Umekita Kunikane

Japanese: 梅北国兼 - うめきた・くにかね

Year of death: 17th June 1592 (25th July 1592)
Year of birth: Unknown. A military commander in the Sengoku and Azuchi-Momoyama periods. Miyauchi Saemon-no-jo. A local lord in Osumi (Kagoshima Prefecture) and a powerful vassal of the Shimazu clan. He served as land steward in Yunoo, Yamada, and other areas. He was in charge of the navy during the Shimazu clan's northern expedition, and even suggested an "attack by Imperial boat" during the attack on Otomo in 1585. In June 1592, when Toyotomi Hideyoshi dispatched troops to Korea, he stayed in Sashiki, Higo (Ashikita District, Kumamoto Prefecture) under the pretense of "waiting for the boats," and staged a large-scale uprising involving over 2,000 Satsuma samurai and townspeople. He occupied Sashiki Castle and looked toward Yatsushiro, but was killed by the Sashiki Rusu-i-shu on the third day after the uprising. This was called the Umekita Uprising, and was the only movement in Japan that resisted Hideyoshi's invasion of Korea, and is considered the last large-scale local uprising of the Middle Ages. His wife, children and other family members were crucified in Nagoya, and the main participants were also executed.

(Akira Imaya)

Source: Asahi Japanese Historical Biography: Asahi Shimbun Publications Inc. About Asahi Japanese Historical Biography

Japanese:

没年：文禄1.6.17(1592.7.25)
生年：生年不詳
戦国・安土桃山時代の武将。宮内左衛門尉。大隅(鹿児島県)の土豪で島津氏の有力家臣。湯之尾,山田などの地頭を歴任。島津氏の北征では水軍を担当し,天正13(1585)年の大友攻撃の際にも「御舟攻」を進言した。文禄1(1592)年6月,豊臣秀吉の朝鮮出兵に際し「船待ち」と称して肥後佐敷(熊本県葦北郡)に留まり,薩摩藩士,町人あわせて2000人余という大規模な一揆を起こした。佐敷城を占拠し八代をも窺ったが,蜂起後3日目に佐敷留守居衆により殺された。これは梅北一揆と呼ばれ,秀吉の朝鮮侵略に抵抗した国内唯一の運動であるとともに,大規模なものとしては中世最後の国人一揆と位置づけられる。妻子以下一族は名護屋で磔刑,主な参加者も極刑に処せられた。

(今谷明)

出典　朝日日本歴史人物事典：（株）朝日新聞出版朝日日本歴史人物事典について　情報

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