| Hosokawa 細川 | |
|---|---|
 The emblem (mon) of the Hosokawa clan | |
| Home province | Various |
| Parent house |  Minamoto clan Ashikaga clan |
| Titles | Various |
| Founder | Ashikaga Yoshisue |
| Current head | Morihiro Hosokawa |
| Dissolution | still extant |
| Ruled until | 1947,Constitution of Japan renders titles obsolete |
| Cadet branches | Nagaoka clan Kumamoto Kumamoto-Shinden Udo Hitachi-Yatabe Saikyu clan |
TheHosokawa clan (細川氏,Hosokawa-shi;Japanese pronunciation:[ho.so.ka.wa(ꜜ.ɕi),-soꜜ.ka.wa(.ɕi)][1]) is a Japanesesamurai kin group orclan.[2] The clan descends from theSeiwa Genji, a branch of theMinamoto clan, and ultimately fromEmperor Seiwa, through theAshikaga clan.[3] It produced many prominent officials in theAshikaga shogunate's administration. In theEdo period, the clan was one of the largest landholdingdaimyo families in Japan. The current clan headMorihiro Hosokawa served asPrime Minister of Japan.
Ashikaga Yoshisue, son of Ashikaga Yoshizane, was the first to take the surname of Hosokawa. Hosokawa Yoriharu, a Hosokawa of the lateKamakura period, fought for theAshikaga clan against theKamakura shogunate. Another,Hosokawa Akiuji, helped establish theAshikaga shogunate.[citation needed]
The clan wielded significant power over the course of theMuromachi (1336–1467),Sengoku (1467–1600), andEdo periods, moving, however, fromShikoku, toKinai, and then toKyūshū over the centuries.[citation needed]
The clan was also one of three families to dominate the post ofKanrei (Shōgun's deputy), under the Ashikaga shogunate. One such individual wasHosokawa Yoriyuki.[4] At the beginning of the Ashikaga's rule, the Hosokawa were given control of the entirety of Shikoku. Over the course of this period, members of the Hosokawa clan were Constables (shugo) ofAwa,Awaji,Bitchū,Izumi,Sanuki,Settsu,Tanba,Tosa, andYamashiro Provinces.
A conflict betweenHosokawa Katsumoto, the fifth Kanrei, and his father-in-lawYamana Sōzen, over the shogunate's succession, sparked theŌnin War, which led to the fall of the shogunate and a period of 150 years of chaos and war, known as theSengoku period. Following the fall of the Ashikaga shogunate, which was based in Kyoto, control of the city, and thus ostensibly the country, fell into the hands of the Hosokawa clan (who held the post of Kyoto Kanrei – Shōgun's deputy in Kyoto) for a few generations.
Katsumoto's son,Hosokawa Masamoto, held power in this way at the end of the 15th century, but was assassinated in 1507. After his death, the clan became divided and was weakened by internecine fighting. What power they still had, however, was centered in and around Kyoto. This gave them the leverage to consolidate their power to some extent, and came to be strong rivals with theŌuchi clan, both politically, and in terms of dominating trade with Ming China.[5] The Hosokawa remained in Kyoto for roughly one hundred years, fleeing the city when it was attacked by lordOda Nobunaga. Another division of the clan whom many believed became extinct is the Saikyū clan (細九氏).
The Hosokawa of Kokura (later Kumamoto) became the "main" line of the Hosokawa clan during the Edo period.Hosokawa Gracia, the wife ofHosokawa Tadaoki, was one of the most famous samurai converts to Christianity; she was also the daughter ofAkechi Mitsuhide.
The Hosokawa sided withTokugawa Ieyasu againstIshida Mitsunari during the decisiveSekigahara Campaign, and thus were madefudai (inside)daimyō under theTokugawa shogunate. They were givenHigo Province, with an income of 540,000koku, as theirhan (fief).
Hosokawa Tadatoshi, the third lord of Kumamoto, was the patron of the artist[6] andswordsmanMiyamoto Musashi.[7]
![Mon of Miyamoto Musashi born in Ōhara-chō province of Mimasaka[8]](/mt/?noimg=&dark=on&url=https%3a%2f%2fen.wikipedia.org%2fwiki%2fFile%3aHidari_mitsudomoe.svg)
Though the Hosokawa domain was far from both the shogunate and imperial capital, on Kyūshū, they were among the wealthiest of thedaimyōs. By 1750, Higo was one of the top producers of rice, and was in fact counted as a standard by theOsaka rice brokers. The domain suffered from serious economic decline after that, as most domains did, but the sixth lord,Hosokawa Shigekata (1718–1785, r. 1747–1785) instituted a number of reforms which turned the situation around. He also founded aHan school,Jishūkan, in 1755.[9]
In later years, it produced many scholars such asYokoi Shōnan.
In 1787, the main family line descended from Tadatoshi became extinct with the death of the 7th lord, Shigekata's son Harutoshi (1758–1787; r. 1785–1787). He was succeeded by his distant cousin Narishige, the sixth Lord of Udo (1755–c1835, r. 1787–1810) a direct descendant of Tadatoshi's younger brother Tatsutaka (1615–1645). In 1810, Narishige abdicated his title in favor of his elder son Naritatsu (1788–1826, r. 1810–1826), who succeeded as the ninth lord of Kumamoto. Naritatsu died without an heir in 1826, and was succeeded by his nephew Narimori (1804–1860, r. 1826–1860), the son of Naritatsu's younger brother Tatsuyuki (1784–1818), who was the seventh lord of Udo.[10]
Following the death of Narimori in 1860, his elder son Yoshikuni (1835–1876, r. 1860–1871) succeeded him as the eleventh and final ruling lord of Kumamoto.
There were four major branches of the Hosokawa clan in the Edo period, each of which held the title ofdaimyō. Another two branches of the family, under the Nagaoka surname, served the Hosokawa of Kumamoto askarō. The residence of one of those families, Hosokawa Gyōbu mansion (細川刑部邸,Hosokawa Gyōbu-tei), is still extant, and is aTangible Cultural Property ofKumamoto Prefecture.
During theBoshin War of 1868–69, the Hosokawa of Kumamoto, Kumamoto-Shinden, and Udo sided with the imperial government. Its forces took part in theBattle of Aizu and theBattle of Hakodate, among others.[citation needed]
Following theabolition of the feudal class in 1871, the Hosokawa clan and its branches were made part of thenew nobility in theMeiji era. The head of the main family line (Kumamoto) was given the hereditary title of marquis (kōshaku), while the heads of the secondary branches became viscounts (shishaku); the titles became obsolete in 1947. The present head of the main family line,Morihiro Hosokawa, formerPrime Minister of Japan, is a descendant of the Hosokawa of Kumamoto.[citation needed]
Kumamoto[11] (Became Main Branch)
Kumamoto-Shinden (Takase)[12]
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Udo[13]
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Hitachi-Yatabe[16]
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Media related toHosokawa clan at Wikimedia Commons
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