Hosokawa Tadaoki

In this Japanese name, the family name is Hosokawa.

Hosokawa Tadaoki
File:Hosokawa Tadaoki.jpg Hosokawa Tadaoki
Lord of Nakatsu
In office 1600–1602
Preceded by	none
Succeeded by	Ogasawara Nagatsugu
Lord of Kokura
In office 1602–1620
Preceded by	none
Succeeded by	Hosokawa Tadatoshi
Personal details
Born	(1563-11-28)November 28, 1563
Died
Nationality	Japanese
Spouse(s)	Hosokawa Gracia

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.

Early life

Tadaoki was the eldest son of Hosokawa Fujitaka. He fought in his first battle at the age of 15. In that battle, he was in the service of Oda Nobunaga.

Daimyo

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, and Mitsuhide was defeated.

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

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. In July Ishida 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, Gracia ordered a servant to kill her and set fire to their quarters. While there is little reason to believe that Hosokawa was emotionally scarred by the incident, it was considered an appalling act of trickery, and served to drive Tadaoki - among others - into Ieyasu's camp.

At the Battle of Sekigahara (21 October 1600) Tadaoki commanded 5,000 men in the Tokugawa vanguard and clashed with the forces of Shima Sakon. He was awarded a fief in Buzen (Kokura, 370,000 koku) and went on to serve at the Siege of Osaka (1614–1615). 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.

Retainers

• Ujii Yashiro

See also

• Hosokawa clan

References

The emblem (mon) of the Hosokawa clan

External links

• Sengoku Biographical Dictionary Hosokawa Tadaoki

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)

Preceded by none	Lord of Nakatsu 1600-1602	Succeeded by Ogasawara Nagatsugu
Preceded by none	Lord of Kokura 1602-1620	Succeeded by Hosokawa Tadatoshi