Overview of the Higo Provincial Revolt
In 1587, after Hideyoshi Toyotomi pacified Kyushu, Narimasa Sasa, the new lord of Higo Province, enforced the Taikoh land survey, and local samurai rebelled and revolted. The local people rose up against Narimasa, especially against Kumabe Chikanaga, but were put down by Narimasa's forces and the Toyotomi administration, and many of them were executed.
Sasa Narimasa was ordered to commit seppuku (ritual suicide) for his failure to govern, and Kato Kiyomasa and Konishi Yukinaga were appointed as new lords to rule Higo. This revolt brought an end to the medieval domination of the country and strengthened the centralized control of the Toyotomi regime.
I will try to organize the information based on several sources and add my own theory at the end, so please read on.
Background of Sasa Narimasa's dispatch to Higo
In 1587, Toyotomi Hideyoshi sent Sasa Narimasa to Higo as the lord of the province in order to stabilize the rule after the pacification of Kyushu. Narimasa had the distinction of having suppressed the Kaga Uprising, and he excelled at governing with strong authority. However, the people of Higo had their own sovereignty and were strongly opposed to central rule, making Narimasa's rule extremely difficult.
Hideyoshi's Aim and Narimasa's Rule
In the course of unifying the whole country, Hideyoshi tried to unify the system of fiefdoms in each region by implementing the Taiko-kenchi (land survey). In Higo, he instructed Narimasa to proceed with the land survey with caution, but Narimasa's radical move led to strong opposition from the local populace.
National Discontent and Reactionary Factors
- Imposition of unreasonably high annual tribute
Narimasa greatly increased the amount of stones in Higo and made the annual tribute correspondingly heavier. As a result, the people of the country suffered from a tribute that far exceeded their previous burden. - Confiscation of the territory
Narimasa confiscated the territories of those who did not comply with the land survey, and placed them under his direct control. This led to a rebellion against Narimasa's rule by many of the local people. - Destruction of the traditional land system
Higo's provincial governors ruled their fiefdoms by hereditary succession, but the land system was altered by Narimasa's land survey, denying the right of the national governors to rule.
Nationals who led the revolt
Kumabe Chikanaga, Kumabe Chikayasu, Kai Chikahide, Kazuhito Chikanami, Kazuhito Chikanori, Kazuhito Chikamune, Kikuchi Takekuni, Henshun Chikayuki, Udo Kanemoto, Nawa Kenki, Otsuyama Ieryo, Uchikoga Chinbo, Yamaga Shigeyasu and others were the core members of the revolt.
Detailed history of the Higo Provincial Revolt
Narimasa led his own forces to suppress the revolt, but the power of the local people was so strong that Narimasa's forces were outnumbered. The Toyotomi government took the situation seriously and dispatched reinforcements in stages to put down the revolt.
Toyotomi's reinforcements
- First reinforcements
Naoshige Nabeshima and Keiki Angokuji were dispatched, but were met with fierce resistance from the revolting forces and were not decisive. - Secondary reinforcements
were brought in by Muneshige Tachibana and Naotsugu Takahashi, but the revolt was still not crushed. - Third Reinforcements
Kobayakawa Hidemasu, Chikushi Hiromon, Nabeshima Naoshige, and Ankokuji Keioni were dispatched again, and a large-scale battle for defeat ensued. - Other reinforcements
were mobilized, including Nagamasa Asano, Kiyomasa Kato, Yukinaga Konishi, Katsunobu Mori, Takataka Kuroda, Iemasa Hachisuka, Chikamasa Ikoma, Katsutaka Toda, and Masanori Fukushima, and the revolt was finally crushed.
end
After the revolt was suppressed, Sasa Narimasa was accused of failure in governance and ordered to commit seppuku (ritual suicide). Higo Province was then divided and ruled by Kiyomasa Kato and Yukinaga Konishi, and direct rule by the Toyotomi administration was established.
Personally, I thought that Sasa Narimasa's mistake and elimination was Hideyoshi's purpose in sending him as a lord of Higo, but looking at the details, I think that his purpose was also to eliminate the local people in order to ensure Higo's dominance.
