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3 unusual facts about Ōtomo clan


Kobayakawa clan

Close allies with the Kikkawa family, the Kobayakawa fought alongside the Kikkawa, Mōri, Toyotomi, and Ōtomo clans against the Shimazu, for control of Kyūshū at the end of the 16th century; they were awarded Chikuzen Province as their fief following the Shimazu's defeat, but the clan came to an end only a few decades later when Hideaki died without a successor.

Ōtomo clan

The Jesuit missionary Francis Xavier arrived in Japan in 1549, and soon afterwards met with Ōtomo Sōrin, shugo of Bungo and Buzen provinces, who would later be described by Xavier as a "king" and convert to Roman Catholicism in 1578.

Towards the end of the 16th century, the Ōtomo fought both the Shimazu and Mōri clans, of whom the latter were expert sailors.



see also

Tachibana Ginchiyo

She was the daughter of Tachibana Dōsetsu, a powerful retainer of the Ōtomo clan (which were rivals of the Shimazu clan at the time).