Tomb of Kikuchi Takemitsu

Kikuchi Takemitsu (1319–1373) was the fifteenth head of the Kikuchi clan, its greatest war hero, and an influential reformer under whom the clan evolved from a local samurai group into the most powerful political force in Kyushu.

Troubled beginnings

When Takemitsu was 14 years old, his father, Taketoki (1292–1333), the twelfth leader of the clan and a sworn ally of Emperor Godaigo (1288–1339), was killed while leading a failed assault in Hakata (present-day Fukuoka) on forces loyal to the Kamakura shogunate, the warrior-led government that ruled Japan at the time. The Kamakura shogunate was toppled only months later, triggering a period of instability during which the imperial court and proponents of warrior rule vied for control of the country.

As a result of this power struggle, the imperial court split into two in 1336. The Kikuchi remained loyal to Godaigo, whose Southern Court was opposed by the warrior-backed Northern Court, but were defeated in several battles against the Northern forces. Two of Takemitsu’s older brothers headed the Kikuchi clan after their father, but one died young and the other was forced to resign his position. By 1344, when Takemitsu’s turn came to lead the clan, the Kikuchi were severely weakened and surrounded by enemies.

Takemitsu’s rise

Takemitsu endeavored to bring the Kikuchi into a new era. To strengthen the Kikuchi base of power, he carried out administrative reforms in the clan’s heartland around the castle town of Waifu (now central Kikuchi). His policies included creating the Kikuchi Gozan (Five Temples) system by placing five Zen temples in Waifu under special protection. In return, these temples served the Kikuchi by performing various administrative, supervisory, and religious duties.

On the political front, Takemitsu joined forces with Prince Kanenaga (also known as Kaneyoshi; 1329–1383), the son of Emperor Godaigo, who had been sent to Kyushu to build an alliance between the Southern Court and local warrior groups. The backing of royalty allowed Takemitsu to expand his clan’s territory and influence, and some 15 years after being named lord of the Kikuchi, he had assembled a powerful coalition from across Kyushu.

Conquest and collapse

In 1359, some 40,000 warriors led by Takemitsu and Prince Kanenaga defeated a force of around 60,000 Northern Court loyalists at the Battle of Chikugo River, near the present-day city of Kurume. This decisive victory allowed the Kikuchi-led alliance to take control of Kyushu and made Takemitsu perhaps the most powerful man on the island.

In the years following their victory, the Kikuchi set out to fortify their positions; however, a request from the Southern Court that the victorious Kyushu leaders visit the emperor in Yoshino (near Nara) ended in disaster. A fleet commanded by Takemitsu set sail from Kyushu but was intercepted and routed by a Northern force. The Northern side then dispatched a new general, the renowned strategist Imagawa Ryoshun (1326–1420), to deal with the threat in Kyushu.

In 1372, Ryoshun drove the Kikuchi-led forces from the Hakata region, and Takemitsu had no choice but to regroup further south. In 1373, as the Kikuchi were fortifying their positions around the Chikugo River, the site of their earlier triumph, Takemitsu suddenly died under unknown circumstances.

Left without its greatest general, the Southern force led by Prince Kanenaga was pushed ever deeper into Kyushu. Kanenaga’s death in 1383 ended the Southern resistance for good, and the Kikuchi were again confined to their ancestral lands around Waifu.

Takemitsu’s tomb

Kikuchi Takemitsu was buried at Shokanji, a temple he had founded after becoming head of the clan. According to legend, the giant camphor tree towering over the tomb was planted during Takemitsu’s funeral. The current headstone was erected in 1779 by wealthy Waifu residents and stands on a distinctive base in the shape of a Chinese mythological creature with the features of a turtle and a snake. This style was popularized among high-ranking samurai in Japan in the 1700s.

※About the Kikuchi clan.（菊池一族とは）

※Other cultural property explanatory boards are also multilingual.（この他の文化財説明板も多言語化しています。）

菊池武光の墓

　武光は１３代武重の弟で、１４代武士が合志幸隆に奪われた菊之城を奪還して１５代惣領となりました。大方元恢和尚を招いて熊耳山正観寺を建立し菊池五山を定めるなど内政を固める一方で、征西将軍として赴任した後醍醐天皇の皇子懐良親王を菊池に迎え、親王が開いた隈府征西府を支えて南朝方の版図拡大に尽力しました。その生涯は戦いに明け暮れ、百戦百勝の名将と称えられます。

　武光が関わったなかで最も有名な戦いは大原の戦い（大保原の戦い・筑後川の戦い）で、関ヶ原、川中島と並び日本３大合戦に数えられています。

　もとは樟の巨木が墓神木とされ、別の墓標があったようですが、渋江紫陽、松石父子や隈府の豪商である宗伝次らの尽力により、湊川神社にある楠正成の墓を模して安永８年（１７７９）に現在の墓が建てられました。