Tachibana Dōsetsu is the name by which Hetsugi Akitsura is more widely known; the name of this lineage is also found read as Hekki or Bekki. For a long period, Akitsura served the Ōtomo clan, the daimyō of Bungo Province, and took part in wars against the Ōuchi family, the principal enemies of the Ōtomo in northwestern Kyushu. In the 1560s, Akitsura seized the castle of the Tachibana clan, which had rebelled against the Ōtomo, and thereafter adopted the surname Tachibana. Around the same time, he took Buddhist vows and assumed the name Dōsetsu, which means “Snowy Road.”
Dōsetsu’s domains were located in Chikuzen Province, at the junction of the lands of the Mōri clan (who had displaced the Ōuchi in 1555), the Ōtomo, and the Shimazu, northeast of what is now the city of Fukuoka. For many years, Dōsetsu fought on the side of the Ōtomo and was regarded as one of the most prudent and experienced advisors to the daimyō Ōtomo Sōrin. However, after the severe defeat suffered by the Ōtomo army in 1578 at the Battle of Mimigawa, serious tensions arose between Dōsetsu and Sōrin, most likely connected to the active spread of Christianity in Bungo and other territories under Ōtomo rule. Tachibana Dōsetsu composed an “open letter” addressed to the most influential vassals of the Ōtomo clan, in which he sharply criticized the Christianization of Ōtomo lands. In this letter, he accused Sōrin of pursuing policies that had turned the samurai of Bungo away from “praying to the gods and the Buddha, defending faith and virtue, and following the way of the bow and the arrow.” According to Dōsetsu, what was happening in Bungo was unheard of since ancient times: “young and old, men and women are converted into followers of something like an Indian sect; temples and shrines are destroyed; images of the Buddha and the gods are drowned in rivers or burned.”
Despite such a harsh denunciation, Dōsetsu remained loyal to the Ōtomo clan, something that could not be said of many other vassals, who began to seek the patronage of either the Shimazu or the Ryūzōji. In time, the crisis eased, and in 1584 Ōtomo Sōrin was even able to assemble an army to subdue Ryūzōji Masaie, the heir of the recently killed Ryūzōji Takanobu. Command of the army was entrusted to Tachibana Dōsetsu, considered the most capable commander of the Ōtomo, but this campaign proved to be his last: in 1585, Dōsetsu was killed during the assault on Neko Fortress. The Ōtomo army retreated to Bungo, and soon afterward the rule of Ōtomo Sōrin came to an inglorious end.
According to tradition, Tachibana Dōsetsu took part in thirty-seven battles over the course of his life and was wounded many times. After one of these injuries, he was left partially paralyzed, yet he continued to participate in battles and military campaigns; for his ferocious character, he even earned the nickname Oni Dōsetsu—“Demon Dōsetsu.” Dōsetsu had no sons, and therefore bequeathed his domains to his daughter, Tachibana Ginchiyo. At the same time, he adopted Senkumaru, the son of Takahashi Shigetane, another vassal of the Ōtomo clan. Senkumaru later married Ginchiyo and became the head of the Tachibana clan under the name Muneshige.
See also
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Yamagata Masakage
Masakage was one of Takeda Shingen’s most loyal and capable commanders. He was included in the famous list of the “Twenty-Four Generals of Takeda Shingen” and also belonged to the inner circle of four especially trusted warlords known as the Shitennō.
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Yagyu Munenori
Yagyū Munenori began his service under Tokugawa Ieyasu while his father, Yagyū Muneyoshi, was still at his side. In 1600, Munenori took part in the decisive Battle of Sekigahara. As early as 1601, he was appointed a kenjutsu instructor to Tokugawa Hidetada, Ieyasu’s son, who later became the second shogun of the Tokugawa clan.
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Yagyu Muneyoshi
A samurai from Yamato Province, he was born into a family that had been defeated in its struggle against the Tsutsui clan. Muneyoshi first took part in battle at the age of sixteen. Due to circumstances beyond his control, he was forced to enter the service of the Tsutsui house and later served Miyoshi Tōkei. He subsequently came under the command of Matsunaga Hisahide and in time became a vassal first of Oda and later of Toyotomi.
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Endo Naozune
Naozune served under Azai Nagamasa and was one of the clan’s leading vassals, renowned for his bravery and determination. He accompanied Nagamasa during his first meeting with Oda Nobunaga and at that time asked for permission to kill Nobunaga, fearing him as an extremely dangerous man; however, Nagamasa did not grant this request.
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Hosokawa Sumimoto
Sumimoto came from the Hosokawa clan: he was the biological son of Hosokawa Yoshiharu and at the same time the adopted son of Hosokawa Masamoto, the heir of Hosokawa Katsumoto, one of the principal instigators of the Ōnin War. Masamoto was homosexual, never married, and had no children of his own. At first he adopted Sumiyuki, a scion of the aristocratic Kujō family, but this choice provoked dissatisfaction and sharp criticism from the senior vassals of the Hosokawa house. As a result, Masamoto changed his decision and proclaimed Sumimoto as his heir, a representative of a collateral branch of the Hosokawa clan that had long been based in Awa Province on the island of Shikoku. Almost immediately after this, the boy became entangled in a complex and bitter web of political intrigue.
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Honda Masanobu
Masanobu initially belonged to the retinue of Tokugawa Ieyasu, but later entered the service of Sakai Shōgen, a daimyo and priest from Ueno. This shift automatically made him an enemy of Ieyasu, who was engaged in conflict with the Ikkō-ikki movement in Mikawa Province. After the Ikkō-ikki were defeated in 1564, Masanobu was forced to flee, but in time he returned and once again entered Ieyasu’s service. He did not gain fame as a military commander due to a wound sustained in his youth; nevertheless, over the following fifty years he consistently remained loyal to Ieyasu.
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Honda Masazumi
Masazumi was the eldest son of Honda Masanobu. From a young age, he served Tokugawa Ieyasu alongside his father, taking part in the affairs of the Tokugawa house and gradually gaining experience in both military and administrative matters. At the decisive Battle of Sekigahara in 1600, Masazumi was part of the core Tokugawa forces, a clear sign of the high level of trust Ieyasu placed in him. After the campaign ended, he was given a highly sensitive assignment—serving in the guard of the defeated Ishida Mitsunari, one of Tokugawa’s principal enemies—an obligation that required exceptional reliability and caution.
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Hojo Shigetoki
Hōjō Shigetoki, the third son of Hōjō Yoshitoki, was still very young—only five years old—when his grandfather Tokimasa became the first member of the Hōjō clan to assume the position of shogunal regent.
