* Image is for illustrative purposes only.Tachibana Ginchiyo
立花誾千代
Sole Daughter of Tachibana Dōsetsu and a Female Castle Commander (Jōtoku) Rare Even in the Sengoku Era, the Heroine of Chikuzen Who Inherited Tachibanayama Castle at Seven
Description
The Only Daughter of Oni Dōsetsu
Tachibana Ginchiyo (Eiroku 12 (1569) – Keichō 7 (1602)) was born at Toimoto Castle in Yamamoto District, Chikugo Province (present-day Kurume, Fukuoka Prefecture), as the only daughter of Bekki Akitsura (later Tachibana Dōsetsu), a senior retainer of the Ōtomo clan of Bungo. Her father, feared as “Oni Dōsetsu,” was the foremost fierce general of the Ōtomo clan. Having no sons, Dōsetsu designated his daughter Ginchiyo as his heir.
Inheriting the Castle Commandership at Seven
Around Tenshō 3 (1575), Ginchiyo, at just seven years old, received from her father Dōsetsu the position of jōtoku (castle commander), the domain, and all the arms and armor within Tachibanayama Castle. Dōsetsu followed the same procedure used for the succession of a male heir and also obtained confirmation from the Ōtomo clan, his overlord, which is regarded as a rare example even in the Sengoku period. As the lady of the castle, she is said to have donned armor herself when the Shimazu forces later approached Tachibanayama Castle, had her attendants armed with naginata, and readied the defenses.
Marriage to Tachibana Muneshige
In Tenshō 9 (1581), at the age of thirteen, Ginchiyo married Munetora (later Tachibana Muneshige), the son of Takahashi Jōun who had been adopted by Dōsetsu. Muneshige grew into a renowned general, praised alongside Honda Tadakatsu as “Honda Tadakatsu of the east, Tachibana Muneshige of the west,” and the Tachibana family became daimyō holding Yanagawa in Chikugo. Through the marriage, the Tachibana family headship and the jōtoku were united. The couple each made a name for themselves through martial valor, but it is said that in later years they lived apart, and Ginchiyo moved to the Miyanaga area, where she was called “Miyanaga-dono.”
Ginchiyo and Raikirimaru
The Tachibana family has handed down a famous sword called “Raikirimaru.” It was originally called “Chidori.” According to an anecdote in the Ōtomo Kōhaiki, when her father Dōsetsu was struck by lightning, he cut down the god of thunder with this sword, and it was then renamed “Raikiri.” There is no record that Ginchiyo herself wielded this sword. Raikirimaru, however, is a treasured heirloom of the Tachibana family associated with her father Dōsetsu, and it is now held by the Tachibana Museum as a wakizashi shortened from a longer blade (suriage; unsigned; blade length 58.5 cm). Ginchiyo was a woman who grew up within the sword culture of the Tachibana family, which is tied to this emblem of martial valor.
Her Early Final Years
At the Battle of Sekigahara in Keichō 5 (1600), the Tachibana family sided with the Western Army, and Muneshige was temporarily stripped of his domain. Amid that turmoil, Ginchiyo died of illness in Keichō 7 (1602) at the young age of thirty-four. With her death, the bloodline of her father Dōsetsu came to an end, yet she is still remembered today as “another female castle lord” and as a rare example of a warrior-class woman who succeeded to a castle.
Notable Swords
- Raikirimaru (a Tachibana house heirloom connected to her father Tachibana Dosetsu; originally called 'Chidori,' it is said to have been renamed from the legend that Dosetsu cut the thunder god, and is now preserved at the Tachibana Museum as a shortened wakizashi)
- Naginata borne by the castle ladies (the long blades with which Ginchiyo, who inherited the castle lordship at seven, is said to have armed her ladies-in-waiting to prepare for emergencies)