. of the Satsuma clan, during the
Boshin War period (1868–1869) The Shimazu were descendants of the
Seiwa Genji branch of the
Minamoto. The Shimazu would become one of the families of
Edo period daimyō to have held their territory continuously since the
Kamakura period, and would also become, at their peak, the wealthiest and most powerful
Tozama daimyō family with an income in excess of 700,000
koku. The founder,
Shimazu Tadahisa (d. 1227), was a son of
Shōgun Minamoto no Yoritomo (1147–1199) with the sister of
Hiki Yoshikazu. Tadahisa's wife was a daughter of
Koremune Hironobu, a descendant of the
Hata clan, whose name Tadahisa took at first. He received the domain of Shioda in
Shinano Province in 1186 and was then named
shugo of Satsuma Province. He sent
Honda Sadachika to take possession of the province in his name and accompanied Yoritomo in his expedition to
Mutsu in 1189. He went to Satsuma in 1196, subdued the Hyūga and Ōsumi provinces, and built a castle in the Hyūga Province as part of the
Shimazu Estate, whose name he also adopted.
Shimazu Yoshihisa (1533–1611) was the 16th Head of Shimazu family and the eldest son of
Shimazu Takahisa. In 1586, he succeeded in unifying and controlling the entire
Kyushu region. He retired in 1587 after
Toyotomi Hideyoshi's Kyushu Campaign. The 17th head,
Yoshihiro (1535–1619), was the
daimyō at the time of the
Battle of Sekigahara, the establishment of the
Tokugawa Shogunate, and the
Siege of Osaka. His nephew and successor was
Tadatsune. He held significant power during the first two decades of the 17th century, and organized the Shimazu invasion of the
Ryūkyū Kingdom (modern-day
Okinawa Prefecture) in 1609. The
Shōgun allowed this because he wished to appease the Shimazu and prevent potential uprisings after their loss at Sekigahara. The trade benefits thus acquired, and the political prestige of being the only
daimyō family to control an entire foreign country secured the Shimazu's position as one of the most powerful
daimyō families in Japan at the time. The Shimazu clan was renowned for the loyalty of its retainers and officers, especially during the
Sengoku period. Some retainer families, such as the
Ijuin and
Shirakawa, were determined to defeat any opposition to help expand the power of the Shimazu clan. The Shimazu are also famous for being the first to use
teppo (firearms, specifically matchlock
arquebuses) on the battlefield in Japan, and began domestic production of the weapons as well. Shimazu battle tactics are known to have been very successful in defeating larger enemy armies, particularly during their campaign to conquer
Kyūshū in the 1580s. Their tactics included the luring of the opposition into an ambush on both sides by arquebus troops, creating panic and disorder. Central forces would then be deployed to rout the enemy. In this way, the Shimazu were able to defeat much larger clans such as the
Itō,
Ryūzōji and
Ōtomo. Overall, the Shimazu was a very large and powerful clan due to their strong economy both from domestic production through trade, good organization of government and troops, strong loyalty of retainers and isolation from Honshū. In 1789, Shigehide (1745–1833)'s daughter became the wife of the 11th
shogun,
Tokugawa Ienari. In 1856,
Nariakira (1809–1858)'s adopted daughter (
Tenshō-in) became the wife of the 13th
shogun,
Tokugawa Iesada.
Hisamitsu (1817–1887), regent of
Tadayoshi, was the
daimyō of Satsuma at the time of the
Boshin War and the
Meiji Restoration, in which Satsuma played a major role. == Origin ==