The Ito Clan

Seal of the Ito

In 1190, the Kamakura shogunate gave control of Hyuga to Suketsune Kudo.  Among his retainers were the Ito who had remained loyal to Kudo and Yoritomo Minamoto during the Kamakura campaigns.  The Hosokawa were also loyal retainers of Minamoto and Kudo.

In 1330, the Ashikaga began a rebellion to wrest control from the corruption and brutality of the Kamakura shogunate.  By 1333 the Ashikaga had succeeded and the Hosokawa were granted land in Aya and the Ito land in Tonokori.  Both clans built mountain castles to show their power, influence, and prominence.

In 1334, the Hosokawa had finished Aya Castle and changed their family name to Aya.  In 1337, the Ito completed Tonokori Castle.  Both castles were of the mountain style.  The castles used natural protection of cliffs and gorges for protection.  Large moats were dug and the soil was used to build further barriers and ramparts.

During this time the Ito began to consolidate their power with other clans in Hyuga.  In 1346 Obi Castle was built as a southern protection of Hyuga.  Through marriage and alliances the Ito became the dominant family in Hyuga.  By 1450 the Shimazu began their quest for Hyuga and all of Kyushu.  In 1458, Obi Castle fell to the Shimazu, and the Ito and allies were able to stop further expansion by the Shimazu.  In 1484, the Ito forces were able to reclaim Obi Castle.

After this the Ito began to build a further number of castles for the protection of Hyuga Province eventually totaling 48.  They also formed alliances with other Kyushu lords like the Otomo in Bungo (today’s Oita Prefecture) and in Higo (modern Kumamoto).  These lords were also afraid of Shimazu power expansion and intentions.

The Ito’s center of command and power was Tonokori Castle (modern Saito).  It was decided if Aya fell that a flare would be sent and Tonokori would be abandoned and the Ito would flee and collect their vassals and retainers in an escape to Otomo lands in Bungo and Higo.

In 1570, the Shimazu began a second conquest of Hyuga.  In 1572, the Ito were routed in the Battle of Kizakibaru (in modern Ebino) and Obi fell to the Shimazu a few weeks later.  The Shimazu kept on the offensive and slowly Miyakonojo, Takajo, and Takaokajo fell to Shimazu control.  The Ito were defeated in the Battle of Takabaru in 1577 (modern Kobayashi) and retreated in separate divisions to Aya, Tonokori, Sadowara, and Kadogawa.  In December 1577, Aya fell to the Shimazu and Tonokori saw the flare.  Quickly all along the line of the remaining castles flares were shot and Yoshisuke Ito gathered his family and retainers and left Tonokori.  Along the way at such castles as Miyazaki, Sadowara, and Kadogawa, the Ito fled together to Bungo.  Along the way they burned bridges and settlements to slow the advance of the Shimazu.  They made Bungo by mid January 1578.

Half of the clan fled to then to Higo.  Yoshisuke’s son, Mansho, would later become a Catholic seminarian in Nagasaki with the Jesuit order and be the lead diplomat on an embassy mission to the Vatican in 1586.

Yoshisuke, gathered samurai and retainers and left Bungo in February 1578 for Kyoto to petition the shogunate for help.  They crossed the bay from Bungo to Sadamisaki in Shikoku.  From there they traveled to Osaka Bay and landed in Osaka to finish the journey to Kyoto.  By early May they had reached Kyoto and with other lords they warned of Shimazu expansion and informed Shogun Hideyoshi Toyotomi of the Shimazu danger.

Toyotomi quickly initiated a force to conquer Hyuga back from the Shimazu and by 1587 Hyuga had been returned to the Ito.  To pacify the Shimazu the Ito granted them land in the Sadowara District.  As a sign of gratitude the Ito granted the Akizuki the Saito domain, and the Naito (Otomo retainers) the Nobeoka domain.  Toyotomi gave the Ito lordship over Hyuga with all domains ordered to give annual tax tribute to the Ito who had set their base of power up in Obi again.

The Ito backed Ieyasu Tokugawa in the Battle of Sekigahara and for this the Ito were allowed more tribute from the other samurai.  The Shimazu who had turned against Tokugawa were penalized financially but not by lands being stripped because Tokugawa feared stripping them of land who start a revolt.  The Shimazu were powerful, even though there were splits among their family.  For example, the Shimazu in the Miyakonojo District were on friendly terms with the Ito where as the Shimazu in the Sadowara District saw the Ito as enemies.

Throughout the Tokugawa shogunate, the Ito expanded in wealth and influence with other families in the Tokugawa Court.  This assured that they received protection from the shogunate.  In 1625, to maintain the peace in Hyuga the shogunate set up five districts under direct Tokugawa control in Hyuga.  These were: Miyazaki, Usuki, Koyu, Naka, and Morokata.  The Ito made up the vast samurai numbers who manned the districts as a military force loyal solely to the Tokugawa.

After the Meiji Reforms began, the Ito proved loyal to the Tokyo government and served among the first high ranking members of the government and military.  By 1920, the Ito had moved to Tokyo and their holdings in the established Miyazaki Prefecture were sold to the prefecture.

Feudal Era (1185-1603)

Aya Castle



In 1185 Minomoto no Yoritomo defeated Imperial loyalists at the Battle of Dan no Ura.  A Fujiwara Clan family, Ito (伊東) were among those who fought with Minomoto and his wife’s family the Hojo.

Minomoto established a firm Shogunate after he forced the Emperor to name him the Shogun over all Japan.  Minomoto had the Emperor stripped of all power except for ceremonial power and as the nominal head of Shinto.

Two clans were given lands and titles in Kyushu.  The Shimazu (島津) were named the military heads of the Kyushu province.  The Ito were given all of Hyuga for their loyalty to Minomoto in combat against the loyalists.

The Ito set up their first castle outside of Saito and named it Tonokori.  This would become the Ito’s base of power.  In the present day boundaries of Miyazaki Prefecture the Takahashi controlled Nobeoka, the Otomi controlled Takachiho, the Tomochi controlled Ebino, and the Shimazu controlled Miyakonojo.  With this situation the Ito began to construct a network of 48 castles throughout their domain.  The most important castles being Tonokori, Sadowara, Miyazaki, Takaoka, Aya, Obi, Hyuga, and Takachiho.

The Ito built a series of roads connecting the castles and built the castles upon mountains that provided natural protection and fortification.  Buddhist temples were built within the castles and peasants would be protected in caves at the base of mountains.  All men in their domain would be expected to bear arms with the samurai in the event of an invasion by another clan.

Within the Ito domain things were much more stable than in others.  The Ito allowed local samurai greater freedoms than other daimyo allowed.  For example, the Hosokawa of Aya were allowed to educate peasants in basic reading and writing, something unheard of during this period.  To the Ito, a happy peasant class and a happy merchant class produces much more than a class that was treated harshly.  Lavish festivals were held monthly and sponsored by the local lord.  The Ito sponsored two festivals during the year in Sadowara, New Years and summer.  People (samurai and common) from all over their domain attended these.

The agricultural success of the Ito domain began to gather the attention of the Shimazu.  Their attention would have to wait though.  In 1268 news of a new Mongul Emperor demanding Japanese tribute and submission reached the Ito and all clans of Japan.  Kublai Khan amassed an invasion force of 600 ships to invade Japan in 1274.

The Kamakura Shogunate responded by calling an army of all districts in Japan to defense.  The Ito joined forces in Kyushu with the Shimazu, Otomi, Tomochi, Takahashi, and Azuzaki.  The Mongul invaders were defeated more by a typhoon than the gathered armies.  After the first invasion the Kamakura Shogunate began to reinforce protection by constructing a network of defense positions along the western coast of Japan, and along all coasts of Kyushu.

By 1281, Khan had assembled another invasion force.  Hakata on the coast of Fukuoka was the determined invasion point.  For seven weeks the Ito and other clans held off the invasion.  Again, a typhoon saved Japan.  While Japan had been spared, the defense of the invasion cost the Kamakura dearly in terms of finances, food stores, and men.  The clans of Japan were afraid that this would lead to breakdown of Shogunate rule.

Along with the other clans, the Ito demanded that the Kamakura ease taxation.  By 1333 the Imperial family and supporters staged a successful coup against the Shogunate.  The Ito joined forces with anti-Imperial forces with the Shimazu.  Soon in 1336 the Imperial faction was defeated, and those loyal to the Ashikaga Shogun were granted their lands.  Those not loyal had their lands stripped.  The Takahashi lost their lands to the Otomi and the Ito.  The Tomochi lost their lands to the Shimazu.

With new strength, controlling all of Satsuma, a big portion of Hyuga, Saga, and Kumamoto the Shimazu began to quickly build plans to dominate Kyushu.  They had plenty of salt and knew that curing fish, meats, and preserving vegetables meant they could feed a large siege army.

The Shimazu in 1572 launched an invasion of Ito’s domain.  Encircling their holdings and holding out in siege, in 1577 the Ito surrendered and sought protection from the Otomi in Shikoku.  By the end of 1577 more than 90% of Kyushu was in Shimazu hands.  The Otomi were concerned the Shimazu had plans to take Shikoku and then with an army comparable to that of the ruling Shogun, launch an invasion of Japan.

The Otomi and Ito went to Kyoto to talk to Shogun Toyotomi Hideyoshi.  The Shogun also showed concern of Shimazu power and formed an army to reclaim Kyushu.  Agents of the Shogun negotiated with the Shimazu.  Convinced of Shimazu assurance it was about controlling Kyushu and not Japan, the agents bartered a domain for the Ito centered in Obi.  The Otomi were given half the Nobeoka domain.  The Shogunate ordered a Shogunate controlled domain between the Ito and Shimazu to keep tensions from spreading.

The Shimazu then began acquiring from Portuguese traders the one thing their next round of conquest would give advantage, the arquebus rifle.  With unification successfully resored through Japan by Toyotomi he set eyes of conquest on Korea.  The Ito and Shimazu offered meager numbers of samurai.  The invasion failed and greatly weakened the power of Toyotomi.  The Shimazu used this as an opportunity to invade Okinawa and successfully establish it as a vassal domain to the Shimazu.

After the death of Toyotomi, the Shogunate was placed under the command of five Samurai clan leaders until Toyotomi’s six year old son came of age to claim the Shogunate.  One of the regents was Tokugawa Ieyasu.  Seizing the Shogunate ina bid for power the other four regents assembled an army and this came to a head at the battle of Sekigahara.  The Ito and Otomi supported Ieyasu and the Shimazu supported the army under the command of Mitsunari Ishida.  The forces of Tokugawa Ieyasu succeeded and Hyuga was restored under the control of Ito.

In 1603, Ieyasu became concerned of large domains and commanded that Obi be the domain of Ito, Sadowara be under the Shimazu, Takanabe under the Azuzaki, and Nobeoka under the Otomi.  This balanced out power between fighting clans.  As Ieyasu wrote in the command, “The Ito and their allies will control the farms, and the Shimazu will control the mountains.”  This is one of the first changes Tokugawa would usher in to protect the Shogunate into the future.