Takanobu was the eldest son of Ryūzōji Takaie and the great-grandson of Ryūzōji Iekane. His father was killed by a man named Baba Yoritiku in 1544. At a young age, Takanobu took Buddhist vows and received the monastic name Engetsu. However, around the age of eighteen, he returned to secular life, and in 1548, after the death of Ryūzōji Tanehide, he became the head of both branches of the Ryūzōji family.
Although some vassals doubted Takanobu’s abilities and proposed appointing Tanehide’s son, Ryūzōji Ienari, as the clan leader, Takanobu proved himself to be a capable ruler and commander. In 1553, he rose against Shō Tokinao, and the following year captured his castle at Saga, forcing Tokinao to flee to the neighboring province of Chikugo. In 1556, Takanobu caught up with his rival and killed him. Soon afterward, he brought nearly all of Hizen Province under his control, except for the southwestern region of Sonogi, where the Arima and Ōmura families resisted him.
In the late 1550s, Takanobu entered into conflict with the powerful Ōtomo clan, which controlled Bungo Province, located east of his native Hizen. In 1560, Ōtomo Sōrin, the clan’s leader, sent a large army—according to some sources up to sixty thousand men, though this figure is likely inflated at least threefold—under the command of his son Sadataka to surround Takanobu’s Saga Castle.
Takanobu himself had only about five thousand warriors. Surrounded on all sides, his vassals were at a loss until one of them, Nabeshima Naoshige (1537–1619), suggested making a nighttime raid on the enemy camp. The idea was risky, and most commanders opposed it. However, the decisive voice came from Takanobu’s mother, who sharply told her son: “You’re acting like a mouse before a cat! If you consider yourself a true samurai, attack the enemy at night, staking your life on victory or death!”
After this, a nighttime raid was launched: Naoshige’s men slipped silently through the Ōtomo encirclement and positioned themselves behind Sadataka’s headquarters on the slope of Mount Imayama. At six in the morning, they opened fire with arquebuses on the command post, and in the ensuing clash, Sadataka was killed. While Naoshige was dealing with him and his unit, the rest of Takanobu’s forces attacked the main Ōtomo army. Although most of the Ōtomo troops did not suffer heavy losses, the death of their commander caused panic, and the enemy forces were forced to retreat.
The Battle of Imayama not only saved Takanobu from what seemed an inevitable defeat but also gave him the opportunity to establish control over most of Hizen. Throughout the 1570s, he consolidated his dominance in the province, subduing or intimidating several southwestern lords, including Gotō Takaakira, Matsura Takanobu, and Arima Harunobu. Ōmura Sumitada resisted for a long time, but after the invasions of 1578 and 1579, he was compelled by circumstance to swear loyalty to Takanobu at Saga Castle. However, shortly before this, Ōmura had transferred control of the port of Nagasaki to the Jesuits.
Another Ōtomo defeat, suffered eight years later at the hands of the Shimazu clan at the Battle of Mimigawa, allowed Takanobu to seize the eastern territories of Hizen and begin an advance into Hyūga Province. In 1579, he defeated the Ōtomo forces in Chikugo Province, finally eliminating the threat posed by his longtime rival, Ōtomo Sōrin.
Takanobu was a ruthless schemer, and in 1579 he invited the former Ryūzōji vassal Kamachi Shigenami to a sarugaku performance, where he ordered him killed. This allowed him to seize the powerful Yanagawa Castle in Chikugo, which had belonged to Kamachi. The act appeared especially dishonorable because Kamachi Shigenami had served Ryūzōji Ienari during the latter’s war with Baba Yoritiku in 1544–1545. Unsurprisingly, this incident shocked many Ryūzōji vassals, causing their attitude toward their lord to change significantly.
After 1580, Takanobu entered into conflict with the Shimazu over Higo Province while simultaneously attempting to expel Arima Harunobu from the Shimabara region of Hizen. At the same time, by establishing himself in Bungo, he became a threat to Satsuma, the Shimazu homeland, drawing their attention. Starting in 1582, the Shimazu actively supported Arima Harunobu—the only independent daimyō in Hizen—in resisting the Ryūzōji attacks. In 1584, Takanobu marched against Harunobu with an army of about twenty thousand men, while Harunobu’s modest forces were reinforced only by a small band of Shimazu samurai under the command of Iehisa. In the Battle of Okita-Nawate, the Shimazu swordsmen broke into Takanobu’s command post and cut down him and his bodyguards, after which the Ryūzōji army fled. Following Takanobu’s death, his son Masaie was forced to submit to the Shimazu clan.
Takanobu bore the nickname Hizen-no-Kuma—“The Bear of Hizen”—partly because he liked to wear a bearskin over his armor and partly because of his fierce, fiery temperament. By the end of his life, Takanobu had become heavily addicted to alcohol, and by 1580 he was an irredeemable drunk, showing signs of dementia and a massive belly. He grew so large that he could no longer ride a horse, and for the Battle of Okita-Nawate, he had to be carried to the battlefield in a palanquin.
See also
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Ouchi Yoshihiro
Ōuchi Yoshihiro was the second son of Ōuchi Hiroyo, who headed the Ōuchi clan in the western part of Honshu. In 1363, Shogun Ashikaga Yoshimitsu confirmed the Ōuchi family in the position of shugo of Suō and Nagato Provinces. In his youth, Yoshihiro assisted his father in strengthening the influence of the Northern Court on the island of Kyushu — they served under Imagawa Ryōsun, who had been tasked with subjugating the nine provinces of Kyushu.
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Ouchi Yoshioki
Ouchi Yoshioki, the ruler of the provinces of Suo, Nagato, and Iwami, was one of the most capable military commanders and politicians of the late 15th and early 16th centuries. The son of Ouchi Masahiro, he governed from his residence in Yamaguchi in the province of Suo. In 1499, Yoshioki gave refuge to Shogun Ashikaga Yoshitane, who had been driven out of Kyoto by Hosokawa Masamoto. Shogun Yoshizumi, Masamoto’s protégé, ordered the lords of Kyushu to unite their forces against Yoshioki; however, they did not dare to do so, fearing the power of a man who by that time controlled six provinces. Having gathered a substantial army, Yoshioki marched from his native Suo toward Kyoto in order to restore Shogun Yoshitane to power.
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Otomo Sorin
Ōtomo Yoshishige came from a noble lineage, being the eldest son of Ōtomo Yoshiaki, the ruler of Funai Province. The roots of the Ōtomo family traced back to Fujiwara Hidesato, the adopted son of Nakahara Chikayoshi. Fujiwara served Minamoto Yoritomo during the Genpei War and took part in battles in Mutsu Province in 1189. In 1193, he was appointed shugo of Buzen and Bungo Provinces, after which he adopted a new surname—Ōtomo.
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Okudaira Sadamasa
Sadamasa was the son of Okudaira Sadayoshi and took part in several battles under Tokugawa Ieyasu, distinguishing himself in the Battle of Anegawa in 1570, where he took two heads. Around 1572 he was forced to enter the service of the Takeda clan, but after the death of Takeda Shingen in 1573 he returned to Tokugawa, leaving Tsukude Castle together with his men. As a result of this defection, Takeda Katsuyori ordered the execution of Sadamasa’s wife and brother, who were being held as hostages.
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Okubo Tadatika
Tadatika, the son of Okubo Tadayō, entered the service of Tokugawa Ieyasu at the age of eleven, and took his first head in battle when he was sixteen. After the establishment of the Tokugawa shogunate, he was appointed as a rōjū — a senior bakufu official — and was regarded as one of Ieyasu’s most trusted advisors, alongside Honda Masanobu. He is also known for his military chronicle Mikawa Monogatari, which describes Ieyasu’s rise to power and the early years of the Tokugawa shogunate.
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Okubo Nagayasu
Nagayasu was the second son of Okura Nobuyasu, a sarugaku theater actor from the Takeda clan. Takeda Shingen recognized the young man’s potential and took him into service, appointing him as a vassal to his general, Tsuchiya Masatsugu. During this period, Nagayasu changed his family name to Tsuchiya. He was entrusted with developing the Takeda clan’s gold mines as well as handling matters related to taxation.
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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.
