Shigemasa Matsukura

A military commander in the Azuchi-Momoyama period and early Edo period. Commonly known as Kuichiro and Bungo no Kami. He first served as a vassal of Tsutsui Sadatsugu and was given 8,300 koku in Yanase, Iga (Mie Prefecture), and later served Toyotomi Hideyoshi and then Tokugawa Ieyasu. He was a "warrior" who was transferred to Gojo, Yamato (Nara Prefecture) with 10,000 koku due to his achievements in the Battle of Sekigahara, and Arima, Hizen (Nagasaki Prefecture) with 40,000 koku in 1616 (Genwa 2) due to his achievements in the Siege of Osaka. He abolished the Arima clan's castles of Hinoe and Hara, which had been in place since the Middle Ages, and built Shimabara Castle and castle town, which were said to be inappropriate for his rice yield, and moved there, solidifying his rule in the modern era. He exercised strict control over his subjects, including the surviving retainers of the Arima clan who had returned to farming. He was particularly known for his thorough investigations into Christianity, which is said to have been the cause of the Shimabara Rebellion. In 1630 (Kan'ei 7), he petitioned the shogunate to capture Luzon, which was a base for missionaries to infiltrate Japan, and dispatched a reconnaissance ship together with Nagasaki magistrate Takenaka Shigeyoshi. However, he suddenly died a few days later on November 16, Kan'ei 7, and it is said that he was poisoned by Takenaka.

[Nakamura Shigeo]

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

安土(あづち)桃山時代・江戸初期の武将。通称九一郎、豊後守(ぶんごのかみ)。初め筒井定次(つついさだつぐ)の家臣として伊賀（三重県）梁瀬(やなせ)に8300石を領し、のち豊臣(とよとみ)秀吉、ついで徳川家康に仕え、関ヶ原の功により大和(やまと)（奈良県）五條(ごじょう)1万石、大坂の陣の功により1616年（元和2）肥前（長崎県）有馬4万石に加増転封された「武辺功者(ぶへんこうしゃ)」であった。中世以来の有馬氏の日野江(ひのえ)、原の両城を廃して、石高(こくだか)不相応といわれる島原城と城下町を新設して移り、近世的支配を固めた。帰農した有馬氏の遺臣を含む領民に対しては厳しい支配で臨んだ。ことに徹底したキリシタン詮索(せんさく)は有名で、島原の乱の原因をつくったといわれる。30年（寛永7）、宣教師の日本潜入の基地であるルソン攻略を幕府に願い出、長崎奉行(ぶぎょう)竹中重義と共同で偵察船を派遣した。しかしその数日後、寛永(かんえい)7年11月16日急死、竹中の毒害ともいわれる。

［中村　質］

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