only one known until the mid 1800s. It is a mixture of sulfur, charcoal, and potassium nitrate - with the sulfur and charcoal acting as fuels, while the saltpeter works as an oxidizer...
.
On April 12, 1638, troops under the command of the Kuroda clan of Hizen stormed the fortress and captured the outer defenses. The rebels continued to hold out and caused heavy casualties until they were routed on April 15.
Forces present at Shimabara
Siege of Osaka
The was a series of battles undertaken by the Tokugawa shogunate against the Toyotomi clan, and ending in that clan's destruction. Divided into two stages , and lasting from 1614 to 1615, the siege put an end to the last major armed opposition to the shogunate's establishment...
where the shogunate had to supervise an allied army made up of troops from various domains. The first overall commander, Itakura Shigemasa
Itakura Shigemasa
was a Japanese daimyo of the early Edo period. The lord of Fukōzu han in Mikawa Province, he was a personal aide to Tokugawa Ieyasu. Son of the Kyoto Shoshidai Itakura Katsushige, and younger brother of Itakura Shigemune ....
, had 800 men under his direct command; his replacement, Matsudaira Nobutsuna
Matsudaira Nobutsuna
was a Japanese daimyo of the early Edo period, who ruled the Kawagoe Domain. First serving Tokugawa Iemitsu as a page, Nobutsuna was renowned for his sagacity. He was named a rōjū in 1633. Nobutsuna led the shogunal forces to their final victory over the rebellion at Shimabara...
, had 1,500. Vice-commander Toda Ujikane had 2,500 of his own troops. 2,500 samurai of the Shimabara Domain
Shimabara Domain
The ' was a feudal domain of Edo period Japan, located in Hizen Province, Kyūshū, occupying most of Shimabara Peninsula.-History:The Arima clan, who were Kirishitan daimyō, ruled over Shimabara Domain in the late Muromachi period from Hinoe Castle and Hara Castle...
were also present. The bulk of the shogunate's army was drawn from Shimabara's neighboring domains. The largest component, numbering over 35,000 men, came from the Saga Domain
Saga Domain
Saga Domain was a han, or feudal domain, in Tokugawa period Japan. Largely contiguous with Hizen Province on Kyūshū, the domain was governed from Saga Castle in the capital city of Saga by the Nabeshima clan of tozama daimyō...
, and was under the command of Nabeshima Katsushige
Nabeshima Katsushige
' was a Japanese daimyo of the early Edo period. Born to Nabeshima Naoshige, he became lord of Saga-han.-Biography:...
. Second in numbers were the forces of the Kumamoto and Fukuoka domains; 23,500 men under Hosokawa Tadatoshi
Hosokawa Tadatoshi
was a Japanese daimyo of the early Edo period, who ruled the Kumamoto Domain. He was a patron of the martial artist Miyamoto Musashi.Tadatoshi's grave is in Kumamoto. His Grandfather was Hosokawa Fujitaka-Gallery:...
and 18,000 men under Kuroda Tadayuki, respectively. From the Kurume Domain
Kurume Domain
The ' was a Japanese domain of the Edo period, ruled by the Arima clan. It was located in Chikugo Province .The Arima clan became viscounts in the Meiji era.-List of lords:* Arima clan 1620-1871...
came 8,300 men under Arima Toyouji; from the Yanagawa Domain
Yanagawa Domain
The ' was a Japanese domain of the Edo period, located in Chikugo Province . It was ruled for most of its history by the Tachibana clan.-List of lords:*Tanaka clan, 1600-1620 #Yoshimasa#Tadamasa...
5,500 men under Tachibana Muneshige; from the Karatsu Domain
Karatsu Domain
' was a Japanese domain of the Edo period, located in Hizen Province, in Kyūshū. Its seat of government was in Karatsu Castle, in modern-day Karatsu, Saga.-History:...
, 7570 under Terasawa Katataka; from Nobeoka, 3,300 under Arima Naozumi
Arima Naozumi
was the first son of the Kirishitan daimyo Arima Harunobu. He was baptized as a child with the name Miguel . He was born in Hinoe Castle in Shimabara but was sent by his father to work beside Tokugawa Ieyasu at the age of 15...
; from Kokura
Kokura Domain
The ' was a Japanese domain of the Edo period. It was headquartered what is now the city of Kokura, in Kyūshū. In the late Edo period, it was also called "Kawara-han" and then "Toyotsu-han" .-List of lords:...
, 6,000 under Ogasawara Tadazane
Ogasawara Tadazane
Japanese daimyō of the early Edo Period, the son of Ogasawara Hidemasa .Following the deaths of his father and elder brother in the Osaka Summer Campaign, his holdings were transferred from Akashi Domain in Harima Province to the Kokura domain Buzen Province.Famed as the lord who employed...
and his senior retainer Takada Matabei; from Nakatsu
Nakatsu Domain
The ' was a Japanese domain of the Edo period. It was headquartered at Nakatsu Castle in what is now Nakatsu, Oita, in Kyushu.The Meiji-era scholar Fukuzawa Yukichi was a former samurai of the Nakatsu domain.-List of lords:...
, 2,500 under Ogasawara Nagatsugu; from Bungo-Takada, 1,500 under Matsudaira Shigenao, and from Kagoshima, 1,000 under Yamada Arinaga
Yamada Arinaga
' was a Japanese samurai of the Azuchi-Momoyama period through the early Edo period, who served the Shimazu clan of Satsuma. He was the eldest son of Yamada Arinobu....
, a senior retainer of the Shimazu clan
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 clans in contrast with the fudai or insider clans which were hereditary vassals or allies of the Tokugawa clan,The Shimazu were...
. The only non-Kyushu forces, apart from the commanders' personal troops, were 5,600 men from the Fukuyama Domain
Fukuyama Domain
The ' was a Japanese domain of the Edo period, located in Bingo and Bitchū provinces.-List of lords:*Mizuno clan, 1619-1698 #Katsunari#Katsutoshi#Katsusada#Katsutane#Katsumine*Tenryō, 1698-1700...
, under the command of Mizuno Katsunari, Katsutoshi, and Katsusada. There was also a small number of troops from various other locations amounting to 800 men. In total, the shogunate's army comprised over 125,800 men. Conversely, the strength of the rebel forces is not precisely known. Combatants are estimated to have numbered over 14,000, noncombatants who sheltered in the castle during the siege were over 13,000. One source estimates the total size of the rebel force as somewhere between 27,000 and 37,000, a fraction of the size of the force sent by the shogunate.
Aftermath
Hara Castle
is a castle in Hizen Province. During the Shimabara Rebellion , the rebellious peasants were besieged there.As a result of the Shimabara Rebellion in 1637, the Shogunate decided to expel the Portuguese from Japan...
was burned to the ground and buried together with the bodies of all the dead.
The shogunate suspected that Western
Western world
The Western world, also known as the West and the Occident , is a term referring to the countries of Western Europe , the countries of the Americas, as well all countries of Northern and Central Europe, Australia and New Zealand...
Catholics
Catholicism
Catholicism is a broad term for the body of the Catholic faith, its theologies and doctrines, its liturgical, ethical, spiritual, and behavioral characteristics, as well as a religious people as a whole....
had been involved in spreading the rebellion and Portuguese
Portugal
Portugal , officially the Portuguese Republic is a country situated in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of Europe, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South and by Spain to the North and East. The Atlantic archipelagos of the...
traders were driven out of the country. The policy of national seclusion
Sakoku
was the foreign relations policy of Japan under which no foreigner could enter nor could any Japanese leave the country on penalty of death. The policy was enacted by the Tokugawa shogunate under Tokugawa Iemitsu through a number of edicts and policies from 1633–39 and remained in effect until...
was made more strict by 1639. An already existing ban on the Christian religion was then enforced stringently, and Christianity in Japan survived only by going underground
Kakure Kirishitan
is a modern term for a member of the Japanese Catholic Church that went underground after the Shimabara Rebellion in the 1630s.-History:Kakure Kirishitans are called the "hidden" Christians because they continued to practice Christianity in secret. They worshipped in secret rooms in private homes...
.
Another part of the shogunate's actions after the rebellion was to excuse the clans which had aided its efforts militarily, from the building contributions which it routinely required from various domains. Matsukura Katsuie committed suicide, and his domain was given to another lord, Kōriki Tadafusa. The Terazawa clan survived, but died out almost 10 years later, due to Katataka's lack of a successor.
On the Shimabara peninsula, most towns experienced a severe to total loss of population as a result of the rebellion. In order to maintain the rice fields and other crops, immigrants were brought from other areas across Japan to resettle the land. All inhabitants were registered with local temples, whose priests were required to vouch for their members' religious affiliation. Following the rebellion, Buddhism was strongly promoted in the area. Certain customs were introduced which remain unique to the area today. Towns on the Shimabara peninsula also continue to have a varied mix of dialects due to the mass immigration from other parts of Japan.
With the exception of periodic, localized peasant uprisings, the Shimabara Rebellion was the last large-scale armed clash in Japan until the 1860s.
Further reading
- Morris, Ivan (1975). The nobility of failure: tragic heroes in the history of Japan. (New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston).
- Sukeno Kentarō (1967). Shimabara no Ran. (Tokyo: Azuma Shuppan).
- Toda Toshio (1988). Amakusa, Shimabara no ran: Hosokawa-han shiryō ni yoru. (Tokyo: Shin Jinbutsu Ōraisha).