Hosokawa Tadaoki

Hosokawa Tadaoki (細川忠興, November 28, 1563 – January 18, 1646) was a Japanese samurai warrior of the late Sengoku period and early Edo period.[1] He was the son of Hosokawa Fujitaka with Numata Jakō, and he was the husband of a famous Christian convert (Kirishitan), Hosokawa Gracia. For most of his life, he went under the name of Nagaoka Tadaoki that had been adopted by his father and was related to a town that was in their domain.[2] Shortly after the victory at Sekigahara, Nagaoka Tadaoki reverted to his original name Hosokawa Tadaoki.[3]

In this Japanese name, the surname is Hosokawa.
Hosokawa Tadaoki
Hosokawa Tadaoki
Head of Kumamoto-Hosokawa clan
In office
1582–1620
Preceded byHosokawa Fujitaka
Succeeded byHosokawa Tadatoshi
Daimyō of Nakatsu
In office
1600–1602
Succeeded byOgasawara Nagatsugu
Daimyō of Kokura
In office
1602–1620
Succeeded byHosokawa Tadatoshi
Personal details
BornNovember 28, 1563
DiedJanuary 18, 1646(1646-01-18) (aged 82)
Daitoku-ji, Kyoto
NationalityJapanese
SpouseHosokawa Gracia
Parents
Military service
Allegiance Oda clan
Toyotomi clan
Eastern Army
Tokugawa shogunate
Unit Hosokawa clan
Battles/warsBattle of Komaki and Nagakute
Odawara Campaign
Korean campaign
Battle of Sekigahara
Siege of Osaka

Biography

Tadaoki was the eldest son of Hosokawa Fujitaka.[4] He fought in his first battle at the age of 15. In that battle, he was in the service of Oda Nobunaga. His childhood name was Kumachiyo (熊千代). Tadaoki was given the Province of Tango in 1580. Soon after that, he married Hosokawa Gracia, the daughter of Akechi Mitsuhide.

In 1582, Akechi Mitsuhide rebelled against Nobunaga and Nobunaga was killed. Akechi turned to Hosokawa Fujitaka and Hosokawa Tadaoki for help. They refused to help him, later Mitsuhide was defeated by Hideyoshi.

Tadaoki was present on Hideyoshi's side in the Battle of Komaki and Nagakute (1584) and the Odawara Campaign (1590), where he took part in the siege of Nirayama (Izu Province) and later joined the main army outside Odawara. During the 1590s he became friends with Tokugawa Ieyasu (who had lent him money to assist in some debts owed Toyotomi Hidetsugu) and in 1600 sided with him against Ishida Mitsunari.

He was succeeded by Hosokawa Tadatoshi (1586–1641), who was present at the Siege of Shimabara (1637–1638). In 1632 Tadatoshi received a huge fief in Higo (Kumamoto, 540,000 koku), where the Hosokawa family remained until 1871.

Grave of Tadaoki and his wife Gracia, at Daitokuji, Kyoto

Battle of Sekigahara
Main article: Battle of Sekigahara

In July 1600, Ishida Mitsunari had attempted to gain some leverage over those leaning towards Ieyasu by taking as hostages all those whose families were in Osaka Castle, this happened to include Tadaoki's wife, who was by now a Christian, baptized "Gracia". To avoid capture, Hosokawa Gracia ordered a servant to kill her and set fire to their quarters. While there is little reason to believe that Tadaoki was emotionally scarred by the incident, it was considered an appalling act of trickery, and served to drive Tadaoki into Ieyasu's side.

On October 20, 1600 at the Battle of Sekigahara, Tadaoki commanded 5,000 men in the Tokugawa vanguard and clashed with the forces of Shima Sakon. Afterwards, He was awarded a fief in Buzen (Kokura, 370,000 koku) and went on to serve at the Siege of Osaka (1614–1615).

Hosokawa Tadaoki Battle standards

Family

Retainers

See also

References
The emblem (mon) of the Hosokawa clan
  1. 細川忠興 at Nihon jinmei daijiten; retrieved 2013-5-29.
  2. Walker, Robin Noel. (2002). "Nagaoka+Tadaoki" in Shoko-Ken: A Late Medieval Daime Sukiya Style Japanese Tea-House, p. 32.
  3. Walker, Robin Noel. (2002). "Nagaoka+Tadaoki" in Shoko-Ken: A Late Medieval Daime Sukiya Style Japanese Tea-House, p. 32.
  4. Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005). "Hosokawa Tadaoki" in Japan Encyclopedia, p. 359.

Further reading
  • Sansom, George "A History of Japan", 1334–1615 Stanford 1961
  • Berry, Mary Elizabeth "Hideyoshi" 1982
  • Charles Ralph Boxer, "Hosokawa Tadaoki and the Jesuits, 1587–1645" in Portuguese Merchants and Missionaries in Feudal Japan, 1543–1640, by Variorum Reprints (1986)
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