Matsuura Takanobu - Biography

Biography

After becoming lord of Hirado in 1543{{}}, the 15-year-old Takanobu was advised by Yasumasa Toyohisa. Toyohisa was a well-known samurai and cousin of the previous lord of Hirado and, under his guidance, the domains of the Koteta family were increased to include much of Ikitsuki, together with the islands of Takushima, Ojika, Noshima as well as the areas of Kasuga, Shishi and Iira in Hirado. That same year he became an ally of a powerful wakō leader, inviting him to live in Hirado and allowing his band to dominate the outlying islands off Kyūshū.

During the 1550s, he was involved in a fierce rivalry with the rival Ōmura clan, the Christian convert Ōmura Sumitada, who also competed for Portuguese trade. This rivalry lasted for over three decades, and long after Takanobu had retired, until Ōmura eventually became the Portuguese "port of call" having ceded Nagasaki to the Jesuits in 1680.

Although tolerant to the Kirishitan movement introduced to Japan (his retainer Koteda Yasumasa became the first samurai to convert to Catholicism in 1551), he expelled the Jesuits from his domain in 1558. The evangelism of the Jesuits' followers resulted in the destruction of three Buddhist temples and throwing artifacts into the sea. A speech given by a Zen priest from Yasumandake spoke out against Father Gaspar Vilela and resulted in several mobs of Buddhist followers stoning the three churches in the area and, in one instance, toppling the cross from one church. This recent surge in religious violence forced Takanobu to ask Vilela to leave. He later forced Kato Saemon, lord of the district of Kato, into retirement in Nagasaki due to pressure from his brothers.

In 1568, he stepped down in favor of his son Shigenobu. His grandson was also named Matsuura Takanobu and baptized in 1591. Matsuura Takanobu died in 1599.