Kikuchi clan



Kikuchi Clan (菊池氏) of Higo Province was a powerful daimyo family of Higo, Kyūshū. The Kikuchi lineage was renowned for its valiant service in defense of the emperor and against foreign invaders. The clan first distinguished itself during the Jürchen invasion of northern Kyūshū in 1019. The family rose to prominence during the Mongol invasion of Japan in 1281, when the heroism of Kikuchi Takefusa helped drive back the enemy. The family also was active in the Kenmu Restoration (1333-1336), an attempt by the emperor Go-Daigo to reassert imperial authority against the Kamakura shogunate.

This clan descended from Fujiwara clan. However it is questioned as a Korean Baekje origin Buddha statue found in their origin site is the same type of Buddha statue belonged to Kikuchi clan, and as the statue was made before Fujiwara clan existed, it's believed that Kikuchi clan was possibly older than Fujiwara clan. Japanese genealogist, Suzuki Matoshi claimed the clan was from the Korean kingdom of Baekje while Oota Akira, Japanese historian, claimed the clan originated from Ki clan. Many famous warriors have come from this family such as Kikuchi Takanao, Kikuchi Takefusa who stopped the Mongols in the Mongol Invasions of Japan, Kikuchi Taketoki and Kikuchi Takemitsu. Their stories have become some of the most colorful in the history of Japan. Along with the Ōtomo, Ōuchi, Shōni and Shimazu they would write the history of the island of Kyūshū.

The Kikuchi clan was taken out of power in Higo when the Ōuchi family took control over Kyūshū. Many of the members of the clan went into hiding either by moving or entering another family. A notable descendant of the Kikuchi is Hayashi Narinaga, a general for Toyotomi Hideyoshi and Mori Motonari.

Kikuchi Noritaka


Noritaka was the first to take the name Kikuchi. He worked in the Daizaifu government and held a high position. When Fujiwara Takaie went back to Kyoto, he retired in 1070 (2nd year of Enkyū)and built a retirement villa in Kikuchi-gun where he lived until he died. The remains of his villa can still be seen today. In 1071 (3rd year of Enkyū) became master of Kikuchi District, Higo Province. There he established a castle town with retainers. Today there is a city in Kumamoto Prefecture called Kikuchi, Kumamoto.

Noritaka's father was named Masanori (政則) and worked for the Fujiwara clan. It was a mistake that genealogists believed that he was named Fujiwara Masanori. New records show that he actually worked for the Fujiwara instead of being part of their family. Masanori was awarded a katana (samurai sword) for military service in time of war. "April 3, 1022 it is recorded that Masanori is appointed the governor of Tsushima as reward for service against Toi invaders. After the establishement of the title his name was changed to Tsushima-no-Kami Kuranori." "Shōyūki, Jian 2/4/3"

The grandfather of Noritaka and father of Masanori was named Chikanori (親則). He worked for Fujiwara Takaie (藤原 隆家) (979-1044),

Kikuchi Takanao (?-1185)
Also known as Kikuchi Higo-Gon-no-Kami Takanao, Kikuchi no Jirō Takanao

When Kikuchi Takanao sided with Minamoto no Yoritomo and began levying troops in Kyūshū in 1180, at the beginning of the Gempei War, Taira no Sadayoshi marched against him and defeated Takanao. Kikuchi Takanao was present at the battle of Dannoura. Shortly after the battle in the same year, he was turned over to Minamoto Yoshitsune by his lord Ogata no Saburo Koreyoshi. He was taken to the Rokujo riverbed and his head was cut off.

"One of your retainers, Kikuchi no Jiro Takanao, has been my enemy for years," ... "You may rely on me if you will turn Kikuchi over for execution." -Minamoto Yoshitsune

"At the end of the twelfth century events far away in eastern Japan led to the establishment of Japan's first military government, the Kamakura shogunate, which, during the initial stages at least, ran in tandem with the old imperial administration. The wars surrounding the birth of this new regime saw the Kikuchi clan coalesce into a powerful warrior league, or bushidan. In 1181/2, their leader Kikuchi Takanao, joined with Ogata Koreyoshi of Bungo, another important local warrior, in rebellion against the Taira, which converted them into de facto allies of Minamoto Yoritomo, founder of the Bakafu.  This rising was, however, crushed by Haruda Tanenao.  Then, perversely, as the fighting drew to a close and the Taira star waned, the Kikuchi chose to align themselves with the erstwhile enemies and, together with the leading Kyūshū warriors including the Haruda, Yamaga, and Itai, suffered a crushing defeat at the hands of the now triumphant Bakafu. The battle took place off the coast of Kyūshū, at Dannoura, and it saw the emergence of Minamoto Yoritomo as Japan's unquestioned military leader. His forces were drawn largely from the east, while, in the dying moments, the Taira had relied almost exclusively on warriors from Kyūshū. The new military regime, therefore, titled decidedly toward the east and against the west, a fact that was to have profound consequences for the island's future."

Kikuchi Yoshitaka (1200's)
Yoshitaka was the great-grandson of Takanao. During the Gempei War he was fighting together with the Heike and even though they were on the losing side the Genji permitted them to keep their land. In 1221 during the battle of Shokyu no ran, Kikuchi Yoshitaka's job was Kyoto's Obanyaku. He had two uncles and he dispatched them both to Kyoto. They followed the Gotobajoko (retired Emperor) and the Kamakura shogunate was not happy with this. The Kikuchi's land was increased because of this.

Kikuchi Takefusa (1245-Mar 26, 1285)
Also known as Kikuchi Jirō Takefusa

Takefusa was the second son of Takayasu and grandson of Yoshitaka. In 1274 during the first Mongol invasion (Bunye) he fought with his brother Aritaka and were awarded. The family rose to prominence during the second Mongol invasion of Japan in 1281, when the heroism of Kikuchi Takefusa (12451285) helped drive back the enemy. The Mongolian Force that landed from the Momochi field divided into two groups,being attacked by Kikuchi Takefusa at Akasaka, the greater group retreated to the hill of Sohara,and the smaller group to Tukahara field in Befu. The Mongolian Force pitched a camp in Sohara field. The Sohara field had a hill with the height of 30m and had a good view over the streets of Fukuoka city,and now is called Soharakouen Park. The stone monument in the center of Soharakouen Park shows the remains of battles of the Mongolian Invasion. Takefusa gained fame for all the heads of the enemy that he collected. He died at the age of 41.

Kikuchi Tokitaka (1287-1304)
Also known as Kikuchi Jirō Tokitaka

He was the first son and heir of Kikuchi Takamori, grandon of Kikuchi Takefusa. He died very young when he was only seventeen years old so his younger brother and second son of Takamori, Kikuchi Taketoki became the next head of the family.

Kikuchi Taketoki (1292-Apr 27, 1333)
Also known as Kikuchi Ikejirō nyudō Jakua (Taketoki)

Taketoki was the 12th head of the Kikuchi Clan. He was born the second son of Kikuchi Takamori and he was the younger brother of Kikuchi Tokitaka (first son). His child name was Shoryumaru. During his life he would also use the name Jakua. His father Takamori died before his grandfather Takefusa. Takamori's brother Takenori and Taketoki's brother Tokitaka fought each other for power and both ended up dying. Therefore Taketoki became head of the clan. In 1333 Emperor Go-Daigo asked for Taketoki to help him. He was Go-Daigo's first man and was awarded for this. Taketoki gathered many people in Kyūshū was planning to attack Chinzei Tandai's Hojo Hidetoki (Akahashi Hidetoki) but they found out about his plan and they attacked him first. Taketoki and his son Yoritaka died in this attack and was 42 years old. Taketoki was buried in Fukuoka city. He has one grave for his head and one grave for his midsection. Kikuchi Shrine in Kikuchi City was made in his honor. He has 12 children in all. He was a clever samurai but Hojo Hidetoki did not underestimate him. He burned down Hakata and attacked. Otomo Uji's support never came to help Taketoki. After this a movement began to overthrow Hojo Hidetoki. Taketoki's next in line was Takeshige and he was prized Higo no Kuni. He was captured with his sons and beheaded. The enemy used their heads for archery practice.

From the Hakata Nikki: "So the heads of Kikuchi nyudo, his son Saburo, Jakua's younger brother Kakusho, and the wakato were hung up in the place where warriors practice shootings dogs from horses. Jakua's, Saburo's, and Kakusho's [heads] were displayed separately. In the evening they were taken down and placed in the residence where they remained for about ten days. Then they were nailed to a board and a sign said that they were heads of the rebels, Kikuchi Taro nyuda Jakua, his son Saburo, and Jakua's younger brother, Jiro Saburo nyudo Kakusho."

"My ancestral home,

Will you wait

For a man who knows not

if tonight will be

His last?"

-death poem that Kikuchi Taketoki wrote and had sent to his wife when he was surrounded by his enemies.

Kikuchi Takeshige (1307-1338)


He was born the first son of Taketoki. When his father attacked the Hojo, the Shoni and Otomo betrayed and killed him. Takeshige ran back to the castle and got Higo awarded to him by Emperor Go-Daigo whom his father followed. In 1335 Ashikaga Takauji attacked Go-Daigo and Takeshige went with his brother Takeyasu to join Nitta Yoshitada against the Ashikaga. The Ashikaga failed and ran back to Kyoto. Later Takauji came back to Kyūshū and captured Takeshige but let him go. In 1337 he fought with the Northern armies once again but in 1338 he died and his younger brother took over the clan.

Kikuchi Takehito (1321-1401)
After the first son of Taketoki, Takeshige died he became the next head of the clan. He had other older brothers but he was the only one born from the head wife. He ruled weakly and so his older brothers Takeshige and Toketoshi helped him with the clan. The Kikuchi were attacked by the Otomo clan and he wasn't able to handle the military situation so his brother Takemitsu took over the family and pushed him out. Takehito then became a priest and died at an old age.

Kikuchi Taketoshi (?-1341)


He was the 8th son of Taketoki and older brother of Kikuchi Takemitsu.

"Taketoshi fought against the Ashikaga and Northern Court as his brothers and father. Taketoshi went to the assistance of Nitta in the East, but his younger brother, together with other Kyūshū leaders, remained on the alert at Higo, where the Kikuchi family had its stronghold. Thus Takauji had to reckon with an influential group, including such promising men as Aso, Mihara, and Kuroki, who were at one in desiring to check his progress in Kyūshū. They had entered Higo for that purpose a few days before Takauji crossed the Straits.

Early in April Taketoshi attacked the Shoni stronghold at Dazaifu, Chikuzen Province. He succeeded in reducing the fort and driving out Shoni Sadatsune who made a stand in the neighboring hills but was thoroughly defeated and committed suicide with several of his kinsmen."

Battle of Tatarahama (April, 1336) - Kyūshū falls to Northern Imperial Court

Early in 1336, a number of Kyūshū clans, anticipating the movements of the shogun's army against them, made efforts to unite and present a formidable resistance. A number of skirmishes were fought against clans loyal to the shogun on the island, including a siege of Dazaifu, in which the Shōni clan stronghold was taken; Shōni Sadatsune fled, but was defeated soon afterwards, and committed suicide along with a number of his retainers. Shogun Ashikaga Takauji, arriving in Munakata, a short distance away, at this time in early April, learned of the siege of Dazaifu and the death of Shōni Sadatsune. Gathering forces, he marched from Munakata on April 15, and journeyed to Tatarahama, fifteen miles (24 km) away, where he met the opposing army, consisting primarily of warriors of the Kikuchi, Aso, Mihara, and Kuroki clans under the command of a Kikuchi Taketoshi.

The military chronicle Baishō-ron describes Tatarahama as "a stretch of over three miles (5 km) of dry foreshore, crossed at the south end by a small stream. The precincts of the Hakozaki Hachiman Shrine consist of some five square miles of pine forest. To the south lies the city of Hakata." By the end of the battle, the Kikuchi clan forces had been chased by Ashikaga Tadayoshi to Dazaifu, at which point they fled into the hills. The Aso and Akizuki clan commanders committed suicide, and other commanders simply surrendered. Takauji rewarded his commanders for their bravery and service, but offered pardon to his opponents, and to several clans not participating in the battle, who thus joined him in its aftermath. Kyūshū thus became united under the shogunate, and the Northern Imperial Court.

Kikuchi Takemitsu (1319-1373)


Takemitsu was the 9th son of Taketoki and continued fighting for the Emperor as his father had done. He was a general of the Nanbokucho era, fighting on the side of the emperor, along with Prince Kanenaga (懐良親王) (1326-1383) (son of Emperor Go-Daigo). The scene where he fights a famous battle on the Chikugo river is drawn in the picture on the right. He was the strongest and most dependable ally of Prince Kanenaga in the struggle against the Bafuku. He was stuck with a triple threat by the armies of Ashikaga Yoshinori, Ashikaga Takasaki and Ashikaga Tadaaki. This made Takemitsu have to raise the siege of Takasaki and address himself to the defence of Daizaifu. The three Ashikaga armies enveoloped Daizaifu and it fell into their hands before the end of September 1372. Takemitsu had to retreat and escaped to Chikugo with Prince Kanenaga. When Takemitsu died he left the loyalist defence without a really tested leader, and his heir Takemasa, a promising soldier, died in 1374.

The Battle of Oohobaru (The Battle of Chikugo River):

Forty thousands which followed Kikuchi Takemitsu as their head advanced northwards from Kikuchi in Kumamoto with Prince Kanenaga, and were opposed to North Dynasty's Army across the Chikugo River. Kikuchi Takemitu commanded 5000 soldiers to cross the Chikugo River, and pitched a camp around present Miyase. The unit of Kikuchi Takemitsu went along the present Oomuta Railway Line northwards,and headed for Ajisaka. But,forces of the Shouni Family avoided the fight and retreated to the point near present Ooho station. Although, as for this battle line, the stalemate continued for half a month,on the midnight of August 15, Takemitsu finally took the suicide corps of 3000 and moved quietly on the east side of the forces of the Syouni, and attacked it from both sides. In a short while, 1000 horsemen headed by Kikuchi Takemasa arrived there for the help and the Battle of Oohobaru started. Although both armies repeated fierce fight of advance and retreat around Ogoori,the Kikuchi army pressed the Shouni army gradually, the Shouni army retreated along present the Amagi Railway Line toward northeast to arrive at Yamakumahara which spread over present Tachiarai. Although the Shoni army tried to reorganize the disrupted forces at Mt. Hanatateyama, they ran into Mt. Houmanzan 15 kilometers north because they were scattered by the fierce pursuit of the Kikuchi army which didn't give any spare time for them.

Kikuchi Takemasa (July 6, 1342-May 26, 1374)


Also known as Kikuchi Jirō Takemasa

Born the first son of Takemitsu on July 6, 1342, he fought in Kyūshū against the Northern Court with his father and had great success. When Imagawa Sadayo (今川貞世) (1326-1420) became head of the opposing army things starting going sour for the Kikuchi. In November, 1333 his father died and he became the head of the clan and hearing about the death of Takemitsu, Imagawa attacked and won many battles against Takemasa. Kikuchi Takemasa asked Aso Koretaka for help and he was one of their most trusted retainers in the war against the North. Takemasa died just one year after his father on May 26, 1374.

Kikuchi Taketomo (1363-1407)


Taketomo was born the first son and heir of Takemasa becoming the 17th head of the clan. He wrote the "Taketomo moshijo" on the ancestry of the Kikuchi. He said that his ancestor is Fujiwara no Michitaka and Michitaka's fourth generation descendant Noritaka came to live in Higo. He sent a copy of the genealogy to the government. This move was explained with the failing position of the Kikuchi at the time and showing ancestry from the Fujiwara would give the Kikuchi some more prestige and power. Masanori's father Chikanori is though to be a descendant of Baekje immigrants. Taketomo shows up in the Tale of Genji where Lady Murakami calls him Chuwamono (powerful leader in the wilderness).

Kikuchi Yoshiyuki (1482-1504)


Yoshiyuki was the 22nd head of the Kikuchi clan and along with his brother, Masataka, the 23rd head of the family were the last of the actual Kikuchi bloodline to rule. The 24th head, Taketsune, was adopted from the Asa clan.

Kikuchi Takekane (?-1532)


He was born the son of Kikuchi Takeyasu who was 4th in descent from Kikuchi Takzumi, one of the sons of Kikuchi Taketoki. When the main line (Takemitsu line) was having problems with succession Takekane was adopted from the branch family and became the 25th head of the Kikuchi clan.

Kikuchi Yuriko (1505-1554)
The last and 26th head of the Kikuchi Clan before the rule of Higo went to the Ōtomo even though he was from that clan himself. "The head of the Ōtomo family, Ōtomo Yoshiaki placed his younger brother Ōtomo Shigeharu as the fictive heir of the famous tradition rich but now extinct shugo family, the Kikuchi of Higo. Yoshiaki's son was the famous Ōtomo Sōrin (大友 宗麟) (1530-1587). Kikuchi Yoshitake did not act as a puppet at all though and placed his bets on the Ōuchi to prevail in Northern Kyūshū and took up arms against Yoshiaki.  But he was no match for his older brother and was brushed aside.  By 1543, Ōtomo Yoshiaki's hold on Higo was solid enough to make his appointment as shugo of that province.  When he recovered Higo-Kumamoto Castle, his retainer Akahoshi Chikaie (赤星親家) sided with the Ōtomo. Chikaie later fought against Yoshitake's other retainer, Kumabe Chikanaga, and died. Ōtomo Sōrin (Ôtomo Yoshishige ) became head of the Ôtomo in 1550 and his uncle Kikuchi Yoshitake declared his independence about the same time. Sôrin marched against him and destroyed him in 1554 ending the long line of the Kikuchi clan.

Kikuchi Family Heads

 * Chikanori (親則)
 * Masanori (政則)
 * 1) Kikuchi Noritaka (菊池　則隆) (11th century) (Kikuchi progenitor)
 * 2) Kikuchi Tsunetaka (菊池　経隆) (11th century)
 * 3) Kikuchi Tsuneyori (菊池　経頼) (12th century)
 * 4) Kikuchi Tsunemune (菊池　経宗) (12th century)
 * 5) Kikuchi Tsunenao (菊池　経直) (12th century)
 * 6) Kikuchi Takanao (菊池　隆直) (?-1185)
 * 7) Kikuchi Takatada (菊池　隆定) (13th century)
 * 8) *Kikuchi Takatsugu (菊池　隆継) (13th century)
 * 9) Kikuchi Yoshitaka (菊池　隆能) (13th century)
 * 10) Kikuchi Takayasu (菊池　隆泰) (13th century)
 * 11) Kikuchi Takefusa (菊池　武房) (1245-1285) (r. 12??-1285)
 * 12) *Kikuchi Takamori (菊池　隆盛) (13th-14th century)
 * 13) Kikuchi Tokitaka (菊池　時隆) (1287-1304) (r. 12??-1304
 * 14) Kikuchi Taketoki (菊池　武時) (1292-1333) (r. 1304-1333)
 * 15) Kikuchi Takeshige (菊池　武重) (1307-1338) (r. 1333～1338)
 * 16) Kikuchi Takehito (菊池　武士) (1321-1401) (r. 1338～1345)
 * 17) Kikuchi Takemitsu (菊池　武光) (1319-1373) (r. 1345～1372)
 * 18) Kikuchi Takemasa (菊池　武政) (1342-1374) (r. 1372～1374)
 * 19) Kikuchi Taketomo (菊池　武朝) (1363-1407) (r. 1374～1407)
 * 20) Kikuchi Kanetomo (菊池　兼朝) (1383-1444) (r. 1407～1431)
 * 21) Kikuchi Mochitomo (菊池　持朝) (1409-1446) (r. 1431～1446)
 * 22) Kikuchi Tamekuni (菊池　為邦) (1430-1488) (r. 1446～1466)
 * 23) Kikuchi Shigetomo (菊池　重朝) (1449-1493) (r. 1466～1493)
 * 24) Kikuchi Yoshiyuki (菊池　能運) (1482-1504) (r. 1493～1504)
 * 25) Kikuchi Masataka (菊池　政隆) (1491-1509) (r. 1504～1505)
 * 26) Kikuchi Taketsune (菊池　武経) (1480-1537) (r. 1505～1511)
 * 27) Kikuchi Takekane (菊池　武包) (?-1532) (r. 1511～1520)
 * 28) Kikuchi Yuriko (菊池　義武) (1505-1554) (r. 1520～1554)

Genealogy
Chikanori ┃ Masanori ┃ (1)Kikuchi Noritaka ┣━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━┳━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━┓ (2)Tsunetaka (Hyodo clan - )   Yoritaka (Kojima clan - )    Masataka (Saigo clan - 西郷氏) ┃ (3)Tsuneyori ┃ (4)Tsunemune ┃ (5)Tsunenao ┣━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━┓ (6)Takanao        (Akahoshi clan - 赤星氏) ┃ (7)Takatada ┃ Takatsugu ┃ (8)Yoshitaka ┣━━━━━━━━━━━━┳━━━━━━━━━━━━┳━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━┓ (9)Takayasu         Takatsune (Jô clan - 城氏)        Takayori (Jô clan - 城氏) ┣━━━━━━━━━━━━┳━━━━━━━━━━━━┳━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━┳━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━┳━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━┳━━━━━━━━┳━━━━━━━━┓ (10)Takefusa Naotaka     Yoritaka    Aritaka (Akahoshi clan - 赤星氏)  (Wakamiya clan)         Takafuyu Yasunari Shigemune ┣━━━━━━━━━━━━┳━━━━━━━━━━━━┳━━━━━━━━━━━┳━━━━━━━━━━━┳━━━━━━━━━━━━┳━━━━━━━━━━┓ Takamori    Michitake    Takemoto    Takenari    Taketsune    Takekado   Takemura ┣━━━━━━━━━━━━┓ (11)Tokitaka (12)Taketoki ┣━━━━━━━━━┳━━━━━━━━┳━━━━━━┳━━━━━━━━┳━━━━━━━━┳━━━━━━┳━━━━━━━━━┳━━━━━━━━━━━┳━━━━━━━━━━━┳━━━━━━━━━━┳━━━━━━━━━━━━┳━━━━━━━┳━━━━━━┓         (13)Takeshige  Yoritaka      (14)Takehito   Takeyoshi        Taketoshi  (15)Takemitsu              Takezumi      Takenao ( Takase clan - )       Taketoyo ┃                   ┃              ┃                                                                                 (16)Takemasa               Takemoto      Takekuni ┃                   ┃              ┃                                                                                 (17)Taketomo               Moritake      Takenaga (adopted to Hayashi clan - 林氏) ┃                   ┃              ┃                                                                                 (18)Kanetomo               Yasuharu      Hayashi Narinaga ┃                   ┃                                                                                 (19)Mochitomo              Takeyasu ┃                   ┃                                                                                 (20)Tamekuni            (25)Takekane ┣━━━━━━━━┳━━━━━━━┓                                                                                (21)Shigetomo   武邦     重安 ┃               ┃                                                                                 (22)Yoshiyuki      (23)Masataka ┃┃                                                                                (24)Taketsune (adopted from Asa clan - 阿蘇氏) ┃┃                                                                                (25)Takekane (from Takezumi line) ┃┃                                                                                (26)Yoshitake (Ōtomo Shigeharu - 大友氏)

Retainers

 * Akahoshi clan (赤星氏) - cadet branch of the Kikuchi clan
 * Akahoshi Chikaie (赤星親家) (1514-1562)
 * Akahoshi Muneie (赤星統家) (1530-1619)


 * Kumabe clan (隈部氏)
 * Kumabe Chikanaga (隈部親永) (1516-1588)
 * Kumabe Chikayasu (隈部親泰)


 * Takezaki clan (竹崎氏)
 * Takezaki Suenaga (竹崎季長) (1236-1314)


 * Saigo clan (西郷氏) - cadet branch of the Kikuchi clan
 * Jô clan (城氏) - cadet branch of the Kikuchi clan
 * Jô Takeaki


 * Kashiki clan (鹿子木氏)
 * Udo clan (宇土氏)