Yoshihiro Kikuhime

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Wife of Otomo Yoshimune

DiedNovember 4, 1595

Zen'in Village, Chikugo Province

SpouseŌtomo Yoshimune

ChildrenFuruzenshio
Sabina
Maxima

Parents

Yoshihiro Kanari (father)
Ōtomo Yoshikane's daughter (mother)

Yoshihiro Kikuhime 吉弘菊姫
Crest of the Ōtomo clan
Personal life
Died	November 4, 1595 Zen'in Village, Chikugo Province
Spouse	Ōtomo Yoshimune
Children	Furuzenshio Sabina Maxima
Parents	Yoshihiro Kanari (father) Ōtomo Yoshikane's daughter (mother)
Other names	Ōtomo Justa Yoshihiro Justa
Posthumous name	Sonju-in (尊寿院)
Occupation	Noblewoman
Relatives	Takahashi Shigetane (brother) Yoshihiro Noriyuki (nephew) Tachibana Muneshige (nephew)
Religious life
Religion	Christianity (converted in 1587)
Military service
Unit	Ōtomo clan

Yoshihiro Kikuhime (吉弘菊姫, d. November 4, 1595) was a Japanese noble woman member of the Ōtomo clan from the late Sengoku period. She was the wife of Ōtomo Yoshimune, the lord of Otomo clan.^[1] She was also known as "Justa" or ''Giusta'' due to her baptismal name,^[2] with her posthumous Buddhist name "Sonju-in" (尊寿院) derived from it.

Kikuhime's father, Yoshihiro Kanari, was a notable retainer of the Ōtomo clan, while her mother was the daughter of Ōtomo Yoshikane, Yoshimune's grandfather, making her the sister of Takahashi Shigetane and the aunt of Yoshihiro Noriyuki and Tachibana Muneshige. She was also referred to as Ōtomo Justa or Yoshihiro Justa adopting the surname of her original family.

She had four children with Yoshimune, though she herself was initially frail. In 1587, she converted to Christianity under the influence of her father-in-law, Ōtomo Sōrin,^[3] and was baptized with the name "Justa." Her son was named "Furuzenshio," while her daughters were named "Sabina" and "Maxima."^[4]

During the Japanese Invasion of Korea in 1592, Kikuhime was sent to Osaka by the order of Toyotomi Hideyoshi and became a hostage at the Otomo residence in Osaka Castle. However, in 1593, following the disgrace of her husband, Yoshimune, who had faltered as a military commander during the Invasion of Korea, she was expelled from Osaka. Denied the opportunity to accompany her husband into exile, she faced a tragic destiny, wandering through Bungo Province with her three young children, lacking any form of support.

Kikuhime journeyed across the entire country with her three young children until they reached Bungo. She sought refuge with her nephew, Tachibana Muneshige, who was the lord of Yanagawa Castle, and was given a residence in Zen'in Village in Chikugo Province. Despite being taken in by her nephew, she died shortly thereafter due to the strain and fatigue that had exacerbated her already delicate health.

Despite the prohibition of Christianity at the time, she was buried according to Nichiren Buddhism customs, and her posthumous Buddhist name was "Sonjuin Den Nissho Daijo." Her grave is located at Sonjuin Temple in Miyama City, Fukuoka Prefecture. The temple was the first Hokke sect temple in the Yanagawa domain.

Footnotes

↑ "Otomo clan". kotobank. Retrieved 30 October 2021.
↑ Another woman with the baptismal name "Justa" was the daughter (eldest) of Otomo Munekatsu. She became the wife of Ichijo Kanetsada and Kiyota Sadatada. She was a cousin to Kikuhime.
↑ Mase-Hasegawa, Emi (2008). Christ in Japanese Culture: Theological Themes in Shusaku Endo's Literary Works. Brill Publishers. p. 23. ISBN 978-90-474-3321-7.
↑ The life of the second daughter, Maxima, is often confused with that of the second daughter of Otomo Munekatsu, Tekla, who was called "Masensia." Additionally, a person known as "Kuwahime" actually refers to the eldest daughter of Munekatsu, "Justa" (wife of Ichijo Kanetsada and later Kiyota Sadatada), but she is often mistaken for Yoshimune's second daughter, "Maxima," or Tekla's daughter, "Masensia," or Munekatsu's eldest daughter, "Justa"'s daughter, "Madalena." Hidden Otomo clan princess Justa - Reconsideration of "Kuwahime"

Sources

Kokusho Kankokai, ed. "National Diet Library Digital Collection, Genealogy Overview. Volume Two." Kokusho Kankokai, 1915.

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Monks and other religious figures	Ankokuji Ekei Hongan-ji Kennyo Hon'inbō Sansa Ishin Sūden Jion Koji Kashin Nankōbō Tenkai Rennyo Sessai Chōrō Shimozuma Chūkō Shimotsuma Rairen Shimozuma Rairyū Takuan Sōhō
Female castellans	Ashikaga Ujihime Chacha Miyohime Munakata Saikaku Nene Onamihime Otazu no Kata Otsuya no Kata Seishin-ni Tachibana Ginchiyo
Female warriors	Akai Teruko Fujishiro Gozen Ichikawa no Tsubone Ikeda Sen Kaihime Kamehime Katakura Kita Katō Tsune Komatsuhime Kushihashi Teru Maeda Matsu Myōki Myōrin Numata Jakō Ōhōri Tsuruhime Okaji no Kata Okyō no Kata Omasa Oni Gozen Shigashi Shirai no Tsubone Ueno Tsuruhime Yuki no Kata
Other women	Lady Acha Akohime Asahihime Lady Chaa Chikurin-in Gōhime Lady Goryū Dota Gozen Gotokuhime Tsumaki Hiroko Lady Hayakawa Hosokawa Gracia Irohahime Izumo no Okuni Jukei-ni Shimazu Kameju Lady Kasuga Keigin-ni Kitsuno Konoe Sakiko Kōzōsu Kyōgoku Maria Kyōgoku Tatsuko Kyōun'in Matsuhime Megohime Lady Myōkyū Naitō Julia Nōhime Odai no Kata Oeyo Oichi Oinu Ohatsu Lady Ōkurakyo Ōmandokoro Ono Otsū Ōtomo-Nata Jezebel Rikei Lady Saigō Lady Sanjō Seien-in Seikōin Senhime Sentōin Tobai-in Toyotomi Sadako Tomo Lady Toida Tokuhime Tōshōin Lady Tsukiyama Yamauchi Chiyo Yoshihime Yoshihiro Kikuhime
Foreign people in Japan	Alessandro Valignano Francis Xavier Gaspar Coelho Jacob Quaeckernaeck Jan Joosten van Lodensteijn Julia Ota Luís Fróis Soga Seikan Wakita Naokata Wang Zhi William Adams Yasuke
See also	List of samurai from the Sengoku period

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