Ryūzōji Takanobu

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Ryūzōji Takanobu (龍造寺隆信, Ryūzōji Takanobu^? 1530-1584) was the eldest son of Ryūzōji Chikaie and the 19th and final head of the Ryūzōji clan throughout the latter Sengoku period of Feudal Japan. As Takanobu had been born within Hizen Province and held the status of Buddhist Monk, he remained within such a respective position throughout the time at which he was a child up until his early adulthood. His father would be unexpectedly killed initially around this same time--appropriately in 1544--by means of a treacherous general of the Shōni clan known as Baba Yorichika, who communicated with the Ouchi clan in order to effectively dispose of the former -- an action at which, more than anything, encouraged Takanobu to discard such means of living and return to the Ryūzōji as its designated heir, at the age of 18. Following the death of his relative, Tanehide, who died of natural causes during the year of 1548, Ryūzōji presently seated himself in power after the former's passing, obtaining headship over the clan's two primary branches and proving himself as a man of competency as the years continued, which earned him both the respect and admiration of the retainers that served beneath him. Growing in ambition and longing to seize control over Hizen from the weakened hands of the Shōni--who were slowly robbed of the majority of their power due to the possession of many treacherous retainers--Takanobu assaulted Sho Tokinao's territory in 1553, seizing Saga Castle a year following and expelling the former to Chikugo Province without any exceeded amount of effort. Ensuring that Tokinao would not be able to gain any form of populace support that could ultimately harm his aspirations to obtain a greater hold of power over Kyūshū, Takanobu pursued the former governor to Chikugo Province, slew him, and then expanded to control the entire Saga Domain within Hizen by 1556. As a decade or so passed by with consecutive struggles against the Ōmura and Arima clans of Hizen for the sake of obtaining the Sonnogi District from their mutual grasp, Takanobu additionally conflicted with the Otomo of Bungo Province around this same time, at which he would form an intense rivalry with the Otomo's head, Sorin.

[edit] Takanobu's Rivaled Power: The Shimazu and Otomo

Sorin, who regarded Takanobu as "Bear of Hizen"--justifiably because the latter occasionally wore bear skin over his armor--and a threat that must be eliminated by all means, resulted in an intense confrontation in 1570, at which Takanobu was confronted by a massive army of 60,000 soldiers under the command of Otomo Chikasada, who surrounded his head domain like a crescent moon -- the only region of escape being the sea that laid to the south. This conflict--considered as the 'Battle of Iwate'--involved the besiegement of Takanobu's Saga castle, for the sake of either forcing Takanobu into surrrender or killing him. Due to the masterful eye of Ryuzoji's head retainer, Nabeshima Naoshige, and the valiance of its subordinate retainer, Narimatsu Nobukatsu, Takanobu's men were able to pierce into the encampment of Chikasada by way of night, in which they slew the enemy commander and dispersed the castle's besiegers in effect to the element of surprise.

With this conflict having ended in victory for Takanobu, this gave a signal to Sorin that he underestimated the capability of his respective opponent, and for such reasoning, no serious attack would be made towards the province of Hizen for many consecutive years -- but instead upon the Shimazu that were dominantly present within the neighboring Hyuga Province. By the year of 1578, Sorin would be defeated at the Battle of Mimigawa--which presently took place within the lands of Hyuga--causing Takanobu to spring upon such an opportunity for expansion by traveling to Higo Province that laid to his southeast, where he was additionally able to secure an effective pathway through Chikugo, thus seizing an advantage against the relatively unaware forces of Otomo. Presently at the time at which these circumstances took place, Takanobu had already made two incursions into Hizen in order to wipe out the Christian influence that could be detrimental to his position of power; and by 1580, he aspired to destroy the rebellious Omura family of Hizen that had been consistently threatening him with Jesuit influence and an integral political advantage by means of trade with the Portuguese. As the head of Omura, Sumitada, took notice of the Ryuzoji's movement, he impulsively ceded his delegated rights to the Nagasaki port, where he additionally handed the Jesuits complete judicial control over such a region, thus giving them the authority to collect taxes on all goods imported and exported within such a teriff. With Sumitada following with surrender and vassalship beneath Takanobu initially following the latter's arrival within Hizen, Takanobu accepted such a showing of submission and left Nagasaki to its bidding, solely due to the Portuguese' reputation as being 'Southern barbarians', and thus a force that was still somewhat alien in their characteristics. Now being content at having completely disconnected the Omura's mutual relations with the Portuguese, Takanobu set his aim to the Arima clan that laid within the Shimabara Peninsula -- for they too harbored threatful gestures against the Ryuzoji by means of Portuguese trade, and were thus an unexcusable factor to his power.