Arima Toyouji was a prominent figure in the late Sengoku and early Edo periods, holding the titles of Daimyo and Lord of Tamba Fukuchiyama. He also had the distinction of being the inaugural Lord of Kurume Domain. Born in Mitsuda Castle at Miki, Arima-gun, Harima Province (present-day Hyogo Prefecture), Toyouji's early years were marked by service to the daimyo Watarase Shigeaki, where he held the position of chief councilor. This allegiance remained until the Watarase clan's involvement in the Toyotomi Hidetsugu incident of 1595, which culminated in their collective seppuku. Subsequently, Toyouji realigned himself with Hideyoshi, earning him a stipend of 30,000 koku and lands in Totomi (now Shizuoka Prefecture).
During Hideyoshi’s Korean Campaign, Toyouji dispatched a contingent of 200 men to safeguard Nagoya Castle in Kyushu. Following Hideyoshi's passing, he allied with Tokugawa Ieyasu and led 900 troops in the Battle of Sekigahara. This included a pre-battle assault on Gifu Castle and active involvement in the main confrontation itself.
For his exceptional contributions, Toyouji received the newly established Tamba Fukuchiyama domain, along with an allocation of 60,000 koku. He further distinguished himself in the 1614 winter Siege of Osaka.
Earlier, in 1606, he had been called upon to contribute manpower, resources, and funds for the reconstruction of Edo Castle’s central Honmaru precincts. The following year, similar requests were made for Sunpu Castle, and in 1618, Osaka Castle also received his support. These ventures, while commendable, placed considerable strain on the domain's finances.
Due to their commendable service, the Arima clan was relocated to Kurume Domain in late 1620, receiving an endowment of 210,000 koku. Adhering to the newly enforced Tokugawa law, which permitted only one castle per domain, Arima initiated the reconstruction of Kurume Castle. Salvaging components from the now-defunct Enokizu and Fukushima Castles, he simultaneously improved economic conditions for all within his domain.
Despite his advancing age, between December 1637 and April 1638, Arima Toyouji led 6,300 men in the Shimabara Rebellion under the Tokugawa banner.
Arima Toyouji was not solely a warrior, but a man of culture, distinguished as one of the Seven Great Followers of Sen No Rikyu. He was also an adherent of Zen Buddhism and a scholar of Confucianism.
Upon his demise at the age of 74, two of his most trusted advisors followed suit, committing Junshi—a form of ritual suicide—to serve their lord in the afterlife. His son, Tadayori, assumed leadership of the clan.
See also
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Nitta Yoshisada
Nitta Yoshisada was a loyal soldier of Emperor Go-Daigo, who in the 1330s attempted to restore direct imperial rule in Japan. The Nitta family was related to the Ashikaga house and was older in lineage. However, they did not join Minamoto Yoritomo at the start of his war with the Taira, as the Ashikaga did, and therefore did not receive high positions in the Kamakura shogunate. This may have been one of the reasons why Yoshisada rose against the Hōjō clan in 1333.
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Natsume Yoshinobu
Yoshinobu, a long-time vassal of the Matsudaira and Tokugawa clans, governed Hamamatsu Castle on behalf of the Tokugawa house. During the clashes between the Imagawa, Takeda, and Matsudaira clans, he served in the garrison of Nagasawa Castle and in 1562 took part in raids under the command of Itakura Shigezane. When, in 1563, a revolt of the Sōtō-shū sect followers broke out in Mikawa Province, Yoshinobu joined the rebels together with Honda Masanobu and Hachiya Sadatsugu.
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Nambu Nobunao
The Nambu clan was an ancient and powerful family that traced its lineage back to the Minamoto shoguns and had controlled a significant part of the Tohoku region in northern Honshu since the 12th century. Nobunao was born in Ikatai Castle, located in what is now the city of Iwate. He was the second son of Ishikawa (Nambu) Takanobu, the 22nd head of the Nambu clan. In 1565, Nobunao’s uncle, Nambu Harumasa, adopted him, brought him to Sannohe Castle, and named him his heir, later giving his daughter in marriage to him.
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Naito Ienaga
Ienaga was the son of Naitō Kiyonaga and served Tokugawa Ieyasu from an early age. Like his father, he was exceptionally brave, and thanks to his remarkable skill with the bow, he earned the nickname “the unrivaled archer.” Although both the elder and the younger Naitō belonged to the Jōdo Shinshū (“True Pure Land”) sect, during the Ikkō-ikki uprising in Mikawa Province in 1565, Ienaga did not support his fellow believers and instead sided with Tokugawa Ieyasu, earning his special trust. He later took part in the battles of Mikatagahara, Nagashino, and many other engagements while accompanying Ieyasu.
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Minamoto no Yoshitsune
Minamoto no Yoshitsune was the son of Minamoto no Yoshitomo and his second wife, Tokiwa Gozen, as well as the younger half-brother of Minamoto no Yoritomo, the founder of the first shogunate, who had once suffered defeat in the struggle against the Taira clan. Yoshitsune spent his childhood in exile at the Kuramayama Temple. According to legend, he studied not so much Buddhist sutras there as the arts of war. At the age of fifteen, he entered the service of the governor in Mutsu, Fujiwara Hidehira.
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Miyoshi Chokei
The eldest son of Miyoshi Nagamoto (Motonaga), at the age of seventeen and with the support of Miyoshi Masanaga and Matsunaga Hisahide, invaded Kinai, the inner provinces of Japan, and in 1539 seized control of Kyoto. In 1543 he expelled Hosokawa Ujitsuna from the commercial city of Sakai and appointed his own brother, Sōgo Kazunari, as the city’s new leader. In 1548 he took the name Chōkei. When a conflict arose between him and Masanaga, Chōkei appealed to his liege lord, Hosokawa Harumoto, asking him to raise troops in the provinces of Settsu, Izumi, and Kawachi, but Harumoto instead chose to ally with Masanaga against Chōkei.
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Matsudaira Ietada
Matsudaira Ietada, also known as Tomomo-no Suke, was the eldest son of Matsudaira Koretada, the head of the Fukozu branch of the Matsudaira clan. Ietada was born in 1555 at Fukozu Castle. When he reached adulthood (for samurai children this age range was between 11 and 17), the Fukozu-Matsudaira clan was under the authority of Tokugawa Ieyasu and commanded by Sakai Tadatsugu. In the Battle of Nagashino in 1575, Tadatsugu’s unit, which included both Ietada and his father, took part in the assault on the fort on Mount Tobigasu-yama. During the fighting, Koretada was killed, and twenty-year-old Ietada became the new head of the clan.
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Matsudaira Tadaakira
Tadaakira was the fourth son of Okudaira Nobumasa, a vassal of the Tokugawa clan, and his mother was Kame, the eldest daughter of Tokugawa Ieyasu. In 1588, Tadaakira was adopted by Ieyasu and received the Matsudaira family name; at that time, he bore the name Kiyotada.
