* Image is for illustrative purposes only.Harima no Tsubone
播磨局
Kamakura-Era Female Land Steward — Ōkura no Ōiko, Heir to the Headship of the Amakusa Clan
Description
Who Was Harima no Tsubone?
Harima no Tsubone was a samurai woman of the mid-Kamakura period, the eldest daughter of Amakusa Taneari, a warrior of Amakusa District in Higo Province (present-day Amakusa City, Kumamoto Prefecture). Her name is said to have been “Ōkura no Ōiko.” In Jōei 2 (1233), she inherited the post of jitō of Hondo Island (Honto-no-shima) from her father, Taneari, and though a woman, succeeded as sōryō (head) of the Amakusa clan.
The Kōan Campaign and Shrine Tradition
In Kōan 4 (1281), when the Kōan campaign, the second Mongol invasion, broke out, Harima no Tsubone is said to have set out at the head of the Amakusa naval forces. According to the shrine tradition of Hondo Suwa Shrine, she obtained the favor of fortune in war under the protection of the deity Suwa Myōjin in this battle, and in Kōan 6 (1283) she established Hondo Suwa Shrine by enshrining a divided spirit (bunrei) from Suwa Taisha in Shinano Province. However, the description that Harima no Tsubone herself actually took part in the fighting derives mainly from the shrine's origin account. About fifty years had passed from her inheritance of the jitō post to this campaign, so it has also been pointed out that she may already have been elderly at the time.
Succession of the Amakusa Clan
Because Harima no Tsubone had no children of her own, she adopted her younger brother Tanesuke as her heir and transferred the position of sōryō of the Amakusa clan to him. From then on, the Amakusa clan passed down through Tanesuke's line.
Assessment in Later Times
Harima no Tsubone's deeds are recorded in local geographies and regional history sources, such as Heibonsha's Nihon Rekishi Chimei Taikei volume Kumamoto-ken no Chimei and the Reihoku Chōshi (History of Reihoku Town) compiled by the Reihoku Town History Editorial Committee. Within the gokenin system of the Kamakura shogunate, cases in which a woman formally succeeded to the posts of jitō and sōryō were few, and Harima no Tsubone is a valuable figure who conveys the nature of female lords in medieval Kyushu. Hondo Suwa Shrine still stands today in Amakusa City, Kumamoto Prefecture, and as a shrine she founded, it draws local faith.