Shimazu Clan
Outsider daimyō of Satsuma, Ōsumi and Hyūga, whose power and wealth rivaled the Tokugawa.
The Shimazu clan were the daimyō of the Satsuma han, which spread over Satsuma, Ōsumi and Hyūga provinces in Japan. They were identified as one of the tozama or outsider daimyō families, in contrast with the fudai or insider clans which were hereditary vassals or allies of the Tokugawa clan. At their peak, they were the wealthiest and most powerful Tozama daimyō family with an income in excess of 700,000 koku.
Quick Facts
- Home province
- Satsuma
- Ōsumi
- Hyūga
- Parent house
- Minamoto clan (Seiwa Genji) (self-proclaimed); Koremune clan
- Founder
- Shimazu Tadahisa
- Final ruler
- Shimazu Tadashige
- Current head
- Shimazu Tadahiro
- Founding year
- 12th century (ca. 1196 AD)
- Dissolution
- extant
- Ruled until
- 1947, Constitution of Japan renders titles obsolete
Lore & Background
The Shimazu were descendants of the Seiwa Genji branch of the Minamoto. The founder, Shimazu Tadahisa (d. 1227), was a son of Shōgun Minamoto no Yoritomo (1147–1199) with the sister of Hiki Yoshikazu. Tadahisa's wife was a daughter of Koremune Hironobu, a descendant of the Hata clan. He received the domain of Shioda in Shinano Province in 1186 and was then named shugo of Satsuma Province. He went to Satsuma in 1196, subdued the Hyūga and Ōsumi provinces, and built a castle in the Hyūga Province as part of the Shimazu Estate. However, Tadahisa's ambiguous genealogy has caused scrutiny among Japanese historians on whether his lineage was truly Genji, since older sources record him under 'Koremune,' the same clan as his wife. The general consensus is that Tadahisa was of Koremune descent like his wife, and not Seiwa Genji.
Reader's Guide
The Shimazu clan was renowned for the loyalty of its retainers and officers, especially during the Sengoku period. Some retainer families, such as the Ijuin and Shirakawa, were determined to defeat any opposition to help expand the power of the Shimazu clan. The Shimazu are also famous for being the first to use teppo (firearms, specifically matchlock arquebuses) on the battlefield in Japan, and began domestic production of the weapons as well. Shimazu battle tactics are known to have been very successful in defeating larger enemy armies, particularly during their campaign to conquer Kyūshū in the 1580s. Their tactics included the luring of the opposition into an ambush on both sides by arquebus troops, creating panic and disorder. Central forces would then be deployed to rout the enemy. In this way, the Shimazu were able to defeat much larger clans such as the Itō, Ryūzōji and Ōtomo. Overall, the Shimazu was a very large and powerful clan due to their strong economy both from domestic production through trade, good organization of government and troops, strong loyalty of retainers and isolation from Honshū.
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